Topic: ATI vs Nvidia - Who's the best?

[Costa]

Well folks, as there are all kinds of taste, so it is in the computer world, some prefer ATI for the cost benefit others prefer Nvidia as famous for its drivers.

And you, what card you currently use? post your reviews, photos, reviews and show why yours is the best!

[Costa]

My opinion

It is a complicated issue, because both are two good companies that commit their asses once in a while.
However the two always go together fighting for the throne. Time to nvidia is better, ATI hours.
ATI is good in Direct3D and Nvidia on OpenGL. Another thing for those who use Linux. Nvidia has better support for drivers.
But I prefer the ATI for having more customer proximity, Nvidia has already done much mischief, such as optimizing drivers for certain benchmarks.
ATI don't has bad drivers since the end of 2003 (which reminds me, I may be wrong) and SLI technology is not new, came from Voodoo.
And do not think any advantage in having two working one and a half!
Suddenly ATI launches an Ultra-fast chip that is cheaper than buying two NVIDIA SLI with better performance and much more affordable price. (One of the reasons Voodoo SLI did not go forward)

But both are excellent companies, at the end bundles that come with video cards that make a difference.

[bigguy]

Personally I like nVidia better. I have used it longer, know it better and it preforms better as far as I am concerned. Right now however I am running ATI. It was a cheap price for the size of card. I can say right now I am happy in Win XP Pro but for some reason am having difficulty running in Win7. nVidia, never had this problem with the cards I had. All in all, like you said they are two great companies. I think it boils down to personal choice.

[DirtRider]

I have always used nVidia so I cannot comment on the comparison. However I have never had any issues with my card so I am very happy with it 

[AST3R1X]

My card took a dive this week  expense I could have done without. Anyway I got my self a new one without breaking the bank.


Features - ATI Radeon HD 4850 GPU @ 625MHz - 1024MB GDDR3 Memory @ 1900MHz
- 24x custom filter anti-aliasing (CFAA) and high performance anisotropic filtering
- PCI Express 2.0 support - 256-bit GDDR3 memory interface - ATI CrossFireX Multi-GPU Technology
- Microsoft DirectX 10.1 support
- Shader Model 4.1
- ATI Avivo HD video and display technology - Unified Video Decoder 2 (UVD) for Blu-ray and HD Video
- Built-in HDMI with 5.1 surround sound support
- On-chip HDCP

I've always used ATI so cannot comment on nVidia

[bigguy]

Nice card....no fair though, it's bigger than mine, lol.

[BluenoseJake]

This is an almost entirely AMD house here, I've bought ATI for years, mostly because of the truly crappy way nvidia manufactures it's cards.  I used to have problems with Linux, though nothing that a little homework couldn't fix.  Lately it has gotten pretty much childsplay.

though my recent problems with my Debian box was caused by ATI dropping support for anything older than a 3000 series card.  I would have preferred a broken update.  That made me a bit cranky, but a $50 3850, and I was back up and running.

[Talvace]

I Have used both ATI and Nvidia. Right now I am happy with my Nvidia card Geforce 8400 GS, The only problem I've ever had was with a ATI card crapping out on me during a case transplant however that was my own fault (no static strap or mat), so I can't really see an edge one way or another.

[bigguy]

I have an ati 512 mb radeon that works awesome, despite the fact I like nVidia.

[Shamus]

I'm good with ATI, nvidia has some nice hardware but i have sen issues with there drivers in the past and don't really want to deal with it.

[bigguy]

I have always had good luck with their drivers, but I never use the ones that come with the video card. I always download the updated drivers first and use them whenever possible.

[Talvace]

yeah drivers make all the difference, I just upgraded my nvidia drivers now to the new ones that came out in mid april for the vista 64 bit systems. It took my "windows experience index" from 3.6 to 3.8, not that I judge windows experience index to be a great benchmark or anything but it is nice to know that you can get more performance from your hardware by simply upgrading some software.

[Allan]

Sorry for bringing up an old topic but i purchased my first ATI a couple of months ago an i have to say i like it.I have always used Nvidia in the past but wanted to try ATI.
I picked up an ATI 5770 and it runs my games great

[bigguy]

I have always been a nVidia man as well. Ati is good I guess but I might have the need to go back to nVidia.

[Louie]

For me it has always been a love/hate relationship for the both of them. The only graphic card I have really, really liked where the Matrox cards. 

In the early day, the nVidia hardware/drivers were tops and I never had problems with them. As opposed to the ATI offering that had the buggiest software in the word (next to MS). It also seemed that the bulk of the graphic/art programs I used ran better under nVidia.

When I built this PC, I opted out of the nVidia due to there vaious hardware/software/performance issues between boards. I have a Radion HD5850 in this PC, images are great but the Catalyst software just seems sort of iffy. If this card goes belly up, I will likely buy an nVidia card to replace it.

[william777]

Had always used nVidia, so cannot comment on ATI. But the latter seems to be more popular here, probably due to the price difference. Both are good and it boils down to experience with it and choice.