Nvidia cards more popular for playing HL2

[fbrdphreak]

Source: The Inquirer

It turns out that despite ATI's heavy investment in the Half-Life 2, a majority of the gamers that play this game use Nvidia cards. Some 50.78 per cent of people that submitted the results are using Nvidia cards, versus 41.23 per cent of users who had ATI cards and drivers installed.

However, number-one card was ATI's 9800 series - the one that came with Half Life 2 voucher inside. Second was the 9600 card, again one that came with vouchers - all together we are talking about almost 200,000 of those cards.
....
Third most-used card was Nvidia's Geforce "who needs Shaders?" MX 4, followed by one more cheapo FX5200, a very slow Shader card.

Users used more Nvidia 6800GTs than ATI X800 generation products and we noticed that some 5500 people did manage to get X800XT Platinum edition cards. You kind of expect to see a bit bigger numbers on those high-end cards.

One thing is sure for both companies: old marchitectures made those numbers look good and most folk are hanging on to their elderly Geforce 4 MX, 5200 FX or Radeon 9800, 9600 cards.

:thumbsup: to Valve for making a game that can run on such a wide gamut of hardware

And a to ATI for spending $6M and STILL not owning HL2 game playing

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A FANBOY FOR EITHER NVIDIA OR ATI. I JUST THINK THIS IS FUNNY AT SOME LEVEL, AND REGARDLESS INTERESTING. GO VALVE AND SCREW BOTH NVIDIA & ATI FOR THE DAMN PAPER LAUNCHES LEADING UP TO HL2.

 

[hans030390]

and this means? hmm...Nvidia IS more popular, you know...once again, I'm thinking this has something to do with Sm3 (actually, for once in not....could i have a cookie?)

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: hans030390
and this means? hmm...Nvidia IS more popular, you know...once again, I'm thinking this has something to do with Sm3 (actually, for once in not....could i have a cookie?)

Hans, I know your doing this on purpose for entertainment value, but now it's just useless and plain annoying. Could you please quit the SM3.0 garbage? Pretty please?

 

[imported_Kensai]

^_^ Slick move ATI.

 

[Matthias99]

News flash: Vast majority of gamers do not own $300+ cards, or even $200+ cards. Or even (at this point) $100+ cards. What a shocker. :disgust:

Not really a whole lot different than the last few times this has been posted.

One thing to note is there's no category for the X800XL -- not sure if those would show up as an "Unknown" or an "X800XT".

Certainly an impressive showing for the 6800GT.

And I think if you look at cards from the last couple generations (the R3XX/NV3X and R4XX/NV4X), ATI has a lot more of them, and the majority of the NVIDIA cards in that category are FX5200s (although, to be fair, a lot of those "9600" and "9800" cards are probably cheap SE versions). The main reason NVIDIA has a majority in the poll is that there are a ton of old GF2/3/4 cards out there that haven't been replaced yet.

I also feel real bad for these people:

Intel 845 13,693 1.43%
SiS 650/651/M650/740 3,590 0.37 %
Intel 852/855 3,380 0.35 %

 

[imported_Noob]

So most people have Nvidia cards for Half Life 2. It doesn't mean they perform better. And I don't think ATI's 6 million $$$ got "pwned" because they sold enough 9600 XT's and 9800 XT's (most are XT's anyway). They are the top 2 used cards.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Matthias99
News flash: Vast majority of gamers do not own $300+ cards, or even $200+ cards. Or even (at this point) $100+ cards. What a shocker. :disgust:

Exactly...even though you wouldn't know it by frequenting the AT Video forum, those of us with high-end cards like the 6800 series or X800 series (or even last-gen's stuff, 9700/9800/etc) are still very much in the minority overall.

Edit: For example, in the group of friends that I do LAN parties with, a Radeon 8500 is still basically considered "high-end". There are only three of us (out of 15 or so) who have anything faster than that...

 

[MDE]

I'd be willing to bet that most of those "X800XT PE"s are modded X800 Pros.

 

[Radiohead71]

Originally posted by: MDE
I'd be willing to bet that most of those "X800XT PE"s are modded X800 Pros.

Maybe some, but not all. I have a XT PE. No big deal now. You can buy one at newegg.com for 499.99 all day long.

 

[Mrvile]

Agreed, nVidia is still more popular right now (just like Intel still being more popular than AMD).

 

[Pete]

Take away the FX 5200 and then how do the numbers look? And who really gets owned by owning a 5200?

Seriously, there are a lot of older nV cards that make up a large percentage of the cards on that list. Why not compare the cards in the generations ATI was pushing HL2? The 9800 and 9600 are at the top of a list that includes *much* cheaper cards like the GF4MX, FX 5200, the GF2MX, and even the friggin' TNT 2 (which outnumbers the 5900! ). It looks like ATI got some mileage out of their ad campaign.

Of course, the numbers will probably be reversed if we looked at a Doom 3 survey. But the OP's post, while funny at first, doesn't look so funny once you parse the numbers. nV had a much stronger reputation compared to ATI up till the 9700P, and if you look at the sales figures for cards of the FX and 9x00 generation, ATI wins. By a lot. And that includes the "DX9 for $79" FX 5200. It gets uglier when you look at the 9500 and up vs. 5500 and up (and I'm being generous by comparing a 5500 to a 9500).

To be fair, nV has righted its ship with the GF6, and deservedly so. Both ATI and nV should continue to be pretty even going into 2006.

Edit: The survey has added another 100k cards since I last Excel sorted the numbers, but the one thing to take away is that there are more 9600 and 9800 cards than GF4MX and FX 5200 cards. The common knowledge is that IHVs make more money off low-end cards simply because they sell more of them, even if at a lower profit than the high-end. Note that ATI has more high-end cards (from the HL2 ad campaign generation!) on that list than nV has low-end cards from the previous two generations. Admittedly, the Steam survey probably isn't the most objective source (and Valve may even be fudging the numbers to make ATI feel better about their $6M, paltry as it is for a $2B/yr. company), but that's still impressive.

 

[nRollo]

Actually Pete, IMO, the thing to take away from the Steam survey is that there are more 6800GTs than X800Pros and X800XTPEs put together.

We all know the 9600s and 9800s were marginally better offerings than nVidias 2003 offerings and sold like hot cakes, so it's no surprise they are on top of that gen. To me the surprise is how totally dominated ATIs card from last year are.

 

[Pete]

Technically correct, Rollo, but there's a separate row for X800XTs. At the time of my B3D post, there were slightly more X800P+XT+XTPEs than 6800GT+Us--but that's not counting the 5k "6800 series," as I don't know if that means just plain 6800s or also high-end 6800GTs and Us. Throw in that 5k, though, and there are slightly more 6800s than X800s. (Curiously, that's with ATI not offering anything X800 at the $300 price point.)

But, yeah, the GF 6 series was outselling the X series basically two to one when I counted. I doubt that's changed, as the numbers scaled pretty evenly the two times I checked.

 

[fbrdphreak]

But the OP's post, while funny at first, doesn't look so funny once you parse the numbers.

THANK you, it was just damn messin' around :roll:

I completely agree that ATI had a big success w/HL2; I don't know that it was worth $6M, but they did a good job. Not as good of a job as Valve tho Gotta love it when u can play a top of the line game on a GF2MX, LOL

 

[kylebisme]

The thing is, they offered the deal to ATI and I'd imagine that if ATI didn't take it Nvidia would have snapped it up. So I don't think ATI really had much of a choice.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman
The thing is, they offered the deal to ATI and I'd imagine that if ATI didn't take it Nvidia would have snapped it up. So I don't think ATI really had much of a choice.

IIRC, there was a bit of a bidding war between ATI and Nvidia and Nvidia decided the price was too high.

 

[joliver]

Damn, I'm still running a P4 2.66 on an 845PE. Yeah it's not the greatest, but with a 6800 and Audigy 2 games are still ok. Quess I need to upgrade soon so people can quit feeling bat for me .

Originally posted by: Matthias99
News flash: Vast majority of gamers do not own $300+ cards, or even $200+ cards. Or even (at this point) $100+ cards. What a shocker. :disgust:

Not really a whole lot different than the last few times this has been posted.

One thing to note is there's no category for the X800XL -- not sure if those would show up as an "Unknown" or an "X800XT".

Certainly an impressive showing for the 6800GT.

And I think if you look at cards from the last couple generations (the R3XX/NV3X and R4XX/NV4X), ATI has a lot more of them, and the majority of the NVIDIA cards in that category are FX5200s (although, to be fair, a lot of those "9600" and "9800" cards are probably cheap SE versions). The main reason NVIDIA has a majority in the poll is that there are a ton of old GF2/3/4 cards out there that haven't been replaced yet.

I also feel real bad for these people:

Intel 845 13,693 1.43%
SiS 650/651/M650/740 3,590 0.37 %
Intel 852/855 3,380 0.35 %

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
:roll:

I said it was funny, didn't I?

 

[Rent]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: hans030390
and this means? hmm...Nvidia IS more popular, you know...once again, I'm thinking this has something to do with Sm3 (actually, for once in not....could i have a cookie?)

Hans, I know your doing this on purpose for entertainment value, but now it's just useless and plain annoying. Could you please quit the SM3.0 garbage? Pretty please?

I don't think theres a need to be nice about it.

hans, shut the fvck up. I'm not the only one tired of reading your drivel about SM3.0. I even have a 6800Ultra and I did NOT buy the card because of that feature.

cliffs notes : STFU hans.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: Rollo
Actually Pete, IMO, the thing to take away from the Steam survey is that there are more 6800GTs than X800Pros and X800XTPEs put together.

We all know the 9600s and 9800s were marginally better offerings than nVidias 2003 offerings and sold like hot cakes, so it's no surprise they are on top of that gen. To me the surprise is how totally dominated ATIs card from last year are.

You are teh king of fanboys Rollo

the 9600s and 9800s stomped all over the fx series and we all know it (look at their respective performances in more recent games :laugh: )

 

[Lonyo]

Users used more Nvidia 6800GTs than ATI X800 generation products and we noticed that some 5500 people did manage to get X800XT Platinum edition cards. You kind of expect to see a bit bigger numbers on those high-end cards.

Why? Because they are expensive? Because they are fairly rare?
Such a stupid statement.


As far as ATi not competing at lower price points:
In the UK they "seem" to have a 12 pipe card (400/700) at a price point similar to the 6600GT, which isn't bad.
(5th card down, 6600GT's are about the same price)

 

[nemesismk2]

I thought it was a pretty smart move for ati to put half life 2 vouchers in with some of their video cards. They atleast managed to shift alot of their video cards but at what cost to their profits?

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Users used more Nvidia 6800GTs than ATI X800 generation products and we noticed that some 5500 people did manage to get X800XT Platinum edition cards. You kind of expect to see a bit bigger numbers on those high-end cards.

Why? Because they are expensive? Because they are fairly rare?
Such a stupid statement.


As far as ATi not competing at lower price points:
In the UK they "seem" to have a 12 pipe card (400/700) at a price point similar to the 6600GT, which isn't bad.
(5th card down, 6600GT's are about the same price)

god what rip off prices for the 6600 gt, my msi 6600 gt vtd128 agp cost way less than £130-£140 at only £109!

Club3D GeForce 6600GT only £116!!!

Overclockers uk are not very reliable like Komplett, I have had to rma loads of stuff back to Overclockers and esp their ocuk radeon 9700 pro's!

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: Rollo
Actually Pete, IMO, the thing to take away from the Steam survey is that there are more 6800GTs than X800Pros and X800XTPEs put together.

We all know the 9600s and 9800s were marginally better offerings than nVidias 2003 offerings and sold like hot cakes, so it's no surprise they are on top of that gen. To me the surprise is how totally dominated ATIs card from last year are.

You are teh king of fanboys Rollo

the 9600s and 9800s stomped all over the fx series and we all know it (look at their respective performances in more recent games :laugh: )

nothing wrong with brand perference....ill even admit to being more a nvidia fan at the moment because i feel they have the upper hand, and im obviously delighted with my 6800GT

rollos owned so many cards though i dont think its fair to say if he is or isnt a fanboy,

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Users used more Nvidia 6800GTs than ATI X800 generation products and we noticed that some 5500 people did manage to get X800XT Platinum edition cards. You kind of expect to see a bit bigger numbers on those high-end cards.

Why? Because they are expensive? Because they are fairly rare?
Such a stupid statement.


As far as ATi not competing at lower price points:
In the UK they "seem" to have a 12 pipe card (400/700) at a price point similar to the 6600GT, which isn't bad.
(5th card down, 6600GT's are about the same price)

ive never noticed that x800 there before, what is it? it just says x800

certainly 4 more pipes will make up the deficit of 100mhz slower core, and 300mhz slower mem