best gfxcard for demos (latest generation excluded)
category: general [glöplog]
so - what to get? i'm tired of not being able to run pixelshader 2.0 demos and some recent demos run rather choppy.
i've been looking at the ati 9800 pro which seems to offer pretty good value for money as it's about 1700 NOK these days (and most of the models can be softmodded to a full xt-card). ati is also known for good antialiasing and pixel shader-performance.
on the other hand; a geforce fx5900xt costs about the same and has way better opengl-performance, which is always something to consider.
so, sceners, although you rarely take up "serious" subjects here - share your wisdom. :)
i've been looking at the ati 9800 pro which seems to offer pretty good value for money as it's about 1700 NOK these days (and most of the models can be softmodded to a full xt-card). ati is also known for good antialiasing and pixel shader-performance.
on the other hand; a geforce fx5900xt costs about the same and has way better opengl-performance, which is always something to consider.
so, sceners, although you rarely take up "serious" subjects here - share your wisdom. :)
i always heard "gf fx bad, ati9x00pro good"
i wonder if the opengl coders still agree with that..
i wonder if the opengl coders still agree with that..
buy amiga
Radeon recommended.
i have fx5900xt and ps2.0 demos and games run rather slow compared to radeon 9800.
i have fx5900xt and ps2.0 demos and games run rather slow compared to radeon 9800.
i have a quadro fx at work (something similar to gffx 5800), its very nice but those ps2 demos still kill it at times, so if you want to see the latest stuff radeon is a way better option.
But also take into account that long run of "nvidia only" demos that you won't be able to watch... better check if you will really miss anything that won't run, or maybe keep a second card handy :)
But also take into account that long run of "nvidia only" demos that you won't be able to watch... better check if you will really miss anything that won't run, or maybe keep a second card handy :)
Personally I'd say forget about GeForce FX. I had a GeForce FX 5600 and the pixelshader performance was really bad. Now I've got an ATI Radeon 9600xt and I can run pretty much everything. Even the Radeon 9800 pro demos from the ATI site run smooth, because of the highly clocked memory and core speed. Besides the Radeon 9600xt is rather cheap for it's performance.
I'm sure the 9800pro excells in some categories but certainly not in price/performance ratio :)
I'm sure the 9800pro excells in some categories but certainly not in price/performance ratio :)
well, i don't argue with the fact that the radeon gives better performance, it's just that since i'm no gamer, i'm more than willing to drop some fps in order to keep watching all the "nvidia only demos" that psonice talks about - and there are *many* of those, as far as i can remember.
having never owned an ati-card (well, apart from my xpert@play which was swiftly substituted with a nvidia tnt :) i can't really remember any demo that has problems with ati - can you people? if so - please list them here..
having never owned an ati-card (well, apart from my xpert@play which was swiftly substituted with a nvidia tnt :) i can't really remember any demo that has problems with ati - can you people? if so - please list them here..
i'm perfectly satisfied with my 9800 pro and i can only recommend it.
gloom: radeon, by far
two words: NO GEFORCE
Most demos that don't run on Radeons either suffer from bad code (but hey, they get patched most of the time!) or vendor-specific bullshit.
You'll not be able to run a couple of Kolor-engine demos due to their love for some NV GPU specific OpenGL gimmick, but boo-freaking-hoo. At least Interceptor has an avi capture ;)
Most demos that don't run on Radeons either suffer from bad code (but hey, they get patched most of the time!) or vendor-specific bullshit.
You'll not be able to run a couple of Kolor-engine demos due to their love for some NV GPU specific OpenGL gimmick, but boo-freaking-hoo. At least Interceptor has an avi capture ;)
ATI rage pros should be enough for everyone =P
9800pro is certainly a very good card. If you're looking for a better price/performance ratio, then go either r9600xt, or r9800se+softmodding, or, for nVidia-only-demos, gffx5900xt.
The gffx will be slightly slower on ps2.0 demos where the coders spent much time dancing around and praising for the video card; and it will be much slower on the demos where the coders didn't do this :) But it has some nifty things as well (eg. nv-only-demos, or native shadowbuffers).
The gffx will be slightly slower on ps2.0 demos where the coders spent much time dancing around and praising for the video card; and it will be much slower on the demos where the coders didn't do this :) But it has some nifty things as well (eg. nv-only-demos, or native shadowbuffers).
I've never been happier since i decided to "go ATI", I've had nothing but trouble with nvidia drivers on my old gf cards and now i have an ATI Radeon 9600 PRO and it works just great.
It's gonna take ALOT for me to switch back to nvidia again, if ever.
It's gonna take ALOT for me to switch back to nvidia again, if ever.
Hm.. Interesting thread.
I don't wanna pay much.. I just wanna watch a demo now and then, and not the most demanding ones.
Hehe, you probably think I'm trolling here, but I'll give it a go... What do you think I should buy:
Radeon 7000, Radeon 9200SE or GeForce4 MX440?
Yes, I am completely aware.. (insert obvious comment).
Just tell me which one of these three you would recommend if you had to choose one.
They're all cheap. I'm not gonna pay more than 100 euros for a stupid gfx card.
I don't wanna pay much.. I just wanna watch a demo now and then, and not the most demanding ones.
Hehe, you probably think I'm trolling here, but I'll give it a go... What do you think I should buy:
Radeon 7000, Radeon 9200SE or GeForce4 MX440?
Yes, I am completely aware.. (insert obvious comment).
Just tell me which one of these three you would recommend if you had to choose one.
They're all cheap. I'm not gonna pay more than 100 euros for a stupid gfx card.
Winner by category (imho):
Performance: ATI (hands down)
Price: NVidia (slightly)
Demo compatibility: NVidia
Driver support (including OGL): NVidia
Power consumption: ATI
Linux native support: ATI
Linux binary driver support: NVidia
So, what is important to you?
Another note: both ATI and NVidia released their new generation of hi-end cards (X800 and 6800 respectively), which are _much_ faster then their predecesors. Soon, slower versions of these cards will be released for the middle price range market (150-200E). Can you wait a little?
Performance: ATI (hands down)
Price: NVidia (slightly)
Demo compatibility: NVidia
Driver support (including OGL): NVidia
Power consumption: ATI
Linux native support: ATI
Linux binary driver support: NVidia
So, what is important to you?
Another note: both ATI and NVidia released their new generation of hi-end cards (X800 and 6800 respectively), which are _much_ faster then their predecesors. Soon, slower versions of these cards will be released for the middle price range market (150-200E). Can you wait a little?
I've had many problems with ATI cards and their drivers. I've heard the same from other people... an I know people, who love their radeons and had no single problem with them.
Maybe ATI cards are faster... I had bad experiences with ATI so I prefer NVIDIA
Maybe ATI cards are faster... I had bad experiences with ATI so I prefer NVIDIA
@sprocket: do NOT buy a GeForce4 MX!
4MX is a marketing lie. It uses the same technologie as the Geforce2 series and isn't really a Geforce 4.
Radeon 7000 is a bit outdated.
But Geforce 4tis and Radeon 9xxx aren't expensive anymore, try ebay to get a geforce4ti or a radeon 9500
4MX is a marketing lie. It uses the same technologie as the Geforce2 series and isn't really a Geforce 4.
Radeon 7000 is a bit outdated.
But Geforce 4tis and Radeon 9xxx aren't expensive anymore, try ebay to get a geforce4ti or a radeon 9500
Yemeth: I have had absolutely horrible experiences with ATI as well, specifically concerning driver support for ATI RagePro and AIW cousins under Win2k. Their answer was simply a "we'll ignore your recently purchased card in the sheer hopes that you buy our newest instead". This was the reason why I switched to Nvidia.
Once Nvidia dropped the ball with their line of overwhelmingly expensive and lacking cards, I switched back to ATI. I still churn on a nice 9700Pro and it rocks. Previous experiences mean shit, companies tend to change their policies and services over the years.
Once Nvidia dropped the ball with their line of overwhelmingly expensive and lacking cards, I switched back to ATI. I still churn on a nice 9700Pro and it rocks. Previous experiences mean shit, companies tend to change their policies and services over the years.
I never had a Geforce, but I am almost certain Radeons are the better choice.
I have a Radeon 9700 mobile in my laptop and almost everything runs fast and bug-free, except newer kolor-demos, and "The S", unfortunately, but for those few demos there often is a DIVX version. Some other OpenGL demos are sometimes slow, e.g. some Conspiracy-Beyond scenes only run at about 12 fps at 1024x768, but that is not too bad. You will have more problems, however, if you decide to get an older Radeon, like the 8500, which I had before.
But since all plastic demos run smooth at the standard settings of 640x480 6xAA 16xAF, and most older demos will look quite a bit better, when you run them at 6xAA 16xAF, you will also be set for the next two years which probably bring up a lot more PS2.0 demos, while a Geforce FX might not be fast enough.
I recommend to either get a Radeon 9600 (128 mb) for a little less than 100$ or a 9800 pro (256 mb) for a little less than 200$, or whatever equivalent in your currency.
Just do not get anything cheaper than the Radeon 9600, like the SE-version, because it will almost certainly be too slow, and even though a Geforce 4 would be fast enough, it does not support ps2.0, so simply forget it.
One last thing: I am surprised it has not been mentioned yet, but do NOT get a Geforce FX5200.
I have a Radeon 9700 mobile in my laptop and almost everything runs fast and bug-free, except newer kolor-demos, and "The S", unfortunately, but for those few demos there often is a DIVX version. Some other OpenGL demos are sometimes slow, e.g. some Conspiracy-Beyond scenes only run at about 12 fps at 1024x768, but that is not too bad. You will have more problems, however, if you decide to get an older Radeon, like the 8500, which I had before.
But since all plastic demos run smooth at the standard settings of 640x480 6xAA 16xAF, and most older demos will look quite a bit better, when you run them at 6xAA 16xAF, you will also be set for the next two years which probably bring up a lot more PS2.0 demos, while a Geforce FX might not be fast enough.
I recommend to either get a Radeon 9600 (128 mb) for a little less than 100$ or a 9800 pro (256 mb) for a little less than 200$, or whatever equivalent in your currency.
Just do not get anything cheaper than the Radeon 9600, like the SE-version, because it will almost certainly be too slow, and even though a Geforce 4 would be fast enough, it does not support ps2.0, so simply forget it.
One last thing: I am surprised it has not been mentioned yet, but do NOT get a Geforce FX5200.
Amiga ECS chipset or Commodore VIC II
go bitboys!!!
pff, bitboys... :) go falanx! norwegian scene elite, reprezent.
ok, well, regarding the gfx-card .. i can't say that i'm looking forward to loosing the chance to watch some good old favourites, but as the 9800 pro looks like a little more bang for the buck, i'm seriously considering it over the gffx5900.
i could of course wait until budget versions of the x800/x600/geforce6800 hits the shelves, but yeah.. we'll see.. there are already some x800 pro and plain geforce6800 in the stores, but they cost the double of a 9800, and i'm not that much of a hype-kiddie so.. money = beer, not fillrate.
ok, well, regarding the gfx-card .. i can't say that i'm looking forward to loosing the chance to watch some good old favourites, but as the 9800 pro looks like a little more bang for the buck, i'm seriously considering it over the gffx5900.
i could of course wait until budget versions of the x800/x600/geforce6800 hits the shelves, but yeah.. we'll see.. there are already some x800 pro and plain geforce6800 in the stores, but they cost the double of a 9800, and i'm not that much of a hype-kiddie so.. money = beer, not fillrate.
I really think you should go for the Nvidia card, its great! You have your own options in all kindof games and you can try to config them has hell to get any decent speed with modern games!!!
You can also peacefully watch the latest demos without feeling the stress of the synch and flashes, just sit there peacefully and enjoy the frames passing by, you can even count them by hand!!!
And when you just had your fun - its time to reboot.
You can also peacefully watch the latest demos without feeling the stress of the synch and flashes, just sit there peacefully and enjoy the frames passing by, you can even count them by hand!!!
And when you just had your fun - its time to reboot.
So, what about the x800 Pro and 6800 GT? I'm kinda see-sawing between the two. Can't quite make up my mind. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Specifically nVidia has better OpenGL support, but the new ATI cards don't require a nuclear reactor for power.
I think they are relatively close in performance as well as price. But think twice if you actually need any one of them... If you have a DX9 card now, better wait for the DX10 cards to come out.
But if you want one: If you have the 350 watts or whatever it needs to run the 6800 GT, get that one, otherwise the Radeon.
But if you want one: If you have the 350 watts or whatever it needs to run the 6800 GT, get that one, otherwise the Radeon.