NVIDIA vs ATI: Recent Issues

[Stillwell]

If you guys are wondering what I'm talking about, check this out.

Source: http://www.clubic.com/n/n9914.html

Of course, it's in french, so I took the time to translate it for you guys.

When Nvidia launched it's GeForce FX architecture, some voices rised and argued that the GPU of the card didn't totally respect the specifications of DirectX 9.0, using different precision colours. Unfortunately, at this time, no test softwares could prove that the performances of the NV3x when came the time of treating Pixel Shaders 2.0. The arrival of 3DMark 2003 didn't really end the situation due to the fact of updates that blurred the credibility of the tests.

Today, the DirectX 9.0 games are starting to appear, and with them, we can have an idea of the capacities of the Pixel Shaders of the GeForce FX. Beyond3D was the first website to run a test with Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, showing that the performances would go from simple, to double, when you got from GeForce FX 5900 Ultra to Radeon 9800 Pro. Even worse: the game isn't activating all the available DirectX 9.0 options when it's executed on machines using NVIDIA solutions. It's also possible to note that the 44.23 drivers reduce dramatically the graphical quality of Tomb Raider, by blurring certain textures.

Today, Valve has revealed the performances obtained on Half-Life 2. The results are astounding: on 1024x768, a Radeaon 9800 Pro obtains 60 fps, against 30 fps only for a GeForce FX 5900 Ultra and 12 for a GeForce FX 5600 Ultra, while the Radeon 9600 Pro gets a good 49 fps. When Valve ran those tests, they had to develop a special mode for the NV3x architecture that would allow the performances of the NVIDIA chipsets to increase, so the game would be playable. With this mode, that combines different precision colours, the GeForce 4 Ti4600 gets about 43 fps. Ultimate irony: Valve would suggest to run Half-Life 2 in the DirectX 8.1 compatibility mode with NVIDIA chipsets. NVIDIA really has to worry now.

Note that the upcoming release of the Detonator 50 could turn the odds in their favor if NVIDIA decides to review some mechanisms of the way their drivers work.

So NVIDIA really has some work to do, and fast, with all the upcomings DirectX 9.0 supported games. If not, I'll leave NVIDIA for ATI, especially for the future.

So for everyone always asking in the forums about which vidcard you should get, remember this.

Quick note: The best time to buy this video card would be now: if NVIDIA does nothing about it, ATI will be sure to raise the cost of their cards since there would be no valuable competition.