tony543

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Hasn't really been posted yet, it would be great to hear peoples opinions and what brand they think is better.


My brand would have to be ATI - Reason - I think they are more reliable :), Thats my opinion though, you pick yours :)
 

tony543

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hmm people obviously think some are better than nvidia and ati haha, This post is now classed as best brand and card haha ;)
 

halcyon

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Tony, this is the voice of reason.... all you can do with your question is start a fight or get clowned as above. Its like asking what is better....Honda or Toyota. FYI, nVidia is not more faster than ATI and ATI is not better more reliable than nVidia...no matter what you've read. Blows for ho's son, blows for ho's.
 

tony543

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Ok but halcyon, that's my opinion iv'e used both, i just think ATI is more reliable, im not looking to start an arguement, its just interesting to see what people use and prefer.
 

tony543

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Jaydee that's my point ;), Im just seeing what people prefer to use and others opinions, As you say they have been trading blows with each other, i.e prices of cards, the performance, the matches between an 2 different brand having a similar card, i was just wondering what peoples thoughts were :)
 
Some say drivers, some say features, some say pure fps, some say reliability, some cards run hot, some make noise, some are great deals, some get renamed, some come with games, some use lots of power, etc etc.
I prefer the RED team, for their innovations, but Ive enjoyed my nVidia cards as well
 

halcyon

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Okay. Up until a week ago I would have told you that nVidia was the only way. Then I auditioned a HD4890. Whoa. Nice card there. Period. Went back to a GTX295...but from where I stand the two trade blows...flavor of the semi-annual type-of-thing. That 4890 really is a nice card...might have to put one in one of my other rigs so I can F.E.A.R. 2 on it.

Anyways. You're gonna see those that are faithful to their camps and you'll see those that realize that during any given year one has the better product. Some swear by ATI's drivers, some can't stand them...same with nVidia.

I'm currently running all nVidia cards in my rigs but I recognize that that HD4890 left me very impressed.
 

tony543

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Yes staight to the point, i admit im using a 2900xt, Theres pros and cons as i say - I really do like my card, im happy with it, powerful, quick, but there are cons such as the sound of it, it sounds like a helicopters just took off a launching pad in my garden when i have the fan at 100% haha, ;)
 

tony543

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Yeah i completley understand what you are saying :), I was planning on custom building a pc myself, call it a project, Could you give me some info on the 4890 i was planning on purchasing one,
 

halcyon

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I will say that as impressed as I was by the HD4890's power and quality (once I got past my noobish error in driver installation) the thing had the potential to get very loud. I thought something was wrong at first...but realized every child different, they're not all the soft spoken type. ATI could do something about the noise I'm sure but that's part of who they are, why change their character?
 

tony543

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Haha i completley understand, my 2900xt is amazingly loud i thought something was wrong at first, looked it up and found out it was safe, and that was when the fan speed was at 70 haha xD
 

IzzyCraft

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I stick with the green team myself just because im prefer nvidia control panel but i'm not against shoving ati cards in builds i do for other people as long as it gets the job they desire done.

Using a 2900xt did they ever fix the issue running 256 color games where it wouldn't run i remeber a huge uproar over the sc community when people bought a 2000's series then wanted to play some sc but gitting shoved a face full of errors.
 

tony543

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Wow thats a new one.. I never even heard of that, i have not recieved any errors yet so im hoping its been fixed haha ;p
 

tony543

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HAHA, im not sure if THEY produced it, but it's ment to be used with ATI cards only problem is .. it does not work lol.
 

FredSRichardson

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There have been a few threads on this, and despite the occasional fanboyism (or accusations there of) I find them kind of enjoyable. I guess that's because I'm still using my x1800xt and I've been holding off on making a commitment to either manufacturer. But I have to decide some time soon.

Are you considering running 2 graphics cards? Then crossfire is probably your best choice which puts you in the ATi camp. From what I've heard, SLI is only worth considering if you're building an i7/x58 rig.

Another option is a dual GPU card. The most affordable one is the ATi "X2" type. Last I checked, a 2Gig 4850X2 was a pretty good deal. The "best of the best of the best" is the nVidia GTX 295 (it also costs the most of the most of the most).

SLI/crossfire and dual GPU cards are not without their problems (not all games support SLI/crossfire and the drivers may have some issues). You generally only have to resort to these types of solutions if you're monitor is high resolution (say over 1680x1050), but in some cases you might see a gain at lower resolutions.

That brings us to the single card/single GPU category. In terms of absolute performance, the GTX 285 rules the roost at $310. But, it is only perhaps 5% (at most) better than the HD-4890 at $220 (you can get an MSI one for just under $200). The GTX 275 is about the same as a 4890 (better on some games, worse on others), and it costs about $250. In one benchmark, the 4890 was generally better than the GTX 275 at resolutions 1680x1250 or less.

So right now it's hard to argue against the 4890 in terms of absolute price and performance. The other distinguishing characteristics between the current nVidia and ATi cards seem to be a draw (for example nVidia has PhysX while ATi has dx10.1). If you care about the performance of particular game then you should be a bit more careful and check the benchmarks. Some games are effected more by your ram/cpu than by the graphics card!

So that raises the question, why would you pick an nVidia card? Well, if you have an extra $100 burning a hole in your pocket and you want the absolute best single GPU card, then the GTX 285 might make sense. The GTX 285 has also been out for a good long while, so the drivers are a bit more stable (the GTX 275 and HD 4890 are pretty new). I'm not sure about sound levels, but I thought the GTX 285 might be quieter. I'm really not sure about that.

EDIT I should also add: aren't we lucky to have ATi and nVidia? They both try to distinguish themselves with different and compelling technologies, and they also have to keep the main stream happy. Unless a game manufacturer is getting subsidized by ATi or nVidia, they will try to make their game work well on both. Capitalism meets the two party system. :)
 

tony543

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Oh thankyou very much for that, there sure is alotta info which has definatly give me 2nd thoughts, thankyou very much again :)
 

L1qu1d

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I still don't see this 5% difference though (this "at most"), the 285 GTx is 14% stronger than the 4890 at stock. with 1000 mhz OC the 4890 manages to exchange blows with the 285 GTX.

The 1000 mhz increase (shader and memory accordingly) yields 17% increase over stock, which means on avg 3% faster than the 285 GTX stock.

p/p yes I'd agree the 4890 is ALOT better choice, but lets not throw words out.

It is what is.
 

FredSRichardson

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Yes, well, I should have said that if I look at the performance charts on Anandtech and Tom's Hardware for the 4890 and GTX 285 @ 1680x1050, you see about a 5% relative improvement (average on Tom's, max on Anandtech's). Granted at higher resolutions the gap gets wider (I've been obsessing about 1680x1050).