GeForce FX 5900 Ultra 256Mb vs ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 256Mb
 

So which will it be?

I'm thinking about buying one of these bad-boys though I have yet to save up the money. In the States apparently the FX is more expensive than the Radeon however in New Zealand it's the other way around regardless of branding. So that's a tick in the FX column.

I've always bought nVidia video cards because they've been so good and so affordable but ATI seems to be pushing into the powerhouse spot now and even has John Carmack of the Doom III fame vouching for it. But still, ATI is new to me and nVidia have always been reliable, makes me a little wary.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with either of these cards and could give a litle consumer input into how you rate them.

Also I've heard a few rumours I was wondering if any of you could end or confirm: The FX takes up 2 PCI slots? The Radeon requires a floppy disk power supply cable?

So, can't wait to hear from you!

p.s. AA and AF are important to me.

ok well a friend of mine blew all his graduation gift money on a comp that had the fx 5900 ultra... awesome card... it takes a regular power supply molex connector... and it takes up the agp slot and the pci slot immediatly below it... and if you can leaving even one more pci slot would be preferable so the card has plenty of room to breath...

and i havnt installed a radeon myself but i have heard that it does require a floppy power supply cable...

another thing to keep in mind if your a linux user... is that ATI has decided to stop making linux drivers for their cards...

I'd say neither right now. The next generation of video cards is right around the corner. Wait a few months and you'll be able to get both for a lot less...

You can buy a GFFX 5600 for about 150$ off NewEgg if memory serves. Buying the absolute top of the line is not really a good plan, as the price will drop by up to two hundred dollars within a few months, and then you'll just get frustrated.

If your looking into a Nvidia based card and are also looking at playing HL2 think about it a lot. THe Nvidia based cards have a issue with them that make it so that FSAA and Anti Filtering dont work right and cause artifacts to occure on the screen.

ANyway I agree, wait for the next gen of cards, I picked up a cheap 4600 to do me untill the new cards come out.

I prefer ATI after i got my 9700pro, but I went to a lan recently that was sponsored in part by NVIDIA and they had the 5900 on demo, when they boosted the AA and AF it artifacted beyond recognition in GTA: VC. Also because of the temperature that the 5900 and 5600's run at, they can't overclock nearly as far as their ATI counterparts.

The ati card easily wipes the floor with the fx 5900.

Anyone heard anything about these next-gen cards? I had up until recently believed the above mentioned cards were next gen since they were Dx9 compatible.

if u keep on waiting, then you'll be waiting forever
as soon as the so called next gen vid cards come out
there's going to be another next gen card going out
then so on so forth

had both ATI and NVidia cards before
currently have the 9700pro and so far im happy with it
with their switch to a unified driver and more constant release of updated drivers
ATI seemed to have fixed their driver issues of long ago

as for the NVidia card taking up 2 slots
doesn't really matter now is it?
most motherboards out now is loaded with features such as built in LAN, 5.1/6.1 audio, etc
that well, frees up your PCI slots for something else
if your just a regular computer user, lets say mostly playing games, then that's just enough IMO

so go ahead, either of the cards would do
won't go wrong with them
most games nowadays still cant take advantage of the full potential of newer cards anyways

im torn also cant decide and dont have the cash either

Do not get anything below a FX5800 if you are goind nvidia. Oh and they have a new FX5900 coming out, or it might already be out that only takes up one AGP slot and no PCI slots.

However i say go with ATI. the 9800's are very very nice. I was skeptical too but i love the 9800 now.

The HL2 guys at e3 could have chose any card they wanted to run the demo... they chose the ATi...

I would be really interested in either of these cards if they weren't the ridiculously expensive 500$, yeesh, I just bought a 9800Pro 128mb, and it was still ~350$.

I agree wholeheartedly, I mean, 2 minutes after leaving the store with your brand new PC (or 2 minutes after building it) it's totally obsolete.

Quote:

.....as for the NVidia card taking up 2 slots doesn't really matter now is it?

Not at all, was just interested.

Really? Both Valve and id are on the ATI bandwagon... Maybe it's time nVidia went the way of 3dFx! Plus if the ATI card can pull off those framerates we saw on DooM3 and HL2 I'm sold.

I've started saving my pennies and selling old PC parts I have no use for so hopefully by the time I have enough money the prices will have dropped.

I wouldn't be so sure id's on the ATI bandwagon. There's a LOT of bad blood between those two, since ATI leaked the E3 pre-alpha demo of DOOM 3. That's not meant to take anything away from ATI's cards. Hell, I just picked up a 9800 All in Wonder, myself.

The next generation cards should be announced within the next two months - at least for ATI. As yet, I haven't heard too much about them. The current gen (9700, 9800 GeForce FX) are all DX9 compatible and will work fine for games like HL2 and Doom 3 (whenever it's released). I suspect the next gen will be performance enhanced, as DX10 is the platform for Xbox 2 - and Microsoft won't be rolling that out until a few months before they release their console follow-up.

If you're choosing between the 5900 and the 9800, I'd go for the 5900. But the best choice is to wait for the next gen cards, they should be the ownage :)

I have a 9800 Pro 128 Meg right now - I'd go for the 5900 Ultra if I were you. I'm gonna get one.

WTF your gona get rid of your 9800

Theres always gonna be "next-gen cards" around the corner...

I'm trying to understand this. You're going to pay another $400-$500 for a new card that only beats your current one by 5-10 fps in most games? You're going from a card that they used to demo Doom3 and HL2 to a card that has just been said to be broken with HL2? I am very confused by this.

I have been going with ATI since I started building computers, around the time they made the first Radeons. At that time everyone told me to use NVidia, but I felt like going with the underdog(same reason I use AMD). I have not regretted that decision once. I currently have a 9700pro, and love it. If it were me I'd go with the 9800, but good luck no matter what you choose.

take the red pill "ATi", you won't regret it

I have a 9700pro, but I used to be an nVidiot

ATi just wins me over with the superior image quality, superior performance when using AA and AF, and not cheating on drivers and benchmarks

Now now, ATi have cheated in the past too, unfortunately I can't quite remember what is was for but it was as immoral as nVidia 3dMark03 cheat.

But I agree, ATi is looking a lot better now.

yeah i think the geforce ownes the ATI....but thats only cuz ATI cards SUCK for cs (which I'am highly addicted too)

I don't get rid of anything - I have a total of 20 machines and the 9800 Pro is gonna stay where it's at - but the 5900 Ultra will go in the new machine I plan to build.

5900 / 9800 it doesn't matter. I use a 9800 Pro 128. But anyways, right now I have my card overclock but even at the standard numbers it's the cream of the crop. Nvidia is going to have some problems with some games as well as ATi. That's why every game you have comes with a list of card issues.

If it were me, and I'm not being biased here, I'd get the ATi simply because it's cheaper, on the same level of performance and you get DDR2 memory.

I've made my mind up, GeForce FX 5900 128MB, just ordered it, comes in tomorrow! :D

How about ATI and AMD? I bought a Radeon about 2 years ago, was the top of the line at the time and it totally sucked dong with my AMD.. Worked wonders in a friends Intel.. I had heard back then that there were issues about the amd and ati combo, and so I was weary about buying the 9800pro wich should be at my doorstep in about two days. I've searched some online and on tfp, but I was wondering if anyone has heard recently of any problems between the two companies hardware as far as performance..

It shouldn't matter which PC you put it in. Your friend's Intel will run it better if the Intel processor is better, but if they are equal, the videocard should run the same.

-Lasereth

Not 100% sure, but I believe that was something with the N-Force Motherboards only. Though they have fixed it anyway so it wouldn't be an issue now.

I understand that, but the processors were pretty comprable..

Regardless, I won't expect anything short of spectacular then, since I am upgrading from a geforce fx5200 hah!