ATI or nVidia?

lucasbytegenius

lucasbytegenius

Well-Known Member
Building a new rig, and desperately need to know what are the differences between ATI and nVidia GPUs. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both platforms?
Just wanted to know :P sorry if this turns into a forum war.
 
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lucasbytegenius said:
Building a new rig, and desperately need to know what are the differences between ATI and nVidia GPUs. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both platforms?
Just wanted to know :P sorry if this turns into a forum war.
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The only thing one has going over another is Nvidia has Physx, and that is it. If you don't play many games that use Physx, that is a null pro. When that happens, just go with whichever gives the best performance in your price range, there really is not one that is better than the other, the only time you will get people saying "this is better than this" is if they are fanboys, it is completely untrue
 
What resolution do you game at? And what games will you be playing?

Those two things really make a diffrerence in choice.
 
Aastii said:
The only thing one has going over another is Nvidia has Physx, and that is it. If you don't play many games that use Physx, that is a null pro. When that happens, just go with whichever gives the best performance in your price range, there really is not one that is better than the other, the only time you will get people saying "this is better than this" is if they are fanboys, it is completely untrue
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I read somewhere that nVidia drivers are easier to install/more reliable/better made etc. Is this true? Also I haven't owned an ATI GPU before, so I have no experience on my part with them.
87dtna said:
What resolution do you game at? And what games will you be playing?

Those two things really make a diffrerence in choice.
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Well, considering my current rig, I haven't had much experience in the gaming department :o But I do have AOE3, and plan to get some other resource-intensive games (not sure which titles yet) later. So I assume I will need a really good GPU.
 
But what monitor do you have and what resolution will you be gaming at?

Also, what are the specs of your new rig? What CPU/motherboard/ram?
 
87dtna said:
But what monitor do you have and what resolution will you be gaming at?

Also, what are the specs of your new rig? What CPU/motherboard/ram?
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I have a gigantic 20" CRT @1600x1200, which I plan to replace with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236112
CPU will be an Intel Core i7 2600K
RAM will be the following: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220558
Motherboard is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131682
And if you're curious, the case will be the following ;): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811124132
I haven't decided on storage yet, I'm thinking about an SSD and a decent-sized HDD.
 
OK, great choices all except the ram...I would get G.Skill way over patriot-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

OK, for 1080p I highly recommend the gtx560 that will be released on the 25th of january. If you can wait that long, the GPU is going to be super awesome and will handle anything you throw at it for 1080p.

But if you want to order right now, the current ATI 6870 would be a good choice.
 
The best deal for cards right now is a 6950 flashed with a 6970 BIOS. Its a ~$370 dollar card for $300 and it's the best single card solution shy of the GTX 580 (I'm not counting the 5970). That'll be great for gaming at that resolution and match your set up pretty well.
 
87dtna said:
OK, great choices all except the ram...I would get G.Skill way over patriot-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

OK, for 1080p I highly recommend the gtx560 that will be released on the 25th of january. If you can wait that long, the GPU is going to be super awesome and will handle anything you throw at it for 1080p.

But if you want to order right now, the current ATI 6870 would be a good choice.
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Yeah I have time to wait lol, I'm going to get a job sometime in April. I was thinking about this card though: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...nvidia_geforce_gtx_570-_-14-133-370-_-Product
Thanks for the RAM recommendation.
 
Nah, no need for the 570. They are huge, and run hotter than the 560 will. Also, the 560 is going to be very close to the same performance and for only $250.

Plus, there's pretty much no game and no settings that you could try that won't bog a gtx560 down on a 1080p monitor.
 
87dtna said:
Nah, no need for the 570. They are huge, and run hotter than the 560 will. Also, the 560 is going to be very close to the same performance and for only $250.

Plus, there's pretty much no game and no settings that you could try that won't bog a gtx560 down on a 1080p monitor.
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Ok then. GTX 560 it is :D thanks guys for all your help.

@CardboardSword: Yeah sounds great but I like the color green it seems :P :D
Naw it's cool, but I like the sound of that 560 :D
 
Yeah I run 1080p also, I had a gtx460 1gb for awhile and there was no game that I played that would max the card out. And a gtx560 is gonna be quite a bit stronger so I think you'll be pretty futureproof with it.
 
Well with all due respect we have yet to see what the 560 will offer. Although if we look at the 460's performance and judge by it then it'll overclock like mad and be at a great price/performance value, yet still fall short of its big brothers.
 
lucasbytegenius said:
I read somewhere that nVidia drivers are easier to install/more reliable/better made etc. Is this true? Also I haven't owned an ATI GPU before, so I have no experience on my part with them.
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ATi drivers are fine, they are easy to install and they do work. They went through a period of having real issues with them, but that really is not the case any more.

87dtna said:
Nah, no need for the 570. They are huge, and run hotter than the 560 will. Also, the 560 is going to be very close to the same performance and for only $250.

Plus, there's pretty much no game and no settings that you could try that won't bog a gtx560 down on a 1080p monitor.
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Can you provide some sort of citation for the claims you are making?

I still don't think you should rule out any AMD card, it isn't like it is impossible, or even worse, to play HD on one than on a green card. I'm not saying you SHOULD go AMD, I'm saying you should consider them before you so hastily go straight off to Nvidia based on one person's claims and opinions. If the 560 lives up to what 87dtna is saying, then yes, it would probably be the better option, but nobody knows for certain before the cards are released
 
Aastii said:
ATi drivers are fine, they are easy to install and they do work. They went through a period of having real issues with them, but that really is not the case any more.



Can you provide some sort of citation for the claims you are making?

I still don't think you should rule out any AMD card, it isn't like it is impossible, or even worse, to play HD on one than on a green card. I'm not saying you SHOULD go AMD, I'm saying you should consider them before you so hastily go straight off to Nvidia based on one person's claims and opinions. If the 560 lives up to what 87dtna is saying, then yes, it would probably be the better option, but nobody knows for certain before the cards are released
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I'll remember that advice, thanks Aastii :)
 
Aastii said:
Can you provide some sort of citation for the claims you are making?

I still don't think you should rule out any AMD card, it isn't like it is impossible, or even worse, to play HD on one than on a green card. I'm not saying you SHOULD go AMD, I'm saying you should consider them before you so hastily go straight off to Nvidia based on one person's claims and opinions. If the 560 lives up to what 87dtna is saying, then yes, it would probably be the better option, but nobody knows for certain before the cards are released
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Nothing solid proof, just from looking at the specs and relating them to my experience have owned a gtx460, 470, and 570.

From what it looks like, nothing AMD has will be the same performance per dollar at all as it will likely be atleast the same performance as a 6950 or so.
 
Aastii said:
Can you provide some sort of citation for the claims you are making?

I still don't think you should rule out any AMD card, it isn't like it is impossible, or even worse, to play HD on one than on a green card. I'm not saying you SHOULD go AMD, I'm saying you should consider them before you so hastily go straight off to Nvidia based on one person's claims and opinions. If the 560 lives up to what 87dtna is saying, then yes, it would probably be the better option, but nobody knows for certain before the cards are released
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http://www.techpowerup.com/138271/GeForce-GTX-560-called-GTX-560-Ti-and-releases-Jan-25th.html

SORRY for the double post.
 
tech savvy said:
agreed,these here are great and are made for the P67.here- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231440 .there at @1333 but have very low timings @7-7-7-21.IMO when dealing with speeds this close (1333 and 1600) ill go with the lower timings,especially when its 7-7-7-21 vs 9-9-9-24.
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1333 cas 7 is better in this case because sandy bridge uses multiplier only to overclock. If this was socket 1156 I'd still recommend the 1600 for more overclocking headroom even with looser timings.

I've found that speed helps more than timings actually....to a point. For example, I've take 2000 cas 9 over 1600 cas 7....but thats a 400mhz increase. Going from 1333 cas 7 to 1600 cas 9 is only 266 with a 2 point jump in latency. 1333 cas 8 would definitely be out in favor of 1600 cas 9.

But sandy bridge also doesn't like high speeds either, 1600 is pretty much the max for most chips. My board only has a selection from 1600 straight to 2133 and that speed doesn't even POST so anything in between I don't know.
 
I would wait for the new radeon 6990 and nvidia gtx 595 to come out before buying a video card from either company. It will give you time to save some money for your card, and you might get a price drop on something you're interested in.
 
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