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The Big Decision ATI or nVidia

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deathman20

deathman20

High Speed Premium Senior
​
Joined
Aug 5, 2002
I've been looking at video cards for over a month now and trying to pick one where I can get the most bag for the buck, or preformance wise at least.

I've been lookin at the

EVGA e-GeForce FX 5900 128MB DDR DVI/TV-out 8X AGP RETAIL
Priced at $348

ATI SAPPHIRE RADEON 9800 PRO ULTIMATE 128MB DVI/TV 8X AGP RETAIL
Priced at $389

Guillemot Hercules ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB DDR DVI/TV-out 8X AGP- RETAIL
Priced at $395

Right now I have a Leadtek G4 TI4400, and its loud. The 2 crappy fans on that sink are just buggin me. Now I've been looking for a new card since I got some cash to burn. I'm a nVidia fan. I like all the beta det drivers that they have out and I know where to get them. For the price and that the FX5900 looks nice. Then again it can sound like a leaf blower too.

Thats why I was lookin at the other 2. I know ATI's run cooler which is a plus since I got a water cooled system. The Sapphire has a Heatplate for its cooling meathod which I really like the design of it, besides its quiet. Then also looking at the Guillemot and well that has a nice Blue PBC and Blue LED fan.

I don't have to worry about PCI slots right now because well I don't use any, at least until I get my sound card back into my machine (which means getting a better one then my ****ty SoundBlaster Live Value I got).

I was wondering if anyone has these cards and what they think of them. What types of games/applications do u play with them in. I'm looking at a max res of 1280x1024, and going to be playing the newer games that come out, Homeworld 2, Half-Life 2, Doom III, STALKER, Halo, etc. I want something that preforms good, is decently quiet if anything not louder then my card right now, and I can crank up everything on it to get the best quality game.

Yes I know I can wait for newer cards to come out but, or wait til the game comes out and then use it but I want to get a newer card for DX9, also something thats a little better with my 3D Applications that I use (3D Max, Maya, CAD, Arch Desktop).

Thanks
 
If you are stressing games, go with one of ATi's latest offerings.
If you are stressing OGL applications, go with one of nVidia's latest offerings.

Nice avatar.
 
Man so many choices. Always bugs me when im toren between 2 products. I mean I play lots of games and that, but I also am getting back into my animation works.


About the avatar you can thank a site that I got it from. Can't remeber which because it was a year ago :D . It was a case sticker if not mistaken.
 
check out my sig, i was able to overclock a sapphire 9800np to well beyond 9800 pro speeds for 100 bucks less. granted you may not get the same results, but i have seen a lot of people able to clock it close to if not higher than 9800pro speeds.

i think the only difference between the 9800np and the 9800pro is the core/mem speeds anyway. quite a deal if you ask me
 
Quote: Yes I know I can wait for newer cards to come out but, or wait til the game comes out and then use it but I want to get a newer card for DX9, also something thats a little better with my 3D Applications that I use (3D Max, Maya, CAD, Arch Desktop).

This tells me that you need to get a NVIDIA card. I have the eVGA 5900 Ultra and I am very pleased with its performance with the CAD programs, I also run various imaging software and I am haveing great results the 5900.

just my 2 cents
 
How loud is the 5900 compared to a previous card you had? Since you got a water cooling system im intresting in what you say with this.
 
I've also heard the 5900 isn't totally equipped for directx 9 games. Is this a nice rumor that has been floating around?

I love nVidia cards, always had them, but if it can't keep up to par with ATI, might as well switch then.

Please keep posting people, comits are always great since I'm looking for input here.
 
I cannot hear the fan on my 5900 ultra, and check out some reviews on the 5900, It is toss up for gaming with the ati counterpart. what seperates them is the "other" applications besides gaming. ATI and NVIDIA both are great game cards, but ATI falls short on the CAD side. And since I make money with my Vid card, I chose to spend the difference and get a true quality card.

just 2 more of my cents
 
I say ATi.
040703-ATI.JPG
 
I have a 9800np and it is perfect, picked up a retail version at bb for 249, I thinkk for the money it is the best bang for the buck. very small difference between it and a pro and oc then there is no difference, if you water cool then buy you a block for your new card. but the 9800np is a nice quiet card, and if you have the money to burn then go for that guillement card I heard it looks awesome, also there is a company out thre that sells 9800pro's with a zalman heatsink installed on it, you could probably ask around for that
 
Rokk1972 said:
I chose to spend the difference and get a true quality card.
Click to expand...

That is simply an opinion...there is no difference in quality between the two cards...they each simply excel in their own areas. And you talk of "true quality"...it sure isnt nVidia...for workstations that is, heh. There are MUCH better cards for workstation use out there then either nVidia or ATi. (sorry to jump on ya, but that comment was just full of opinion, and not fact)
 
nVidia seems to be better with the 3D Apps that I tend to use, but I'm also a hard core gamer.

But then it comes to this next question then that I just came across. When does the new ATI chip going to be coming out? I heard soon but I'm not sure. Since I've been off on my hardware updates for at least 4 months (damn MMOPG) I've been off playing that and not keeping up to date.

Someone please enlighten me if they have information or links to this.
 
if you thought the leadtek ti4400 fans were loud...i would suggest the 9800, thats only if the fans really bug you...

other than that, it would depend on what you do more...3d apps or gaming...

3dapps...nvidia
gaming...ati

all my opinion of course...
 
get a saphire 9800 no pro and flash it to a pro bios, i've got mine clocked at 450core and 385 mem right now with no voltmods(well accept the pro bios :D)and its showing signs that it'll easily go higher, i just dont want to f up the most expensive video card i've ever bought! also with the money you save you can get nice block for the card too

oh ya and pretty soon ATI is gunna launch the 9900PRO but it just gunna run at faster clocks, the real nex gen card from ati with their r420(those canadians are a bunch of pot heads) core will be coming out this spring
 
deathman20 said:
nVidia seems to be better with the 3D Apps that I tend to use, but I'm also a hard core gamer.

But then it comes to this next question then that I just came across. When does the new ATI chip going to be coming out? I heard soon but I'm not sure. Since I've been off on my hardware updates for at least 4 months (damn MMOPG) I've been off playing that and not keeping up to date.

Someone please enlighten me if they have information or links to this.
Click to expand...

The next core from ATi is supposed to be released sometime later this month.

IMO, when it comes down to the 9800 Pro, and the 5900 Ultra, my advice is go with whichever one you want. IMO they are equally good

*edit* btw, what MMOPG you play? :)
 
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