Nvidia or Ati thread

[Unicorn]

Im not sure on the advantages and disadvantages price-wise on each.

It would be a single card run system until i save more funds to either x-fire or sli it, And im looking between either

3D Vision ( NVIDIA Glasses one )
Or
Eyefinity
I need a new monitor(s) as it is so this is no issue.

Budget for first card is 200, Then when i get more funds i buy another
Could someone advise me on what road to go down?
I currently game at 1366×768 but want to go to 1920x1200

Monitor doesnt need to be able to look up to anything but my pc either but ps3 wudnt be a bad idea if i can.

Advice? Thanks

 

[xsistor]

Max for 3D is 1920x1080.
You can even have it all if you can afford it and get 3 3D monitors and run 3D surround. It's like eyefinity but in 3D.

If you want to do 3D I'd advice you to stick to NVIDIA. Otherwise your options are open. A GTX 560Ti will probably suit you just fine for 3D.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-247-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341
but if you want to go 3D surround then you will need something with more GPU power and VRAM... and/or SLI two 2GB 560Ti.

If you want to go eyefinity and not necessarily 3D you may want to just get this. Though it would still lack the GPU power to max out the more demanding games in eyefinity.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-273-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

 

[Unicorn]

I was looking at GTX 560Ti's i like the price and power of them. I want to do 3d really as ill be getting a 120HZ monitor which is a LG D2342P 23" Full HD 3D LED Backlit Monitor. Then if i lack power when the 560's drop in price eventually or i get bored ill buy a second and SLI it.

Would this monitor be sufficient ?

EDIT: The 6950 i hear i can unlock to a 6970 easily though which is a lot cheaper and it would perform highly?

 

[xsistor]

That monitor is passive 3D. NVIDIA uses active 3D. It's pricier but ultimately better. You should be able to get an active 3D Monitor at that price.

Alternatively, maybe AMD's 3D will work with this monitor and passive glasses. I'm not sure about that. You'll have to check.

 

[Unicorn]

Didnt get the edit in in time.

The 6950 i hear i can unlock to a 6970 easily though which is a lot cheaper and it would perform highly?

Would this outrun a 560Ti ? Or even 2 in sli?

 

[EGuitarStar]

6950 v 560Ti Bench - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/293?vs=330

You can see SLI performance from that site too.

 

[xsistor]

A 6950 2GB will be slightly better than a 560Ti 1GB at 1080p. At higher resolutions it will have a VRAM advantage and so will more closely match a 560Ti 2GB. But even unlocked a 6970 won't equal 560Ti SLI. In SLI they will even beat a GTX 580.

Also I don't know if the current cards unlock. I thought that with the older batches.

On the plus side I did see a user review saying that monitor works in 3D with an ATI card.
It won't be quite as good as NVIDIA 3D Vision 2, but it will definitely be a fair bit cheaper, and if you've got that monitor already then paired with a 6950 2GB may be the way to go.

 

[Unicorn]

6950 v 560Ti Bench - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/293?vs=330

You can see SLI performance from that site too.

Thanks! Just checked it out and i think SLI is the way ill go and stuff 3D gaming for abit longer due to budget. If im not getting that monitor though any you would recommend which are good? 23" ish

A 6950 2GB will be slightly better than a 560Ti 1GB at 1080p. At higher resolutions it will have a VRAM advantage and so will more closely match a 560Ti 2GB. But even unlocked a 6970 won't equal 560Ti SLI. In SLI they will even beat a GTX 580.

Also I don't know if the current cards unlock. I thought that with the older batches.

On the plus side I did see a user review saying that monitor works in 3D with an ATI card.
It won't be quite as good as NVIDIA 3D Vision 2, but it will definitely be a fair bit cheaper, and if you've got that monitor already then paired with a 6950 2GB may be the way to go.

I think the SLI will be my route.. Recommend any other monitors?

 

[EGuitarStar]

I think the SLI will be my route..

Sorry out of the loop on monitors at the moment so I cannot help out with that but I should add that SLI does not always mean better performance than a single card. Often you will have to wait for SLI/XFire profiles to be released to get the performance of two cards. Just thought I'd mention this if you wasn't aware.

 

[xsistor]

Buy a single 560Ti and a single 120Hz monitor. OCUK has a selection.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=17&catid=1851&sortby=priceAsc

The £300 benq 3D Vision 2 monitor should be great for gaming even without 3D, because it's 120Hz. Not sure if any of these fit your budget, But I'd recommend going with 1 card and atleast a cheap 1080p 120Hz monitor for now. And later u can get the 3D Vision kit and/or a second card.

 

[opethdisciple]

I fancy a change so my next card will be Nvidia I think.

Depending on price and performance of course.

At bear minimum, I want a card that can max all settings on BF3 at 1920x1200.

Thats not unreasonable is it?

 

[TehJumpingJawa]

Definitely nvidia; ati/amd drivers still suck.

 

[Cleeecooo]

Definitely nvidia; ati/amd drivers still suck.

no they don't.

Either give sensible advice and stop being a fanboy or GTFO.

OP - I'd wait for kepler to be released before making your decision. I'd say the 560Ti is better for 3D if you will use it, and that's a big if. Tri monitors setups realistically require another card so with the 5 and 6 series AMD cards it's a bit of a gimmick TBPH. 3D is cheaper to invest in

 

[TehJumpingJawa]

no they don't.

Either give sensible advice and stop being a fanboy or GTFO.

I own a 5870; I'd hardly call that being an nvidia fanboy - more a disappointed amd customer.
Do I really need to list all the problems ati/amd have had with their drivers in the past 6-12 months? or how long they take to release updated drivers for newly released games? or how many broken features there are in CCC/Vision?

 

[Cleeecooo]

I own a 5870; I'd hardly call that being an nvidia fanboy - more a disappointed amd customer.
Do I really need to list all the problems ati/amd have had with their drivers in the past 6-12 months? or how long they take to release updated drivers for newly released games? or how many broken features there are in CCC/Vision?

Fair enough about fnaboyism, but the drivers are fine. Not as good as nv, but you could've phrased your initial response more diplomatically

 

[PapaLazaru]

I own a 5870; I'd hardly call that being an nvidia fanboy - more a disappointed amd customer.
Do I really need to list all the problems ati/amd have had with their drivers in the past 6-12 months? or how long they take to release updated drivers for newly released games? or how many broken features there are in CCC/Vision?

Well I also have a 5870 and below I shall list all the problems I have had in the last 18 months -

 

[durbs]

Definitely nvidia; ati/amd drivers still suck.

Wouldn't be as blunt as that but vaguely true. I had a new 6950 for a few weeks but had to sell it and get a 570 as certain older games I play simply didn't run on the ATI card full stop due to OpenGL issues. They ran fine on the NVidia card.

 

[ALXAndy]

Definitely nvidia; ati/amd drivers still suck.

Nvidia are just as bad. Had they had their act together I would have owned a 570/580 and not a 6970.

They made it quite clear that they didn't want to, and wasn't going to, support a card that cost £450 18 months ago.

My 295s were basically rendered paper weights thanks to their insistent reckless abandon of breaking the 2 series driver support and forcing ads for the 5 series in my face. I tried the last five sets of drivers and none of them managed to get BF3 working, or, working properly.

The shadows were just lumps of black blocks and certain areas were just completely black. There was a weird haze that would go across the screen and so on.

And the more they released "updates" the more they made it worse. It got to the point where BF3 would just turn the screen black and lock up the PC forcing a hard reset.

They seem to forget that the 295 was still selling like hot cakes when the 5870 came out because it was faster than the 5870. Yet they just don't seem to care, because as far as they're concerned the 295 is now an end of life card.

After 18 months.

 

[bhavv]

Fair enough about fnaboyism, but the drivers are fine. Not as good as nv, but you could've phrased your initial response more diplomatically

Does crossfire work in Skyrim yet?

For a single card AMD drivers are fine, for 2 cards I'll never touch them again.

 

[snake55]

Nvidia IMO