RevansFollower Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 so basically i should just choose the cheaper card from either company. considering most of their cards are mirrors of each other, much like swtor's classes are across factions, the main difference is the name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your_dominus Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) Well, one thing that's been pretty much standard since ATI and Nvidia began competing is this: Nvidia cards when compared to similar ATI cards usually have more functionality. They make better looking images because they have a more robust GPU that is scaled for image complexity and detail... usually. ATI is generally made with one goal in mind: Maximum FPS. They do this while using lower detail shaders and with GPUs that don't have as quite a broad spectrum of shading potential. To me, the image from an ATI card looks inferior when compared side-by-side to an Nvidia card. I'm a graphics professional though and this is what I do for a living. Reflections look lifelike and shadows are soft and render properly in the Z-Buffer. ATI on the other hand uses a cheaper method of Z-Buffer rendering (depth). Shadows can sometimes be displayed UNDERNEATH textures and shiny surfaces often seem somewhat dull in comparison. These are cursory differences to most people... but that is the tradeoff in general. Nvidia's GPUs if you just compare the numbers typically can render a wider range of colors and with higher resolutions than ATI cards can. ATI cards are usually faster. Nvidia cards seem to be more stable though. They deliver steady FPS under various loads where ATIs tend to vary more. Although an Nvidia might not have the fastest FPS, the ATI is often the one that gets the lowest when it gets taxed. Again, Nvidia GPUs are more robust (and usually more expensive too) and that's what their built for. IMO, if you want your game to look the best it possibly can... look into an Nvidia. If you want more FPS, the ATI is usually the way to go. What a load of crap. If you want the same image quality on AMD, then go in your driver, and turn up texture filtering quality from quality, to high quality. Don't leave it on medium then talk smack,lol. This is a generally known fact. AMD cought some flack years back for rendering more frames, with " optimizations" that impact image quality slightly Edited January 17, 2012 by Your_dominus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevansFollower Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 lol, its not like i will rage over the difference of about 5-10 fps between the best-of-the-best cards. i just dont want to BSOD after a couple hours like on my "regular" computer. i will just wait it out and see how the 600 series looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SithIceberg Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 so basically i should just choose the cheaper card from either company. considering most of their cards are mirrors of each other, much like swtor's classes are across factions, the main difference is the name. Basically, it will only make a difference of a few FPS. If you do buy the best of the best card it will be outdated in a few months anyways. Save your money if you want and get a cheaper card, invest in a SSD to increase your load times. SWTOR doesn't really push the limits of the high end cards since its main focus was middle to higher-low end machines. If you are going to play games like crysis 2 or BF3 then obviously the better cards are the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your_dominus Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 so basically i should just choose the cheaper card from either company. considering most of their cards are mirrors of each other, much like swtor's classes are across factions, the main difference is the name. Yes. 6850= gtx460 6950= 560ti etc. Give or take really insigniicant numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laeris Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 This. As I said in a earlier post, all things being equal, both do the same thing give or take miniscule differences. And both sides suffer from issues sometimes. AMD completly owns Nvidia in BF3. 6950 beats the 560 ti by an average of 10fps. Nividia and their blue screens, driver crashes, and inferior fps in BF3....I guess he forgets this little fact,lol. There are no blue screens in Win 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your_dominus Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) There are no blue screens in Win 7 ....no. Never. Blue screens are generally PEBKAC. Driver, or failing component, or unstable over clock. And no...never any blue screens on my 6950. Edited January 17, 2012 by Your_dominus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norumaniac Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Well idk. i have a 6850 (ati) and i can run every game fine BUT i have some fps issues with SWTOR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merex Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Nvidia. I hate catalyst drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your_dominus Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Well idk. i have a 6850 (ati) and i can run every game fine BUT i have some fps issues with SWTOR. I wouldn't be looknig at your 6850 as being to blame. Could be your proc? or not enough ram? And lets not forget TOR is terribly optimized. I get some jutteriness, and low min fps on the fleet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insideman Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Yes. 6850= gtx460 6950= 560ti etc. Give or take really insigniicant numbers. more like HD 6970 > GTX 570 > 6950 > 560ti > 6870 All only a little less powerful than the one above them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ukucia Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Never ATI they always have issues. Always Nvidia because they don't. I've had the exact opposite experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevansFollower Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 random bump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmerus Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 DO NOT LISTEN TO THE TROLLS! If someone has had problems with their ATI or Nvidia card it is most likely because they are amateurs with computers. I have been using both since 90's without any major issues. Drivers has been both good and bad for both parties. Now we can focus on your questions and that is what is best for this game. Well Tomshardware did a benchmark and the results can be found here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/star-wars-gaming-tests-review,3087.html ATI is currently faster than Nvidia in this game. Radeon 6970 is equal to GTX 570 in terms of performance in most games but it performs somewhat better than in this game. Clearly worth it if this game is the main focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevansFollower Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 DO NOT LISTEN TO THE TROLLS! If someone has had problems with their ATI or Nvidia card it is most likely because they are amateurs with computers. I have been using both since 90's without any major issues. Drivers has been both good and bad for both parties. Now we can focus on your questions and that is what is best for this game. Well Tomshardware did a benchmark and the results can be found here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/star-wars-gaming-tests-review,3087.html ATI is currently faster than Nvidia in this game. Radeon 6970 is equal to GTX 570 in terms of performance in most games but it performs somewhat better than in this game. Clearly worth it if this game is the main focus. thank you. very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your_dominus Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 DO NOT LISTEN TO THE TROLLS! If someone has had problems with their ATI or Nvidia card it is most likely because they are amateurs with computers. I have been using both since 90's without any major issues. Drivers has been both good and bad for both parties. Now we can focus on your questions and that is what is best for this game. Well Tomshardware did a benchmark and the results can be found here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/star-wars-gaming-tests-review,3087.html ATI is currently faster than Nvidia in this game. Radeon 6970 is equal to GTX 570 in terms of performance in most games but it performs somewhat better than in this game. Clearly worth it if this game is the main focus. Well said. I'll say it again, and again. All things being equal both Nvidia and AMD do the same thing give or take insignificant numbers. What I mean by all things beinng equal is price bracket. Sure the 6950 beats the 560 ti....by a very slim margin. They both do the same darn thing:) In another game, the 560 ti will beat the 6950 by 3fps. Who cares. Crashes, blue screens etc, are generally PEBKAC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laeris Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) What a load of crap. If you want the same image quality on AMD, then go in your driver, and turn up texture filtering quality from quality, to high quality. Don't leave it on medium then talk smack,lol. This is a generally known fact. AMD cought some flack years back for rendering more frames, with " optimizations" that impact image quality slightly Well the difference between a 590GTX and the comparable Radeon 6990 (A = Nvidia, B=AMD) Core clock: A=1215mhz B=880mhz (830 stock, 880 is OCd) Memory clock speed: A = 1707mhz B=1250mhz Total memory: A=3072mb DDR5 B=4048DDR *AMD has more VRAM but it's slower RAM. Under heavy load, AMD will get more FPS (which is typical) but this Nvidia card will eat the AMD alive anywhere under 75% load on the AMD...and really, what game is going to tax either of these GPUs? Here's my sources... you can do the rest of the comparison yourself: http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6990/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6990-overview.aspx#3 and http://www.geforce.com/Hardware/GPUs/geforce-gtx-590/specifications Those are from their host websites... not third party vendors. Again, even in the newest products being offered, what I said still holds true. If you further compare using the links I provided, you'll see how the Nvidia card uses more advanced processing features than the Radeon does. The Radeon is however more streamlined and focused on pure speed and heavy load processing which is their hallmark. Now, this Nvidia though... I have never seen benchmarks on it... but just comparing these numbers on equal test rigs... it should probably even kill the AMD in speed too. *shrug* That is except under extreme load... but the Nvidia's max load threshhold will be a lot higher due to a faster GPU clock speed and faster RAM combined with its advanced L2 graphics cache. But, I know people like you who like to run their mouths on the forums... but here... TLDR? I just proved you wrong. Now insult my mother. Edited January 17, 2012 by Laeris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your_dominus Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Well the difference between a 590GTX and the comparable Radeon 6990 (A = Nvidia, B=AMD) Core clock: A=1215mhz B=880mhz (830 stock, 880 is OCd) Memory clock speed: A = 1707mhz B=1250mhz Total memory: A=3072mb DDR5 B=4048DDR *AMD has more VRAM but it's slower RAM. Under heavy load, AMD will get more FPS (which is typical) but this Nvidia card will eat the AMD alive anywhere under 75% load on the AMD...and really, what game is going to tax either of these GPUs? Here's my sources... you can do the rest of the comparison yourself: http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6990/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6990-overview.aspx#3 and http://www.geforce.com/Hardware/GPUs/geforce-gtx-590/specifications Those are from their host websites... not third party vendors. Again, even in the newest products being offered, what I said still holds true. If you further compare using the links I provided, you'll see how the Nvidia card uses more advanced processing features than the Radeon does. The Radeon is however more streamlined and focused on pure speed and load processing which is their hallmark. But, I know people like you who like to run their mouths on the forums... but here... TLDR? I just proved you wrong. Now insult my mother. They both use differnent architecture. I don't need to insult your mother. Just your attempts to look like you know more than you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevansFollower Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 calm down, kiddies. we are all friends here. no need to start a fanboy war here. both are great cards in their own regards, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laeris Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) They both use differnent architecture. I don't need to insult your mother. Just your attempts to look like you know more than you do. Right, I don't know anything. I don't have 1000 posts in the tech forums and 7000 posts on Tom's Hardware and haven't been working in this field since the Tandy 1000 was popular or anything. And, this isn't a pissing contest. He called me a moron and I replied with math. You can't argue against math. Edited January 17, 2012 by Laeris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neveroutgunned Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Both are nice but I've always had issues with Nvidia's drivers constantly crashing and causing headaches. Bought this 6950 MSI Twinfrozr III for 200$ after MIR boxing day and don't have any hiccups whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laeris Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Both are nice but I've always had issues with Nvidia's drivers constantly crashing and causing headaches. Bought this 6950 MSI Twinfrozr III for 200$ after MIR boxing day and don't have any hiccups whatsoever. Ya, Nvidia has had its share of issues with its patcher. The actual drivers were fine... the patcher corrupted the drivers a lot. I forget exactly when but it was with the 275 series driver release, Nvidia released a new patcher that is really a nice program. It can patch the driver on the fly without having to make you reboot your PC. It's really much improved. My biggest complaint with the Catalyst driver on the other side is its lack of large format Vsync support. I use large format monitors and typically run my cable TV through one of my PCs as well... so I need good Vsync support. AMD's Catalyst driver has never quite gotten that bug fixed (as of a year ago anyway). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevansFollower Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 OK. New Question. I have done some mild research on computers, and found one I might like. The "CyberPower PC Black Pearl." It comes with 2 Nvidia GTX 580's and a bunch of other cool stuff on it, and is kinda cheap compared to Alienware or something. Is it worth it, in terms of bang 4 buck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madcatyoji Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Objectively either brand will get the job done. I build systems for a living and it honestly comes down to cost for most normal people. Being as you said; "Cost is not an issue" I will point you towards my set up. Twin MSI Radeon 6990's, both watercooled and OC'd to 1k (995 because for some reason 1k makes it a wee bit unstable after about 8 hrs of play I have to reboot or i get a bit of glitching) I have my CF disabled because there aren't currently an good profiles for this game, but I get 120ish fps without issue pretty much everywhere and around 80-90+ in fleet. For a single GPU the 7970 is the fastest currently, Nvidia will beat it sonnish and then AMD will come back. There will always be a better card coming out. You just have to choose whether you want to wait indefinitely or if you want to take the plunge. I shelled out over 2k for just my video card set up and I'm very happy with it (waterblocks CF reinforcement etc. included in that). YMMV My wife plays on a 1.8ghz Dual core with an Nvidia 9800 GTX+ and has no issues, it's all about what you're comfortable with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevansFollower Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Objectively either brand will get the job done. I build systems for a living and it honestly comes down to cost for most normal people. Being as you said; "Cost is not an issue" I will point you towards my set up. Twin MSI Radeon 6990's, both watercooled and OC'd to 1k (995 because for some reason 1k makes it a wee bit unstable after about 8 hrs of play I have to reboot or i get a bit of glitching) I have my CF disabled because there aren't currently an good profiles for this game, but I get 120ish fps without issue pretty much everywhere and around 80-90+ in fleet. For a single GPU the 7970 is the fastest currently, Nvidia will beat it sonnish and then AMD will come back. There will always be a better card coming out. You just have to choose whether you want to wait indefinitely or if you want to take the plunge. I shelled out over 2k for just my video card set up and I'm very happy with it (waterblocks CF reinforcement etc. included in that). YMMV My wife plays on a 1.8ghz Dual core with an Nvidia 9800 GTX+ and has no issues, it's all about what you're comfortable with. Thank you for the advice. What do you think about the Pearl though, you being a system builder? Also, I LOVE your signature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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