I might buy a Ati card what would u recommend?
Great Tool, but how do u get it to work?
This topic was started by Berserker18,
Hi. I always been a Nvidia fan. But with the latest things going on with them I'm beginging to lose faith in them. I'm thinking of buying a new video card (I have a geforce 4 ti4600). If I was to go for a Ati card what would you guys recommend? I'm looking for one that will out do my current card but not being over pricey or should I wait for that new one that I heard is coming out? When does it come out? Thanks all. Also how are Ati's drivers?
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BUT .... don't get me wrong the card is fast but no recommendation ....
ATi driver is no crap but nVidia is simply better .... Alt+Tab does not take that long and settings can be much easier set ....
cooling is not loud but it isn't silent, too verry annoying sound .... right at the moment I would recommend no GPU else the good old Ti4xxx series ...
ATi driver is no crap but nVidia is simply better .... Alt+Tab does not take that long and settings can be much easier set ....
cooling is not loud but it isn't silent, too verry annoying sound .... right at the moment I would recommend no GPU else the good old Ti4xxx series ...
doing an ATI onetime upgrade i would go and buy the 9800pro and you will be insured for future current/games and such, unless you are waiting for the XT, which "supposively" will come out whenever Half-Life 2 comes out which will have 425/700 clock or something like it, and will not likely comeout till around nov-holidays
as for the drivers, if you want to play with a lot of drivers, i mean a lot (lotta nvidia drivers always being leaked) then go for nvidia, nvidia's drivers are always being leaked and there are a lot of them which all have difference in performance/IQ (you should know by having a ti4600 ), ati has less driver releases but when they do release one, they have quality drivers as in they listen to the consumer and their problems, now the ati drivers slightly improve the card but more overall every release is toward stability/compatibility for games etc..., unlike nvidia which uses their drivers to sqeeze every power out of their cards, ati i say already has the power and the only problem they have is compatibility with games which every driver released is based off
as for the drivers, if you want to play with a lot of drivers, i mean a lot (lotta nvidia drivers always being leaked) then go for nvidia, nvidia's drivers are always being leaked and there are a lot of them which all have difference in performance/IQ (you should know by having a ti4600 ), ati has less driver releases but when they do release one, they have quality drivers as in they listen to the consumer and their problems, now the ati drivers slightly improve the card but more overall every release is toward stability/compatibility for games etc..., unlike nvidia which uses their drivers to sqeeze every power out of their cards, ati i say already has the power and the only problem they have is compatibility with games which every driver released is based off
I would not recommand you to buy any graphic card cause you already have a ti 4600 which still can run today games almost perfectly. My recommandation is to wait untill the new ATI Radeon 9800 XT or the new nVidia Nv40. Cause nVidia will fight seriously in their next card.
for the driver part Both ATI and nVidia has done a very good job, but i like the nVidia better. Cause it allows to turn of FSAA directly in their driver but ATI just have the option of "APPLICATION PREFERENCE" which is determine by the game or application. Don't worry about ATI driver cause with the Catalyst release ATI has just become really...really :hail: good. Oh by the way with most new card enabling FSAA will only cost minor performance reduction. If you can't hold your breath, go for the ATI RADEON 9800pro, cause this card seem to be able to play upcomming doom3 and HL2 in satisfactory speed and quality.
for the driver part Both ATI and nVidia has done a very good job, but i like the nVidia better. Cause it allows to turn of FSAA directly in their driver but ATI just have the option of "APPLICATION PREFERENCE" which is determine by the game or application. Don't worry about ATI driver cause with the Catalyst release ATI has just become really...really :hail: good. Oh by the way with most new card enabling FSAA will only cost minor performance reduction. If you can't hold your breath, go for the ATI RADEON 9800pro, cause this card seem to be able to play upcomming doom3 and HL2 in satisfactory speed and quality.
Your Ti-4600 is STILL a very good card. Both my sons have them in their computers and they offer excellent performance (good bang-for-the-buck as well). At the moment, THE best bang for the buck is the ATi 9600 Pro w/ either 128MB or 256MB of ram. They are priced VERY competitively (I've seen the 128MB version for as low as $130) and if you saw the graphs the Half Life 2 folks were flashing around, it (the 9600 Pro) actually performed BETTER than the NV 5900 (overall) in their DX9 tests. By the way, the Ti-4600 peformed better than the NV 5900 in their DX8 tests.
Personally I don't think it matters all that much which card you choose. If you can stand all that noise from the NVidia cards (they seem to have taken the same approach that AMD has adopted ... fast = HOT!) and can put up with the pathetic DX9 performance, then go for it. If you want SILENT operation and THE best DX9 performance around, go with ATi. It's not all that complicated.
Do NOT wait though. That's seriously flawed thinking. It's like waiting for the next CPU or the next fast ram or the next fast CD burner. If you do then in the mean time you're stuck with inferior performance AND by the time the new stuff actually hits the streets, it'll be even MORE expensive than the top performing hardware of TODAY. Unless you have unlimited resources ($$$) you'll NEVER be able to keep up.
Also, a few percentage points difference in artificial benchmark results you will NEVER notice in real game performance. That's where they TRY and get you. Use your eyes and believe what you see. NOT what the synthetic numbers are trying to convey ... especially when the driver developers are "massaging" those drivers (optimizing) SPECIFICALLY for those benchmarks. NVidia has been particularly guilty of that sin. ATi has done it in the past as well but at least they had the balls to admit it when they got caught. That's not a weakness, by the way. That's called being a MAN and admitting when you screw up. NVidia just shrugs their collective shoulders and keeps banging away. That's called being a pussy.
So ... choose your weapon and go for it. Don't hesitate for an instant and don't even look back. Pick the best card you can afford and stick with it for at least a year. At the end of that year see where it is on the performance curve. If it's still in the top 10% ... you made a smart buy. If it's not? Make a smarter buy next time.
Later.
Personally I don't think it matters all that much which card you choose. If you can stand all that noise from the NVidia cards (they seem to have taken the same approach that AMD has adopted ... fast = HOT!) and can put up with the pathetic DX9 performance, then go for it. If you want SILENT operation and THE best DX9 performance around, go with ATi. It's not all that complicated.
Do NOT wait though. That's seriously flawed thinking. It's like waiting for the next CPU or the next fast ram or the next fast CD burner. If you do then in the mean time you're stuck with inferior performance AND by the time the new stuff actually hits the streets, it'll be even MORE expensive than the top performing hardware of TODAY. Unless you have unlimited resources ($$$) you'll NEVER be able to keep up.
Also, a few percentage points difference in artificial benchmark results you will NEVER notice in real game performance. That's where they TRY and get you. Use your eyes and believe what you see. NOT what the synthetic numbers are trying to convey ... especially when the driver developers are "massaging" those drivers (optimizing) SPECIFICALLY for those benchmarks. NVidia has been particularly guilty of that sin. ATi has done it in the past as well but at least they had the balls to admit it when they got caught. That's not a weakness, by the way. That's called being a MAN and admitting when you screw up. NVidia just shrugs their collective shoulders and keeps banging away. That's called being a pussy.
So ... choose your weapon and go for it. Don't hesitate for an instant and don't even look back. Pick the best card you can afford and stick with it for at least a year. At the end of that year see where it is on the performance curve. If it's still in the top 10% ... you made a smart buy. If it's not? Make a smarter buy next time.
Later.
I agree with Squall, and I have the same plan.
Your card is ok, but to grab a better you must enter a battlefield where everything is foggy, and nothing shines 'the' choice.
Regardless the choir of ATI fanboy's, Doom 3 does not show much promise on current ATI boards, and we all know the issues with HL2 on the current NVidia boards. Before you disregard Doom 3 as one of your 'gotta own' game, just remember the games made upon the Q3 engine (Medal of Honor, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Jedi Knight II, Soldier of Fortune II, Startrek Voyager Elite Force)...
Wait until ATI or NVidia release a new card, and grab that one as it will asure you to run both HL2 and D3 at the same time and all games licensed upon them.
Your card is ok, but to grab a better you must enter a battlefield where everything is foggy, and nothing shines 'the' choice.
Regardless the choir of ATI fanboy's, Doom 3 does not show much promise on current ATI boards, and we all know the issues with HL2 on the current NVidia boards. Before you disregard Doom 3 as one of your 'gotta own' game, just remember the games made upon the Q3 engine (Medal of Honor, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Jedi Knight II, Soldier of Fortune II, Startrek Voyager Elite Force)...
Wait until ATI or NVidia release a new card, and grab that one as it will asure you to run both HL2 and D3 at the same time and all games licensed upon them.
Or better yet, forget computers and stop that headache :P
