ATI vs. NVIDIA

[Andrewxcav]

I am going to buy a new video card, and I want to have the ability to use my VCR with my computer in adition to other things which can be doen with the ATI All in Wonder, but I also want the 3D gaming ability given by the NVIDIA GeForce 3. My budget for this project is between $250.00 and $350.00

I was thinking of getting an NVIDIA Geforce 3 Ti 200 (visiontech) and an ATI All in Wonder Radeon 7500, but now I am considering just getting an ATI All in Wonder Radeon 8500.

Does anyone think there is a serious difference in the performance of the GeForce 3 and the Radeon 8500 in gaming?

[HAL9000]

The AIW 8500 is ample power for gaming and very competitive with a GF3. Since you want the functions that only an AIW can provide, there should be no competition between the two, go for the AIW card.

[audiyoda]

I'll agree with my Canadian-Intel-Inside comrade. The ATI can't be beat for all around graphics applications. If you want a pure gaming card, the upper end GeForce line will beat the Radeon 8500, but otherwise, stick with ATI.

-Craig

[TwoRails]

I know I'm in the minority on this, but I believe the Asus V8200 Deulex GF 3 deserves a look. Besides the gaming advantage, it is really superb at analog recording. Although I've never used it, it also has VCR and time shift capibilities.

I'm just saying that checking out "the other white meat" won't hurt

TwoRails

[nightfishing]

I'm an ATI guy; the a-i-w cards are hard to beat.

the only thing I would worry about is running one on XP; the drivers are kinda hit-or-miss, atm.

I haven't had any problems w/ the 7xxx Radeons, but there seem to be some problems w/ XP and the 8500.

On 2k/9x you shouldn't have any problems.

[Andrewxcav]

Thank you for all of the opinions, I am going to get he AIW, but continue to post if you have a serious problem with the AIW

[deanboyj]

basically, my problem with ati is that the driver support is a tragedy
the 8500 was horrible in my opinion becuase of the lack of good drivers
Nvidia always keeps their drivers up to date
another argument for 8500 is wrong now too
the 8500 was claimed to be faster then the geforce 3.. but feast your eyes on the soon to come out geforce4 ti 4600.....

[HAL9000]

But if you take that philosophy, one would never buy a new component as there would always be something better around the corner.

Yes, ATI takes their time with their drivers, but then again, when they're out, they're usually good, so which is the better of two evils, one that takes forever but gets it right, or one that patches and patches and you never know if they're finished. It becomes a matter of which you would rather personally deal with. I would rather bear with ATI and wait for the driver, you would rather have the patched versions on a regular basis.

[WJWheels]

Originally posted by deanboyj .. but feast your eyes on the soon to come out geforce4 ti 4600.....

Of course you'll have to raise your budget to $400

[morriswindgate]

At least with ATI you know who made the card and the quality of it.

[DrZaius]

I voted for ATI. The last two cards I've used have been Radeons (LE and SDR), great cards. Although, my orignal TNT and TNT2 where good for their time.

[Demosthenes]

So which is the better of two evils, one that takes forever but gets it right, or one that patches and patches and you never know if they're finished.

Then why does MS Windows rule the world? :)

As for the new GeForce being $400, what do you think the GeForce3, not to mention the ATI 8500 AIW, initial prices were? I am waiting for the Pentium V personally. :)

Respectfully,

Demosthenes

[Andrewxcav]

Yes, thankyou WJWheels for actualy reading what I said, although I did say $350.00 I would prefer to pay less :-)

And BTW I have always found NVIDIA to be a quality company, and this will be my first ATI card

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by Demosthenes Then why does MS Windows rule the world? As for the new GeForce being $400, what do you think the GeForce3, not to mention the ATI 8500 AIW, initial prices were? I am waiting for the Pentium V personally. Respectfully, Demosthenes

I'm not trying to say that one is better than the other because of this fact, just that this is what you have to decide on, which you're willing to work with.

I think the release prices of video cards is slowly creeping higher with these newer and newer releases. My cost on the AIW 8500 would have been $329USD, and sell for $349-359USD, so a $50 jump higher on a release price is actually quite a bit considering how much more the AIW is capable of doing.

[theENiGMA]

I just bought an ATI AIW Radeon 7500. I have no complaints. It came with the remote and most of the other flashy devices that the 8500DV comes with. I have been gaming with it on WinXP for about a week now, and have not seen any problems. It's soooo nice after using my old 3dfx 3500TV with XP. THey didn't come out with new drivers when XP came out, because they had already gone under. THe XP native drivers were really bad, and any 3rd party drivers I found were full of bugs. THat, however, is another story. RAdeons are really good for my gaming needs, and I probably play about as much as any normal (??) computer geek. Go with the 8500 if it fits your budget. You'll love all the features in 2d, and the 3d is excellent also.
-KEiTH

[TwoRails]

$400?? The local applicance / TV / Stereo store (Best Buy) is selling 64 MB GeForce 4 cards for $179.00 US !! (brand is Xtasy)

[WJWheels]

Well ask them the price on what we're talking about.. the geforce4 ti 4600. It's not even officially out yet so they're NOT selling it.

BTW, this card is 128mb. Here is a Tom's Hardware article on it.

[TwoRails]

The picture on the box in the ad sez GeForce 4 MX 440 64 MB.

I went to their web site to see if this existed there, or maybe it was just a mis-print. The card is also on the site for 179.00, at:

http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=...at=&e=11099087

True, it's not the 4600, but still is a GF4. I just put it out there as a "FYI" -- not as a recommondation for a capture card for Andrewxcav.

[TwoRails]

PS: They also claim to have it in stock...

[audiyoda]

The GeForce 4 MX class card is out -- saw it at Best Buy and CompUSA this week. But the bad@$$ ti4600 won't be out for a while.

Anyway -- didn't the GeForce 3's just hit the streets less than a year ago? Damn, nice racket nVidia has going.

-Craig

[Demosthenes]

I was just pulling your leg with that MS deal HAL.

But, the 8500 AIW released at ~$500. I was hoping to get one, but the window of opportunity was just not right. I would have setup my two 21" monitors put my TV on one and hack on the other. But, nVidia, with their GeForce3 line, the nForce board, and the XBox deal, has certainly been busy. I certainly wish I had bought nVidia stock a while back.

Respectfully,

Demosthenes

[Andrewxcav]

Originally posted by TwoRails The picture on the box in the ad sez GeForce 4 MX 440 64 MB. I went to their web site to see if this existed there, or maybe it was just a mis-print. The card is also on the site for 179.00, at: http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=...at=&e=11099087 True, it's not the 4600, but still is a GF4. I just put it out there as a "FYI" -- not as a recommondation for a capture card for Andrewxcav.

I just want to go on the record as sying that the GeForece 4 MX is a peice of ****, and doesnt deserve the prestige that comes with the name geforce 4
:-)

[Michael]

Best Buys GEForce4 ti4600 is due in stores around March 4th for $399.99.http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=...at=&e=11099619

I was looking at the GEForce4 ti4600 pre-order display at BBY this weekend and wondered who would buy a video card for $400 unless it was for editing or something? I still play the few games I have on an ATI 8 meg card! I know, stone age, but really....$400....how can a price like that be justified? Or, are these companies just taking advantage of hard core gamers that must have the newest, fastest card available regardless of price (wait a year and that same card will cost 1/3rd of what it is now). I'm not judging the people that buy these cards (I'll pay about anything also to support my passions). I'm just curious how much of the price is based on hype and how much on the actual cost of materials and R&D.

[HAL9000]

It's the same as anything else, the latest and greatest will cost you and when it's no longer the latest and greatest, the price falls out.

[Andrewxcav]

Micheal, you and renegade king should talk