Great move Microsoft.... ATI has the most powerful graphics chip's on the market.... I personally own a 9700 pro and it's been the best video card I've ever had.... It's getting 14526 points in 3DMark01 and 4896 points in 3DMark03, what a fast card... So good choice Microsoft.... Check link below;

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/31189.html

Crap, there goes ATI's momentum on nVidia.

"ATI has the most powerful graphics chip's on the market"

As of recently, this is no longer true. The new GeForce that is out (or will be out soon) beata the Radeon 9800 Pro (ATI's best card).

I prefer Ruffles chips.

Your crazy Sabotai, the new 256mb DDRII 9800 Pro still beats the new FX5900 ultra in High Res. benchmarks.... I'll find the site that the benchmarks are on......

From the July issue of CGW.

System: 3 Ghz Pentium, 1 GB DDR 400 and 240GB Seagate SATA RAID config.

The test results are at 32-bit, 4x anti-aliasing and 4x anisotropic filtering.

The cards:
256MB Geforce FX 5900 Ultra
128MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro

3dMark2003 (1024x768)
Geforce: 3532
Radeon: 2595

3DMark2003 (1600x1200)
Geforce: 2138
Radeon: 1363

3DGameGuage 3.0 (1024x768)
Geforce: 83
Radeon: 84

3DGameGuage 3.0 (1600x1200)
Geforce: 69
Radeon: 56

As far the most recent Radeon card (which has just been released), the cards are pretty comparable.

http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-1107-404-21217743.html

The 3DMark2003 build 330 tests are pretty much equal as are the Splinter Cell tests. But for whatever reason, the Geforce torches the Radeon in the Unreal Tournament 2003 test.

EDIT: http://www.hothardware.com/hh_files/S&V/r9800256mb_gffx5900upd.shtml

HotHardware also has the cards pretty much neck and neck on their benchmarks, except when you turn on 4x AA, at which point the Geforce takes a sizable lead.

Ahem...who's crazy? ;)

You forgot to mention the 3dMark tests were taken with the nVidia 3dMark "optimized" drivers. ;)

http://www.hothardware.com/hh_files...fx5900upd.shtml

Look at the 3Dmark03 bench after the 330 patch has been installed... Yeah, the 5900 beats the 9800 but only by small margins;

9800 - 2940 pts 4x on 5747 pts 4x off
5900 - 3098 pts 4x on 4886 pts 4x off

I wouldn't call that a sizable lead, I would call it a tie.....

That is good information to know since, like most people, I only use my computer for running benchmarks!

I want the 9800 Pro for the improved graphics quality when I play Minesweeper and Solitaire.

"I wouldn't call that a sizable lead, I would call it a tie....."

Look at the Unreal Tournmant 2003 tests with 4x AA turned on and try to say the same thing. :)

"That is good information to know since, like most people, I only use my computer for running benchmarks!"

Which is why I tend to give more weight the tests run with the games rather than with benchmark software.

So, the ps3 will have 'grid' (http://www.psreporter.com/playstation_3_news.html) technology. :) Which means it doesn't need a graphics card. It's like all in one, or something. :eek:


Todd

I think nVidia is a bit more popular because I see more nVidia chipsets in computers. But this isnt necessarily a bad move to go to ATi, they're the card to beat.

I don't think either is "the card to beat". Every couple of months, the other releases there "new" card that supposedly beats the competitor's last card. For the most part, it is a neck and neck race. It just so happens today the best Geforce beats out the best ATI. In a couple of months, it will most likely be the other way around. And then a few more months, it'll switch again...

I don't know about this grid thing. I've never trusted anything that was "all in one". Anyone remember those shitty sound card/modem cards? Ugh...