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NVidia or ATI??

andymac

andymac

andymac

Associate
Joined
17 Oct 2004
Posts
347
I'm currently trying to decide on a graphics card for my new build, I have always used NVidia before, but I'm not fussed about the badge, just the performance and stability!

I've looked at a NVidia option as a BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail Retail at £352 or the ATI Option is

OcUK ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT SILENT Heatpipe 1024MB GDDR4 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail at £318

Both similar priced, I know there is a better NVidia card in the Ultra, but that is just a push too far!

For gaming, is the ATI or the NVidia route best??

The ATI has more memory, and more stream processors it seems to wipe the floor with the NVidia, but is lots less money!

Whats the score here, which is the better buy, I've searched many threads and can't get a definative answer!

Ta

Andy
 
The 8800 GTX is a lot faster than the 2900 XT, ATi can't compete. :)

You could wait a few weeks for the new 640mb GTS which will not be to far away from GTX now perfomance, as it will have more streams etc..., or you could wait for the new GTX which will be faster still.
 
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The ATI has more memory, and more stream processors it seems to wipe the floor with the NVidia, but is lots less money!
Click to expand...

The 1gb card is gimmicky IMO, where does it wipe the floor with the GTX? I thought they were pretty evenly matched in most benchies, with the GTX pipping it to the post for a few more FPS, not biased here, just observations.

I'd wait until after next monday and see what the 8800GT is like, and beyond that the 8800GTX replacement isn't that far away...early next year AFAIK.


Liam
 
The GTS has fewer stream processors, and less memory, I'd have thought that would have let it wipe the preverbial floor with the NVidia card!

Loads faster, but similar pricing, asking a silly question, why? The ATI specs seem much better!

Andy
 
Hmm, the ATi HD2900 XT doesn't really have 320 shaders. It effectively has 64 which can do 5 shader operations at a time, so if it isn't used efficiently, it's much weaker than the 8800GTX, as the GTX has 128 'real' unified shaders, but because of what the 2900 can do, its theoretical throughput is much higher.

Benchmarks have shown there is minimal differences between the 2900 XT 1GB version and 512MB, and the 8800 GTX, on average, is stronger than the 2900 XT in most benchmarks, except for a few newer titles such as Unreal Tournament 3.

Tomshardware has a few benchmarks that can be used as comparison.

Edit: Another thing that adds to the 8800's advantage is that its shader clocks are much higher than the core clock, whereas on the 2900, the core clock is the same as the shader clock, so the 8800 cards get an additional boost in shader power.
 
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Specs mean nothing, its how those specs are used, GTX wipes the floor with the 2900, its in a different league to it, the 2900 is only competing with Nvidia's 8800 GTS, the GTX is the next one up. :D

Tom|Nbk got shot of a 2900 XT for a GTX, and he's impressed, ill point him towards this thread when he comes back on MSN so he can let you know. :)
 
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So, as to NVidia cards, the additional bonus of a GTX over a GTS, is there a real difference in games, is a GTX worth the extra cash?
 
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