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nVidia vs ATI

theyhaveahero

theyhaveahero

theyhaveahero

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Joined
26 Feb 2009
Posts
3
After searching google, I've finally given up. Looking at both nVidia and ATI flagship 295GTX and 4870 x2, I fail to see how nVidia is able to outperform ATI as ATI has both larger memory capacity (2048mb) and generally faster everything including DDR5 instead of nVidia DDR3.

Is anyone able to explain in simple terms or even provide a link to somewhere where this has been explained before so I can understand this strange phenomenon?

Many thanks in advance. Am looking for an upgrade real soon as my current system is not able to support my new setup with a 30" 2560*1600 AND a second monitor at 24" with a res of 1200*1920.
 
The GTX295 has a wider memory bus and a larger GT200b processing core which is faster at texturing and raster operations than the 4870 X2's RV770 cores (which are faster at shader operations for the most part).
 
Even tho they are faster for shader ops on paper thats a theoretical max throughput whereas the the figure for nVidia is what its capable of in most situations...

TBH I'd have to say the X2 wins for 2560x even tho I prefer the 295 as the better card, as the 295 does not have the VRAM for 2560 in all cases.
 
Rroff said:
Even tho they are faster for shader ops on paper thats a theoretical max throughput whereas the the figure for nVidia is what its capable of in most situations...
Click to expand...

Nothing performs at its maximum theoretical peak throughput, and it's very situation dependant as to what's faster. The GeForce architecture seems to be very good at vertex shaders, but pixel shaders that make use of the alpha channel are very fast on the Radeon cards because that sort of operation makes use of 4 of the 5 shader units per group that the Radeon cards have.

I think you'd also find that trigonomic calculations (I'm really thinking more calculation throughput in GPGPU scenarios now...) would be very fast on the Radeon cards because of that fat fifth shader unit that can perform those more complex operations like SIN, COS, etc. in a single cycle.
 
Lightnix said:
Nothing performs at its maximum theoretical peak throughput, and it's very situation dependant as to what's faster. The GeForce architecture seems to be very good at vertex shaders, but pixel shaders that make use of the alpha channel are very fast on the Radeon cards because that sort of operation makes use of 4 of the 5 shader units per group that the Radeon cards have.

I think you'd also find that trigonomic calculations would be very fast on the Radeon cards because of that fat fifth shader unit that can perform those more complex operations like SIN, COS, etc. in a single cycle.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter to him, he'll always prefer Nvidia! :cool:
 
I'm completely unbiast with graphics cards and will only by the best one for the best price at the time of when I need to upgrade. Had a few of each. Last couple have been ATI's though and for me a massive considertaion for buying now, would be if it works with a HDTV. Many many people have had issues with outputting certain ATI HD cards to a HDTV and getting it working so I would consider that and just check it works.
 
i was seriusly think of selling my nvidia 280gtxs and going for 4870x2 in crossfire....but i hear of problems with them...im certainly tempted
 
theyhaveahero said:
After searching google, I've finally given up. Looking at both nVidia and ATI flagship 295GTX and 4870 x2, I fail to see how nVidia is able to outperform ATI as ATI has both larger memory capacity (2048mb) and generally faster everything including DDR5 instead of nVidia DDR3.

Is anyone able to explain in simple terms or even provide a link to somewhere where this has been explained before so I can understand this strange phenomenon?

Many thanks in advance. Am looking for an upgrade real soon as my current system is not able to support my new setup with a 30" 2560*1600 AND a second monitor at 24" with a res of 1200*1920.
Click to expand...

GTX295 > 4870X2, clearly you should do some more research because specs alone don't tell you everything. :)
 
The 295 is faster in general then the X2 though the X2 does still beat it in some games. It comes down to if your happy paying the premium for the 295 over the X2 for a few fps more in some games.
 
thevet said:
i was seriusly think of selling my nvidia 280gtxs and going for 4870x2 in crossfire....but i hear of problems with them...im certainly tempted
Click to expand...

Just get a single 4870X2. More than enough til the next gen and beyond :). Have never been happier with a graphics card (well, except maybe my old voodoo 2!)
 
There's also driver cheats and paying off devs (TWIMTBP) to optimize for games which they know will be used for reviews and benching.
 
I would love to go with the 4870X2 but unfortunately ATI dont yet support triple monitor res :( and the 295 is outta my price range so i'm gonna have to settle for the 285. Really dont think the price premium on the 295 is worth it over 4870X2.
 
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