ATI VS Nvidia for Black Shark

[AlphaInfinity]

Hi all,

 

I am building a corei7 box and I am hung up on the video card choices. I will be running the game at 1680X1050(max res on my widescreen monitor) and I am wondering if this game runs better on ATI hardware or Nvidia hardware. I will be purchasing either a single 4850 or a 9800GTX. I probably won't be running SLI because the benchmarks I have seen show that SLI actually causes a performance hit unless you get into the higher resolutions that my monitor doesn't support. From what I understand, Black Shark is more of a CPU hog anyways so I'll be overclocking the CPU a little bit.

 

Core I7 920

Asus P6T mobo

3 gigs of Ram (3X1)(ill upgrade this later this ram prices drop)

Western Digital Black 500 gig 32mb cache

Rosewill 850w power supply

Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

video card?????

 

Opinions? I keep hearing on other sites about ATI having driver issues but that is on the 4870 cards, not on the 4850 cards.

Edited December 9, 2008 by AlphaInfinity

[Prophet]

I have no issues with my 4870 on Vista 64.

 

From what I hear it is also providing better results in BS/LOMAC than the 260/280.

[cucu666]

My Nvidia GTX260 (you can see my PC below) works fine, 65-78 FPS, 1280x1024 of resolution.

But you have all of this beast with other type of games, Call of Duty4.

To get the FPS, look at this thread

[Bucic]

Lock On specific ATI advantages:

• less or no problem with shadows shimering
  
• better shadows edges quality
  
• no problem with black coastlines
  

 

If noone will impair these then you have it.

[Talon]

Blackshark runs fantastic on my Nvidia GTX280 OC !! I couldn't be happier. I also have another good-system that has an ATI motherboard, and I have an ATI HD 3870 but I don't get quite as many frames, but it still runs very nicely on that system as well... just not as nice as on the Nvidia GTX280 system.

[PoleCat]

Yes the GTX-260 core 216 kicks it. Upgraded from 8800GTS 640 to these. Never seen a black coastline with any card ATI or Nvidia. I accept that there are definite shimmering/shadowing issues with the Nvidia drivers in FC and Black Shark though every other sim/game I run looks absolutely flawless and smooth. I just can not bring myself to go back to ATI. I have always disliked the drivers and interface. I know the newer cards and drivers are supposed to be much better. When deciding on a cards for my upgrades I had read on Tom's Hardware the current top of line ATI cards had fan controller/heat issues. That is one reason I stuck with Nvidia hardware. Maybe that is no longer the case but I am confident most would be very happy with the GTX cards. Very solid choice.

 

Out

[AlphaInfinity]

Yes the GTX-260 core 216 kicks it. Upgraded from 8800GTS 640 to these. Never seen a black coastline with any card ATI or Nvidia. I accept that there are definite shimmering/shadowing issues with the Nvidia drivers in FC and Black Shark though every other sim/game I run looks absolutely flawless and smooth. I just can not bring myself to go back to ATI. I have always disliked the drivers and interface. I know the newer cards and drivers are supposed to be much better. When deciding on a cards for my upgrades I had read on Tom's Hardware the current top of line ATI cards had fan controller/heat issues. That is one reason I stuck with Nvidia hardware. Maybe that is no longer the case but I am confident most would be very happy with the GTX cards. Very solid choice.

 

Out

 

 

Hi Polecat, the fan issues are still there on the ATI cards. I read the reviews on newegg.com and there is apparently some kind of third party utility that you need to use to jump up the fan speed. The ATI drivers currently have the default setting of 20% on the fan speed. This utility kicks it up to 50%. Other than the fan speed problem, are any of the ATI folks out there running on the 4850 or 4870 having any issues?

[JG27_Arklight]

I would go with a Nvidia card. ATI puts out a good product, but they still are not quite as good driver wise. Some folks have no issues, other folks have nothing but issues. It works both ways though, I'm sure Nvidia users also have their ow horror stories.....they just seem, in my searches, less prevelant than those of ATI.

 

You have an i7 system like me, so also keep in mind that the i7 needs a fast videocard or it will end up being bottlenecked (some even say that the Core i7 needs SLI or better to perform at it's fullest). It is an extremely fast processor and scales VERY well with a higher end GPU in single or SLI solution.

 

If you only play LOMAC/BS then ATI might be an ok choice, however, I don't know of many folks that ONLY play one game. With a Nvidia solution you will get a solid performing card at a good pricepoint (prices are droppig quite nicely!) that is stable and can run most games at 1920x1200 without issue. Crysis is the only game that seems to somewhat beat up on current hardware, which I don't undertstand since Crysis doesn't look all that good, IMO.

 

The GTX 260 is an excellent card that will run you in the low $200 range (depending on model) and can handle many applications at 1920x1200 with 4xFSAA and 16xAF. Also, because they are so cheap SLI might be a option for you. The GTX 280 is also dropping in price ad may also present a good solution for you, not to mention providing that extra "oomph".

 

The Current ATI 4870X2 is very fast but also comes in at a $500+ pricepoint (for the Visiontek, which is the only one I would buy since they have a lifetime warranty). Also, the dual GPU setup seems to cause some issues with some games, hence the reason ATI has been known in recent times to release hotfixes. The 4870X2 heat issues can be solved by downloading that ATI tool that adjusts fanspeed (I think the fan defaults to 25% fanspeed or thereabouts, that's why there are heat issues), this pretty much alleviates the heating problem from what I have heard.

 

It really comes down to:

 

1. What resolution do you play at?

2. What are your FSAA and AF desires (though AF seems to be quite "free" nowadays with modern videocards)?

3. What games do you play?

4. How much do you want to spend?

 

We all place different emphasis on "value", so the above can be organized to suit your budget/needs (needs being a relative term :D).

 

Hope this helps.

Edited December 10, 2008 by JG27_Arklight

[AlphaInfinity]

Thanks for the detailed response Ark! I will be playing at 1680X1050 because I have a widescreen monitor.

 

The Asus P6t supports crossfire and the Nvidia SLI options. I have read though that SLI doesn't really help all that much in any game until you get into the higher resolutions. The Dell 22inch monitor that I currently use has the max resolution I mentioned above so I will probably be going with a single card.

 

What type of framerates are you seeing with the 8800? At 1680X1050 I want to have the highest detail possible with the exception of maybe water.

[JG27_Arklight]

Thanks for the detailed response Ark! I will be playing at 1680X1050 because I have a widescreen monitor.

 

The Asus P6t supports crossfire and the Nvidia SLI options. I have read though that SLI doesn't really help all that much in any game until you get into the higher resolutions. The Dell 22inch monitor that I currently use has the max resolution I mentioned above so I will probably be going with a single card.

 

What type of framerates are you seeing with the 8800? At 1680X1050 I want to have the highest detail possible with the exception of maybe water.

 

 

Np! :)

 

I get up too 85 fps. With a lot of action it dips down to about 35 - 50 fps. My videocard is really bottlenecking my system and it will only get worse when I try and OC to 3.8 ghz. My refresh rate is set to 85hz and I always have v-sync on so my FPS is pegged at 85 quite often.

 

I run at 1600x1200x32 with 4xFSAA and 16xAF. All settings "Max" except water at "Normal" and view distance set to "Medium".

 

Since you are going to be running at 1680x1050, the 4870X2 and possibly even the GTX 280 would more than likely be a waste for you since they really start to shine at 1920x1200 and above. If you envision yourself moving to a 24' inch LCD then a GTX 280 or 4870X2 might serve you well. On the other hand, having a blazing fast videocard wouldn't really hurt you at a lower resolution and it would be there for you if you decide to move up down the road.

 

These are my "Top Choices" for current generation videocard offerings:

 

ATI

1. Visiontek 4870X2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129114

 

2. ASUS 4870 1GB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121291

 

Nvidia

1. EVGA GTX 280 SSC

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130368

 

2. EVGA GTX 260 Core 216

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130400

 

You can wait for the new GTX 295 which is essentially two GTX 260's on one card, but I have a feeling the cost will be astronomical (I would guess in the $600+ range per card at launch in January/February).

 

It really comes down to budget, expectations, and product stability. The GTX 260 series is currently at an excellent price point, the performance is solid, they are relatively cheap (comparatively speaking), and from what I have heard pretty darn stable. My only concern would be how much of a jump in performance you would see over your current card. I have never had one of your cards so it would be difficult for me to guage the performance vs what I read and talk to people about. You can find GTX 280's at Newegg for about $350 - $375 after rebate which is pretty nice when you consider the Visiontek 4870X2 I linked above comes in at $529.

 

I like the performance of the 4870X2, but I appreciate the stability and driver maturity of GTX series.

Edited December 11, 2008 by JG27_Arklight

[Tango]

nVidia all the way! Nothing but trouble with any of the ATI cards I had. Drivers are rubbish, too.

 

Best regards,

Tango.