GeForce vs Radeon

Shaggy

Shaggy

Vice Admiral
I'm about done with putting my new machine together all I really need to do is settle on a video card.
I'm looking at both Radeons and Geforce cards and I'm wondering which is more stable across a broad spectrum of games, but mainly GTASA and Doom 3.
I'mn looking for something that will also work well with older games like Wing Commander Secret Ops.
So any suggestions or info?
 
Reportedly Geforce 6800 utlra will give you slightly better performance in doom3 than an x800xt. However the reverse is true with half life 2.

Now, while ATI is working on an sli solution, If you have an sli motherboard the Nvidia path is the only real option. (you can rig your machine with 2 6800ultras or even 2 6600gts if you want a cheaper solution that willl perform better than a single 6800 ultra.)
 
take GeForce... if you have enough money than take GeForce 7800 (it was published 1 month ago, completely new video caard has no analogs so far.. the best you can get)

If you are low on money, concider GeFroce 6600GT or GeForce 6800 ultra both are very good.


Doom3 was especialy made for nVidia cards, so for GeForce. Also GeForce cards are more stable in games. i'm getting an upgrade in few days, so i've read plenty of literature about Radeons and GeForce and almost everywhere it was noted (and tests proved it) that GeForce is more stable and less tricky than Radeon. Go for GeForce.
 
Well, for stability, I'd definitely go for the nVidia cards. I've had a few geforces (starting with 2 and through the FX) and a few ATI Cards (starting with the Rage 128 32 and some tv-tuner stuff) and "stability" was always flawless with the geforces. Occasionally you get some bugs and glitches with the ATI stuff. There's very few Wing Commander conflicts concerning video cards. The only thing off the top of my head is some incompatibility between the Radeons and the 32-bit color patches for Prophecy/Secret Ops. Anything from the Geforce FX5600 on up is fine for something like Doom 3. With the Geforce 7s now here, I'd say now is a great time to get a GeForce 6600/6800.
 
i wish i can change my graphics card but i have a laptop and it's an intergrated motherboard. unless there's a way to change it that i don't know of...
 
In the previous generation of video cards (Radeon 9800 and GeForce 5900) ATI blew nVidia out of the water. Their patch support was solid with Catalyst and nVidia really bombed with the FX series.

But this present generation (X800 and 6800) nVidia, like others have said, is the way to go. However my Radeon 9800 pro runs Doom 3 with all settings on Ultra at 1152x864 at smooth 30 fps all the time. So for right now either top of the line card you get you can't go wrong. nVidia's benchmarks may be slightly higher this generation, but in all honesty you can't tell the difference between 80 fps and 90 fps much less between 30 or 60.
 
I'd also give a slight advantage to the GeForce family with regards to compatibility. Speed wise they are pretty much the same, differences only depending on a specific game. GeForces seem to need more power and produce more heat however which might be a concern.
 
The geforce is the superior card, but only slightly.

an ATI card costs half the money of a geforce at the same performance.

no probs running prophecy or SO though
(space was messed up with the RAGE series)
 
My two cents: don't play Doom 3.

Play original Doom with no lights, the brightness on your monitor turned down to nothing, and the sound up really high.

But, I digress.

I just built a new computer, and I went the ATI way. I'm not sure if I trust nVidia anymore. My GeForce3 Ti500 crapped out after a year.
 
I just bought a geForce 6600Gt, which i'm going to get around august 1st. It seems to be pretty hot, and in all the tests I checked, it really blew the 9800pro away. It is the best bang for your buck, especially if you don't have PCI-Express.

BTW, I'm pretty happy to get rid of my 9600pro, it is not as stable as nVidia stuff.

And yep, Doom 1 and 2 is a lot better than 3. At least it has some gameplay and level design is the suckiest ever.
 
As a designer of custom systems I'm going to have to put in my vote for GeForce as well. Ironically, I run a Radeon in both of my own boxes, but they're budget cards to the extreme (9600SE and 9200 Mobile respectively). The reasoning? While ATI has more raw power in its video cards, those guys can NEVER write the drivers to run them. The cards are unstable and only support Windows XP properly, which in my opinion is embarassing considering how many other operating systems (even if you're dumb like them and only count Microsoft OSes) there are out there.
 
I too have a Geforce 6600GT...however I must sadly admit I've never really tested it out. I think Starlancer has been the most recent game I've played on my PC. :( There used to be a time when I was all about the latest PC games...now all I play are older games and play new ones on my xbox.
 
Ehehehe, so you have a very good card an you don't use it? Well, the opposite would've been a lot worse.
 
From what I've been picking up on the other boards I've visited the GeForce 6600 seems to be the best option. I might try dual cards.
 
I bought a 6600 a few months back too (PCIex - it seems that when you're buying a new computer, there's really no excuse to stick with AGP). From what I've read, things in general tend to look better on ATI cards, at least for the current generation of cards... but things in general does not include WCP. Recalling all too well all the ATI-related troubleshooting posts after Standoff's release, I never considered ATI to be an option.
 
This issue comes up often.

Here's the bottom line.

Nvidia cards are better at OpenGL games.
ATi cards are better at Direct3d games.

If your game(s) of chose use(s) OpenGL, then stick with Nvidia
Likewise Direct3d stick with ATi
 
Edfilho said:
I just bought a geForce 6600Gt, which i'm going to get around august 1st. It seems to be pretty hot, and in all the tests I checked, it really blew the 9800pro away. It is the best bang for your buck, especially if you don't have PCI-Express.
Click to expand...


Well, that is pretty obvious, the 6600 wasn't meant to be a contender of the older 9800Pro but the new ATI cards
 
Quarto said:
I bought a 6600 a few months back too (PCIex - it seems that when you're buying a new computer, there's really no excuse to stick with AGP).
Click to expand...

Right now it really doesn't matter if you pick PCIex or AGP. The performance in games pretty much the same.
 
I've always used Geforce until this gen because the stability of ATI cards used to be so poor... however...
I bought a pre-built machine this time around for a variety of reasons and only had the option of ATI so I went with the ATI X800XT PCIExpress and I couldn't be happier. No glitches and the speed is unbelievable, I get locked 60fps with max settings including 6xFSAA at 1680*1050 in Half-Life 2.
Doom 3 I only ever tried with my old monitor but got 60FPS, it certainly performs better on nVidia drivers but I had no issues whatsoever with performance.

Ultimately this gen theres not a lot in it but I'd recommend ATI as you can pretty much guarantee great performance. Since (sadly) few games use OpenGL Doom 3 is the exception and not the rule. As a side note PCIExpress DOES have a performance increase worth noting, just check some benchmarks.
 
cff said:
Right now it really doesn't matter if you pick PCIex or AGP. The performance in games pretty much the same.
Click to expand...
Yeah, except that PCIex cards are a good deal cheaper than their AGP counterparts. The price difference is often significant enough to offset the cost of the more expensive PCIex-compatible motherboard (and the more expensive processors generally needed for such motherboards). So, it doesn't cost you anything extra, and you're getting compatibility with the next generation of graphics cards as part of the deal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top