A Survey on Nvidia and ATI Graphics Cards

[tviceman]

1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer: Nvidia, ATI, or would you use either one?

2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?

3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?

1. I prefer Nvidia
2. Both factors are important, but usually performance wins out for me.
3. Somewhat
4. Yes absolutely.

 

[Idontcare]

Welcome to the forums Cybercoco! :thumbsup:


1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer:

I use an app (TMPGEnc) that is Cuda enabled, so I look for Nvidia GPU's for gaming because they also make my transcode jobs faster. (dual-use)

If/when AMD GPU's accelerate TMPGEnc then I'd have zero loyalty/bias to stick with Nvidia and my purchases could go back to just being price/performance based and become vendor agnostic.

2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?

Performance/price within my desired price bracket. (I go for the $200-$300 upgrades)

3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?

No.

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?

Without question. AnandTech, HardOCP, etc.

 

[Awkward]

1. Either, ended up with AMD since they had a big lead when the 5000 series was first released which is my current GPU
2. Whatever fits my current needs
3. Definitely not.
4. Yes.

 

[palladium]

1. Either
2. Price/performance; driver stability; (in the future) dual card scaling
3. Somewhat. Largely limited by available funds.
4. Yes. I usually read AT, xbitlabs, hardwarecanucks. I tend to concentrate on games that I am interested in playing.

 

[Barfo]

I'm sure you've seen your fair share of "Nvidia versus ATI" threads, and this isn't meant to be just another one of those. I am working on an English final assignment that I decided was going to be an analytical report comparing Nvidia and ATI. I figure one of the best ways to gather data on this is by going to the gaming and PC communities that care about this topic.

I put together a few brief questions below. I am posting this to several gaming and PC community sites. Your participation by answering these questions would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to take up too much of your time, so simple answers (ex. yes or no) is all that I need. But if you wish to expand and discuss your opinion more, you're certainly welcomed to. Please keep it civil.

Thank you for your time.


1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer: Nvidia, ATI, or would you use either one?

2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?

3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?

1. Best bang for the buck at my price bracket. If all things are equal I'd pick AMD.

2. Price

3. Only if I benefit from it as soon as I buy the card, for instance I love 6000 series MLAA.

4. Yes, actually they're my main source of info when buying.

 

[dac7nco]

1: nVidia, for their drivers, folding performance, and filters in TMPGEnc (cuda).
2: price first, performance a close second.
3: Yes, if it's supported by available software (see early DX11)
4: Anandtech, XBit Labs, HardOCP, TechReport, SilentPC Review, phoronix

 

[RobertPters77]

1. DX9 and Earlier; ATI. DX10 and up Nvidia.

2. Performance, then Performance Per Dollar.

3. Not really. I buy based on what games I have.

4. Yes. But I'm cautious because some 2nd and 3rd tier sites are easily bribed.

 

[Lonyo]

1) Either/any (no love for the little guys?)

2) Price (I set a budget and buy the fastest I can that will work on my PSU)

3) Game performance > technology

4) Obviously (how else do you estimate performance?)

 

[fourty03]

1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer: Nvidia, ATI, or would you use either one?
I prefer AMD {ATI} due to brand loyalty.. I have and will most likely use either one if the features and performance meets my needs; going in the future



2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?
Performance is the ultimate leading factor


3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?
Yes, but most likely, this will depend on other factors as well. Such as Cost vs. Performance, Reviews, familiarity, etc.

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?
Yes, Magazine reviews, Anand's, Hardforum, techpowerup, etc... basically the mainstream source for all consumer tech information.


You probably should also done a poll...

 

[Aristotelian]

First, welcome to the forums!

1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer: Nvidia, ATI, or would you use either one?


I do not have a preference for either. I have used many different ATI and Nvidia cards. I have had good experiences with both companies for years.

2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?


Performance, then price. I don't believe in 'price vs performance' the way it is often used to justify one card over another.

3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?

I don't really understand the question. I don't buy 'the latest technology' because 'it is the latest'. I usually buy it because it's the fastest. I would be happy to skip generations of video cards if all of those generations were slower than my generation card. So perhaps the answer to your question is 'no'. I find nothing intrinsically valuable in something being 'newer'.

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?


I look for general trends, but the only two sites that I respect are pretty much Anandtech and AlienBabelTech. Other sites often review 3-4 games on a card and straightaway declare the card in question as faster/slower than another. To me, that's just bad reviewing, and that sort of reviewing means little to nothing to me.

 

[Borealis7]

1) Either one
2) Price more than performance
3) No
4) Yes, multiple sites.

 

[happy medium]

1. Nvidia, but have gone to AMD
2. performance first for my resolution and peticular games, I will find the money to get what I need.
3. No
4. Yes, Anandtech, Alienbabletech, and Hardware Heaven

 

[Madcatatlas]

1: No preferance/either is good
2: Price
3: Being "futureproof" rather than buying outdated stuff is important to me.
4: Yes, how else will you know what your buying, especially with salespeople being as bad as they are at what they do.

 

[mysticdream]

1.either one
2.performance according to my budget
3.yes
4.yes

 

[zebrax2]

1.) Slight bias to AMD although i will buy an nvidia card if it has even a slight bit of performance lead (cheering for a team is enough sign of support)
2.) Price first then performance in immediate second
3.) Slightly depending on the feature introduced
4.) Yes

 

[Silverforce11]

1. No preference. Whichever has the best perf/$.

2. Perf/$ is the most important stat by FAR. Followed by perf/watt.

3. No.

4. Always: HardOCP, Anandtech, Xbitlabs and TechPowerUp are the top four.

 

[sgrinavi]

1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer: Nvidia, ATI, or would you use either one?

Either one, I go with whatever is returning the best bang/buck so long as the performance is close

2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?

I look for the sweet spot, I generally will get the latest/greatest (within reason), but only after the initial rush is over and end-users are reporting great results.

3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?

Yes, but I will only buy it when it makes sense. I won't pay a premium for a card that does not deliver premium performance. For example the latest batch of dual GPU cards don't make sense for me at their current price point.

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?

Yes, I usually look for reviews before I buy, but I do take them with a grain of salt, I prefer to see what the average guys on the boards have to say, they can usually give me a better feel of what my experience might be with a product.

 

[MangoX]

1. Either, but last few years it has been AMD. NV burned me with their bumpgate fiasco (2x dead laptops) and last year my 8800GTS640 died for no reason (paid over $600 for that card at launch w/ taxes so I feel bummed). Using my old X1900GT right now that runs fine so I conclude AMD/ATI makes better hardware.

2. Price and performance. But price before performance.

3. Yes. I went from a GTX295 to a 5870 for DX11 and better single GPU performance, less power consumption and heat, even though overall performance may have been slightly less. Didn't regret it one bit.

4. Yes. I only read [H] and Anandtech. Lately AT's GPU reviews has been entirely useless so I only come here for the SSD/CPU articles mostly.

 

[Cerb]

1. AMD or nVidia. Timing (SC2 release), and with a more mature SDK at the time, swung me over to nVidia, this time.

2. Performance more than price. I won't spend too much, but I'll nudge my budget higher for better perf/$, before taking lower perf/$ to keep in budget.

3. Yes, when I buy. I don't upgrade my hardware at the drop of a hat. Perf/watt and features usually improve per generation, and newer gens almost always fare better as they age, compared to slightly more powerful last-gens.

4. Of course, but nothing print. Also while I may use TH as a reference, their reviews have been overly biased too often to trust them, until I get confirmation from others I trust more. I'm particularly fond of AT (imagine that!), TechSpot, TechPowerup, and Hardware Canucks, as of late. I trust SPCR, Xbit Labs, Guru3D, and HardOCP, but treat them as compliments to what are in my mind more well-rounded reviews, rather than reviews that can give balanced general impressions.

 

[yacoub]

1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer: Nvidia, ATI, or would you use either one?

2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?

3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?

1. Whichever one offers the better product at the time. "Better" means stable drivers and solid performance in the latest mainstream games for a good price. I've found that more often to be the case with NVidia (particularly stability), but am currently running an ATI/AMD card and my next purchase may also be ATI/AMD.

2. Bang for the buck. In other words, the price-vs-performance ratio. I want the most performance for my money, which usually ends up somewhere in the high mid-range cards, between $175-$275.

3. Only if a game that's important to me requires it. So no, not the latest cutting edge marketing bullet points. Only the items that actually matter in games that are available to play at the time, or in areas like power draw or temperature, and often these are items that review websites cover in their product review, which helps to identify whether something is just a marketing gimmick or actually a useful feature.

4. Absolutely. Anandtech is my number one resource, with a handful of others also utilized when narrowing down a choice. I also care about user reviews on sites like Amazon and NewEgg. I do not bother with print publications when it comes to computer hardware.

 

[Martimus]

1) I prefer AMD for their better support, and lack of proprietary lock ins.

2) I balance price, performance, size, power consumption, and noise. All are important to me, and I have constraints in each category.

3) I try to get cards that will run the most modern games/programs at good speed, since I know I don't upgrade often and want my current setup to last a while. So when I am purchasing a new card, it is important to me that it features as much modern technology as possible, but I don't find having the latest and greatest important enough to upgrade all the time.

4) I always research my large purchases before I buy them. (I put a lot of effort into figuring out which Monitor, Video Card, CPU, Case, SSD, Mother Board and Power Supply I was going to buy in my latest build.) So I read a few reviews to get beeter understanding of each important component.

 

[Zorander]

1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer: Nvidia, ATI, or would you use either one?

2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?

3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?

1. ATI (edit: it's AMD now...)

2. Value for money AND Thermal performance (I require quiet PCs)

3. No

4. Reviews from Anandtech & Xbit Labs for which chipset. The choice of manufacturer depends on price and which runs quietest.

 

[KentState]

1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer: Nvidia, ATI, or would you use either one?

2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?

3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?

1. I go with whichever brand meets my price/performance needs. Have had 4 ATI cards in a row until last week when I got an Nvidia card.

2. Depends on finances at the time of purchase. When I was poor and in college, I would go withe price before performance and get a $200 card, but now $500 is doable.

3. I want the latest as possible within my spending limits.

4. I always pour over the benchmark tests for games that I play to judge which card fits best.

 

[Seero]

1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer: Nvidia, ATI, or would you use either one?

2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?

3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?

1) Depends on the need. Intel IGP for non graphic intense app, Nvidia for extra eye candy/photo editing and AMD for raw performance.
2)Quality of the make, Performance and Price.
3)It depends, for gaming yes, as spending 400+ dollars on something just to find out you can't max the game because some latest hyped features are missing won't justify buying something new. For any purpose other then gaming, no, the card will get too old by the time software catches up.
4)Yes. Without reviews, it is impossible to find out the make, design, features of a card without buying them. I never trust the printing on the box. In fact, banchmarks give me an idea about its proformance level compare to other cards. However i don't take one's opinion but read lots of them and compile my own with datas presented.

 

[Genx87]

1. Which graphics chipset brand do you prefer: Nvidia, ATI, or would you use either one?

Nvidia but have used ATI in the past.

2. Which factor do you lean more towards when buying a new graphics card, price or performance?

Price\Performance, typically 1 notch down from the top single GPU model.

3. Is buying the latest graphics technology important to you?

Gaming

4. Do you consider tests and reviews from computer news publications or websites (ex. PCWorld Magazine or Tom's Hardware) when choosing a new graphics card?

Yes