Nvidia VS ATI

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I have made this a sticky for now, but I will probably end up having to close it.

Nvidia is far better than ATI in OpenGL, and it includes Shader Model 3 which is both the brick and mortar of future DX9 games. I really suggest waiting for the next cards, but if you do buy this generation, in no way should you get anything but a 6600 GT or 6800 GT.

ATI has the edge in DX8.1, but the days of pure DX8.1 games are limited.
 
Well i'd like to say before its closed, i like to read the history of companys before i buy any of their products most times, but this is an exception because although i have my A+ certificate, i dont really know a whole lot about the specifics of GPU's and other random parts of the computer. Anyway, i'd like to note that the story behind ATI is a pretty good one, and the founder came from a family of poverty and despair, and against all odds he went to college, got a degree, came to america, and founded one of the best graphics card manufacturers in the market. Enough of the history though for now, i have my sights set on a 6600GT for 150 dollars, and i was wondering if there are any better buys. For instance - some of the midrange cards from ATI come with locked pipes, and you can overclock them + unlock the pipes via either hardware or software modifications to make them as good as or even better than the step up in the price range. Any information would be highly appreciated regarding bang-for-buck, and especially any information about mid-range or even high-range modifications to unlock that extra little pizzaz from these video accelerators.
 
Don't get a lesser card and try to unlock pipes. Sometimes it will work but sometimes it won't. The pipes may be very well be damaged.
Just get an X800 XL. It's like the X800 pro but with all pipes unlocked for a total of 16. Costs about $275 for a decent one or $305 for the sapphire one with the massive Zalman cooler for overclocking.
 
Part of the reason i asked for some info on lesser cards to unlock pipes is because its fun tinkering with things. Like i saw a video of a duron 800(or900?) blowing up when force fed some volts and boosted up a few hundred megahertz, but after much experimentation i found it to be completely bogus. I'd like to have some fun soldering around or even tweaking some settings to try and unlock some features of a lesser card, and if anyone has any information it would be greatly appreciated.
 
dale5605 said:
Just get an X800 XL. It's like the X800 pro but with all pipes unlocked for a total of 16. Costs about $275 for a decent one or $305 for the sapphire one with the massive Zalman cooler for overclocking.

I would NOT recommend getting an X800XL, for the same reason I would not recommend getting an X800Pro or even an X800XT PE. I highly recommend purchasing an nVidia 6600GT. The 6600GT has SM3, which the X800XL does not. With the X800XL you will get a few more frames per second, but the game will not look as rich as with the 6600GT. The 6600GT is far more futureproof and is cheaper as well.
 
Yeah, Shader Model 3 is the brick and mortar of future games. Yeah, the X800XL may pwn America's Army, but will it with "HL2 - The Lost Coast", or "STALKER." I don't think so! Most future games are going to be very SM3.0 dependent, so get a 6600 GT or 6800 GT. If you want an ATI, wait for the X900XT.
 
So what exactly is the main difference between the 6600 and the 6600GT (besides 50 bucks). I have read up on the details and i've decided the 6600's are just right for me, and for 50 extra bucks i'd expect at least 10 frames per second.
 
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