ATI vs Nvidia, new gfx cards...

[Aristotle]

Originally posted by Zyth
This is the case with Nvidia as well. Many Nvidia users swear by the Starstorm Detonator drivers over Nvidia's, citing massive increases in speed.

I don't think that compares to the fact that it is WIDELY known that third party hobbyists release the best and most functional ATI drivers. I've never even heard of "Starstorm Detonator" drivers and I follow this stuff pretty seriously.

The point is that NVIDIA's official drivers rock. If some third party hobbyists push things to the bleeding edge that's one thing.

If the third party hobbyists are NEEDED just to make the cards WORK for many people, that's inexcuseable.

There is no comparison between hardcore tweakers who suck every last frame per second from a card and third parties making drivers just to make the card WORK.

Speaking of which, I like to tweak so I'm going to look into those Starstorm drivers. Thanks for mentioning them.

I really wish ATI would see NVIDIA's awesome driver support strategy and copy it. If they could just do that, they'd have me as a customer in a heart beat.

In fact, if ATI was the same price, same speed, and same driver support, I'd switch to them just to help keep the underdog healthy. Competition is GOOD, but I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot and risk the functionality of my computer just to help the marketplace.

[Zyth]

Speaking of competition, there's a new provider on the way with a corporate aim to be #1 by 2007. Wouldn't go near them for the first couple of years, but if they succeed then we're in for a treat.

The name is XGI, link here

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031107/

[Aristotle]

That's great. The more the merrier.

More competition in the graphics card market equals better products for lower prices.

Matrox sure doesn't seem to have what it takes to be a legitimate player so its good to see someone else giving it a shot.