nVidia vs ATI

[XPerties]

This thread is dedicated to all the members who I have argued with when the question was asked:

Is nVidia better than ATI.

In the past several years I have always argued the point about nVidia being better yet many members have said try the card. I am hear to say after buying my first high end ATI card, I WAS WRONG.

Man what an impression ATI made with me after running a simple 3dmark benchmark without any tweaking. I bow to ATI.

[Doggie]

well recently i read an article about this issue, and some say both of the companys latest offerings are too close to call. BUT, i agree, ATI in my opinion are better than nVidia, i was once a strickly nVidia 3d card owner and never budged, that was till i saw a nice Radeon on my friends pc and now with the PCI express ATI's, i'm further inclined to buy there latest ones. ATI all the way peoples!

[SiMoNsAyS]

it just depends on the graphic generation. everybody knows that the GF Ti4x00 was the best in his time, also the modern Radeon 9x00 non Pro/Pro was the best in quality/price compared to nVidia.

next generation, 6800 vs x800, looks like don't have a high perfomance difference but i'll choose ati like before because i don't want to uprade my system again and buy a new 500w power suply only for the GF6800

[Slimster]

NVidia makes dam good chipsets (after 2 new versions) for you´re mombo but gfx is ATI all the way.

[Aaron]

I hear nVidia's TV-out is lousy, so its all ATi for me

[rupert86]

Ahem,

Sticking to one company is always harmful to one's health. Just read out reviews on the net, and then make your decision.

It is always the same with nVidia vs ATi, Intel vs AMD, etc.

No company will come to reward you at your home if you be loyal to them. Be somewhat selfish. Look for your own benefit.

[SiMoNsAyS]

@rupert86 i agree, read some impartials reviews will help anyone that want to buy a new gfx card, but as important as reviews are the user experiences; specially if we talk about help and support, drivers updates, price on different locations and so on...

[CoffeeFiend]

I always liked ati and never had issues with it... When GeForce 4 were relatively new, it seems like everyone was whining about the ati drivers and saying how much better/faster and all nvidias are, so I spent a lot of $$ on a new Ti4600 vivo. It was my first, and it will also be my last nVidia card. Even if NVidias may seem a better off card in some benches in the future, I'm just not buying one again.

[MadGutts]

I have had both low spec and high spec cards from both manufacturers... However. I have also used cheap over the counter cards with the chipsets from nVidia and Ati but the rest of the card was "made in taiwan" - very generic.

However... If you want to use a high spec machine, or a gaming pc, then i would recomend either of these manufacturers, BUT dont buy a non-genuine card. Make sure it is a branded card as there perfomance is greater.

As for which is best? Well i have been using Ati for around 10 years and have never had replace one card ! as for nVidia cards.... Only Matrox cards have been a problem.. the cheaper ones last longer !

Ati 4 me

[rupert86]

@SiMoNsAyS,

Oh how difficult it is to type your handle. Anyway, user experiences are also very important. e.g: I have a Soltek board. It was not the fastest of its time, but like in the Top 10. But I am happy that it has a support center in Asia, 5 hours ahead me in terms of time.

And wow, they reply in 5 mins. To think big companies like Asus & MSI take 3 days to respond.

That's the same with graphics cards.

And oh yeah, low-end cards create lesser problems. Mainly because they generate lesser heat, and require lesser power. Most of them have passive cooling, so failure due to fan stoppage is impossible.

[Subcodec]

I have had only 3 video cards since I've had computers. The first one I had was a Voodoo 3 2000 on a PCI card. At the time it was pretty good, but it was obsolete quite fast. Today, it lives in my aunt and uncle's PC and still works just fine after about 5 years. The next card I got was a Matrox G400 Max. I never had any problems from this card and it gave me respectable performance for the time. That video card is still running strong in my parent's PC. Currently, I am still running a Nvidia GeForce ti4400. Now it isn't top of the line and it doesn't even support DX9, but I am still able to play many new games, even Doom 9 at reasonable settings. I also have not had any major problems with this card. My only other experiences with other brands have been with a video card with a SIS chip and an ATI card that I've built other computers with.

When it all comes down to it, I go at it just like previously mentioned. I first set a budget and then I read through countless reviews and opinions. From there, I pick a video card that suits my needs or the needs of the person I am building for.

Even now, I'm waiting for some parts to upgrade my system. I am upgrading the CPU from an AMD 1800+ to a mobile 2500+ that I plan on overclocking, a new motherboard for this processor, and going from 512MB of 266Mhz RAM to 1 gig of 400Mhz of RAM. My guess would be the video card is about 6 months or so away from being upgraded yet.

[SiMoNsAyS]

[...] I am still able to play many new games, even Doom 9 at reasonable settings. [...]

i wish to play Doom 9 with my current gfx... just kidding

[tak]

I have no comment on the actual cards developed by the two companies in question. I use ATI, since that's what IBM decided to put in as the flavor of the month™ in their machines or something.

Just a note: nVidia > ATI in terms of Linux (binary) driver support.

[Astalavista]

those new Express PCI video cards are killer.

just demo the X800 ATI it was smoking.

[prathapml]

Well, if you step back a bit and see......

Each new generation of cards is better. So now that the FX6800 series is out, nVidia rules again.

ATi occasionally keeps coming up with flashes in the pan, but not continuous good support like nVidia, nor the volumes of production. 3rd party OEM gfx cards are another big draw with nV - bcos of that, you get different price-points to choose from. ATi is not nearly that wide in market coverage and pieces available. I need to wait more to get a top-end ATi, as compared to nV, since the only people supplying ATi-chipset based cards are themselves (and a VERY small number of others now, like gigabyte, Asus). And innovation, and listening to the market, nVidia is better. nV has been around for a longer time, and has a good track record too (and fact is all the poison being spread against them has not that much importance - people normally hate the dominant player and side with the underling, no matter what the game).

ATi is improving on this, but nV's driver support is legendary for platform compatibility and stability. Especially, if you're on linux for much of the time, like me.

While this is still not a settled debate (and will never be, as long as the two survive), nVidia to me still looks the better of the lot.