Nvidia or ATI for games ?

[fiftyone]

Thanks for the positive and objective feed back chaps.

I have just spotted a Nvidia 7900gs for 165

 

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

I've got an nVidia 6800 Ultra. I don't understand the problems people have with drivers; I update whenever a game requires it.

 

[{5.GJ}Diefen]

I would get the nvidia geforce 8800 it has direct x 10 so you wont need to upgrade for next gen games. Tigerdirect has them ok prices.Nvidia 7900 works well too kind cheap now too.

 

[malice]

Its all a matter of personal opinion. The difference between two cards from ATI and Nvidia both around the same level is only going to be a few frames here and there. I personally like Nvidia much more then ATI. I also think SLI is teh way to go and if you buy nvidia make sure you get a motherboard which supports SLI. This will allow you to add a second video card to your existing one down the road.

 

[ripa]

I'd pick NVidia, and here's why:

ATi doesn't offer midrange cards with passive cooling. I despise those double-deckers (damn you NVidia FX series for starting that!) and cards that sound like vacuum cleaners. Since you usually don't get to listen to what a card's cooling fan sounds like until you've bought it, the easiest thing to do is to just get a passively cooled card.

Also, the only official way to adjust settings on ATi cards is to use their crappy bloated Catalyst Control Center. Granted, NVidia has also bundled a new, buggy, and slow interface with their new drivers, but you can still choose the old, working, and complete interface if you want to.

ATi seems to be more interested in making their interface more skinnable (why the heck would you want to skin a darn control panel?) than adding functionality. In functionality and customizability NVidia's drivers offer much more. For example, you don't need PowerStrip to add new resolutions.

NVidia's 7***GS cards seem to offer a lot of "bang for the euro". My video card history goes as follows: Matrox Mystique ('96) -> Riva TNT ('99) -> Matrox Millennium G550 ('01) -> GeForce2 GTS DDR ('02) -> back to G550 after the GeForce2 broke ('02) -> Radeon 8500LE ('03) -> GeForce 6200 and Radeon 9550 ('06, two computers).

 

[Helmi]

I would get the nvidia geforce 8800 it has direct x 10 so you wont need to upgrade for next gen games.

DX10 isn't even out yet, and if so, it will only work with Vista.
Until that is out (and provided you will upgrade), it's quite likely there's already a new generation of DX cards out.
Additionally, the 8800 doesn't even support DX10 fully compatible.
Buying it NOW, even more for this $500+ price tag is pretty ridiculous IMO.

ATi doesn't offer midrange cards with passive cooling.

Firstly, that is not true.
Secondly, ATi, just like nVidia, does not offer any gamer cards themselves.
Only third-party manufacturers offer cards with GPUs from both companies on them.

I despise those double-deckers

Why? Most mobos nowadays have the primary GFX slot placed a bit more spacy so those cards do not cover any other slots.

and cards that sound like vacuum cleaners. Since you usually don't get to listen to what a card's cooling fan sounds like until you've bought it, the easiest thing to do is to just get a passively cooled card.

Now, that's what online reviews are for, so you can inform yourself about any especially noisy cards.

If you buy one with a larger fan than the reference design, they can be pretty silent.

Also, the only official way to adjust settings on ATi cards is to use their crappy bloated Catalyst Control Center. Granted, NVidia has also bundled a new, buggy, and slow interface with their new drivers, but you can still choose the old, working, and complete interface if you want to.

You do not have to install the CCC.
You can still use the older CP if you want or even use thrid-party solutions.
Granted, that's not official, but what difference does that make?
Also, you can access all settings through the tray icon context menu.
No need to even start the CCC just to change your FSAA level or so.

ATi seems to be more interested in making their interface more skinnable (why the heck would you want to skin a darn control panel?) than adding functionality. In functionality and customizability NVidia's drivers offer much more. For example, you don't need PowerStrip to add new resolutions.

I don't find much difference in functionallity, really.
Given the plethora of resolutions given to chose from, I couldn't think of any I'd like to add manually.
How often do you do this so it would be that important?

 

[ripa]

Firstly, that is not true.
Secondly, ATi, just like nVidia, does not offer any gamer cards themselves.
Only third-party manufacturers offer cards with GPUs from both companies on them.

By that I meant cards with an ATi chip on them, not cards directly manufactured by ATi. I checked the most popular Finnish online store for heatsink-only cards. The only ATI PCI-E cards were below-100

 

[Helmi]

By that I meant cards with an ATi chip on them, not cards directly manufactured by ATi. I checked the most popular Finnish online store for heatsink-only cards. The only ATI PCI-E cards were below-100€ low-end models. I repeated the search on Newegg. Seven fanless ATi cards above 100$ (to rid the results of the lowest end). All except one are double-deckers. The sole normal-sized card is a Radeon 9250.

I see.
Of course, there's a difference ebtween what an online shop offers and what portfolio the manufacturers have.
I'm pretty sure there's X1950PRO cards passively cooled (almost bought one for my cousin when I found one actively - but pretty silent - cooled one)
And if that is no high-end medium-range card then IDK (it's =>€200).

To me a double-decker screams inferior design "We couldn't design as an efficient chip as our competitor so we had to install a huge cooling device".

Alright.
I couldn't care less what it "scearms" as long as it is pretty silent when running
Personally, I'm pretty fond of these two-slots collers that directly push the hot air out of the case's back instead of merely stirring it inside...

I guess... but I prefer to stay on the safe side and take a completely silent card (I'm getting allergic to all the whining fan noise).

In which case you will have to make up for it with case fans (see argument above).
Of course, this could be more quiet, but doesn't have to.
Also, you may run into problems in hot summers (ok, not liklely to happen in Finland ) or when trying to OC.

For example 1024x576 interlaced would be great for widescreen standard definition TV. SCART and VGA are electrically compatible. You just need to use compatible timings (which ATI's CCC doesn't allow you to adjust). Or you might need some odd variation of 13??x768 if you have a big LCD television. They're particularly selective about the input resolution if you want a non-scaled pixel-perfect image. I like configurability.

Agreed.
Well, I doubt the average gamer hooks his PC up to his TV.
Nice to have for sure (but it isn't impossible since you can use 3rd party tools).
1360*768 is already present in CCC (I'm currebtly checking, since I never bothered before ) as is lots of other non-default resolutions.
In any case, even with LCD TV, you (sadly ) still have overscan, so even using DVI and chosing a "pixel-perfect" resolution you will not achieve an optimal image (as is the case on a n LC monitor).

 

[fiftyone]

Carry on chaps,
I'm sticking to the Nvidia 7900gs choice, my decision is made !

Also there is no way I'm going to unplug my 1360x760 resolution hd television to work or play on this very nice 19" crt tube.

I look at computer screens all day long and just like anybody else, when I get home in the evening I like to relax in front of the TV !

I would just like to turn the candy up a bit, to smooth out the image.

The super dooper ATI AA+HDR thing looks pretty good, I must admit.
ATI's X1900gt runs without to much noise but hot, and consumes quite a bit more than the Nvidia.

The 7900gs is also quite a bit smaller (4cm) than the ATI, which I must take into consideration.

As for drivers, well, love em or hate em, you have to have one !

Thanks

 

[Dcode]

the latest ATI drivers for linux are quite good, better performance than windows , i know of many people who now swear by ATI , i suppose it depends on which gpu your using also tho

Couldnt get fglrx to work properly with my Mobility R9000 and i dont have the knowlage just yet to get the open source driver to work. Doesnt matter now as ive sold the laptop to my dad and he does not need 3d acceleration. I own a X1800XT in my desktop and i'll be trying the new linux drivers with that asap.

 

[Zennousha]

I've personally found the pros and cons of the two companies to be the following:

ATI Pros
-Better performance and quality
-Drivers aren't a hassle to deal with

ATI Cons
-May not have as wide a variety of supporting hardware (IE Motherboards. My 1950 crossfire setup only had one Board to choose from)
-Generally costs a bit more

NVIDIA Pros
-Generally more quiet or cool than ATI's products, but that can be fixed with a good case.
-With specific games built around working with NVIDIA, it runs extremely well.

NVIDIA Cons
-Games that don't specifically support NVIDIA generally don't run as well as their ATI counterparts would.
-Driver support can be hell.

I originally worked with NVIDIA all the way up until my RADEON 9600 and eventually my 1950 XTX and Crossfire. I'll never go back.

 

[DONT_SHOOT]

all i can do is comment from my personal dealings with the two companies.
nvidia pro:
ease of use, plug it in and go.
quiet
cool
stable.

ati pro:
i could open my case and warm my feet to it.(seriously)
forced me to upgrade to louder speakers.


nvidia con:
no AA+HDR.

ati con:
loud
caught fire
ran into errors on games i liked directly related to driver issues.

i have owned more nvidia cards then ati. when i purchased my ati i bought with a open mind. when i purchased my latest card i also went in the store with a open mind. however my next card will be an nvidia as i feel suspicious of ati. what happened to me is just that. what happened to me. your experience will vary.