GPU Shootout 'Quick opinions'

[GM<Jaymac>MF]

Seriously, I vote for the new Nvidia 7800 GTX 512, but someone I know disagrees with me. What say you, the gaming community, ATI's current top card, or Nvidia's?

I'm not talking about the marketing bumf, or the reputability of the manufacturers, I just want to know what everyone thinks is THE best card.

[DawEEd]

Jay it depends what u want, quality or speed. I go for quality so for now I go with ATI.

[GM<Jaymac>MF]

Good point Daweed, I am a bit of a speed freak! I don't know much about quality differences, so perhaps I should consider it more.

Nonetheless, keep the opinions rolling in.

[sneaky]

At the moment I would probably go NVIDIA

[Purple_H@ze]

I would always go nvidia, less complicated setup,easier handling

[Max²]

ATI sucks....:P...jk....i Like my speed

[Cataphract]

Nvidia at the moment.

[Terror]

ATI is awesome.

[]H[LeG@cY]

Im gonna have to say... ATI. It has beautifull image qaulity & The New X1000 Series are pretty fast 2 & I never had issues with my X800XT so far, so ye ill go for the ATI.

I won't revert back to nVidia anytime soon, they would have to impress me with a mojor leap in better image qaulity & Performance, I really don't care if the score difference is 1500 points.

[GM<Jaymac>MF]

Well, I don't know all that much (which is why I posted this thread) but from what I've read - the Nvidia GTX 512 is awesome. I got benchmarks from a couple of places showing it blaze ahead of the competition, especially in SLI when you get an effective 1GB video memory!

Okay, those benchmarks are based on speed, so what I'm hearing is, Nvidia = speed, ATI = quality?

Happy DJ?

[]H[LeG@cY]

That is about it :) Just that the ATi isn't that far behind in benchies so yeah, I would rather have qaulity @ a slightly slower speed.

[JKR]

I'm using Nvidia SLI right now, but my next upgrade will be back to ATI again..

Nvidia really is far behind in image and effect quality.

[GM<Jaymac>MF]

Hmmm.... Something to consider, definitely.
Thanx.

[Ragnarok]

Both of them will give you more than anough frames in any game, if I where you i'd go with the Ati because of the better image quality.

[MaXimus]

Whatever you do, don't trust 3D Mark as the definitive scoring solution to your expensive cards. Check this thread out, it's a dam scam (or something).

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/showthread.php?t=2332

[GM<Jaymac>MF]

Now that's a story I can believe! I know that NVidia played with their drivers in the past, but I also know from experience that 3DMark can be a load of BS most of the time!

I wouldn'ttrust anything in 3DMark, IMHO.

[Max²]

Well ive run thouseands of 3dmark benchmarks and never seen anything like that or heard of something like that...although i do believe MaXimus !!....but there must be a gpu/cpu/sli/harddrives/ram or whateva reason for it to be such a vast difference in results but as Razor says check the breakdown.
Is there no breakdown available as in Aquamark3? I would suggest repeating this test with other 3D benchmarks apps.. e.g. Aquamark3, maybe some timedemos in Far Cry and FEAR or Quake4.

[MaXimus]

For sure Max. I can ask my cousin to go into more details for us, but I'm visiting him in a month again so I'll try and get as much detail as possible for you guys, and perhaps even record a video of it happening to prove my point.

[]H[LeG@cY]

I wouldn't be shocked, if that was the case

[GM<Jaymac>MF]

I like the idea of being scientific about it. ;-) Get a couple of other benchmarks run and we can calculate the correlation between each test, and the corresponding 3D Mark score. If the tests are highly correlated with 3D Mark, then it means that 3D mark is probably correct. If not, then either 3D is wrong, or Nvidia is up to something.

I reckon you run a few benchmarks of each, and post up the results. I can calculate the correlations if you want. Even if you can only do it in a month's time, it could be an interesting experiment.

[Max²]

Well 3dmark has survived and come up with some great stuff and help to genarate a new generation of gameing, so to dis them just on pure hear say....is doing no justice to a group that helps to boost a gaming future.
So feedback would be gr8 !!

[MaXimus]

Cool cool, lemme see what I can get out of my cousin for now. He's quite a busy body (RC chopper hobbyist, keen 4x4 offroader, etc.) so I can't guarentee anything. ;)

[Thallium]

Whatever you do, don't trust 3D Mark as the definitive scoring solution to your expensive cards. Check this thread out, it's a dam scam (or something).

http://www.pcbuyersguide.co.za/showthread.php?t=2332


yo MaXimus, 3dmarks cpu benchies don't affect the end result at all, it's separate,if you look at the details of your benchmark, you can see its a seperate score. if you have a registered version of 3dmark, you can disable the cpu benchies completely, your mark at the end is still the same, but in the details you won't have the cpu results.

The dual 6600 has less chance of it's frame rate dropping as low as the x850xt can, but i doubt it's frame rate can go any higher than the x850xt.

a 3d application (one that is correctly timed) will not slow down at lower frames, but with no frame management, like 3dmark does for benchmarking purposes, higher frame rates can increase the timing in the app. to me it would look like a case of the x850xt can reach higher frame rates than the dual 6600 and allowing 3dmark to speed up slightly, but the 6600 probably had a stronger low fps average allowing it to get a higher score.

Does that make sense?

i don't really trust 3dmark too much either, the way the app works is not like a game at all, no frame controlling, no input, it's just a 3d script peice of shit.

anyway, just my 50 cents

[Shrimp]

nVidia for the permanent win.

[Max²]

Cant argue with a "Noob admin dude"....:D

[GM<Jaymac>MF]

Well 3dmark has survived and come up with some great stuff and help to genarate a new generation of gameing, so to dis them just on pure hear say....is doing no justice to a group that helps to boost a gaming future.
So feedback would be gr8 !!

Yeah, agreed - but still, I don't think it's a trustworthy benchmark tool, especially for gaming!

[Wh1tE_Tr4sH]

IAH i always had nVidia & i don't think i'll ever change... but i'm always open for trying something new!

[Max²]

Yeah, agreed - but still, I don't think it's a trustworthy benchmark tool, especially for gaming!
Show me a better one

[DawEEd]

Max the Game it self would be a better 1, but u also gotta look at the picture diferences

[Terror]

Picture difference to the naked eye will also be hugely affected by the monitor and system the GPU is used on.

[Venom]

My 2 c.
Recently purchased a Nvida & ATI card.
ATI is leagues ahead of Nvidia as far as image quality is concerned.
Considering I forked out my hard earned cash I expect value for money.
ATI all the way, not even open for debate as far as I am concerned.
I will never buy Nvidia again.

[Ph@ntom]

Check out some latest benchies here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20051202/index.html

I for one am deeply dissapointed in the new ATI X1800XT 512Mb.

[Max²]

Seems Nvidia Kicks properly.
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20051202/vga_charts_viii-04.html
Thats only the pixelshader though

[sneaky]

Geez, what happened to the days when my X800 Pro was 1337. Now I want a 7800 but that would entail a new mobo and CPU hmmm PC3200 would probably not cut it either.

:D Think UT2k7 will be my upgrade date.

[Max²]

yeah same...by then the stuff that is out now will no longer be the shit eh?:D

[Terror]

:D Think UT2k7 will be my upgrade date.

agreed