fed-ex fucked my GTX295, now i need a new card.

[neuro]

what should i get?

i'm considering getting a 460 as a 'temporary' replacement, until the next series comes out.
they're pretty good, and aren't that expensive and would fit the 'temporary' role well.
the 550 TI is in the same price range, but it's just plain shit in my eyes.

anyone have any other suggestions?
I'd REALLY rather stay with Nvidia, and not go with an ATI card, because fuck ATI.

[Amit]

Really, what do you have against ATi? You'll get a cheaper, cooler, quieter, and less power hungry GPU with usually the best bang for your buck. Why is that a bad thing?

[JackalStomper]

Given that the 600's are supposed to come out this year $150 seems like a bit much for a 'temp' card. Unless you plan on throwing it onto some other system when the time comes.

[Zeph]

Really, what do you have against ATi? You'll get a cheaper, cooler, quieter, and less power hungry GPU with usually the best bang for your buck. Why is that a bad thing?
shit drivers?

Get the cheapest ass shit card you can and hold out two more months for the 600 series. Some people are even saying you'll find them by the end of March.

[=sw=warlord]

shit drivers?


You mean like the Nvidia driver which literally burned out video cards using it? (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/warning-nvidia-19675-drivers-can-kill-your-graphics-card/7551)

[Amit]

shit drivers?

How ignorant do you have to believe that shit drivers is an argument? ATi hasn't had bad drivers for years. nVidia on the other hand...but I don't blame them either. It happens. That doesn't mean they didn't fix it.

[neuro]

my main reason is i've ALWAYS used Nvidia, and i know how to get the best out of it performance-wise and i know the interface and such, and i'm too fucking lazy to go and learn a new driver interface for optimising shit.

plus i'm just a fucking fanboi
i'm considering taking zeph's advice, and just get the cheapest piece of shit i can.
right now i managed to get my old card to 'run' by disabling it in the device manager in safemode, so i can at least use my PC properly (only one screen though, sadface)
if the cards are really that close to being in stores, i might stay away from getting a preplacement alltogether, and just ask around the office if anyone has an old card lying around which 'works'

[§partan 8]

I had my Nvidia for about two years. Then it just randomly stopped working. We'll see how long my ATI lasts.

[RedBaron]

I've used both nVidia and AMD and they both have pretty much the same settings. If you know how to read, UI is not a problem at all.

TBH, because I have used both, I would always go nVidia from now on. Always. Bad drivers IS an arguement. It was only just recently that AMD drivers started allowing individual game profiles based on game.exe's, whereas nVidia had this feature since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Also, the uninstall function of all AMD driver release packages are shot to hell. Installing new AMD drivers straight from the download would most likely result in a buggy install. I am forced to use Driver Sweeper everytime I update AMD drivers. I never had this problem with nVidia drivers, I could just take it on faith that nVidia was competent enough to uninstall their old software before installing the new.

I've had an issue with nVidia drivers only once, and that was years ago. I went to download the latest version package from nVidia.com the day of the release. Halfway through the installation, the install hangs, and an error pops up indicating that I downloaded the wrong version for my OS/hardware. I had made sure I manually selected all the correct options before installing, so that just didn't make any sense. I tried re-downloading from nVidia.com, and re-ran the install, and still no luck. I then tried downloading the same exact package from my manufacturer's website, and it installed just fine. nVidia had probably uploaded a corrupt file that time.

[Amit]

Bad drivers IS an arguement.

The drivers would have to be, you know, actually bad in order to classify them as bad drivers. Just because ATi drivers didn't provide with some feature that nVidia ones did does not make them bad. That's like saying nVidia GPUs are shit because they don't have EyeFinity. Why do you even need individual game profiles? I have the ability to use them, but I don't because there is no real need. And your uninstall problems are your problems. Just because your own Windows install is having problems, it doesn't mean everyone else is having these issues.

[Rook]

shit drivers?


If you live in the past maybe.

[Higuy]

I personally like Ati much more than Nvidia - I had a nvidia card for a while and once I had gotten a bigger monitor with a large resoultion, it crapped out. I've continually been moving up with Ati (got a 4850 after the nvidia card, now have a 5850) and haven't had ANY problems at all.

[PopeAK49]

I've had a Radeon x1950 pro about 6-7 years ago and it worked like a charm for me. Right now, I have a GTX 580 which exceeded my expectations. I like both because neither of those cards gave me trouble. Both brands to my opinion will give you what you want, but I guess the real question is: How long will it last? I'm guessing the hardware quality determine that.

[Rainbow Dash]

Been using ATI since 2007, had zero driver issues since then. Get an ATI card neuro you fuck.

[Cortexian]

It's not that the AMD drivers are bad anymore, it's that the nVidia driver software and interface is just better. It does everything (including triple-monitor support) AMD drivers do now and more from what I can tell. There are a few little trivial extras that AMD throws in that you can just as easily accomplish with third party driver extensions/add-ons for nVidia setups.

@People talking about nVidia drivers burning up cards: They offer replacements when that happens, and you usually end up eith a better card for it.

I've had more issues with AMD/ATi cards flopping on me than nVidia and that's why I prefer nVidia. I'm sure it's the same for everyone, IMO they're probably the same quality of actual hardware but there are bound to be lemons regardless.

[=sw=warlord]

The fact that the Cards have burned up at all is the problem, Not whether they replace them.

[Amit]

There's no sense getting into an argument about this since many factors will dictate how well and long a GPU will perform. The same goes for generally any other piece of hardware in your computer. If you don't take care of your computer and clean it out every 6 months or so, it won't matter which company you go with, your components will get fucked eventually.

I used to say fuck nVidia, but I've reversed my opinion on that about 2 years ago when they finally decided to make their pricing somewhat competitive with ATi. Both companies create great cards, but ATi will always make the one that produces less heat, less noise, draw less power and still provide excellent performance when compared to nVidia. If you don't care for anything except performance (provided you know the consequences on your PC) and can afford to blow your cash on an nVidia card, you're welcome to do so. I can't see why someone would fault you for that.

[=sw=warlord]

Nvidia = raw brute force
ATI = Longevity and excellent efficiency, latest series of cards when in connected cards, the second hard when idle keeps pretty much the entire card switched off with only one chip turned on.

[Cortexian]

Nvidia = raw brute force
ATI = Longevity and excellent efficiency, latest series of cards when in SLI Crossfire, the second hcard when idle keeps pretty much the entire card switched off with only one chip turned on.
And for the record I'm totally OK with nVidia burning up my cards and then sending me a new, better card, for free.

[=sw=warlord]

And for the record I'm totally OK with nVidia burning up my cards and then sending me a new, better card, for free.
If you're fine with waiting for a few weeks to get that sorted out then that's your prerogative but I'd rather not have to deal with that.

[Bodzilla]

i got a 6950

best card i've ever had to be quite honest with you.

[Donut]

Why do you even need individual game profiles? I have the ability to use them, but I don't because there is no real need.
id just like to mention that this is rather important. examples of my uses are texture filtering and AA in project 64, external forced vsync in deadspace 1 (because i think we all know how god-awful the built in one is), forcing things like AA, texture filtering, and vsync in old games that dont support them, and being able to use AA and bloom in oblivion, because for some strange reason they make you choose.

global options dont work so well for that because some programs (such as halo pc) have serious issues with forcing AA or other stuff.

[Warsaw]

Guys, he said he wants to stick with Nvidia if he can. He can. Argument over.

I'd definitely stick it out for Kepler. I would have, but I needed a new PC sooner rather than later and I do not regret my purchase (fucking two 7970s? Of course I don't). If for some reason your GTX 295 goes kaput for good and you have to buy a low-end card, I'd suggest getting something like the GT 520 to hold you over. It's a $50 USD card. The GT 430 is also a good option, but it's an $80 USD card and is pushing it for what is essentially a throw-away piece of hardware.

[MXC]

And for the record I'm totally OK with nVidia burning up my cards and then sending me a new, better card, for free.

The dead time of waiting for a new card, free or not, isn't worth it if you constantly working.

[Mr Buckshot]

check your PSU quality if you're going for a 400-series Fermi card. I bought a GTX460 once and had frequent low GPU usage issues with a lot of my games - in fact many were getting worse performance than the 8800GT I upgraded from.

later I found out too late that all I needed to do was buy a better PSU that could supply more current to the GTX460 and stop this issue. But by then I already sent back the card and bought a more expensive Radeon 6870 (that consumed less power and thus was able to avoid the low GPU usage problems). Not trying to knock Nvidia here, but it does seem more vulnerable to bottlenecking from other components at the moment. (I'm agnostic btw, can't give a damn about whether it's nvidia or ati, I just look at price whenever I decide to upgrade).

[Zeph]

If you live in the past maybe.

All in Wonder. ATI had supremacy up through about the X800 era. After that, they utterly shat up their drivers universally and took older versions offline.
Seriously, if there was an All in Wonder HD7900 released with lagless IO drivers I'd hop boat in a heartbeat.

[neuro]

check your PSU quality if you're going for a 400-series Fermi card. I bought a GTX460 once and had frequent low GPU usage issues with a lot of my games - in fact many were getting worse performance than the 8800GT I upgraded from.

later I found out too late that all I needed to do was buy a better PSU that could supply more current to the GTX460 and stop this issue. But by then I already sent back the card and bought a more expensive Radeon 6870 (that consumed less power and thus was able to avoid the low GPU usage problems). Not trying to knock Nvidia here, but it does seem more vulnerable to bottlenecking from other components at the moment. (I'm agnostic btw, can't give a damn about whether it's nvidia or ati, I just look at price whenever I decide to upgrade).

got an 800W psu, i really doubt power's going to be much of an issue really, especially next to a GTX295

[=sw=warlord]

got an 800W psu, i really doubt power's going to be much of an issue really, especially next to a GTX295
Wattage doesn't mean shit if the psu can't handle the load.
I have a 750W that died in under 24 hours and since then got a OCZ 650W and it runs my system far better because it can actually give the components the current they needs.
Check your specs on the PSU to make sure the current [A] is enough to meet your hardware requirements.

[Rook]

All in Wonder. ATI had supremacy up through about the X800 era. After that, they utterly shat up their drivers universally and took older versions offline.
Seriously, if there was an All in Wonder HD7900 released with lagless IO drivers I'd hop boat in a heartbeat.
Started using ati with x1600 actually. I think they've only improved since that card. It's just hard to believe there is a problem with ati drivers when I've never had a problem and every game runs flawlessly.

[Amit]

All in Wonder. ATI had supremacy up through about the X800 era. After that, they utterly shat up their drivers universally and took older versions offline.
Seriously, if there was an All in Wonder HD7900 released with lagless IO drivers I'd hop boat in a heartbeat.

They didn't take older versions offline. They simply made the X1000 series and below use legacy drivers. While I didn't agree with it because I still used a X1600 PRO at the time, it didn't bother me too much. The older cards would hardly benefit from driver improvements at that point. And their drivers have only gotten better since then.



Started using ati with x1600 actually. I think they've only improved since that card. It's just hard to believe there is a problem with ati drivers when I've never had a problem and every game runs flawlessly.

This.

[Zeph]

no, they took the old drivers completely off their servers. unless you had a copy stored as a backup, it was impossible for any AIW card owners to get rid of the VoD crap that added about two and a half seconds of latency to any video input to the card. I used my AIW to play Halo 2 over Live/LAN in my dorm. When ATI introduced the new drivers, they didn't say anything at all about the new latencies. I lost track of how much time I spent trying to get rid of the new driver and get ahold of the older version. They said the older drivers were incompatible with the VoD software and couldn't comprehend the idea of using outdated software.

There's a reason why AIW 9800/X800 users didn't buy the X1900 and why they didn't continue the line.

[Warsaw]

It's a shame, really, because the AIW cards were a fantastic idea. I'd rather not have to buy a separate TV Tuner, etc.

I guess now with monitors having multiple inputs and people using TVs as monitors, it isn't as big of a deal.

[Amit]

no, they took the old drivers completely off their servers. unless you had a copy stored as a backup, it was impossible for any AIW card owners to get rid of the VoD crap that added about two and a half seconds of latency to any video input to the card. I used my AIW to play Halo 2 over Live/LAN in my dorm. When ATI introduced the new drivers, they didn't say anything at all about the new latencies. I lost track of how much time I spent trying to get rid of the new driver and get ahold of the older version. They said the older drivers were incompatible with the VoD software and couldn't comprehend the idea of using outdated software.

There's a reason why AIW 9800/X800 users didn't buy the X1900 and why they didn't continue the line.

I can understand why that would upset you, but that has nothing to do with how the GPUs run now.

[Cortexian]

The dead time of waiting for a new card, free or not, isn't worth it if you constantly working.
I'll always have dual-GPU's on my system so either way is not a problem. The chance that both conk out completely at the same time is unlikely.


no, they took the old drivers completely off their servers. unless you had a copy stored as a backup, it was impossible for any AIW card owners to get rid of the VoD crap that added about two and a half seconds of latency to any video input to the card. I used my AIW to play Halo 2 over Live/LAN in my dorm. When ATI introduced the new drivers, they didn't say anything at all about the new latencies. I lost track of how much time I spent trying to get rid of the new driver and get ahold of the older version. They said the older drivers were incompatible with the VoD software and couldn't comprehend the idea of using outdated software.

There's a reason why AIW 9800/X800 users didn't buy the X1900 and why they didn't continue the line.
I was so sad when this happened, I couldn't find the older drivers for the longest time and when I did I found out that uninstalling the newer ones to install the older ones destroyed the card somehow. The TV Tuner functionality completely stopped working and I was left with a regular old X800.

[Zeph]

I can understand why that would upset you, but that has nothing to do with how the GPUs run now.

except the whole "AMD has never completely rewritten their drivers again" part, you're right.

[Amit]

:lmao::

http://i.imgur.com/U4bS4.jpg

[Rainbow Dash]

LOL