Looking to you to help me with my video card choice. ATI versus Nvidia?

[SurLyN]

I am in the process of finishing up my new computer. I have yet to
purchase the motherboard and the video card. I am very set on PCI-E
as the platform I want to utilize.

Now I have to decide between ATI and Nvidia. I have had bad
experiences with Nvidia in the past (all ASUS products). I just can't
get a good reliable card or motherboard. I have been using ATI of
most recent and really feel it is more stable and reliable than
Nvidia.

But, between the two cards that I have decided to pursue, the Nvida
comes out a champ on reviews every time. I am looking at the Nvidia
GeForce 6600 GT (by MSI) and the ATI X700 XT (by Sapphire Tech).

The ATI card has 256M ram while the Nvidia only has 128M. This may be
significant in appplications such as video capture and dvd creation.
I would like to know other's opinions on this. If anyone has or is
using one of these two cards, what their experience has been. I would
greatly appreciate all input. Thank you

 

[Dave C.]

I am in the process of finishing up my new computer. I have yet to
purchase the motherboard and the video card. I am very set on PCI-E
as the platform I want to utilize.

Now I have to decide between ATI and Nvidia. I have had bad
experiences with Nvidia in the past (all ASUS products). I just can't
get a good reliable card or motherboard. I have been using ATI of
most recent and really feel it is more stable and reliable than
Nvidia.

But, between the two cards that I have decided to pursue, the Nvida
comes out a champ on reviews every time. I am looking at the Nvidia
GeForce 6600 GT (by MSI) and the ATI X700 XT (by Sapphire Tech).

The ATI card has 256M ram while the Nvidia only has 128M. This may be
significant in appplications such as video capture and dvd creation.
I would like to know other's opinions on this. If anyone has or is
using one of these two cards, what their experience has been. I would
greatly appreciate all input. Thank you

For video capture and DVD creation, the RAM on the video card is not used.
That is, unless you go with an AIW type card. I do video capture and DVD
creation. I have no problem at all with those tasks, but the video card I
use (FX5900XT) has little to do with that. For video capture and DVD
creation, your most important system feature would be 1GB of low-latency RAM
that is well matched to the FSB of whatever CPU you choose. If you are
going to do lots of video capture/DVD creation, you should be leaning toward
a Intel processor (3.0GHz or higher) with a high-end Intel chipset
mainboard.

The extra RAM on the video card would be helpful for playing the latest 3D
accelerated games with lots of detail. But at the level you are looking to
build, either a 128 or 256MB video card will do a good job of running
anything you throw at it. -Dave

 

[Michael Hughes]

I am in the process of finishing up my new computer. I have yet to
purchase the motherboard and the video card. I am very set on PCI-E
as the platform I want to utilize.

Now I have to decide between ATI and Nvidia. I have had bad
experiences with Nvidia in the past (all ASUS products). I just can't
get a good reliable card or motherboard. I have been using ATI of
most recent and really feel it is more stable and reliable than
Nvidia.

But, between the two cards that I have decided to pursue, the Nvida
comes out a champ on reviews every time. I am looking at the Nvidia
GeForce 6600 GT (by MSI) and the ATI X700 XT (by Sapphire Tech).

If you have any interest in gaming, I would urge you to spend the extra
money on getting a Geforce 6800NU -- they'll perform better than a 6600
out of the box, and, if you're lucky, can be modified via a softmod to
have the same sort of core specifications as a 6800GT.

 

[Ruel Smith]

I am in the process of finishing up my new computer. I have yet to
purchase the motherboard and the video card. I am very set on PCI-E
as the platform I want to utilize.

Now I have to decide between ATI and Nvidia. I have had bad
experiences with Nvidia in the past (all ASUS products). I just can't
get a good reliable card or motherboard. I have been using ATI of
most recent and really feel it is more stable and reliable than
Nvidia.

I´ve been using nVidia cards for quite sometime, and I have found them to be
great. I´ve used ATi cards too, but have found the bundled utilities to be
buggy.

But, between the two cards that I have decided to pursue, the Nvida
comes out a champ on reviews every time. I am looking at the Nvidia
GeForce 6600 GT (by MSI) and the ATI X700 XT (by Sapphire Tech).

The ATI card has 256M ram while the Nvidia only has 128M. This may be
significant in appplications such as video capture and dvd creation.
I would like to know other's opinions on this. If anyone has or is
using one of these two cards, what their experience has been. I would
greatly appreciate all input.

I´m not aware that the size of the memory on the graphics card has any
affect on anything other than 3D performance, and it does little for that,
if anything. When the 256MB 9800XT cards came out, the performance was only
slightly better than the 9800 Pro with a slower clock rate and half the
memory.

Honestly, for a little more money, I´d look into a regular nVidia 6800 card
from a quality vendor. The performance difference from a 6600GT and a 6800
is significant. Personally, for the money, I think eVGA has a very good
card.

 

[SurLyN]

For video capture and DVD creation, the RAM on the video card is not used.
That is, unless you go with an AIW type card. I do video capture and DVD
creation. I have no problem at all with those tasks, but the video card I
use (FX5900XT) has little to do with that. For video capture and DVD
creation, your most important system feature would be 1GB of low-latency RAM
that is well matched to the FSB of whatever CPU you choose. If you are
going to do lots of video capture/DVD creation, you should be leaning toward
a Intel processor (3.0GHz or higher) with a high-end Intel chipset
mainboard.

The extra RAM on the video card would be helpful for playing the latest 3D
accelerated games with lots of detail. But at the level you are looking to
build, either a 128 or 256MB video card will do a good job of running
anything you throw at it. -Dave

Thanks Dave! I should have elaborated a little more. The video
capture I am talking about is going to be amateur digital video of my
upcoming child. Nothing to intensive. My current video card is an
Abit 9600XT w/ 256M ram and I have no issues with that.

As for the processor, I am strictly an AMD fan. I have already
purchased an Athlon 64 3500+ (90nm) processor. I do some gaming,
mostly Tiger Woods 2005 (and online) and Medal of Honor. I don't get
into the too intensive games like Doom3 and HL2.

I was on a pre-order list for the new ATI Radeon X800 XL, but as of
yesterday ATI has decided to discontinued this product. I don't feel
that my gaming activity requires me to upgrade to the X850 XT at this
time.

Thanks for the helpful reply

 

[SurLyN]

I´ve been using nVidia cards for quite sometime, and I have found them to be
great. I´ve used ATi cards too, but have found the bundled utilities to be
buggy.


I´m not aware that the size of the memory on the graphics card has any
affect on anything other than 3D performance, and it does little for that,
if anything. When the 256MB 9800XT cards came out, the performance was only
slightly better than the 9800 Pro with a slower clock rate and half the
memory.

Honestly, for a little more money, I´d look into a regular nVidia 6800 card
from a quality vendor. The performance difference from a 6600GT and a 6800
is significant. Personally, for the money, I think eVGA has a very good
card.

Thanks, I will take a look at them

 

[jacoby]

but as of yesterday ATI has decided to discontinued this product.

Would you kindly offer some more info on this

 

[Mac Cool]

SurLyN:

I have been using ATI of most recent and really feel it is more
stable and reliable than Nvidia.

Use whichever you have the most confidence with. I have been buying Nvidia
cards because I know the territory and I feel confident with them, if
there is a problem, I probably already know how to solve it or where to
find the answer. I don't believe either has a big enough lead in gaming to
make a difference to the casual user, only to those who want to post
benchmarks for bragging rights.

If you decide to go with Nvidia, check posts from the last 2 months in
a.c.p.v.nvidia.

 

[Matt]

Now I have to decide between ATI and Nvidia.

Nvidia is better in case you might want to give Linux a try.

 

[SurLyN]

Bottom Line Telecommunications (where I was planning on buying this
from) only informed me that the product was discontinued by ATI.