Why does

[James.M]

Why does everyone seem to recomend ATI cards? the Nvidia FX series are very good cards, espcially the 5600's 5700's 5900's and also have better drivers and compatibility with games.
I also agree that ATI cards are very good cards its just that i see everyone recomending ATI without mentioning Nvidia. its been like this ever since the PR guy at valve said that Nvidia cards run poorly on Half life 2 but can be fixed with a new driver.

[Kov-Ice]

I think partially it is because ATI seems more particular about who they license to make their cards. A select few make ATI cards, while nVidia makers are a dime a dozen. Kind of makes one think their quality control is a bit tighter.

Also, ATI releases new drivers nearly every month. They are constantly working to make their cards perform at the highest level. Just my observations from what I've read here...

[morriswindgate]

AtI has better color depth. But the main reason I use nothing but ATI based cards is the quality. ATI holds the manufactures that use their chipsets to a very high level. NVIDIA who doesn't make cards and only sells chips, in my past experience doesn't give a damn about the quality of the products that are put out. So with NVIDIA you see cards with prices all over the place and quality from poor to excellent.
NVIDIA is also known to hype the performance of their cards and manipulate the test cards they give out.

[Kov-Ice]

Yeah, that too... :)

Not that there aren't good nVidia cards that can be had, you're just safer across the board I think with ATI based graphics. Seems that ATI cards have had a bit of an edge lately in independent testing too.

[nocturnx]

Arent the FX cards also not fully dx9?

[Kov-Ice]

I think that may be what James was referring to with the HL2 issue.

[Hi Ho]

The FX series has not provent to be very good. That's why people recommend ATI. The supposedly DX9 compatible FX cards perform poorly in DX9 games. There are also the quality issues and image quality. ATI simply makes the BEST card right now. (9800XT) The paper specs for the cards out today really don't make much difference in real world performance. The 9800XT outperforms all the FX cards. Even the ones with higher clock speeds.

[James.M]

Yes thats another thing about ATI and Nvidia is that the FX dont fully support DX9 which is just a rumor in fact it supports DX9 games better than ATI in game such as the Far cry demo it is unplayable on most 9800pro cards.
The whole rumor of it not supporting DX9 all came about when the Half life 2 thing happened and its given Nvidia a bad reputation, which i dont understand because Half life 2 isnt even out yet and proberly wont be until the end of the year, and newer cards especially PCX cards which Nvidia and Intel (maker of the chipset) are working as a joint company in producing the PCX cards.
It maybe true that some Manufacturers of Nvidia cards are poor in quality, but those manufacturers are know to be bad so you go with manufacteres that are known to be good.
I agree that overall the 9800xt is better image quality but if you look at a screenshot from a 9800 and a 5900 you will see such an insignificant change. Also the 5900's are able to pump out more Frames per second due to higher clockspeeds.
The reason ATI bings out a new drivers every month is because there are still many bugs in games and other things that need to be fixed

[Kov-Ice]

Originally posted by James.M
The reason ATI bings out a new drivers every month is because there are still many bugs in games and other things that need to be fixed
Which speaks to their commitment to the best possible drivers other than anything else.

There's a good list here of why people seem to recommend ATI more often than not on this forum. Both cards definitely have both their good points and their supporters. If you wanted an nVidia vs. ATI thead to read tho, there are already tons which you could find with a search.

[James.M]

im not trying to start a ATI vs Nvidia war i was just curious why people who chose an Nvidia card for there build where told that they should go for the ATI's.
Im just saying that that is bad advice because Nvidia are good cards too and in some cases better as ATI is better in some cases over Nvidia.

[glc]

ATI is committed to making cards that not only game well, but have superior 2D quality. Nvidia can't hold a candle to ATI in color purity and sharp display quality in their consumer grade cards, never has. The $34 Radeon 7000 VE has a better 2D display than any Nvidia out there. Nvidia has the Quadro series for that, they build the consumer grade cards for gaming. ATI seems to have a big edge in being able to do both, the only cards out there that do 2D better than ATI are Matrox, and those are a joke for gaming.

[Hi Ho]

I have played the Far Cry demo on a freinds computer with an FX5950 and he had to turn all the graphics down low. Even then it was stuttering. His system is a P4 2.8c w/1GB of PC3500 RAM by the way. I saw it on a 9800 XT and the graphics were all maxxed out and the game was running perfectly smooth.

[James.M]

Originally posted by Hi Ho
I have played the Far Cry demo on a freinds computer with an FX5950 and he had to turn all the graphics down low. Even then it was stuttering. His system is a P4 2.8c w/1GB of PC3500 RAM by the way. I saw it on a 9800 XT and the graphics were all maxxed out and the game was running perfectly smooth.

I heard its unplayable on a 9800pro

[Hi Ho]

You heard that but have you seen it with your own eyes?

[James.M]

No but i read on one of the threads here how someone had trouble with the 9800pro and far cry

[nocturnx]

Yes that was me, Farcry is unplayable on a 9800 Pro. Supposedly it is possible to play if you use the cat 3.7's and turn all the graphic detail down but even when I tried that It was artifacting to the point of being unplayable. Hopefully this problem will be fixed in the final game as this is just a demo. You can check the Farcry boards if you want more info on this.