I've had problems and good experiences with both manufacturers :) I have heard that ATI's drivers are still spotty. There actually is as problem with the HD 4870/4850 where the driver won't properly spin up the fan and the card gets really hot. But there is a fix out there. I think I would rather have good hardware with possible driver issues than bad hardware - because while in the former there is always the chance for a patch, the latter means you're screwed.
As example, it seems to be massive problems with Nvidia G84 and G86 chipsets, possibly ALL of them (every recent Nvidia card under the 8800 part number: http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/09/nvidia-g84-g86-bad Nvidia is keeping mum on exactly what the problem is and how many chips it has affected but there is definitely something to the story - their stock took a massive hit this week as they announced they were taking a $200 million Q2 charge to replace all the faulty chips: http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2172 --- Brian On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 10:44 AM, Steve Tomporowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Is AMD/ATI's driver support finally gotten mature enough? That is > what always burned me in the past. The drivers were always crap right > out of the box and updates were few and far between. And the review > sites would never tell you stuff like visible skyboxes, etc. > > Of course now, with the 8800GT, Nvidia dropped the ball with people > waiting over a year for driver corrections with respect to the Unreal > Tournament series. > > And, of course, I expect to get a chorus of 'I've never had a problem > with an ATI card'. > > My experience has been ATI = trouble, except if its a cheap 2d card > you do nothing with. > > Steve > > On 7/11/08, FORC5 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > some of us just DO NOT like ATI video cards. Everyone I ever messed with > gave me grief, nVidia never has. FWIW > > Well every plug in, just built a system with built in ATI and it gave me > no problem. chipset was AMD/ATI. > > fp > > > > At 06:35 AM 7/11/2008, Brian Weeden Poked the stick with: > > >Absolutely agree - why bother with Nvidia? Sure, they have the single > > >fastest card overall but that same card is on average only a bit faster > than > > >something $250 cheaper (and in some cases slower). > > > > > >To quote Anand: > > > > > >"A pair of Radeon HD 4850s can come close to the performance of a > GeForce > > >GTX 280, and a pair of Radeon HD 4870s are faster across the board - not > to > > >mention that they should be $50 less than the GTX 280 and will work on > > >motherboards with Intel-chipsets. Quite possibly more important than the > > >fact that AMD's multi-GPU strategy has potential is the fact that it may > not > > >even be necessary for the majority of gamers - a single Radeon HD 4850 > or > > >Radeon HD 4870 is easily enough to run anything out today." > > > > > >His review: > > > > > >http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341 > > > > > >And another roundup that reaches the same conclusions: > > > > > > > http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/07/11/summer-2008-graphics-performance-roundup/1 > > > > > >---- > > >Brian > > > > > >On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 9:23 AM, Hayes Elkins < > [EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >wrote: > > > > > >> > > >> And add to mix the 8800 Ultra, which still has higher theoretical > specs in > > >> certain areas (it is still the fastest card period for Flight > Simulator X > > >> and few other older games). > > >> > > >> All in all, the GTX280's have the most upside. > > >> > > >> Frankly for the price, the Radeon 4870 mops the floor with everybody. > Is > > >> 5fps worth $300 more in Crysis? > > >> > > >> > Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:54:38 -0400 > > >> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >> > To: [email protected] > > >> > Subject: [H] Fastest Nvidia Card??? > > >> > > > >> > Been searching the web on this, but it's beginning to get rather > > >> > confusing...which Nvidia chipset/card is the fastest...for gaming? > > >> > You've got the 9800GX2 versions and the GTX 280 which run about the > > >> > same price. The hardware on the GTX series seems to have more of > > >> > everything, yet, the GX2 seems to be faster in certain cases. Then > > >> > this is made more complex as the drivers have evolved, so benchmarks > > >> > seem to vary from month to month. Anything definitive out there? > > >> > > > >> > Thanks....Steve > > >> > > >> _________________________________________________________________ > > >> Making the world a better place one message at a time. > > >> http://www.imtalkathon.com/?source=EML_WLH_Talkathon_BetterPlace > > > > -- > > Tallyho ! ]:8) > > Taglines below ! > > -- > > The speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack. > > > > >
