Going from ATI to nVidia...

LEDBE
C

Charles Bradshaw

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Sep 14, 2002
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Not a big deal in Windows. However this will be the first time I have deliberately changed the video card for Linux.

Current Video Card: ATI XPert 2000 Pro AGP, 32 MB
Changing to: eVGA GeForce4 MX440SE, 64 MB

Yes, I know the MX series are low performers. However, I need to work with the it for beta testing Daz Studio for the next few weeks. I only got it to run down the source of problem when I had my other motherboard installed.

I can do this in Linux, since I will be re-installing, but using the Mandrake 10.0 CE Powerpack, instead of the public ISOs, which don't include the nvidia kernels and glx rpms.

Here's hoping that I don't come back in this topic to /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif but to /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif instead.
 
shame on ya going from ati to nvidia!i have a nvidia to lol but i want a 256 meg ati 9800 xt
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hahaha.gif I still have a geforce2 mx400. I've been looking at both lately but still leaning toward Nvidia. (That whole DoomIII "demo leak" fiasco makes me think that Id might be favoring them also. You know that has to hit a nerve with Id after the DoomII nightmare.) The FX cards are BIG though and maybe a little bit inefficient in a variety of ways. If I get one of the higher end Nvidia cards I'm going to also have to upgrade my power supply. I'm thinking a solid 350 watt at least, any recommendations?
 
well ya said a solid 350 thats very inporatant i rather have a good powersupply of 350 watts such as antec or antec lol sorry i like antec and so do the reviews but i rather have a good 350 then a crappy 550, i run a antec true power 430. i did have a antec 330 it was way to small when i overclocked my pc to amd 3400 speeds and had my 4200 overclcoked it didnt like it matter fact if i added 1 mopre case fan it didnt boot or a extra hardrive glad i got the 430 now
 
the 9600 xt rocks but what ever ya do dont get the reg 9600 it stinks
 
Well, I am baaaack with /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Mandrake 10.0 CE Powerpack setup the nvidia card correctly, without needing to boot to root console.

Now to look for a better nvidia card than this one. This is the Light Version, or, as low end as you can get.

At least Daz Studio Beta works with this nvidia card. (It uses a Renderman compliant rendering engine.)
 
I too prefer ATi over Nvidia. Both are fine cards actually. But I run at highr rez when I do graphics work (1800x1440) and Nividia cards are quite blurry at high rez. Most people don't notice the poor quality of the video because they don't run their monitors that high (or they've never seen a really fine card for comparison).

ATi also has an inexpensive High-Def Component adapter available for running an HD TV as a large monitor. Works great.

Also, the comments about a small high-quality supply being better than a cheap more-powerful supply is so true. Not only do you get better performance, but when a power supply fails there is a good chance it will take something with it (how much money do you save when you have to replace your motherboard and video card along with the supply). It always amazes me when someone spends over $1000 building a computer, then wants to run it off of a $15 power supply.

Since we're on the subject of ATi and Power Supplies:

When the ATi Radeon 9700 Pro first came out I remember reading lots of reports from people having trouble with the card stating that ATi's 300W power recommendation was not enough. There were people claiming even 400/450W supplies were not enough and that they had to get a 500W(+) supply to make the card run stable. At the time I was running my card in a very loaded system (6 hard drives) on 300W with no problems.

Just out of curiosity I put the card in my Micro-ATX system which has 2 hard drives (+ burner & DVD) and only a 150W power supply (but a good quality one) and it ran fine. Kinda makes you wonder what kind of crappy supplies those idiots were running.

I still find Matrox the best for clean, sharp graphics, but they're not so hot for gaming.
 
IllumiGeek;

Those crappy power supplies are the ones you see listed in eBay, with no specs for the Power Rails listed in the item description.

1800 x 1440? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif That is very high resolution!

I wouldn't be running mine that high. One or two steps above 1024 x 768 True Color would be sufficient for my needs. The reason I got that ATI in the first place, was the built in hardware DVD decoding. I have been using that one for a few years, and I think it is OpenGL 1.1 at the most.

For most things, I just need a bit higher end than I have now. For some things, I need a Workstation Card (Maya 5 Personal Learning Edition).

So, I have a couple of different sets of specs to work from, and will end up with 2 or more systems. :lol:
 
Raggie, ya scarin' me. I have a true 330 that's served me fine. I have a P4 2.26 and a Geforce TI4200. Just got ahold of Far Cry and can't begin to run it at max settings. I figure when Doom 3 comes out, scheduled June, I'll upgrade the the processor to P4 3.08 (or is it 3.06) but that is fastest mb will take and price isn't too bad. Nvidia just announced a new video card and ATI is supposed to soon follow, so I'm hoping maybe get a current now champ video card for maybe $200 or so in June. Now you're telling me I may have to upgade my power supply as well? Maybe I'll just buy an Xbox, LOL.

[ QUOTE ]
raggie33 said:
well ya said a solid 350 thats very inporatant i rather have a good powersupply of 350 watts such as antec or antec lol sorry i like antec and so do the reviews but i rather have a good 350 then a crappy 550, i run a antec true power 430. i did have a antec 330 it was way to small when i overclocked my pc to amd 3400 speeds and had my 4200 overclcoked it didnt like it matter fact if i added 1 mopre case fan it didnt boot or a extra hardrive glad i got the 430 now

[/ QUOTE ]
 
Make sure you have a full gigabyte of RAM as well.. you'll need it to run Far Cry (and most other newly released games for that matter) smoothly.

I use an ATI radeon 9500 non pro that I bought a year plus ago for about $140-$150. It's software modded to open up the extra pipelines so it essentially runs like a 9700 non pro and like a 9700 pro if it's overclocked.

I can manage to set everything on high except shadows which I set on low, set the resolution at 1280x960, with antialiasing off and anisotropic filtering set at max, and it runs in a general range from 25 to 60 fps which is fine for Far Cry, which isn't a fast paced shooter.

Haven't really upgraded my system much but a 3 ghz processor upgrade might be on my to do list.
 
[ QUOTE ]
raggie33 said:
well ya said a solid 350 thats very inporatant i rather have a good powersupply of 350 watts such as antec or antec lol sorry i like antec and so do the reviews but i rather have a good 350 then a crappy 550, i run a antec true power 430. i did have a antec 330 it was way to small when i overclocked my pc to amd 3400 speeds and had my 4200 overclcoked it didnt like it matter fact if i added 1 mopre case fan it didnt boot or a extra hardrive glad i got the 430 now

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks Raggie... Actually the antecs are what I've been looking at mostly but wasn't really sure about them.

[ QUOTE ]
illumiGeek said:
I too prefer ATi over Nvidia. Both are fine cards actually. But I run at highr rez when I do graphics work (1800x1440) and Nividia cards are quite blurry at high rez.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I've seen that on some review sites. (magnified clips) Also some problems with anti-aliasing too right? I'm just thinking Id is going to use some specific Nvidia features that will really make the game graphics. (There appears to be some indication of this already, but it's still a bit early I guess.)
 
[ QUOTE ]
stockwiz said:
Make sure you have a full gigabyte of RAM as well.. you'll need it to run Far Cry (and most other newly released games for that matter) smoothly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ouch.. really? My MB is pretty old, with PC800 RDRAM (~500megs) At the time it seemed like a better direction for memory tech but nobody wanted to make it due to the "real estate" factor. I think I might just get a whole new box before it's over.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
stockwiz said:
Make sure you have a full gigabyte of RAM as well.. you'll need it to run Far Cry (and most other newly released games for that matter) smoothly.

I use an ATI radeon 9500 non pro that I bought a year plus ago for about $140-$150. It's software modded to open up the extra pipelines so it essentially runs like a 9700 non pro and like a 9700 pro if it's overclocked.

I can manage to set everything on high except shadows which I set on low, set the resolution at 1280x960, with antialiasing off and anisotropic filtering set at max, and it runs in a general range from 25 to 60 fps which is fine for Far Cry, which isn't a fast paced shooter.

Haven't really upgraded my system much but a 3 ghz processor upgrade might be on my to do list.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I am not much of a gamer. My primary area of interest, is 3D CGI and possibly playing around with 3D Animation and Rendering.

For the games that I do have, my old ATI worked just fine. What forced me to change over to the Nvidia, was Daz Studio locking up my system, with the old ATI card installed. I happened to have the Nvidia on hand, since I had to figure out where a certain problem was, before this (hardware).

At least some of what I want to do, will require me to get:

Win2K Pro SP2+
A Workstation card (Nvidia Quadro or ATI FireGL)
A larger monitor, as minimum resolution is higher than what my current monitor can do.

My monthly fixed income makes getting all this a bit on the tough side, to say the least.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Charles Bradshaw said:
IllumiGeek;

1800 x 1440? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif That is very high resolution!


[/ QUOTE ]

Yea, it's nice to be able to go that high when I need to. But the way my vision is headed south it may soon be a moot point (getting old sucks). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

A few days ago I took my computer to work and fired it up on a Sony XBR 70 inch (!) High Deffinition LCD RP TV (using the ATi component adapter) and it was awesome. If my vision gets too bad, that may be my next "monitor" purchase. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif We ran UT2004 at 1080i rez (1920x1080; game rez 1770x1000 to compensate for overscan) and it was so sweet. I'll have to do some serious rearranging to make room for a 70 inch "monitor" though. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Aloha, iG
 
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