Off topic - Direct X9 performance ATI vs Nvidia..

Well the performance results for Half-Life 2 utilizing the latest Direct X 9
cards are out.

http://www20.tomshardware.com/busine...911/index.html

Read em and weep, all U guys who are using FX based cards are gonna be
having 1/2 the performance of the ATI counterpart, thats huge! You'll notice
that even the lowly 9600pro beats out the FX5900ultra, the 9600pro is a 150
buck card for christs sake!

>Well the performance results for Half-Life 2 utilizing the latest Direct X 9

Don't care, my FS2004 looks twice better with the FX5900U than the
9800P with same 24 fps... :-)

---
Best
Katy Pluta

FS2004 FAQ at http://www.simflight.com/news5/modules.php?name=FAQ

Same here, Katy. Both of these companies are still trying to get the
drivers "right". nVidia is concerned with display quality, ATI with beating
nVidia at framerates, it would seem.

The nVidia FX5900 cards also run in 32-bit mode, while the 9800 is 24-bit.

Mike Davis

Katy wrote:

I feel sorry for you if all you care about is FS9.

mdavis wrote:

I think you got it backwards Mike, ATi is usually a little slower than
nvidia in the FPS dept. And as far as image quality goes nvidia has problems
running in 32-bit mode. In order to be within DX9 specs you have to be in at
least 24-bit, and nVidia can only run in 16-bit or 32-bit (precision I
believe, don't quote me). When running in 16-bit mode the performance is
okay, but IQ suffers and they are not running in fully compliant DX9 mode.
When nVidia runs in 32-bit mode, the performance is horrible. Therein lies
the problem. ATI does well because they have run in 24-bit mode for a long
time, which meets the min. DX9 requirements, and is also visually identical
to 32-bit color precision.

Very nice, but - who cares about Half-Life in this newsgroup?

One of the few FS2004 tests I have seen comparing ATI vs. Nvidia is
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1225675,00.asp and it shows
FX5900 in front.

At the same time if someone finds any other FS2004 specific tests please let
us all know.

Oscar



"RickD" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5l58b.934$8g2.235@news1.central.cox.net...
9
notice
150

With unstable drivers from both ATI and nVidia, and "unfinished" cards, I
won't become involved in yet another ATI vs. nVidia argument. I've made my
choice based on the FS2004 testing which emphasized both display quality,
large resolution screens and texture handling. I looked at both cards
running FS9 and messed with settings to try to optimize both to the best of
my knowledge and ability, and I picked one. Higher speed is a low priority
if the card handles the program at a smooth framerate running all the eye
candy you want or need . The lead has shifted several times on the kid's
games with 3-4 sets of new drivers from each mfr.depending on what
benchmarks you choose. Many of these so-called comparison tests are done
without specifying ALL of the variables involved. Many of the tests are
done on 2.6Ghz 512 meg machines, HT and non-HT. Often the screen resolution
isn't mentioned.

One of these chipmakers is "in bed" with Valve for Half Life 2 so, of
course, they will make that card look as good as they can by specifying
their own ground rules. Go back and read the test setup:

"Valve captured those numbers on a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 System (800 MHz FSB)
with actual VGA drivers. The result shown were measured in 1024x768-32bit
without FSAA and Trilinear Filtering (No Anisotropic). It is an average FPS
number of several demos that are very similar with the scenes shown at E3."

As I've stated before, both of these companies are guilty of stacking the
deck to make their products look and "sound" better than the competition.
No one runs VGA drivers on these cards with AA and AF turned off. That's
not what you buy these cards for. We all make our choices at a given point
in time where we have to "drive the stake" and buy it, try to rationalize
our prejudices, and pay our money. One of these chipmakers has seemingly
"come clean" and published a statement of intent regarding not using special
optimizations to "max out" popular benchmarks unless that optimization
applies equally for all other software to benefit. Whether they stick to
that or not remains to be seen. It should be an enforced industry standard.

I don't play "games" other than FS9. I'm too old to have good enough
hand-eye coordination and reaction time to compete in first-person shooters,
and I've had some terrible lack of support from one of the two major
graphics chip makers and will not purchase another of their products unless
they are the only remaining victor on the battlefield. My choice may not
always win the Half-Life 2 contest, but it runs FS9 at 24 fps everywhere
with any settings I desire, no flicker, no problems. That's what I paid
for, and that's what I have.

Mike Davis

RickD wrote:

Hmmm. Benchmarks and things from one company, Valve Software. Where's all
the MadOnion/FutureMark, PC-Bench, Unreal Tournament, Quake, etc.
benchmarks??

Looks to me like a Valve endorses ATI promo stunt.

--
Paul S

Oscar wrote:

You guys are missing the point "Half-Life2" is the 1st game to fully
implement DX9, it is exposing the upcoming problems that the FX series of
cards have. This is not merely a "driver issue" think about it, when a
FX5900ultra cant keep up w/an ATi9600pro somethings wrong. The issues that
ATi's are having w/FS9 are driver issues and will more than likely be
addresed in the upcoming 3.8cats, but if thew FX's cant hang w/DX9 than they
are gonna have a very short lifespan!

>I feel sorry for you if all you care about is FS9.

Oh no, I have many other games and programs, and so many had trouble
with ATI drivers and none with nvidia drivers that for those too my
card of choice remains an NVIDIA today. I have no loyalty to a
specific brand, if ATI or Matrox or whoever gets good hardware with
solid drivers tomorrow I will use it, I am simply not buying this
"look the results of this with that, puts the other to shame" stories
we see all the time...

---
Best
Katy Pluta

FS2004 FAQ at http://www.simflight.com/news5/modules.php?name=FAQ