Another Long Time Nvidia User Makes the Switch!

[Mike89]

Got my 9800 Pro installed!!

So far, so good. Installed with no problems whatsoever.

This is what I did.
Un-installed Nvidia driver through control panel.
Rebooted.
Went to registry and deleted Nvidia in HKEYLocalMachineSoftware.
Shut down computer.
Pulled out Ti4600.
Put in 9800 Pro.
Turned computer back on.
When XP was looking for drivers to install, I pointed it manually to the Inf folder where I had unzipped the Catalyst 3.2 drivers to.
Installed fine and with no SmartGart. (This the exact same way I always had installed my Nvidia drivers).
XP then tried to install the monitor drivers and I again chose to manually install to where my monitor drivers were (did not let XP put in it own monitor drivers).
Even though I was not asked to reboot after installing both 3.2 and monitor drivers, I did so anyway.
Then I went to the folder I had unzipped the ATI Control Panel and clicked on "setup.exe".
It installed and this time I was asked to reboot. I did so.
Set up resolution and refresh rate, and set opengl and D3D to full quality, 4X FSAA, 8X aniso.
Installed Reforce and set up all my refresh rates. Worked like a charm.

So far I have not installed the Rage 3D Tweaker, I don't see the need to do so right now. The control panel has everything I seem to need (unless someone tells me different).

So far I have only played Nascar 2003 and Serious Sam 2. Nascar 2003 (with above settings) was definitely faster than the Ti4600 and with NO glitches whatsoever. Serious Sam 2 (with above settings) is over twice as fast as the Ti4600.

And I heard mention about the fan on the 9800 Pro? I can't hear it at all. No difference between it and the Ti4600 (I couldn't hear that one either).

And for all you guys that swear changing from Nvidia to ATI requires a clean install? Totally not true! I'm not one of those guys that clean installs an OS at the drop of a hat the way some I see post. With XP, it's just totally unnecessary and a tremendous waste of time.

What do I think of the card so far and changing to ATI?

All I can say is, WTF TOOK ME SO DAM LONG!!!! Needless to say I am one happy camper.

I have something to say for current Nvidia vid card owners who are still trying to decide if they are going to make the switch.

RUN, don't walk to the nearest outlet and GET YOUR BAD ASS SELF THIS BAD ASS CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[creedamd]

Originally posted by Mike89
Got my 9800 Pro installed!!

So far, so good. Installed with no problems whatsoever.


What do I think of the card so far and changing to ATI?

All I can say is, WTF TOOK ME SO DAM LONG!!!! Needless to say I am one happy camper.

I have something to say for current Nvidia vid card owners who are still trying to decide if they are going to make the switch.

RUN, don't walk to the nearest outlet and GET YOUR BAD ASS SELF THIS BAD ASS CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you're not supposed to say this, where's all the complaints about drivers, and stuttering??? I feel cheated.. A happy Ati customer? What's this world coming to? Hold on... Digital Vibrance isn't there, you ready to take the card back?

LoL :angel:

[Mike89]

With this picture I got now, no way do I need Digital Vibrance.

Nope, no driver stuttering either.


It's amazing how times have changed. At one time I was as die hard an Nvidia fan as one could get. NO WAY did I EVER think I would buy an ATI card.

My motto was, "you can keep your suck ass ATI card and your drivers, I'll stick with Nvidia".

Man oh man, now look at me, a very very happy ATI 9800 Pro owner! Goes to show, allegance only goes so far. When crap hits the fan, it's ultimately up to who has the better product. Right now it's without a doubt ATI (IMO).

Now a year down the road, who knows, but right now I'm right where it's at and where I sure want to be. To say this card rocks is putting it rather mildly.

[Raptorman]

Congrats on the 9800 PRO. Hope it works as good for you as my Radeon 9700 works for me. You may want to try some overclocking, see how far you can get, also.

Though, it's time to go on to my own project :D .

[Shaitan]

lol I am forced to switch to the 9700 on my new system I am building. nVidia doesn`t have the NV35 ready for public consumption yet. But I am gonna switch out the 9700 for the NV35 when it does become available.
Nothing against ATI really. I was just never attracted to that card for some odd reason. Go figure. There never ever will be an end all be all card... no matter who makes it.

What vid card isn`t a worry to me. More like, WTF are the next gen games to play on my next gen vid card? The only one of any interest to me at all is S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and that won`t be out till almost Christmas.

[CherryPopper]

Congrats on the purchase there Mike89 ..:)

I've been holding off on my own purchase of a 9800 to see if any of those rumors of the 256 Meg DDR II boards are gonna happen any time soon. If i don't see somethin perty quick i'm gonna say f*ck it and pick up either a ATI reference board or the 3D Prophet 9800 Pro from Hercules.

either that or get a 128 ATI board.. return it within 30 days, then a Hercules for 30 days and maybe by That time a DDR II board will be out....:p

[beerglass]

yeah, I feel very attracted to my Geforce 4600, so I am afraid when I get 9800 I won't be as attracted as you man

[cavalier]

I can completely relate to everything he's saying here.

Two weeks ago, I swapped by GF3 TI 500 out for a 9700 Pro ($259 at gamestop, BTW).

Since then, I've been completely blown away by the performance and IQ difference between the two cards.

I, too, would have bought an ATI card sooner had the Nvidia crowd here not been dissing the drivers and such. But you know what? ATI can now go toe-to-toe with Nvidia when it comes to the drivers.

The new 3.2 CATS are awesome and with them, I experience NONE of the stuttering which has been reported.

In addition, I have now tested my entire collection of games (35+) and out of both the old and new games, guess how many don't work/perform poorly/ or lockup? ZERO!

That's a real testament to how far ATI has come.

To boot, I am able to overclock this mad mother of a video card from its stock of 310 core/324 memory to a wild 350 core/337 memory. AND THAT'S WITH ATI'S STOCK GPU COOLER AND NO RAM SINKS!

I can now run several of the newer titles which previously crippled my GF3 TI at 1024 rez and medium settings (Rallisport Challenge is one) at 1280 rez with max detail, 6X FSAA and 16X Ansio and these games still blaze away at a fast FPS rate.

For any Nvidia card owner considering the leap to ATI but is hesitant, I highly recommend doing so. Here are some other random observations about how the 9700 Pro compares with Nvidia cards:

1. FSAA is WAY better in terms of quality (different sampling method ATI uses versus Nvidia makes a HUGE difference).

2. Mind-blowing 2D image quality (but it's really about 3D and the games, isn't it?)

3. Great overclocking (all ATI cards are known for this, aka 9600)

4. Whisper quiet (compared to the FX/NV30, but then again what isn't).

5. Richer and more vibrant colors which even digital brightness can't compensate for.

6. Better all-around IQ in games.

Again, I can't say enough positive chings about this card and ATI, coming from a guy who was previously scared to make the leap away from Nvidia cards.

My hat's really off to ATI on a job well done.

And a big thanks to Nvidia who, unwittingly with the awful NV30 debacle, convinced me to buy my 9700 Pro.

P.S. --- I, too, installed the 9700 Pro and drivers without doing a fresh install of XP and had not a single problem. Just wiped the old DETS. off the computer with Det Destroyer and did an add/remove of the Nvidia display drivers from the add/remove in control panel.

[Rogozhin]

Hey cav

that's a copy and paste from another post of yours ;)

we're a little to quick to get it up the azz.

rogo

[Kruno]

Soon you will also be able to use Fullstream in DivX movies. :D

It's great being an Ati user these days. :)

[Kombatant]

Originally posted by K.I.L.E.R
Soon you will also be able to use Fullstream in DivX movies. :D

It's great being an Ati user these days. :)

By posting in this board for the very first time, I will most certainly second that ;) :D

[Hellbinder]

*cough*...

look just below my name...

*cough*...

DivX support Roxorz.. you guys are going to be impressed ;)

*cough*

[Kruno]

Originally posted by Hellbinder
*cough*...

look just below my name...

*cough*...

DivX support Roxorz.. you guys are going to be impressed ;)

*cough*

Really blocky movies become that of DVD quality? :D
Or close. :)

[Chiles4]

Congrats, Mike, on seeing the light. I've used only Nvidia cards for years but when I went from a GF3 Ti 200 to a 9500Pro, I was totally floored. Using the 3.2 Cats (Omega's), I've haven't had a single problem. Having had very bad Radeon experiences in the past, I thought for sure, I'd never buy an ATI card again.

[sbp]

Nice going Mike. http://sbp777.homestead.com/files/kawaii.gif I'm headed Radeon 9800 Pro way soon {still getting by with a GF4 TI4600}.

Originally posted by Mike89
It's amazing how times have changed. At one time I was as die hard an Nvidia fan as one could get. NO WAY did I EVER think I would buy an ATI card.

My motto was, "you can keep your suck ass ATI card and your drivers, I'll stick with Nvidia".I remember that.

Seen many longtime Nvidia users making the switch.

Maybe one of these days Nvidia will get its act together.

[Mike89]

On the overclocking. So far I can run 420/350 (up from stock 380/340) without the card even blinking and it still purrs like a kitten. I have seen reviews of it hitting 440/370 but haven't tried to go that high yet (even though I'm sure it will do it). To tell the truth, I don't know why ATI set the core clock so conservative. It could have easily been advertised as 400 or 420 which seems like would have been a good selling point. Lot of headroom in the 9800 chip.

More games I have played since I've had the card are Mafia, Splinter Cell, IGI 2, Unreal 2. So far the only one that does not play really smooth at 4X FSAA and 8X Aniso is IGI 2. Dunno what's up with that game, I think it might be the game coding is not up to snuff.

[marcocom]

Originally posted by Shaitan
lol I am forced to switch to the 9700 on my new system I am building. nVidia doesn`t have the NV35 ready for public consumption yet. But I am gonna switch out the 9700 for the NV35 when it does become available.
Nothing against ATI really. I was just never attracted to that card for some odd reason. Go figure. There never ever will be an end all be all card... no matter who makes it.

What vid card isn`t a worry to me. More like, WTF are the next gen games to play on my next gen vid card? The only one of any interest to me at all is S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and that won`t be out till almost Christmas.

very wise play.

i think anyone (not needing a professional card like me. im very pleased with my nv30 and couldnt possibly consider an alternative) that is watching their money should follow your plan. plus it gives all nvidia users a chance to check out the competition for cheap.

9700 now, nv35 this xmas = the way forward, imo , of ultimate value and bang4buck


Im glad poster had a smooth driver install. sounds like for once somebody did it precisely right (however we should say that well programmed installer by a top-notch, expensive programmer can do all that you said. its a step that nvidia has cleared and ATi needs to address).

if your playing NASCAR2003 (love that game) in DirectX mode, then i can understand your claim...but were you actually having glitches in OpenGL mode on your GF4?? that must have been a bug related to something you had setup screwy because ive had Papyrus' engine on just about every driver from nvidia in OpenGL mode and its been superb and flawless (latest build does tax my old geforce3 pretty bad tho)

good for you man

[Mike89]

if your playing NASCAR2003 (love that game) in DirectX mode, then i can understand your claim...but were you actually having glitches in OpenGL mode on your GF4?? that must have been a bug related to something you had setup screwy because ive had Papyrus' engine on just about every driver from nvidia in OpenGL mode and its been superb and flawless (latest build does tax my old geforce3 pretty bad tho)


I didn't see anything mentioned in this thread about glitches with Nascar 2003. Game runs absolutely flawless on my 9800 Pro (in D3D, I haven't tried Opengl, no reason for me to). It also ran flawless on my previous Ti4600, just slower.


You also mentioned something about a good programmer making the drivers install properly and ATI needs to get some advice from Nvidia on how to do this. I don't really know what you were taking about. I assume you mean the setup.exe (automatic install) to install drivers? What makes you think that ATI does not do this as well as Nvidia? From my experience so far with ATI, I see nothing that would lead me to believe ATi is not every bit as good. I'm talking about now, not the past (as we all know ATI's reputation from the past). As far as the automatic install, I don't prefer it, no matter who the maker is. I would rather do it myself manually. It's just the way I like to do it and have always done it. I like controlling and seeing the process myself. Just like modifying the driver inf for refresh rates, I always did that myself too so I didn't have to use a third party program to do it for me (plus, I just liked doing it), I just haven't figured out how to modify ATI's driver inf yet, so use Reforce.

[DrFx]

Sounds great guys that you are comfortable with the switch to an Ati card..Myself will soon make one to ;)
Now I have a Nvidia 4600 but and will for the first time ever buy an Ati card..just wondering one thing, do you guys think it's enough to buy a 9700 non Pro and overclock it a bit couse I don't have the money for 9700 Pro or 9800 and I will not wait anny longer or should I?

So the big Q is should I wait some longer or go with the non Pro 9700?
Thanx in advance guys.!!

[muzz]

Glad you are satisfied with your new card Mike, must've been a big leap in faith for ya there...

creed you crack me up bro.........:D

GL Mike... THAT IS the way it is supposed to be played :D


I think matt got a bad card myself cowboy.

[muzz]

I think those days are pretty much over Cowboy......:D