Who's Better, ATI or nVidia

danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
edited May 2004 in Hardware
Ok, in your opinion, who's better, ATI or nVidia?

According to general consensus in this forum its ATI, but where I work, it seems they like nVidia, particularly the new GeForce6 6800.

A few claim that not all games will run properly on an ATI, but with the knowledge of this forum, I bet you can prove them wrong.

Comments

  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited May 2004
    i wouldnt trade any of my 9800 pros for anything cept, an XT or an X800 :)

    the X800 core is basicly a beefed up version of the 9800 core while nVidias is a completly new core so in the longer run of things the 6800 should be able to meet the x800 in performance, but when PCI-X comes out, all bets are off
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2004
    1. The claim that all games will not run properly on an ATI is patently false and the product of FUD; fear, uncertainty, and doubt. That is to say the people at work have no actual clue of how the video cards operate in real testing, and simply their love of nVidia blinds them to the fact that the both are equal in compatability.

    2. The ATI Radeon X800 is faster than the GeForce6 6800. Benchmarked. Signed, sealed, delivered.

    3. In this generation of cards, both are pretty much equal in terms of performance and image quality. The new ATI offerings barely squeeze ahead of the nVidia offerings in real testing.

    4. The "Pixel Shader 3" crap is a marketing ploy. Is PS3 nice? Why yes, however both nVidia and ATI cards are 100% DX9-approved. Across the board. Entirely. Pixel Shader 3 is a groovy new term that really doesn't mean a lot. PixS2 can do what PS3 can.

    So prices being roughly equal, image quality being equal, and the ATI offerings being slightly better in real testing: ATI wins.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited May 2004
    where I work, it seems they like nVidia... A few claim that not all games will run properly on an ATI

    rofl. Your co-workers don't have any hands-on experience with any ATi products newer than the original Radeon, do they?

    I've only ever run into one compatibility issue with any of my ATi cards, and that's with the Radeon 9700 and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. And that was EA's fault, not ATi's. AND it runs fine on all my other ATi cards, just not the 9000 (and I think EA/ATi have fixed the issue on the 9700 anyhow)

    ATi also has far better image quality than nVidia. AND the X800 cards are still faster than the 6800, AND they don't use 2 power connectors and require a 460w (and a GOOD 460w) PSU at minimum, either.

    Basically, nVidia has not done anything right since the release of the nForce2 (altho the nForce3 250 is supposed to be good, but I haven't looked, since I will not touch single cpu socket 940 boards, and I won't touch s754 period).

    So, to summarize:
    ATi's cards are faster, have better image quality, no longer have driver or compatibility issues, and they don't use 2 power connectors, require 460w PSUs, and take up 2 slots the way the nVidia cards do.

    Does that make the decision any easier? :D
  • MedlockMedlock Miramar, Florida Member
    edited May 2004
    Thrax wrote:
    2. The ATI Radeon X800 is faster than the GeForce6 6800. Benchmarked. Signed, sealed, delivered.
    Nice.

    lol Dan you should have some of your co-workers read this thread. That'd shut 'em up real quick! ;D

    I chose ATi, but I consider myself a fanboy, so my vote prolly doesn't count lol.
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited May 2004
    Depends on what price level you are looking at.

    The ATI X800 XT/PE offers better performance in all titles EXCEPT Quake 3 powered games (NVidia's implementation of OpenGL is still vastly superior to ATI's) than NVidia's 6800 Ultra. NVidia's Digital Vibrance Control (DVC) is better than ATI's implementation of sliders & adjusters in the control panel. However, performance wise, the X800 XT/PE is the best choice for a high-end video card, at least until we see the 6850/6850 Ultra.

    From an overclockers point of view, the new NVidia 6800GT is the best choice over the X800 Pro. Why? The 6800GT is simply an underclocked 6800 Ultra. No disabled pipelines (it's 16x1). Overclock that beast and you've basically got a 6800 Ultra for less than the cost of a real one, offering better performance than both a stock and overclocked X800 Pro.

    AFAIK, ATI is hardlocking their X800 Pro's so you can't soft-mod them, and they don't overclock far enough to offer the same performance as an X800 XT on their 12x1 pipeline setup.

    Catalyst still has some issues to be worked out, mainly with their VPU Recovery software, so Detonator/Forceware gets the thumbs up here.

    Pixel Shader 3? Marketing fud. Who cares. PS2B offers just as good performance in today's titles. Chances are by the time PS3 comes to mainstream, next-generation video accelerators will be out that both properly support PS3 and beyond.

    Both companies have had their trouble running game titles, but it's nothing a new (or OLD) set of drivers can't fix. Realistically, both ATI and NVidia cards are compatible with the same software packages.

    To sum it all up?

    Pre R300 World: NVidia.
    Post R300 World: ATI.
  • entropyentropy Yah-Der-Hey (Wisconsin)
    edited May 2004
    ah the good ol' war begins anew (though has it ever died?). i like the x800, but only cuz i heart ati lol. actually, this time around, i'm rather disappointed in ati. i mean, they pull off the same as nvidia, but they're using a rehashed structure. nvidia completely re-did their gpu, and therefore i think nvidia will win in the not-so-distant future. also, ati's locked pipes and super high frequency is a overclocker's nightmare. i'm curious to see what ati could pull off if they switched their gpu structure, because they're doing the same as nvidia by ONLY boosting the frequency (more or less). the last (and definitely least) reason i like ati is because it's easier to say lol. i'm used to saying "nuh-vidia" instead of the proper "in-vidia". oh, and nvidia's 'mascot' if you will sucks....stupid mermaid....i like my mascots to be ass kickers (Ruby).
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited May 2004
    entr0py wrote:
    ... oh, and nvidia's 'mascot' if you will sucks....stupid mermaid....i like my mascots to be ass kickers (Ruby).

    Hands down ATI's mascot wins :)
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited May 2004
    SimGuy wrote:
    Hands down ATI's mascot wins :)
    Hands down where? :vimp:
  • entropyentropy Yah-Der-Hey (Wisconsin)
    edited May 2004
    haha, kinky. we'll leave that to the masses, prof :thumbsup:
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2004
    Who cares? Anywhere.
  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited May 2004
    LOL omfg
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited May 2004
    Thrax wrote:
    Who cares? Anywhere.

    Indeed! :rarr:
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2004
    hump.gif
  • pseudonympseudonym Michigan Icrontian
    edited May 2004
    Stupid goddamn CG babes....

    It doesn't matter to me really. Whoever has the faster card at the time is who I buy. I've had nVidia, ATI, Voodoos, etc.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2004
    Aye. I'll buy whatever is fastest. Which is why 3DFX, nVidia, Matrox and ATI have all visited my box in the years past.
  • fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
    edited May 2004
    3dfx....i miss muh voodoo3 :(
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2004
    VooDoo3s were the damn devil.
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited May 2004
    I wonder what would have happened if 3DFX managed to release Rampage on time and on budget...

    Voodoo 3's were the damned devil. Yay 16-bit rendering :)
  • entropyentropy Yah-Der-Hey (Wisconsin)
    edited May 2004
    lol i'm still trying to figure out wth that is ... looks fun ... or painful ... or painfully fun
  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited May 2004
    my voodoo banshee was so sweet, i would have liked to see what 3dfx could cook up with the technology we have now
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited May 2004
    Choice is largely a timing issue. We (here) tend to look at a very short time horizon. Considering that most people don't buy the top of line cards and also keep their machines for 3-5 years we need to look back a bit.
    I am running GF2 Ultra, GF4Ti4200, R8500, 9600SE, 9600XT. None of these card has ever given me any trouble, though the 9600SE is slower than crap.
    In the newer card ATI clearly has the upper hand. With older cards (and drivers) NV was the strong one.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited May 2004
    Nvidia used to hold the candle for me, there was a time when ATI did everything wrong and Nvidia did everything right. But now it seems over the last 2 years the candle has been grabbed firmly by ATI.

    Nvidia kicked the graphics industry up the arse, ATI was caught off gaurd, and Nvidia got a great head start. However once ATI found it's feet again, they really proved and are proving, how powerfull a force they can be.

    ATI for me at the moment.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited May 2004
    I think it's a classic case of two good companies duking it out - to the benefit of the consumer. As soon as one side gets an edge the other redoubles their efforts.

    In the long run this benefits us all. Now if only they'd have a price war. :)
  • EnisadaEnisada Edmonton Member
    edited May 2004
    Only ATI could use existing technology revamp it and come out with a product that was still faster than the competition next generation hardware. I bet ATI didn't have to put nearly as much into R&D as nVidia did. Kudos!!! :Canflag:
  • MedlockMedlock Miramar, Florida Member
    edited May 2004
    Enisada wrote:
    Only ATI could use existing technology revamp it and come out with a product that was still faster than the competition next generation hardware. I bet ATI didn't have to put nearly as much into R&D as nVidia did. Kudos!!! :Canflag:
    Nah, they just came out with something that wasn't fertilizer. ;D


    (hehe that came from this Limp Bizkit album I just happened to be listening to.)
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