Am I Stupid???

[TankDawg]

I am upgrading my video card. I am limiting my search to nvidia cards simply because of the fog issue with CMBB.

Yet, I probably play 1 fog scenario a year if that. I play about 6 other games that would be fine on a Radeon card. In addition, I am reading that Microsoft chose ATI over Nvidia for Xbox 2 and that Nvidia may not even be around in years to come.

Should i stick with nvidia? Should i say 'the hell with fog?" I am stupid?

:confused:

[Schrullenhaft]

What Microsoft chooses for XBox should have little bearing on your decisions. Those are business decisions that don't necessarily relate to technological superiority, etc. Microsoft has to consider price and a host of other issues when deciding on an OEM graphics subsystem for the XBox. The biggest effect this has on the market is that ATI is getting more money and contracts, while NVidia isn't (and the Microsoft XBox contract may not really be a great profit generator for the winner either).

Right now ATI and its latest Radeons are the hot thing in the video market. However that may change in a year and NVidia may become dominant (or possibly someone else). One advantage that NVidia has is that they aren't a fab - therefore they have less expenses to stay in operation. It just takes a hot design, some good quality prototypes and NVidia may be quite popular again with manufacturers, etc.

Neither company is immune to bad drivers, bad support or dropping out of favor with the gaming public for a time. ATI's Radeons probably offer the best 'bang-for-the-buck' with their high performance and good image quality. NVidia fumbled the ball quite badly with their FX series, whose initial performance didn't quite match expectations or pricing.

For now, if you want fog, then NVidia may be your best choice (though there are other cards out there that do fog). CMBO, CMBB and CMAK will all use fog-tables to generate fog and that means you will probably never see it on a Radeon/ATI card (under DirectX). CMX2 might incorporate other methods of generating fog effects, but BTS/BFC are at least a year and a half away (if not more) from releasing a product based on that new engine.

[easytarget]

i recently purchased the nvidia 5900 and like it quite a bit

but i was seriously considering the ati 9800 as well

from a performance stand point both are very close

i'd suggest going with the one you feel gives you the best bang for the buck

i measure bang for the buck based on who makes the card (they are not all the same), what software comes with it, and peformance/cost

in the end i went with nvidia because i also happen to like the image quality better (this is definitely personal taste) and their drivers in the past have been updated more often than ati's

oh, and because i'm also an fps fanatic, i went with the card, that from what i've read thus far, is going to be optimized for doom3

since the ati 9800 is going to be optimized and even bundled with half life 2, someone keenly interested in playing that as well might seriously consider going with the 9800

[ September 06, 2003, 12:09 AM: Message edited by: easytarget ]