Flamethrower brings up some good points of why he doesn't & a lot of other gamers don't want to touch ATI.
I game & that's really about all I do with my machine. The machines I build are gaming machines for gamers & most of them are friends or clan members. Now I'm not saying a thing against ATI in the least. I wouldn't argue one little bit about how ATI's are faster & the filtering is better, & all that's been said on this forum. However having said that, I can't get a gamer around here to touch a ATI card period. It's exactly the reasons that Flame stated.
Please no flames. I'm trying to make a point that I think is over looked on the forum, verses the general gaming public. I'm not trying to say Nvida is better than ATI, don't go there, please. At least here in the mid west, Flamethrowers reasons are very valid.
I'm the type of guy that has to have ran something in my machine to really see what it does for me. Benches are nice to read, look at & all. I make a decision on benches, but until I have it in my machine & put it through my paces, benches don't mean a whole lot to me, until I see the results myself.
I've tried talking the last 4 customers into a ATI until I'm blue in the face. I want to put one in a machine really bad to judge it for myself. I've had no takers. The last 4 machines I've built either have the 4200 or 4600 cards in them. They all believe the FX line is crap as well. So there you have it.
What am I running & why? I'm running the 4600. Why, because it's the fastest card I've ever had in my machine. I get 13600 3Dmarks with it. I bought it when it came out. Will my next card be ATI? I have no idea at this point. The earliest I'm going to be looking for a card is about Q2 or Q3 next year. That will be after HL2 & Doom3 are out for awhile. I'll be looking at the next gen., or after. If I've handled a ATI card & see the difference, then & only then would I get a ATI at that point. If I haven't had the chance to play with a ATI card & they are both as close as they are now, my nod would go to Nvidia. I know that rubs some people the wrong way, but until I actually get a top of the line ATI card (I always run the TOL cards when I buy), I won't change my opinion about ATI just form the benches I read & the opinions here on the forum. Would I buy a Ati card after having played with both of them & proving it to myself, dam straight. Then & only the would I make that decision.
I'd also say that I have the luxury of making decisions like this because, I handle so much equipment that I can make my decisions this way. Not everyone is able to do this & I would be the first one to agree with that fact as well.
I believe that a lot of the people that talk up a lot of things here, have 1. never ran what they're talking about. 2. are only quoting benches w/o any experience & 3. are quoting what they themselves would like to have. I'm not saying that pertains to everyone here either & certainly not you, believe me. It also doesn't just pertain to this forum either.
So that's my take on things. I didn't try & offend anyone. I tried to explain what I see is the more grass roots opinion that I see between the 2 cards & the forum's view. The other side of the coin, so to speak.
Dazzle them with Brilliance, or Baffle them with BS!
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