ATI graphic card

[ene.xis]

i m looking for a replacement for mine asus x1950pro, does any one have a clue wich is ati´s bang for the buck?

i ve never liked asus drivers and software.
This card driver is giving me way to much problems so i want to replace for something else then asus...

thanx!

[Codi]

I have an asus ax1650pro and agree, asus cards s**k big time. Can't install official Catalyst drivers on it !!!

If you don't have PCI-E slot maybe this thread will help you.

[ene.xis]

thanx codi!
i m looking for a pci-e card, i almost never play any game so i am looking for stability and max viewport performance. But i am getting, as always, a little confuse with so many numbers and specifications...

nontheless i am curently looking at an Club 3D HD3870:
http://www.club3d.nl/index.php/news/products/item/101

i m also trying to figure out if the x2 solutions (dual gpu) are of any use for 3dsmax?

[Clifton Santiago]

I have the ATI FireGL V7350 (1 GB). I've been an Nvidia loyalist for years, but the price was so right I couldn't pass it up. It was only a bit more expensive than the fastest GeForce and half the price of the Quadro 4500.

In Max 8 it didn't seem much faster than my old Quadro 4500 (512MB), but when I went to 2008, it became much faster. I opened an old, large file the other day, that had significant delay/drag refresh time on the old Quadro, and it had virtually none with the FireGL. I assume its because of the DirectX optimizations in 2008.

I am so sold on this card that now I wish I had the 2GB version.

BTW, it is also the fastest gaming card I've ever used: 1600x1200 with all the highest lighting and AA settings in HL2 @ 90 FPS.

[ene.xis]

thanx clifton, but i don t think i am into "professional" series either...
i am always disapointed with those graphics performance/cost ratio when compared to gamming cards!

i d rather pimp me up with more ram then spending some extra € on firegl or quadro cards...imo

[Clifton Santiago]

I think that logic certainly applies to the Quadro vs. GeForce argument. I have a Quadro 4500 and a GeForce 7900 (I think) both at 512K, and most of the time I'm convinced the GeForce is faster.

I'm not so sure about the FireGL vs Radeon though. I assume the FireGL is way faster than any Radeon. I guess I should try to test out a Radeon...

Speaking of pimping out RAM, I discovered that with Vray 1.511 and Max 2008 x64, 8Gb is not enough for a decent LC flythrough... I upgraded to 16 Gb, and got it up to 12 Gb last weekend

[ene.xis]

well, i am just saying this because after many years of nvidia cards i ve switched over to an raedeon ati. I was so stunned by its high preformance and low cost that for my new work workstation i demanded an fire gl, and although i feel less disapointed i ve come to the conclusion that it s just not worth it!

[Clifton Santiago]

Oh, I always assumed Radeon cards were too cheap to be any good... Like I said, I need to test one out. Too bad I just built a gaming platform at home with a GeForce 8800...