Which Vid Card - GeForce 2 Ultra 64 MB or Radeon 64MB?

[scottie]

Just traded in (it's Christmas return season, ya' know) my Hercules Prophet II GTS 64 MB (GeForce 2) with DDR, paid an extra $80, and got the CLAP Ultra 2 (GeForce 2 Ultra) with 64 MB DDR. An observation:

The 2D on the CLAP2 Ultra seems brighter and sharper at higher resolutions (1024 and up) than on my old Herc card. 3D looks crisper and better to my eye, too, but of course, these are subjective judgments.

My question to you all is: Is 2D and 3D better looking on the Radeon 64MB than the CLAP2 Ultra? I've read that it is, but this Ultra 2 sure looks good to me.

I could still switch to the Radeon 64. I'm trying to make my decision. I know the GeForce 2 Ultra is the fastest, and I have to have speed, too, but I'm really considering visual quality here. I'm going to pick between these two cards.

Any advice or informative links would be appreciated and thanks to you all in advance.

 

[MustangSVT]

hmm. Ultra is definatly the fastest. At high resolutions where other cards choke, it'll work smoothly. For me, i run most games at 1024X768 as my monitor goes upto 1280x1024 and i dont see much improvement with that resolution. What monitor do u have? Trinitron? and what resolution do u run most of your games at? If i were you i would keep the Ultra as it's speed over Radeon is far greater then image improvement u'll see.

Another thing is, the setup (monitor, video card, OS combo) will give different results. So if u can, try to borrow or buy a Radeon and see how it runs and looks in your setup, Im guessing u wont see major improvement but i might be wrong.

So, im saying the results will vary from a person to person, and their judgement of "visual Quality" will also vary. Only way is to test it in your system and see for yourself. I guess u can buy a Radeon from local B&M with good return policy and see how it runs on your system. (altho that's kinda wrong to do...)

Happy holidays.

 

[scottie]

Thanks for the quick response.

My system is this:

PIII 700 at 1001 mhz
BE6 II Rev. 2 w/ATA 100 Raid
256 megs Mushkin Rev. 3 CAS 222
Win TV tuner card
MX 300 Sound Card
Cable Modem Card
19" KDS Visual Sensations Monitor
Plextor 12/10/32A CD Burner
56X No-Name CD Rom Drive
30 GB Maxtor HD ATA 66
9.1 GB Seagate HD ATA 33

On my old Herc card I ran at 1024 x 768 because of a "ghosting" effect that I saw at higher resolutions that wasn't there at 1024 x 768 or below. But with this card, it looks OK at the higher resolutions. Maybe I just got a bad Herc card, but this CLAP2 Ultra is looking good to this layman.

 

[Taz4158]

Definitely try to compare them. I think the Radeon just might surprise you.

 

[jsm]

I have been an nVidia fan for a long time, but I really like my new Radeon. It's a very fast chip. I personally believe that ATI has finally done something good this time instead of being lazy slackers. The Rage128 was kind of a poopy chip.. okay, it was REALLY poopy. The Radeon, in my opinion, is very fast especially with 32bit games.

 

[pidge]

I would have to say Ultra or Pro if you want to save a few bucks. I have an Ultra in one of my systems and its so nice being able to run at 1280x1024 all of my games with FSAA 2x2 in high detail. I have to agree, I was disappointed with an MX Hercules because it had bad 2D. I don't think Hercules makes very good 2D cards. My Ultra looks excellent, crisp, smooth and runs perfectly stable. The only times my system has crashed since going back to NVIDIA (I was using an ATI AIW Radeon) was when I try to use Netzero and sometimes it hangs on dialup. But I have had that problem forever. What resolution are you running at? If you are going to be running 2D and 3D at 1280x1024 or less, then keep the Ultra. If you are going to go 1600x1200 in 2D and 1024x768 in 3D without FSAA, then go with the ATI.

 

[scottie]

I'm planning to run FSAA and run at 1280 x 1024. I'm leaning toward keeping the Ultra 2 because this CLAP Ultra 2 looks better than my Herc did at high resolutions.

Thanks again for the info!

 

[damac]

dood don't go with radeon. too many problems with games and their drivers are buggy. ati needs to do allot to improve their reputation and prove they can hang in the gaming market. good hardware means shiat when the drivers stink.

I have plenty of resources on my system otherwise and play many new and old pc games and the radeon is holding me back from even booting them all up and image quality or not its not worth the hassle.

 

[lifeguard1999]

I disagree with damac. I have a Radeon and it runs fine. That being said, if you are choosing between an Ultra and a 64MB Radeon, go with the Ultra.

 

[oldfart]

I asked this same question to another guy here that was talking about Radeon "problems" and never got an answer. What are these problems SPECIFICALLY? Here are the games I have that play perfectly on my Radeon:
Quake2
Quake3
Half-Life/and Op Force
Unreal
Unreal Tourney
Star Trek Voy Elite Force
Rouge Spear
Serious Sam Demo
Q3 Team Arena demo
No One Lives Forever
Gunman Demo
I'm Going In Demo

As you can see, I really only play shooter games. I've never seen any of these "problems" that the Radeon has. I'm running Win98SE, and will be going to a Win2k dual boot soon. I haven't tried it yet. From what I read, the newest Win2k drivers are vastly better than the old ones. I can't comment on it until I actually use them. As far as normal 2d desktop stuff goes. Also perfect.

So, once again, what are these "problems" the Radeon has?

 

[cmaMath13]

Go with the GeForce2 Ultra! I have one and it totally rocks!

Here is my rig:
Specs and Benches

 

[scottie]

As you can see, some folks say the Radeon has problems, and some say it's just fine. But most all say the image quality of Radeon is a little better than an Ultra 2.

Makes this pleasant decision tough, but three things stand out so far:

1. No one really has had any compatibility problems with the Ultra 2

2. It really does look great at 1280 x 1024 on my monitor.

3. It is undeniably the fastest vid card.

That has me still leaning Ultra 2, but the Radeon 64 costs a little less, too.

Decisions, decisions.

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[oldfart]

If you are happy with the Ultra, keep it! The only way you will know for certain is to try both out and make your own decision.

 

[damac]

some games require 16 bit color and on the radeon I have noticed a few older games being corrupt and having graphical glitches that make a game look nasty. as far as specific problems go look at ati specific message boards and you'll see plenty of stuff like hardware not working as it should for the all in wonders and stuff.

I don't have a specific game play list off the top of my head but I have many games in my rotation and have noticed little quirks with certain games and how they interact with my system. It is possible for drivers to have bugs that cause wierd crap to happen and its happened to me a bunch with atis latest drivers.

so I have done my swaps and pounded my machine to try and run all these games and consistently used my old geforce ddr and it would clear up the problems.

I know that seems broad but Im just telling you from personal experience since I have the cards and know what Im seeing. Maybe atis new drivers could solve many problems or maybe some games could be patched I don't know but the card is a headache.

you may just be lucky in your circle of games to not have compatability problems I don't know.

 

[gregshin]

I have owned both cards...and i decided to keep the Radeon. The visual, 2d, and 3d quality was better and also the DVD hardware playback ROCKED! You can also use the VIVO for other multimedia sstuff. So far i have played Everquest, Counterstrike, Madden 2001 and no probs! using the offical drivers

 

[Taz4158]

Never hd a problem with any games here either. There does seem to be some issues with the VIA chipset but Radeon isn't the only card that sometimes doesn't get along with it.

 

[miniMUNCH]

Image quality is not so good on the nVIDIA cards in 3D either. The Ultra is fast, really fast but I always thought something was wrong with the image. Now I know why...

Read this Article on nVIDIA's DXT1 compression HARDWARE BUG.

This may be why Geforce and Geforce 3D mage quality looks bad to me on so many games.

IMO, the v5 has the best image quality in 3d...at least on my friends card (he's tweaked everthing up really nice). My Radeon is right up there though.

I do have problems with the TV tuner, but the card runs DEUS EX, UT, Baldur's Gate II (no locks since BGII patch), Thief II, rainbow six perfectly. UT is especially bitchin'.

 

[scottie]

Looked at that hardware bug article, but consider it in the same league with other hardware issues that Radeon has, too. Those issues cancel each other out with both cards.

I want to thank everyone for commenting. I think I may have to sneak test a Radeon myself before finally deciding, but it looks like the only things that will make me go Radeon is:

1. Substantially better image quality

2. Substantially better hardware support for Direct X 8.

I'm on Direct X 8 with the Ultra 2 and everything seems fine.

 

[Taz4158]

<< Looked at that hardware bug article, but consider it in the same league with other hardware issues that Radeon has, too. Those issues cancel each other out with both cards. >>


If you do try the Radeon may I be the first to welcome you aboard?

 

[bigcfromcinci]

Why not get a Herc Pro, it's a 100.00 cheaper with ultra speeds!!!! I'm running mine @ 225/475 w/o any problems at all
They also have the tv-out

 

[scottie]

Had a Herc 64 MB GeForce 2, but this CLAP 2 Ultra seems to look sharper. That's why I shied away from a Herc Pro or Herc Ultra.

I've used a V3 3000, V2, V1, TNT 2 Ultra, Riva 128 ZX, even a Terminator DX Virge in my computer travels.

Mini, you're right, V3 looks good, but to my eyes, the CLAP 2 Ultra I have looks just as good as V3 in 2D and better looking in 3D.

And that's all that really counts in the end - does it look good to your eyes and is it fast enough to play the games you want. Speed you can measure, but visual quality judgments are usually subjective.

So Taz, that's why I have to eyeball the Radeon and if it looks a lot better to me, you bet I'll let ya' know and you can bet I'll keep it. Thanks again to all.