xzotic
10-28-2009, 06:40 PM
There are a few threads here that already explain that Nvidia is the way to go for vp and FP, however I thought I'd share my amazment since converting to the "dark side" of Nvidia.
For the last year I have wrestled with the ATI 4870 card trying to get some configuration to work with vp to avoid the graphical glitches it causes and be able to turn hardware rendering on. Nothing worked and so I was left with graphics corruption on nearly every table and hardware rendering off (Which led to massive slow downs in many tables including the beautiful TOTAN at night table making it unplayable).
The final straw was buying NFS Shift which is an awesome game especially in the dynamic incar view but suffers with a 20 frames per second performance and less on an ATI card (running with a intel Quad core 3.2GHZ with 4 gig of RAM). I read around the forums and it seems that again ATI is poorly supported and more specifically the problem is more than likely related to Nividia's Physx which is supported in the game but not by ATI.
Enough was enough and so I went out and purchased a Nvidia GTX 295. I know the 300 series is around the corner but I got a great deal on a 295 and for all other purposes the reviews are very good.
All I can say is WOW. I can't believe I stuck with my crippled unsupported ATI4870 for so long. The GTX 295 just toasts it on everything. NFS Shift plays gloriously now but the real winner was vp. I can't believe how gorgous the tables really look when rendered properly. With maximum quality settings and hardware rending on I am getting 100% perfect framerates even for TOTAN at night.
It's a complete new experience which has allowed me to enjoy all these tables all over again with so much more enthusiasm and awe at what the authors have managed to achieve.
I know know why people with Nvidia cards pretty much ignored ATI owners and didn't believe on many occassions that there were any problems. Well I can tell you first hand that the difference is chalk and cheese and with everything else (CPU, RAM etc) staying the same it is the biggest single upgrade difference I have made in a loooong time.
I feel sorry for anyone who is still battling with an ATI card and its not right that I should have to invest in Nvidia just to get core software to work. But for now I don't care - I'm just lovin pinball again.
If you do have an ATI card though - throw it in the bin or chuck it against the wall, whatever you do don't waste your life trying to get it to work. :top:
For the last year I have wrestled with the ATI 4870 card trying to get some configuration to work with vp to avoid the graphical glitches it causes and be able to turn hardware rendering on. Nothing worked and so I was left with graphics corruption on nearly every table and hardware rendering off (Which led to massive slow downs in many tables including the beautiful TOTAN at night table making it unplayable).
The final straw was buying NFS Shift which is an awesome game especially in the dynamic incar view but suffers with a 20 frames per second performance and less on an ATI card (running with a intel Quad core 3.2GHZ with 4 gig of RAM). I read around the forums and it seems that again ATI is poorly supported and more specifically the problem is more than likely related to Nividia's Physx which is supported in the game but not by ATI.
Enough was enough and so I went out and purchased a Nvidia GTX 295. I know the 300 series is around the corner but I got a great deal on a 295 and for all other purposes the reviews are very good.
All I can say is WOW. I can't believe I stuck with my crippled unsupported ATI4870 for so long. The GTX 295 just toasts it on everything. NFS Shift plays gloriously now but the real winner was vp. I can't believe how gorgous the tables really look when rendered properly. With maximum quality settings and hardware rending on I am getting 100% perfect framerates even for TOTAN at night.
It's a complete new experience which has allowed me to enjoy all these tables all over again with so much more enthusiasm and awe at what the authors have managed to achieve.
I know know why people with Nvidia cards pretty much ignored ATI owners and didn't believe on many occassions that there were any problems. Well I can tell you first hand that the difference is chalk and cheese and with everything else (CPU, RAM etc) staying the same it is the biggest single upgrade difference I have made in a loooong time.
I feel sorry for anyone who is still battling with an ATI card and its not right that I should have to invest in Nvidia just to get core software to work. But for now I don't care - I'm just lovin pinball again.
If you do have an ATI card though - throw it in the bin or chuck it against the wall, whatever you do don't waste your life trying to get it to work. :top: