ATI v. Nvidia - which graphics card for Trainz?
- Thread starter Paulsw2
- Start date
johnwhelan
Well-known member
The trade off is Tomshardware puts the ATI cards as the best price performance at the moment.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2464.html
However Auran make use of the "free" programming assistance from nVidia so are biased in that direction. If you think that Auran are basically using "standard" DirectX and you feel that ATI drivers are reasonably mature then ATI makes sense if not then nVidia.
Personally I'd be tempted by a 40 nm nVidia card if one was available.
Cheerio John
FootplatePhil
Trainz Tragic since 2002
I see lots of "barracking" for both camps (reminds me of the Aussie Ford vs. Holden debates), but over the years I've tried mid-range cards from both with Trainz, and I am not able to give either one the nod over the other. My last card was a Nvidea 7600GT. On my current machine the card is an ATI 4670. I agree with previous post re jumping horses. If you currently have one type installed, best stay with that type, unless you are prepared to rebuild to clean OS image.
I have noticed Nvidea works better with OpenGL, ATI works better with DirectX. My (subjective !) observation has been that ATI/DirectX combos have given me better Trainz frame rates than I expected, and thus cope better with heavily scenicked areas. But while Nvidea/OpenGL seems slower, they also seem smoother overall.
Bottom line, since you have Nvidea, stick with it unless you are buying a new machine.
Phil
I have noticed Nvidea works better with OpenGL, ATI works better with DirectX. My (subjective !) observation has been that ATI/DirectX combos have given me better Trainz frame rates than I expected, and thus cope better with heavily scenicked areas. But while Nvidea/OpenGL seems slower, they also seem smoother overall.
Bottom line, since you have Nvidea, stick with it unless you are buying a new machine.
Phil
From my experience I have always gone with nVidia cards, this is what I have at the moment...
windows XP professional with service pack 3
pci-e gforce 7300gt 256mb vga, dvi, tv-out
My forum friends say that it would be best to upgrade to Windows 7 and to also get a slightly better graphics card, as the one I have produces a silver land, you can see what I'm experiencing in the screenshots forum, under why I deleted Trainz 2009...
As for Windows 7, I believe this is the best way forward, and as for the nVidia graphics card, I've found that Direct X works best with the gforce 7300gt, as I get flickering lights in windows of buildings of a night with open GL.
The above may change when I upgrade my graphics card,
I'm considering getting the PCI-e GeForce 9500GT 1Gb DDR2 1xDVI, if anyone has this card, please let me know if you experience silver land, if not then this will be the card I will go for...
Many thanks
Joe Airtime
windows XP professional with service pack 3
pci-e gforce 7300gt 256mb vga, dvi, tv-out
My forum friends say that it would be best to upgrade to Windows 7 and to also get a slightly better graphics card, as the one I have produces a silver land, you can see what I'm experiencing in the screenshots forum, under why I deleted Trainz 2009...
As for Windows 7, I believe this is the best way forward, and as for the nVidia graphics card, I've found that Direct X works best with the gforce 7300gt, as I get flickering lights in windows of buildings of a night with open GL.
The above may change when I upgrade my graphics card,
I'm considering getting the PCI-e GeForce 9500GT 1Gb DDR2 1xDVI, if anyone has this card, please let me know if you experience silver land, if not then this will be the card I will go for...
Many thanks
Joe Airtime
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Which one?
Hi all - I go with Phil (footplate) on this one. I use Nvidia and I downloaded the Nvidia tools control panel and the core optimizer. The tools panel lets you select the best options for trainz and the core optimizer spreads the trainz load evenly across the CPU. I run with open GL and my route is complex and large. It runs very well and smoothly without crashing.
At the end of the day you pays yer money and makes yer choice.
Good luck with your choice!
Regards Doug
Hi all - I go with Phil (footplate) on this one. I use Nvidia and I downloaded the Nvidia tools control panel and the core optimizer. The tools panel lets you select the best options for trainz and the core optimizer spreads the trainz load evenly across the CPU. I run with open GL and my route is complex and large. It runs very well and smoothly without crashing.
At the end of the day you pays yer money and makes yer choice.
Good luck with your choice!
Regards Doug
Many thanks for responses. This is a tough choice!
No question that 'out there' ATI is seen to have the head over Nvidia at the moment. But Trainz does seem to be a more Nvidia-friendly application. I actually started Trainz with an old ATI 128MB card and experienced the dreaded 'flat water' phenomenon in TRS06. I'd never seen a ripple until I got my 7900GT card! :hehe:
A question I didn't ask - I know that all current versions of Trainz don't take advantage of SLI/Xfire 2-card setups. I assume this remains the position with TS2010?
Paul (wondering what to do for his £1500)
No question that 'out there' ATI is seen to have the head over Nvidia at the moment. But Trainz does seem to be a more Nvidia-friendly application. I actually started Trainz with an old ATI 128MB card and experienced the dreaded 'flat water' phenomenon in TRS06. I'd never seen a ripple until I got my 7900GT card! :hehe:
A question I didn't ask - I know that all current versions of Trainz don't take advantage of SLI/Xfire 2-card setups. I assume this remains the position with TS2010?
Is this the GT3xx series? Though I hear the HD 5xxx series has still got Nvidia beat.
Paul (wondering what to do for his £1500)
Core optimizer
Hi All - I have had a few emails and Pm's about the optimizer and I should have stated at the time of my last post that this is for AMD CPU's. There may be other versions for Intel etc but I have no idea if they exist. If you want to use the core optimizer then simply typing "Core Optimzer" into Google, for example, will take you there. There are all the details and specs plus a download button. It is on the AMD site but it does come with the standard "get out" that they will not be responsible etc... Works for me anyway and I can recomend it. Not sure if it will work on over-clocked machines though.
Doug
Hi All - I have had a few emails and Pm's about the optimizer and I should have stated at the time of my last post that this is for AMD CPU's. There may be other versions for Intel etc but I have no idea if they exist. If you want to use the core optimizer then simply typing "Core Optimzer" into Google, for example, will take you there. There are all the details and specs plus a download button. It is on the AMD site but it does come with the standard "get out" that they will not be responsible etc... Works for me anyway and I can recomend it. Not sure if it will work on over-clocked machines though.
Doug
go with a 4890, now that they're cheap... and, i'm getting 100FPS plus on a typical route with mine, and, with good draw distances and textures. the ATI are really such a very good deal now -- but, i haven't used an Nvidia in 5 years and a lot of the use of a very high end Nvidia is to play Crysis and other role games. A lot of what we do in trainz needs CPU to do the math, and when i overclocked my Intel to 3.9, up from 3.6 -- on a 2.8 Q9550 quad core -- i gained around 30FPS on the harlem line. Things run smoother too, and the trees are fully fledged now.
