ATI should I?

[drewhosick]

I've always been an Nvidia fan and I'll admit that even though ATI has made a name for itself, the constant compatibility problems I've read about them over the years has made me Biased towards Nvidia. The other day, my Nvidia 4200TI dug itself a grave when the fan got clogged with dust and stopped functioning letting my beautiful Asus card go bye bye. I started having weird things happening on the screen when I noticed. Just before noticing that the fan was clogged and that I would need a new card, I had just gone out to order a new 2.8 Ghz Pentium 4 with HT(hehe now I'm an Atlhon convert too LOL) with 1GB of DDR Ram and the P4P800 board from Asus. So here's the question. I'm looking at getting a new board instead of waiting 2 weeks for my warranty on the old one(I'll still get it back but I'll keep it as a backup or sell it). I was into the FX5600 until I started reading about the problems with pixel shading and how it can't keep up. Then I saw the 5700. Not too shabby. Finally I found out that ATI is Canadian and since I'm Canadian, I'm no longer as biased. So the 9600XT has been posting a bit better results then the 5700, especially with AA and stuff. I'm surely leaning towards trying an ATI card but my worry is, are there any minor or major compatability issues or other problems I should know about. Also if I go for the ATI Card, should I go for the one from ATI themselves or go with my fav company, Asus and their copy.(That card looks awesome btw with the heatsink and stuff on the Asus card).

[Hoose]

Drew,

I can relate with you, I have been a HUGE Nvidia person. I bought the "latest and greatest" FX 5900 card as soon as it came out. I thought that I was seeing great video textures and getting great frame rates until FS9 came along. After getting average frames, and seeing a friend of mine getting better frames with a ATI 9600(non pro)then my FX card, I thought maybe I should try the ATI card.

SO, I took my FX card back(a little after the 30 day period of allowed returns) lol..... and forked out a little more money for the ATI 9800XT. I installed the card(with out a bit of problem) and all I can say is WOW!!

This card rocks!!! The graphics are OUTSTANDING and I am getting great frames. All of my other games look like a whole new game, sharp clear colors and textures. (I will tell you that I am a huge gamer, and try to get the latest and greatest of everything that comes out in the PC world)

So to make a long story short, go for the ATI and I guarentee you won't be disappointed. I know I will not be going back to Nvidia for some time to come.

Good luck,

Hoose

[drewhosick]

thx a lot budd.

Decided to take the dive. Hope I can find a place with an Asus 9600XT in stock. The heatsink makes the card look awesome

[Bigshot]

"This card rocks!!! The graphics are OUTSTANDING and I am getting great frames. All of my other games look like a whole new game, sharp clear colors and textures. (I will tell you that I am a huge gamer, and try to get the latest and greatest of everything that comes out in the PC world)"
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I've had my 9700Pro since September, 2002; some 15 months now. So what you're saying is old news to me. My only question is "what took you so long"? Since the 9700 came out summer of 2002, ATI has ruled the roost and the 9700Pro is still a top of the line card. That's rare with technology jumping ahead in leaps and bounds.

You read nasty things about ATI everyday. Mostly from a very small minority of folks who have problems. They're the loudest ones. Mostly their own fault. Once in a while someone will have a hardware combo that the card doesn't like. Very rare. Once in a while someone won't get all the Nvidia driver files removed correctly or needs to update their motherboard drivers. Happens occasionally and is just user error.

Enjoy that card.

[drewhosick]

Ended up purchasing a Radeon 9600 Pro instead of the HT :-(

Checked with the two stores in town, both we're out of stock with their distributors so I went to the Hock Shop and they had a Pro in stock right there. I decided it was better than nothing after checking Tomshardware for information and decided since it beat out even the new 5700 at 1024x??? resolution in FS2004, it would be a good enough card.

Hehe, then 10 minutes later I got a call from a third company on a quote back and it was for the XT in stock, could of had it tmmoorw. Oh well. It was about 80 bucks more Canadian than mine which I already payed too much for. the XT was priced about 70$ more than at the other two stores who's distributors we're out of stock, so in a way I'm happy cause I wasn't gonna pay 350$ Canadian for it when it went for 289 at the other store if I could have gotten it