If you were forced to choose between the ATI 3850 Vs. Nvidia 8800 GT

[physx7]

If you where forced to choose between them which one would you pick and why? Doesn't ATI have more driver problems than Nvidia?

 

[ethel]

The 8800GT is far better than the 3850 and costs a lot more, so you can't compare them.

 

[Hatman]

Well 8800GT... performance is worth the extra money..

 

[paq7512]

The 8800GT only cost $30 more. I would spend it on that.

 

[cruiseoveride]

The last person who tried to force me to do anything, seriously regrets it now.

Don't let people force you into doing anything.

 

[clintox]

I would say the 256Mb 8800GT, because it's just the better card. However, I just bought a 3850 for my dad's B-day because I didn't want to go over $200. If it was my comp, I would pay the extra change.

 

[skittle]

I dont regret it, cruiseO

 

[immagikman]

I picked Nvidia for a few reasons:
A. better card
B. I like Nvidia better
C. It gives the AMD/ATi fanbois a hemorrage.

 

[TSIMonster]

The 3850 is good if your on a budget as it can be had at $170. The 8800GT 256 is the better card, but also costs $40 more!

 

[pauldh]

If going between those two 256MB cards, I'd take the $160 HD3850 from bestbuy. I don't like the way the 256MB GT gets destroyed by the 512MB version so far in what we have seen. I wouldn't spend over $200 on a 256MB card anymore.

 

[physx7]

Doesn't ATI have more driver problems than Nvidia?

Can anyone answer that?

 

[physx7]

And when is Tom going to put the 8800 gt 256 in their VGA charts?

 

[albundy2]

everyone has problems w/all drivers. sometimes i have problems with nvidia's and sometimes with ccc. 8800gts in one system and 1900xt in the other. gts better in games / xt better watching movies. everyone has different experiences. everything has it's downside. i preffer ccc over forceware though.

 

[cleeve]

And when is Tom going to put the 8800 gt 256 in their VGA charts?

the 8800 GT and 38x0 series are coming very soon!

As for driver problems, haven't seen anything of note in years except some vista stuff. Both Nvidia and Ati have their quirks but no show stoppers in XP.

As for which one I'd pick... if it was the same price, the 8800 GT of course. At the prices they are, either is fine...

 

[gannina]

I had the same decision and I chose the 3850. It seems to run all games well at high resolutions (1680 x 1050), plus I'm a casual gamer and don't want to have a super good graphic card, because I would feel more obligated to use it more ;P

 

[physx7]

What games at what settings? And what is the rest of your system?

 

[Pollux]

3850 and 3870 is already on the VGA chart

And 8800GT will beat a 3850 hands down, no question about that.

Maybe you meant 3870? but the GT still wins

 

[physx7]

Arrgh the VGA charts won't come up!

And I meant the 8800 gt 256

 

[cruiseoveride]

ati devs think that drivers are people who drive cars
Dont expect much from them...

 

[mihirkula]

3870 if you're going for crossfire...8800gt if you want only a single GPU.

 

[mihirkula]

and here are the GPU benchmarks...

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/607/8/

cheers!

 

[cleeve]

ati devs think that drivers are people who drive cars
Dont expect much from them...

But Drivers DO drive cars... don't they?

Seriously... Ati drivers are fine. So are Nvidias. They both have a few quirks, but they're both pretty solid.

 

[SirCrono]

I'v always said, when in doubt go with nvidia, less chance of getting a DOA card, at least in my experience.

 

[s4fun]

For even dollars and even performance, stick with nVidia. ATI is not worth the headache. ATI needs a minimum 50% performance value jump before it is even worth considering. Too much effort to beta test and stabilize their lousy stuff. For writing this I'm sure ATI is gonna punish me anytime now, my x1950 pro is gonna blue screen the system with another of those ATI2Vxx.dll blow ups. Damn $hit ATI and CCC (Can't Control Crap) that eats up all sort of memory.

 

[cleeve]

Mreh. Lots of Ati haters here.

As a hardware reviewer for Tom's, I change and play with all kinds of videocards quite often on multiple systems, I uninstall and re-install drivers wayyy more than the average bear, and I've not experienced a notable problem with Ati or Nvidia in years.

In my experience, both Nvidia and Ati have their quirks, to be sure. Ati's catalyst takes a few seconds to start up in XP; is that the huge deal you guys are talking about? Nvidia has some Vista problems, too. But I haven't come across any show-stoppers from either camp for a very long time.

DOA cards? On this board I've seen doa cards from both camps. If any manufacturer in the world has a 100% track record of no doa-hardware, let me know and I'll invest in them immediately...