Nvidia or ATI

Hello folks,

I'm building my new system now and I'd like to make a decision on which video card I want to use! I'm going to be running an Core 2 Duo 3.4 Ghz cpu with 2 or 4 gigs of RAM. I'm going to get a 512mb video card, but I'm lost from there... I want to be able to take full advantage of Trainz 2009, but NO, I'm not prepared to spend $400 on a graphics card. I'd say my budget is about $150.

Now for the real question: ATI or Nvidia. From what I'm reading, Trainz seems to like Nvidia better, but I'm also reading video card reviews and I'm seeing similar performance rates out of ATI cards, but they're 20% cheaper! So which one should I grab within my budget? This system is being built solely for Trainz 2009 and my CAD program... so I'd like a card that will work the best with Trainz!!

Or... does it even really matter? lol

Cheers, Brent

Go for Nvidia. Most developers and gamers use this.

Anyway, good luck!

Jan

Personally I tend to sway near ATI. Nvidia may be a heavy developer and thus games tend to run a bit better on their hardware, but since DX10 rolled out (and the 8xxx series) nVidia hasn't had a solid set of drivers since.

ATI on the other hand(with it's ties with AMD) has been developing very powerful cards (matching and sometimes exceeding) their nVidia counterparts. Their drivers while sometimes rough upon release also have gotten much better (the 9.1 drivers seem rock solid so far).

Honestly, it's up to you. But because you're on a budget I'd say go with ATI they're cheaper and perform just as well (I'm running an ATI HD4780 512MB and nothing slows it down). On a side note, you're also looking into running CAD applications?

Without getting into the nVidia Quadro/ATI Fire GL series (both of which DO NOT run games well) ATI again has a slight upper hand. Like Intel vs AMD, nVidia vs ATI has a slight trade off, nVidia is better for playing a game (very little difference usually) ATI however still excels in 3D rendering for CAD applications.

Well I do a little bit of CAD work for engineering/drafting, but this computer is built specifically to run Trainz, lol. So is nvidia a better performer with Trainz?

I have a 512mb Radeon card on my laptop, and a 8800GTS 320mb Nvidia card on my desktop, yet both give more than ample performance in TRS2004/2006/TC1-3/2009, so I think it's more of getting something *you* like, at a price that you can afford, and getting as much 'bang for your buck' as you can, with regards to performance and video memory.

Muliebuck said:

I have a 512mb Radeon card on my laptop, and a 8800GTS 320mb Nvidia card on my desktop, yet both give more than ample performance in TRS2004/2006/TC1-3/2009, so I think it's more of getting something *you* like, at a price that you can afford, and getting as much 'bang for your buck' as you can, with regards to performance and video memory.

Click to expand...

I agree with Muliebuck. Over my trainzing years I have had a variety of cards from both Nvidia and ATI. Yet I am not able to nominate one over the other for Trainz. But I would say - beware of barracking. Look at bang per buck.
Phil

A good place to look for comparing graphics cards is Tom's Hardware - try this link

Napalm

Within $150, I would reccomend either an ATI Radeon HD 4850 or a nVidia GeForce 9800GTX+ (watch the name, make sure you get the "+" in the card name). Both cards perform about the same and come with 512 MB of memory (1 GB versions cost $20-$50 more).

I personally prefer ATI, but that's because I have a 4850 and it has performed flawlessly for me in Trainz and many of the other games I play.

tomshardware would say the most cost effective pc for games is spending $500 on the video card and cutting back on the cpu.

nVidia 295 is probably the one to go for at the moment, otherwise ATI cards use a smaller die size which means lower heat, less electricity etc.

Have a look here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2118-7.html

www.newegg.ca have a ATI 4670 1 gig of memory for $151.47 which would seem to be a reasonable card about your price.

I suspect Trainz can make use of the extra memory.

Cheerio John

After a lot of research on video card performance I settled on the Nvida GeForce GTX 260 with 896 MB memory. I got it for $220 at Newegg.com.
I running it with an Intel core 2 Duo with 2 GB of memory. I am very happy with the performance. I haven't seen any FPS below 50 on any route. I also have a Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R motherboard. I installed Win XP Pro SP3 as my OS and had some conflict with the MB. I downgraded to Win XP SP2 and everything is working great. Hope this helps.

Earl

When you can manage it, get another 2gb memory, it's cheap and your computer loves it.

speaking from experience, i used nvidia, went to ati, then back now to nvidia. why? run better and more user friendly. both cards have there pros and cons, so i'll just tell you what made me come back to nvidia. cost, installation of drivers, and wasn't happy with ati. cost=enough said really. installation of drives=had trouble with ati drivers (radeon 9550, then x1650pro),both were incredibly hard to install and always required some special trick. they were great when they worked, but the average user would probably get tired of this. anyway, choose what card fits your purpose, both are great cards, i just prefer nvidia.

I won't buy an ATI card. When I was building my Asus system 4 yrs ago, I originally purchased an Asus PCI Express card that had the ATI chip. It would not work with my Viewsonic flat screen monitor in digital mode.
I didn't get any help from ATI, or Asus, so I returned the card (paid a restocking fee) and bought the Nvidia 6800 (which is of course now way outdated).
I love the Nvidia system. They are very supportive with drivers and the card is most compatible I have seen.

If you are buying now, there are new drivers just released in Jan. You will need to get the latest drivers, instead of installing from the CD/DVD that comes with your card, since I doubt the latest drivers will be in the box.

If you're a heavy gamer, you might consider water cooling. It really helps if you are going to overclock the video and cpu.

FW

Okay, so I have a few more technical questions I suppose. What exactly should I be looking for in a graphics card? I have read somewhere... but is it advantageous to have a 1GB graphics card over a 512mb card? Will trains be able to make use of the extra mb on the card, or is it a waste of money? It seems on average to only be about $20 for a 1GB card so I'm wondering if it's worth it to put one in there...

Thanks, Brent

Rougespear7mm said:

Okay, so I have a few more technical questions I suppose. What exactly should I be looking for in a graphics card? I have read somewhere... but is it advantageous to have a 1GB graphics card over a 512mb card? Will trains be able to make use of the extra mb on the card, or is it a waste of money? It seems on average to only be about $20 for a 1GB card so I'm wondering if it's worth it to put one in there...

Thanks, Brent

Click to expand...

Trainz is open ended so yes some one some where will create a route that runs best with a 1 gig graphic card.

Cheerio John

I would say Nvidia is certainly better than AMD / ATI when it comes to budget and mid-range graphics card. Also driver and game supports for Nvidia cards are much better. You can check the comparison at https://graphicscardhub.com/amd-vs-nvidia/

Akshat1984 always check the date of the last post before posting. This thread is NINE years old and not only dead but out of date. Also I recommend you register your version of Trainz.