Ati Vs Nvidia

[IEatHardDrives]

If you had a choose between the radeon X800 or the geforce 6800 what would get the X800 is alittle cheaper but only has 8 pixel pipelines, the 6800 cost alittle more but has 12 pixel pipelines, does the number of pipelines matter? or is this just marketing.

[TheTerrorist_75]

I would say the ATI Radeon wins in this battle.

ATI RADEON X800 XT and NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra

[Mx²]

With all these benchmarks I have been seeing, the two are pretty close in performance. I'd say a coin toss.

[Aluvus]

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050705/index.html

[Honda_Boy]

he's talkin the plain X800 vs the plain 6800

go with 6800 (cause i like nvidia x800 could be better but i like the green chips not the red ones)

man if i had the cash i'd build me an SLI setup with dual eVGA e-Geforce 7800GTX KO Editions (most powerful version of 7800 and most powerful homemarket card right now i think)

Edited September 5, 2005 by Honda_Boy

[shanenin]

With all these benchmarks I have been seeing, the two are pretty close in performance. I'd say a coin toss.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If they are that close, your should choose nvidia. Nvidia makes good easy to use drivers for linux. If there is any chance you may use linux, nvidia is the way to go.

Even if you do not use linux, it is still good to support a company who supports opensource.

[Parrotgeek7]

If they are that close, your should choose nvidia. Nvidia makes good easy to use drivers for linux

N-Vidia doesn't make anything but the chipset for the devices, the drivers are made by the companies that manufactur the cards. N-Vidia is only a designer and chipmaker, unlike ATI which actually does produce a line of cards itself.

(just to clarify)

[Honda_Boy]

wrong. nVidia makes the drivers not the card makers. the card makers offer extra software like overclocking utilities. but personally i prefer nVidia's Coolbits overclocking utility

All nVidia GeForce Series and TNT2 Series Chipsets run off nVidia Forceware Drivers

nVidia's driver page

Edited September 5, 2005 by Honda_Boy

[shanenin]

If they are that close, your should choose nvidia. Nvidia makes good easy to use drivers for linux

N-Vidia doesn't make anything but the chipset for the devices, the drivers are made by the companies that manufactur the cards. N-Vidia is only a designer and chipmaker, unlike ATI which actually does produce a line of cards itself.

(just to clarify)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

then what am I downloading from the nvidia sight? They sure seam like drivers

Edited September 5, 2005 by shanenin

[Parrotgeek7]

You're right, I was incomplete in that short answer. N-Vidia does write drivers for its chipsets, however the individual card makers often modify the drivers to work better with their added components and setups. Thats why they include their drivers on the install cd's usually. (and as someone else pointed out, their additional software which may or maynot need the drivers to be modified)

The generic version from N-vidia will work with any conforming chipset mde by them, but quite a few higher end cards have specificly redesigned drivers.

(EX: if you go to MSI or one of the other card makers site, you will find their versions of drivers for cards)

ATI meanwhile, makes cards as well as chipsets and sets the driver requirments, so they are in a more controlled,if you want to use that phrase, environment. Thats why you see fewer versions of ATI drivers then you do with N-Vidia.

It's not that one chipset is consistently better then the other, on some systems I like ATI, on others N-vidia ( and in the case of low powered workstations, the Intel chipset is just fine too)

Hopefully thats a more clear answer of my answer...

Edited September 5, 2005 by Parrotgeek7

[Parrotgeek7]

edit, posted twice for some reason.

Edited September 5, 2005 by Parrotgeek7

[lefty1953]

If you had a choose between the radeon X800 or the geforce 6800 what would get the X800 is alittle cheaper but only has 8 pixel pipelines, the 6800 cost alittle more but has 12 pixel pipelines, does the number of pipelines matter? or is this just marketing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In short from all the answers:

No one here including myself knows if the Pixel Pipelines Matter.

I have used Geforce for a long time. Reason: They are cheaper. Are they better? I don't think so.

[Pierce]

Ive used nvidia, im a major fan. I have the geforce 2 ultra in my desktop, and in my new laptop im getting the 6800 ultra.

Which is better?, this is a bit like the "AMD OR INTEL?" battle. To be frank, if you are a gamer, and you buy AMD, i would think your better bet is to go with nvidia, as AMD and nvidia have been giving each other backhanders since they became the gamers choice.

Either way, choose the brandname you like.

Pierce

[Aluvus]

If you had a choose between the radeon X800 or the geforce 6800 what would get the X800 is alittle cheaper but only has 8 pixel pipelines, the 6800 cost alittle more but has 12 pixel pipelines, does the number of pipelines matter? or is this just marketing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In short from all the answers:

No one here including myself knows if the Pixel Pipelines Matter.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Some of us know. Pipelines emphatically do matter. When comparing two otherwise alike cards, the number of pipes makes a non-trivial difference. But when comparing two dissimilar cards, other factors can make a difference. In that case, all you can really do is drag up some benchmarks.