I DEFECTED FROM NVIDIA.....FOLLOW ME!!!!

[Guest Sabadin]

You seem to be ingoring the fact that their $80 DX9 card implements most of DX9 through software. So if running DX9 games at 5 fps is your cup of tea then yes Nvidia is way ahead of ATI.

[Guest Bigshot]

Here's a clip on the 9600 which will make the Ti4600 look like a kindergarden card:RV350 is the new entrant to ATI's 3D chip line-up. Based off the R300 platform it features 4 full DX9 pixel pipelines and 2 Vertex Shaders - basically half an R300. As opposed to the rest of ATI's line-up, this is based on TSMC's .13um process technology, which enables them to produce both a very small core that can scale highly to reach a broad range. Currently there are two products in the range, the Radeon 9600 with core/memory speeds of 325/400 (200MHz DDR) and the Radeon 9600 PRO at 400/600 (300MHz DDR).We'll look at Radeon 9600 in more detail with a later review.The 9600 DX9 budget card retailing for around $100 bucks will handle the low end market quite nicely. Only those taken in by Nvidia PR will make the mistake of picking up the wrong card. I'm sure we'll see a lot of them here wondering what happened.Oops: 9600 Card Versions Radeon 9600 PRO 128MB DDR (400/600) - available April 2003 - price: $169-$199,- Radeon 9600 64/128MB DDR (325/400) - available April 2003 - price: $149-$169,- They might cost you a bit more than a C bill; but look what you get for $150 bucks!!I've also heard rumors of a 9700 mobility card. Now, wouldn't that make a laptop hum?? ATI doesn't have the cooling problems that Nvidia is suffering from.

[JimmiG 244]

I'm extremely unimpressed by the NV31/NV35. In particular the NV31/5600. A card that will sell for $200, but is a 2x2 design that can barely keep up with the 9500 Pro. Soon you will be able to buy a 9600 Pro for the same price. If it's faster or not is not yet known, it's a bit different from the 9500. It's also ATI's first .13u product.From Tomshardware's recent write-up on the new Nvidia mainstream products (NV31/NV34):http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/200303...00-5200-02.html"However, we can already give you some of our first impressions about the performance of the new cards. In the standard tests without FSAA and anitotropic filtering, the FX 5600 Ultra seems to be just about the same or slower than a GeForce 4 Ti 4200 8x and Radeon 9500 PRO. This might be due to the reduced pixel pipelines (2x2, as opposed to 4x2). With 4xFSAA, it appears to reach nearly double the performance of the 4200, beating a 4800 as well, but it loses out to the Radeon 9500 PRO. It's a similar picture with the anisotropic filtering. In the pixel shader tests from 3DMark 2001, it beats the 4200/2800, but loses in the vertex shader tests. In both tests, it clearly loses to the Radeon 9500 PRO. ""We'll have more for you on this in a few days, including extensive benchmark tables. But this much can be said for now: the FX 5600 and 5200 cards won't have an easy time competing against the new ATi products. "Nvidia's only hope now is to get the NV35 out quickly, and it'd better have the performance this time, or else Nvidia will have a very bad year.

[DC10 1]

I've also defected from nvidia to ATI ...from GeForce 2 MX to Radeon 9000 :Dbut what i've realised is that Nvidia provides much better support with more frequent updates...Cheers,Dickson ;)

[JimmiG 244]

Really?The latest Nvidia driver on their page:Release Date: December 3, 2002And it's a WHQL Candidate, IE: NOT WHQL certified!ATI:Posted: February 10, 2003 - WHQL cetifiedOn top of that, ATI will release Catalyst 3.2 within the next four weeks or so. ATI is at this point the only videocard company with a fully certified DX9 driver.

[Guest]

Hate to mention it, but you have been stupid my friend... The Radeon 9800 will come out soon. When this happens the prices on the 9700 Pro and non-Pro will drop quite fast. I say you've wastefully invested you money for now. I would have waited.

[Guest]

Hi Al..>I am an Ex Nvidia person as well. Just got a 9500 Pro and >love it. >Nvidia is only Going to produce the FX chips to cover >the backorders for the Chipset. After that they Probably >won't release any more FX based chips. (due to it's >performance barely over that of the 9700Pro) >I hated to stray from Nvidia, but it seems it may have been >the smart thing to do. >>Al I still have my Prophet II / GTS64 GeForce2. Bought it two years ago, when it first came out with DVI interface & TV out. S.o.b. was 399.00 back then.Anyway... I was thinking going to the "other" side; i.e., that Radeon 9700. Is that a good card? My Hercules video card is AGP, but what if I kept it, and got a 9700 PCI card? Which is better PCI or AGP? I really hate to get rid of my present video card (NVidia chipset), considering how much the thing cost, but seeing how cards have gotten cheaper, I was wondering if I should just cut my losses (and wrist), and come ditch it?My anti-alias used to work fine, but now it does not. If I go from cockpit view to VC view, I lose the a-a, unless I go alt+tab, then back in; then, if I switch screens again (Tower, etc.), I have to repleat that. It never did that before. I have tried several drivers with Dx 8.0, 8.1b & 9.x (recommended per CFS3).My card does not like the 40.72 and certain others... Links2001 won't even load the course when using it, etc... and now, my MS Train Sim does not work right, either, even though I went back to the factory default drivers (on video card install Cd). I thought it would, because I did this after Best Buy had re-formatted drive & re-installed Win98/2nd.... or so they said they re-formatted it! :(I wouldn't think that it would solely be the card... everything else looks ok (desktop resolution, etc.)Any suggestions are welcome! :)Stanley (frustrated, has-been simmer)

[Guest Tim13]

Alexander my friend,If your logic were to be followed, then you would never have a new computer or computer hardware. There is always something better coming down the pipe that will cause current prices to drop, it's the nature of the technology beast. You can buy now, or keep waiting for the next best thing that you never get.Respectfully,Tim13

[Guest]

>Hate to mention it, but you have been stupid my friend... >The Radeon 9800 will come out soon. When this happens the >prices on the 9700 Pro and non-Pro will drop quite fast. I >say you've wastefully invested you money for now. I would >have waited. Wow,Typically I do not respond to such things but I just couldn't help myself. Maybe I'm just tired. You actually took the time to type "stupid" about something or someone you obviously know little about.I think you're just angry that my thread has received almost as many hits in 3 days as your entire web site. Nice visitor counter. Maybe you should use decimal places to make the number look bigger ;)Oh, and dude, lose the feminine viagra banner ads too. Or did they come free with your prescription?MarkOh, and thanks Tim!! I appreciate your comment. It's just a matter or getting the best deal whenever you buy.

[Guest]

Translated into nice speak, I think Alexander was saying "your timing could have been better". As you say Tim, if you wait for prices to bottom, you'd never be close enough to the cutting edge for it to be worth the saving. It is prudent, however, to avoid purchasing "top of the line now" when the "next top of the line" is due for imminent release, if at all possible.

[Guest]

Gary,Oh you are right and I shouldn't have gone off but that's what happens when you read comments before a good sleep. Hey just an FYI that I actually purchased my card a while back and only decided to write in the other day. In fact when I bought, NO info was available on the specs or timing of the new ATI card. I was waiting for it as long as possible but they got you where they want you.Take careMark