ATI or NVidia

[Kekewy]

The topic pretty much says it all. Which one is the better way to go? I'm not interested in doing crossfire or SLI. I've heard too much about it to lead me to believe it's a waste of time and money. My system is running an AMD processor, 2 gigs of ram, and an MSI motherboard.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Better in what way? If you want a gaming card nvidia is the only way to go. Get a 8800gts 640 for around $329 and be happy.

 

[Kekewy]

I'm looking for a well balanced card. I'd like to get one that I can play games on, watch movies with, do picture editing, ect and have a good quality graphic without any kind of lag. My current card sputters and dies on the latest expansion of Sims 2.

 

[jae]

whats the specs on your current rig?

 

[RussianSensation]

Depends on how much you want to spend and how intensive the games you will play are.

$100 ATI X1900GT 256
$145 ATI X1950Pro 256
$170 ATI X1950XT 256
$260 NV 8800GTS 320
$330 NV 8800GTS 640
$530 NV 8800GTX 768

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Kekewy
I'm looking for a well balanced card. I'd like to get one that I can play games on, watch movies with, do picture editing, ect and have a good quality graphic without any kind of lag. My current card sputters and dies on the latest expansion of Sims 2.

Every card over $30 can handle all of that except gaming.

The nvidia 8600GTS cards might be good for you since they have hardware H.264 high-def decoding, but any card will work fine for stard-def DVDs and for xvid/divx.

 

[jkresh]

list your full specs and how much money you are looking at spending (also what games you play/plan to play), otherwise its hard to give a specific response.

 

[Kekewy]

Originally posted by: jkresh
list your full specs and how much money you are looking at spending (also what games you play/plan to play), otherwise its hard to give a specific response.

The computer I'm getting the video card for has:

MSI K9N Neo-F Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Proccesser
2 gigs OCZ Platinum RAM

I'm looking to spend no more than 400$ on a video card (300 or less if possible). The games I play most now are Sims 2, Diablo 2, and Warcraft 3, but I'd like to be able to play about anything on it. Once I can actually play more games on my computer, I'm going to get others, so it's hard to say what games I want to play on it.

 

[Tsuwamono]

id go for ATI. the only thing holding them back right now is drivers. They are usually beating Nvidia but when it comes to GPUs there is no point in asking which one is better because the release time frames of the two companys are off set so it changes every 3 months really. Just pick on you like more and as long as its their top or top 3 in performance you will be fine

 

[tank171]

I would go for a eVGA 7950GT KO Superclocked with 512MB of RAM. That is what I got, and it is <300. It is fast - one of the fastest non dx10 cards. It is factory OC'ed to 600/1450. It plows through WC3 and D2, which I love to play too. Look for a review of it on the web. It has great FPS on most games.

 

[Antikristuseke]

Depends on personal prefrence more than anything else, unless you are going after the ultimate in performance which for gaming right now is Nvidia. Generaly i prefer Nvidia hardware myself due to drivers but still have some ati hardware in some rigs which im thuroughly pleased with aswell.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
Better in what way? If you want a gaming card nvidia is the only way to go. Get a 8800gts 640 for around $329 and be happy.

Depends...if you're buying used hardware cheap then a X1950xtx is the best out there. You're not going to find any used 8800gts cards out there I don't think.

 

[SickBeast]

This thread is nothing but dumb flamebait and should be LOCKED. Nvidia and ATI both have good cards at different price levels. :roll:

 

[wahoyaho]

Yah, just get a cheap midranged card, the games you play really aren't that hard on the gfx cards

 

[Kekewy]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
This thread is nothing but dumb flamebait and should be LOCKED. Nvidia and ATI both have good cards at different price levels. :roll:

I had no intention of starting any kind of flame war. I'm building a new system and am only trying to find the best card for my needs. I'm sorry if you feel people here aren't mature enough to answer this question without starting a flame war. I've seen no signs of any flames at all so far, and people have been very helpful.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Originally posted by: Kekewy
The topic pretty much says it all. Which one is the better way to go? I'm not interested in doing crossfire or SLI. I've heard too much about it to lead me to believe it's a waste of time and money. My system is running an AMD processor, 2 gigs of ram, and an MSI motherboard.

you should elaborate your original post to give folks more details off the bat without thinking that it IS flame-bait.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Kekewy

Originally posted by: jkresh
list your full specs and how much money you are looking at spending (also what games you play/plan to play), otherwise its hard to give a specific response.

The computer I'm getting the video card for has:

MSI K9N Neo-F Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Proccesser
2 gigs OCZ Platinum RAM

I'm looking to spend no more than 400$ on a video card (300 or less if possible). The games I play most now are Sims 2, Diablo 2, and Warcraft 3, but I'd like to be able to play about anything on it. Once I can actually play more games on my computer, I'm going to get others, so it's hard to say what games I want to play on it.

OK ... now we know in descending order of price and performance

8800GTS- 640MB ... 8800GTS 320MB ... x1950xt


it is also going to depend on the resolution of your monitor
... for 10x7 the 1950xt is Overkill ... for 16x10 even the GTS is gonna struggle at max detail

 

[A554SS1N]

I'd just go with a mid-range card from either - just something that fits your budget, as none of those games are particularly demanding.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Anyone remember Bitboys? They had the best card (that never released), the best technology (that they couldn't produce or prove), and the greatest marketing (they had none at all), and ATI purchased them for $44million. A joke company with vaporware products and made up specs makes $44million by letting someone else take ownership of something that never really existed.

So I say Bitboys > everyone else everywhere because they managed to sell what was basically nothing, for $44million.

 

[yacoub]

Glaze3D baby!

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: Kekewy

[B[My current card sputters and dies on the latest expansion of Sims 2.[/b]

First of all my daughters PC runs the Sims 2 (including all expansions) @ 1280x1024 with every detail setting at maximum & its an Athlon XP 2800+ with a 256mb Radeon 9800 Pro ... obviously thats not a very demanding game so unless you have somthing slower then a 9800 Pro theres a good chance somthing is wrong with your system.

Second, at 1024x768 an 8800GTS or X1950XT is serious overkill ... I would suggest going with either an X1950 Pro/GT or 7900GS & saving your cash until you get a better moniter because the longer you wait the faster & cheaper mid-range DX10 cards will get.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Kekewy

Originally posted by: jkresh
list your full specs and how much money you are looking at spending (also what games you play/plan to play), otherwise its hard to give a specific response.

The computer I'm getting the video card for has:

MSI K9N Neo-F Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Proccesser
2 gigs OCZ Platinum RAM

I'm looking to spend no more than 400$ on a video card (300 or less if possible). The games I play most now are Sims 2, Diablo 2, and Warcraft 3, but I'd like to be able to play about anything on it. Once I can actually play more games on my computer, I'm going to get others, so it's hard to say what games I want to play on it.

OK ... now we know in descending order of price and performance

8800GTS- 640MB ... 8800GTS 320MB ... x1950xt


it is also going to depend on the resolution of your monitor
... for 10x7 the 1950xt is Overkill ... for 16x10 even the GTS is gonna struggle at max detail

The GTS doesn't struggle with *anything* right now, even the 320mb version at 1920x1200. :Q

Ignore what most of the people on here say bashing the GTS, especially those who knock the 'paltry' memory on the 320mb version. They're great cards and are actually overkill for all the games that are currently on the market. Their DX10 power has not even started being tapped, and that's when they say the 320mb GTS will truly shine as it can then access main system memory (which will be DDR3 in some cases now).

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Kekewy

Originally posted by: jkresh
list your full specs and how much money you are looking at spending (also what games you play/plan to play), otherwise its hard to give a specific response.

The computer I'm getting the video card for has:

MSI K9N Neo-F Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Proccesser
2 gigs OCZ Platinum RAM

I'm looking to spend no more than 400$ on a video card (300 or less if possible). The games I play most now are Sims 2, Diablo 2, and Warcraft 3, but I'd like to be able to play about anything on it. Once I can actually play more games on my computer, I'm going to get others, so it's hard to say what games I want to play on it.

OK ... now we know in descending order of price and performance

8800GTS- 640MB ... 8800GTS 320MB ... x1950xt


it is also going to depend on the resolution of your monitor
... for 10x7 the 1950xt is Overkill ... for 16x10 even the GTS is gonna struggle at max detail

The GTS doesn't struggle with *anything* right now, even the 320mb version at 1920x1200. :Q

Ignore what most of the people on here say bashing the GTS, especially those who knock the 'paltry' memory on the 320mb version. They're great cards and are actually overkill for all the games that are currently on the market. Their DX10 power has not even started being tapped, and that's when they say the 320mb GTS will truly shine as it can then access main system memory (which will be DDR3 in some cases now).

it looks like you can bog it down ... try FC with soft shadows enabled ... for example
try Oblivion with every setting completely maxed and all the texture packs added

and can you explain this ... do you know if this is resolved or even real?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/msi8800gts-640_22.html#sect0

Unfortunately, the technically promising graphics card, which differs from the more expensive version in the amount of memory only, is sometimes much slower than the GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB not only in games that demand a lot of graphics memory (e.g. Serious Sam 2 ), but also in applications that didn?t reveal any difference between graphics cards with 512MB and 256MB of memory before. Particularly, these are TES IV: Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights 2, and F.E.A.R. Extraction Point . 320MB is considerably more than 256MB, so this is a memory management problem, probably a driver issue.

huh?

i don't remember reading this before ... a "memory management problem" in the 320M vs. 640MB versions?
--with the possible idea that the 320MB version is artificially slower than the 640MB version?
--a driver issue ?? ... and is it fixed now?

or was the review just in error?

i am seriously thinking of upgrading to a GTS ... still in negotiations to sell my x1950p ...
... unfortunately looks like it is only worth about $170 as you can get a new one from NewEgg for $190 after MiR

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Kekewy

Originally posted by: jkresh
list your full specs and how much money you are looking at spending (also what games you play/plan to play), otherwise its hard to give a specific response.

The computer I'm getting the video card for has:

MSI K9N Neo-F Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Proccesser
2 gigs OCZ Platinum RAM

I'm looking to spend no more than 400$ on a video card (300 or less if possible). The games I play most now are Sims 2, Diablo 2, and Warcraft 3, but I'd like to be able to play about anything on it. Once I can actually play more games on my computer, I'm going to get others, so it's hard to say what games I want to play on it.

OK ... now we know in descending order of price and performance

8800GTS- 640MB ... 8800GTS 320MB ... x1950xt


it is also going to depend on the resolution of your monitor
... for 10x7 the 1950xt is Overkill ... for 16x10 even the GTS is gonna struggle at max detail

The GTS doesn't struggle with *anything* right now, even the 320mb version at 1920x1200. :Q

Ignore what most of the people on here say bashing the GTS, especially those who knock the 'paltry' memory on the 320mb version. They're great cards and are actually overkill for all the games that are currently on the market. Their DX10 power has not even started being tapped, and that's when they say the 320mb GTS will truly shine as it can then access main system memory (which will be DDR3 in some cases now).

it looks like you can bog it down ... try FC with soft shadows enabled ... for example
try Oblivion with every setting completely maxed and all the texture packs added

and can you explain this ... do you know if this is resolved or even real?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/msi8800gts-640_22.html#sect0

Unfortunately, the technically promising graphics card, which differs from the more expensive version in the amount of memory only, is sometimes much slower than the GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB not only in games that demand a lot of graphics memory (e.g. Serious Sam 2 ), but also in applications that didn?t reveal any difference between graphics cards with 512MB and 256MB of memory before. Particularly, these are TES IV: Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights 2, and F.E.A.R. Extraction Point . 320MB is considerably more than 256MB, so this is a memory management problem, probably a driver issue.

huh?

i don't remember reading this before ... a "memory management problem" in the 320M vs. 640MB versions?
--with the possible idea that the 320MB version is artificially slower than the 640MB version?
--a driver issue ?? ... and is it fixed now?

or was the review just in error?

i am seriously thinking of upgrading to a GTS ... still in negotiations to sell my x1950p ...
... unfortunately looks like it is only worth about $170 as you can get a new one from NewEgg for $190 after MiR

It sounds to me as though the review is in error.

Read the AT review of the 320mb card. It clearly shows that it's only slower when the framebuffer is maxxed out. This *can* occur in FEAR at 1920x1200 and above with 4XAA or higher turned on, and it's simply because the card is running out of memory; it's not some strange 'driver crippling'.

 

[nitromullet]

My suggestions:

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB - $319 AMIR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130071

or

EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB - $269.99 AMIR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082

...they're both fast, quiet, and backed by a lifetime guarantee from a great company.

Go with the 320MB version if you game at 1280x1024 or lower resolution, and go with the 640MB for higher resolutions.