nVidia vs ATI

[Alley Cat]

As I am look for a newer graphics card to replace my ATI Radeon X850, (PCI Express, 502 MB) I was wondering.

nVidia vs ATI.

Who is better?

[master2k27]

not much diffrance

[KiHu]

ATI = more bang for the buck.

and with the new 5### series, tis nice.

[ViperAFK]

not much diffrance

Yep. Just get whichever card is cheaper for the performance you get. Don't listen to dumb fanboys from either side. I think ATI's cards are [generally] better bang for the buck right now. We'll see what changes when nvidia's gt300 comes out :)

[Billus]

ATI. Better value for money. I think it also has better driver support than what Nvidia gives though you do have some problems with some games like NFS Shift :s

[+shift. MVC]

What price/performance category are you looking at? Without knowing that it's pretty hard to say ATI or NVIDIA

[ViperAFK]

ATI. Better value for money. I think it also has better driver support than what Nvidia gives though you do have some problems with some games like NFS Shift :s

To be fair ati had plenty of problems with NFS shift too (random 'slow down' effect) But nfs shift was just a buggy game :p

[buckboii]

there both good in my opinion. each has their faults and pros.

[Subject Delta]

Absolute raw power... ATI has the edge at the moment, the 5xxx series are significantly faster than any nVidia product on the market if you can afford to purchase one. ATI probably have a slight edge in driver terms also at the moment, performance is about the same but nVidia driver stability is still a little iffy.

[+shift. MVC]

Also worth mentioning that GT300 isn't out until probably 2010 so we ARE comparing next (current) generation HD 5000 series to LAST generation GT200 from NVIDIA.

[Growled Member]

Absolute raw power... ATI has the edge at the moment, the 5xxx series are significantly faster than any nVidia product on the market if you can afford to purchase one. ATI probably have a slight edge in driver terms also at the moment, performance is about the same but nVidia driver stability is still a little iffy.

I agree. ATI just gives you more bang for the buck at the moment.

[Tech Star]

Right now Ati is better with their new 5XXX series. When nVidia comes out with their own new cards then who knows what might happen. :p

[Slammers]

5xxx for the win for the moment at least. It really just goes ati in the lead, then nvidia, then ati etc. etc. and right now at he time you asked it's ati.

[ozgeek]

It doesn't matter which. It's more of a choice. My favourite is nvidia. Reason for my desire for nvidia is that they seem more durable and reliable (despite the fact one nvidia card I have doesn't work but that was more of a manufacturing defect). I had an ATI card and it failed so badly so quickly. My parents had an ATI card one time and it failed them too. So nvidia here for me.

*hugs his new GTX275 card :)*

[Setnom]

My previous NVIDIA had the terrible nvlddmkm.sys problem. It crashed in most games. I switched to ATI and has been rock-solid since. ATI, for me, is the current best choice. Go for the 5xxx series.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Both companies are equally good, so far. I'd say it's down to preference. Since you already have an ATI video card, it makes sense to buy another one. I recommend the Radeon HD 4770. You can get it for $109.99 at NCIX.com.

[Andre S. Veteran]

Most "best values" at different price points right now are ATI cards, and this is a trend that lasted for quite a few months now. Nvidia has some solid products but I'm not too excited about their GT300, after seeing how ATI messed up their R600 in the exact same scenario 2 years ago. Anyway by the time Nvidia gets the GT300 out of the door, ATI will give us a refresh on the HD 5000 series.

[Berserk87]

Nvidia has a better hold on the market, ATI seems to be trying to take away that edge by offering very competitive prices.

for the last while ATI has had more bang for your buck.

[Ridlas]

Nvidia all the way

[madskl]

Nvidia ofcourse. A lot of games gets optimized for their graphic chips and they are very persistent in updating their drivers with a lot of performance gains from many different Nvidia "powered" games.

Also the fact that PhysX is available to all Nvidia customers (9000-series <) is a really big plus. Especially since more and more developers are beginning to use it in their games.

[Berserk87]

Nvidia ofcourse. A lot of games gets optimized for their graphic chips and they are very persistent in updating their drivers with a lot of performance gains from many different Nvidia "powered" games.

Theres are games that are optimized for ATI cards as well.

[Digitalx]

I'd say go for ATi better quality and value. All this optimized and physx stuff doesn't really mean or do a lot really, especially with windows 7.

[madskl]

Theres are games that are optimized for ATI cards as well.

Yes, but fact is that most games which are optimized for a brand is Nvidia.

I'd say go for ATi better quality and value. All this optimized and physx stuff doesn't really mean or do a lot really, especially with windows 7.

Actually the optimization does do a lot. PhysX is not used a lot yet. But in games like Batman AA, it does give the game a completely different atmosphere.

So though it might not mean or do a lot for YOU doesn't mean it doesn't do it!

[Shahed]

Go for ATI, imo they are the best, never had any problems with ATI. Their drivers are also very good and yes as mentioned, they give you the best for $$. Nvidia was once good, but lately they have fallen behind ATI/AMD and struggling to keep up.

You will not go wrong with an ATI 4xxx DX10.1 or 5xxx DX 11.0 (Optimized for windows 7) series.

[Nagisan]

PhysX is not used a lot yet. But in games like Batman AA, it does give the game a completely different atmosphere.

So though it might not mean or do a lot for YOU doesn't mean it doesn't do it!

PhysX is on its way out IMO. DX 11 has DirectCompute which will allow a similar solution to be created that supports all hardware which runs DX 11 (and higher), despite the make of the GPU.

Essentially, if you want DX11 support now with the potential of developers switching from PhysX to DirectCompute, along with better performance for the price, ATI is the way to go. If you must have PhysX support for a few extra flashy physics things before DirectCompute takes over, than go with nVidia.

EDIT: And no I am not a fanboy for either side, I have a computer here with a GTX 295 which at the time of purchase was the best GPU available, my main desktop however runs a 4890 because nVidia just couldn't match its performance at the price I paid for it. I go with whatever has the best performance for its price at the time (unless I am building it for someone else who wants premium performance despite the cost) which, since ATI released the 4000 series, has been ATI. And now with the 5000 series, ATI takes over both ends of the spectrum, price:performance and premium performance.