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Nvidia or ATI for games ?

fiftyone

Grizzled Veteran
May 6, 2006
5,443
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Ok, need a few unbiased opinions (if possible).

Building a new computer.

The one thing I am undecided about is about which way to go as far as the graphics card is concerned, not the model but whether I should go Nvidia or ATI !

I've one eye on a ATI x1900gt and the other on a Nvidia 7600gt.
They are both in the same price range +or-.

The question is pointed at support & compatibility as far as drivers and such are concerned.

Any advice would be much apprieciated...

Thanks !
 
Both make excellent cards, buy the fastest for the money. If you want to use Linux then stay with Nvidia becuase ATI support is shocking and the drivers hurt to get working.

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
 
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Well I'm heading for the ATI x1900gt at the moment, anybody using one ?

Toms & Anantech rate it pretty well and it beats the heck out of the 7600gt with a long stick.

I've been using Nvidia since TNT1, no messing.

And my first AMD was a 700 mega, I've still got it in the "spare draw", it weighs about 2 lbs, no messing.

Anyhow, doing a complete switch from AMD/Nvidia, to Intel/ATI.

Choosing a new wife/car is a lot less stressful !:p .

Tanks for the ride !
 
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Driver wise (for windows) I think ATi is much better then Nvidia.

With Nvidia you can get a certain game to run better then with ATi cards but then the rest of your games will run like crap while there might be another driver set that makes some other game run exelent but then the first game runs bad. Basically with Nvidia you might need 3 sets of drivers for 3 different games to make them work super duper good (better then ATi) but with ATi you will only need 1 set of drivers and all games will run good with them (but a bit worse then the super duper good you got with the 3 different Nvidia sets).

That is my very personal experience and opinion.

But I would go with Nvidia for the same reason as the others have said, because they have good Linux drivers and ATis linux support is crap.
 
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Driver wise (for windows) I think ATi is much better then Nvidia.

With Nvidia you can get a certain game to run better then with ATi cards but then the rest of your games will run like crap while there might be another driver set that makes some other game run exelent but then the first game runs bad. Basically with Nvidia you might need 3 sets of drivers for 3 different games to make them work super duper good (better then ATi) but with ATi you will only need 1 set of drivers and all games will run good with them (but a bit worse then the super duper good you got with the 3 different Nvidia sets).

That is my very personal experience and opinion.

But I would go with Nvidia for the same reason as the others have said, because they have good Linux drivers and ATis linux support is crap.

Thank you Mr Svedberg,
this is the kind of response that I'm looking for.

I've had it with going back and for wards with the Nvidia drivers, so I was wanting to know if the ATI team had got their act together.

I hope that the good old Rage/Pro days are over.

I've just popped into the Omega driver site and even the guys there have dropped the Nvidia option, (for the time being).

I have never looked closely at Linux but I'm pretty sure it will come one day !

Thanks.

Anyone else want to give their opinion ?
 
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I'll have to second what Fu. Svedberg said about the ATI currently being better than NVidia on their drivers. I went from a X800pro to a 6800 Ultra. Although the 6800Ultra is a faster card, I miss ATI's drivers. With the current Forceware drivers, I have to leave AA and AF as application controlled. Otherwise, I get crashes to the desktop. If I set the same AA and AF settings within a game, I can play for hours. My next build will be an ATI card. I do not, however, care for ATI's Bloated control panel. I would use Omega's drivers or download the drivers only and run the classic control panel.
 
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I have never had a problem with ATI quality wise and have been happy with the two I have. They are the 128 MB 9800 Pro and the 256MB ATI X800 XT All-In-Wonder. My problem with ATI is the fact that I haven't been able to get my $50 refund from them for nearly 20 months (its been held up in a department and they are working on it :rolleyes: yeah right, for 20 months?) I will never buy ATI again for that reason alone.

However, I imagine you will do fine the the X1900 GT. Just be wary of any refund offers....Seriously.
 
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The one thing I am undecided about is about which way to go as far as the graphics card is concerned, not the model but whether I should go Nvidia or ATI !
And this is where your question fails.
Never get blinded by brands, always think about what you need in a product, then select the appropriate model for it, regardless of the brand.

This does get a bit complicated with AMD and Intel regarding CPUs since that defines your whole base layout (mobo, chipset), but since GFX cards are merely add-on products, you can freely exchange them disregarding the rest of your architechture (you'll have to decide for AGP or PCIe with your mobo anyway and both brands offer cards for both ports).

To ease your decission, think about what games you play, what resoltuion your display has, how much money you want to spend and whether SLI or Crossfire is even an option for you.
Then have a look at the specific segments (low-end, medium, high-end) of both manufacturers and chose that card what fits your needs best.
 
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