Nvidia v.s. ATI

[omoney]

Which video card do you prefer? what are the advantages and disadvantages of each company? I was told Nvidia has the top of line graphics but the price is pretty high. ATI on the other hand has good cards too and the price is lower. It's performance can be improved by having multiple cards and using the CROSSFIRE.

What do you guys think?

Whoops I just realized I posted in the wrong section. Please move this thread. Sorry.

 

[Jon.Monreal]

Personally, I prefer Nvidia graphics cards because they are indeed top-of-the-line. Plus they have had a better history of working with Linux than ATI cards, although now that ATI has been bought up my AMD they are providing better Linux drivers sooner for their products.

As far as CROSSFIRE, Nvidia offers the same under the SLI branding. ATI's cards do seem good for the price point, like AMD CPUs are to Intel ones. You can find cheaper versions of Nvidia cards, however, so this doesn't seem like a huge issue.

Nvidia supported DirectX10 first. Even though ATI caught up quickly, it still seems that Nvidia has the lead in innovation and produces a better product.

 

[Twinkie]

I think that AMD will make ATI a much superior company and pass the bloated Nvidia. Both card work great for me, because I use windows, and I have never had any problems. In total, I prefer ATI for the same if not better functionality and better price.

 

[omoney]

Personally, I prefer Nvidia graphics cards because they are indeed top-of-the-line. Plus they have had a better history of working with Linux than ATI cards, although now that ATI has been bought up my AMD they are providing better Linux drivers sooner for their products.

As far as CROSSFIRE, Nvidia offers the same under the SLI branding. ATI's cards do seem good for the price point, like AMD CPUs are to Intel ones. You can find cheaper versions of Nvidia cards, however, so this doesn't seem like a huge issue.

Nvidia supported DirectX10 first. Even though ATI caught up quickly, it still seems that Nvidia has the lead in innovation and produces a better product.

Excuse my ignorance but I didn't know Linux needed powerful graphics cards. I was always under the impression that Linux had very few games .

 

[Jon.Monreal]

Excuse my ignorance but I didn't know Linux needed powerful graphics cards. I was always under the impression that Linux had very few games .

There are a number of games that run on Linux, such as Quake 4 (natively). Wine allows some games to be played that are made for Windows even (such as Half-Life 2).

In the end, what I was saying is more that I dual-boot, and it is better to have a graphics card that works in both operating systems. Certainly AMD has made ATI support for Linux much better, so this is becoming less and less of an issue.

Still, I prefer Nvidia graphics because I have seen nothing but reliability and good performance out of them. Just my two cents.

 

[Spartan Erik]

I've always had nVidia cards, and never had any issues with them.

However, I currently have an 8800GT, and the ATi 4870 blows it out of the water. But games like Crysis are optimized for nVidia cards, so its a trade-off

 

[Jon.Monreal]

I've always had nVidia cards, and never had any issues with them.

However, I currently have an 8800GT, and the ATi 4870 blows it out of the water. But games like Crysis are optimized for nVidia cards, so its a trade-off

Consider, however, the fact that Nvidia now has their Geforce 9000 series out.

It's nice to see that both companies are moving forward though.

 

[stunna]

Definatly NVIDIA

 

[omoney]

Definatly NVIDIA

hm nVidia's card does look nice in terms of physical appearance.

It seems people on this forum prefer Nvidia over ATI. I bought my first graphics card this summer and it was an ATI. All these pro-Nvidia comments kinda makes me doubt my decision lol

 

[Jon.Monreal]

hm nVidia's card does look nice in terms of physical appearance.

It seems people on this forum prefer Nvidia over ATI. I bought my first graphics card this summer and it was an ATI. All these pro-Nvidia comments kinda makes me doubt my decision lol

Physical appearance? Unless you have a clear case, that shouldn't even matter.

Anyways, you shouldn't feel bad about choosing ATI, there cards are good. What GPU did you buy anyways (as in the model)?

 

[Spartan Erik]

Consider, however, the fact that Nvidia now has their Geforce 9000 series out.

It's nice to see that both companies are moving forward though.

Bah the 9 series is rubbish. There isn't anything new in terms of specs compared to the 8-series cards. Clock speeds, stream processors, etc are all identical.

nVidia's 200 series (GTX280/GTX260) and ATi's 4800 series cards are worth comparing though.

 

[Archkronos]

I've got two 4850's in Crossfire.

It's annoying to disable one when I want to use both screens though.

 

[Smith6612]

I'm personally an nVidia person, but since I built my system SLi based and not CrossFire based, I wouldn't know the difference between ATi to nVidia unless I had an identical system but different video card setup.

 

[compwhizii]

nVidia. They currently are top of the line, but ATI is starting to catch up!

 

[gagan]

At the moment, ATi > nVidia.

HD 48xx series cards are pwning nVidia BIG TIME if we talk about performance to price ratio. I still don't know why people have voted for nVidia here.

ATi already on 55nm fabrication process and nVidia is lagging behind.

Moreover, Crossfire can make use of 2 different types of ATi cards whereas in nVidia's SLi, we require the same type of cards. eg. only 2*8800GT. We can't use 8600GT and 8800GT together in SLi.

 

[cursedpsp]

for the price of ATI graphics cards these days i would reckon they are better but nVidia is a more affordable card. 512mb from amazon = £52

 

[xPlozion]

nvidia, because they've had native linux support way before ati did. sure there were 3rd party drivers for x11, but they weren't even close to competing w/ the official ones. the nvidia driver dominates the nv driver.

 

[seanooi]

nVidia for me.
I've always trusted nVidia with their products and they never fail me....(yet)

 

[themasterrocker]

I agree on that note.
I have always used nVidia, and they have never failed me once they are an awesome graphics company that supply up to date drivers.

 

[exemption]

I would have to say Nvidia..due to the fact..the brand is the only brand I have ever used..