Jump to content

Shall I swap from ATI to Nvidia?


Recommended Posts

I'm having so many problems (particularly BSOD) with my Radeon 9600XT. I've searched this forum and see many others also having problems due to an ATI card or another. I've tried using Catalyst 5.8, 5.4 and 4.11. 4.11 works partially but still having random lock ups, etc. I'm tired of these bugs between KOTOR2 and ATI.

 

So happens I've got an older Nvidia GF4 Ti4200 card around. Will swapping to this card help? I've not heard of complaints from Nvidia card users.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 9600XT is superior to the Ti4200. nVidia drivers are better built but I don't think it's worth the changeover just for K2. Not *that* many people have problems with ATI - I don't. Just do the usual tips people have given like that config vertex thingy, turning down the AA or AF (which I don't think you'd want on for your card anyway).

 

(Welcome to the forums! . . . wanna play Pazaak? :o" )

sigpic0yb.jpg

Pure Pazaak - The Stand-alone Multiplayer Pazaak Game (link to Obsidian board thread)

Pure Pazaak website (big thank you to fingolfin)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Switching video cards just because one game doesn't work right is silly but I found NVidia being overall better quality, but I wouldn't waste time on a 4000 series card. I would say get at minimum a 5000 or 6000 series card with at least 256 MB video ram. That would last you a decently length of time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies. I won't buy a new card just for the game. This is an older card I have lying around - I really like playing KOTOR2 and want to finish it. The card swap is just temporary, as soon as I've finished I'll swap back to the ATI.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's funny. I didn't know you were an expert in writing drivers. And it would take nothing short of that to make that kind of comment with some semblance of reason. :-

 

And about the card, I happen to have exactly the 9600xt and I don't remember having too many problems. The Catalyst 3.10 package works like a charm... :o"

- When he is best, he is a little worse than a man, and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, i have an ATI Radeon 9800Pro and i do get random lockups, but that has only recently come up, my mom thinks its the memory and since we don't have our memory tester, i can't find out.

 

But if it is crashing at random times, test the memory before you change from ATI to Nvidia.

 

The only ATI based issues i have had have been slight graphic glitches, which isn't all that and since i always turn the shadows off, the lack of Nvidia Shadow Processing prowess, i ain't bothered.

 

also, i tried the spare Nvidia Geforce 5900Ultra 256MB and it was quite abit slower then my ATI card and it STILL randomly crashed.

 

So, if you try the Nvidia card and it still crashes, its something in your computer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, if you try the Nvidia card and it still crashes, its something in your computer

Do you work at MS tech support, by some chance?

- When he is best, he is a little worse than a man, and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, if you installed the 1.0b patch it tends to cause more crashing. This I found out a long time ago. I completely uninstalled the game and then never patched it, and had much fewer problems. I could actually crank the graphics up after switching to nVidia (I have a 5500FX 256mb card, and I only run at 1.83 GHz - AMD). The patch caused file corruption, so I couldn't use any of my save files. Anyway, I would try the nVidia without the patch and see how you do. Also, enabling EAX caused me major problems, not just audio.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hm. eax works fine for me. 9600xt runs kotor 1 and 2 well with 2xaa I tried 4x but I got those stupid lines. otherwise when I had my 9600xt I could run everything else maxed at 1280x1024 with the only slow downs due to that damn smoke. of course now I enjoy far superior performance on my 6600gt. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm having so many problems (particularly BSOD) with my Radeon 9600XT. I've searched this forum and see many others also having problems due to an ATI card or another. I've tried using Catalyst 5.8, 5.4 and 4.11. 4.11 works partially but still having random lock ups, etc. I'm tired of these bugs between KOTOR2 and ATI.

 

So happens I've got an older Nvidia GF4 Ti4200 card around. Will swapping to this card help? I've not heard of complaints from Nvidia card users.

stingerhs has put together a rather extensive thread just for ATI users here:

 

http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=144109

 

It includes both the 'obvious' solutions and some pretty ingenious workarounds if you find you're still having problems. Rather than switching out cards just for one game, you might give the thread a try. (I use Nvidia cards, but the 9600XT is definitely no card to laugh at, it's pretty sweet IMO) :thumbsup:

"Eagles May Soar, But Weasels Don't Get Sucked Into Jet Engines"

 

| My KotOR / TSL Mods | My WIP | USM Compatibility |

 

Having trouble with TSL's cheat console? Try the Hak Pad. Don't forget the Booster!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

UPDATE

 

Well, I did the swap to my Ti4200 card and installed the latest ForceWare 77.77. Game works like a charm now. Been playing for the last 4-5 hours and there are no BSODs, 1/3 load problems, movie problems, etc...

 

Actually video performance with the Ti4200 isn't that bad. I'm running 1280x1024 @ 60Hz with High texture pack. Turned off shadows, AA but I have first level anisotropy on. Not as fast as my 9600XT but still playable with reasonable frame rates. I can sacrifice some graphics quality so that I can continue playing the game!

 

Thanks for everyone's responses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nVidia GeForce > ATI Radeon.

 

End of Thread.  [/senator Palpatang]

I disagree - and there's not much point going into this cos this is an endless discussion all over the net and well, the whole point of graphics card competition.

sigpic0yb.jpg

Pure Pazaak - The Stand-alone Multiplayer Pazaak Game (link to Obsidian board thread)

Pure Pazaak website (big thank you to fingolfin)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nVidia GeForce > ATI Radeon.

 

End of Thread.  [/senator Palpatang]

I disagree - and there's not much point going into this cos this is an endless discussion all over the net and well, the whole point of graphics card competition.

You're right - ATI does offer competition...at sucking!!

 

 

WHO IS YER DADDY AND WHAT DOES HE DO?

manthing2.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was a devout ATI fanboy for years, but no longer.  Right now NVidia has better cards, better prices and better drivers.

 

i also use to promote ati and now they turn out backwards cards without anything new and i'm not intrested.

 

the X800 is just a 9800 with more pixel/vertex units, the x800 got nothing new and that is why i went with Nvida and the 6800 because it's cheaper and faster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the x800 got nothing new and that is why i went with Nvida and the 6800 because it's cheaper and faster.

No it's not...ATI's are cheaper and are at least neck-and-neck.

http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=517

 

Although ATI have screwed it lately with the R520 while nVidia managed to get their top card out.

sigpic0yb.jpg

Pure Pazaak - The Stand-alone Multiplayer Pazaak Game (link to Obsidian board thread)

Pure Pazaak website (big thank you to fingolfin)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As the sort of person who wastes too much money on PC hardware and upgrades his PC about once a year I've had both Nvidia and ATI graphics cards in the past and I thoroughly recommend Nvidia, because:

 

Performance wise the two manufacturers' cards of the same generation tend to perform similarly and rumour suggests this is going to continue (the R520 isn't yet out but hearsay of 16 pipelines and a clock speed around 700MHz would put its performance by and large the same as the G70's, maybe a little faster).

 

Image quality wise Nvidia appear to have issues more frequently than ATI because of their enthusiasm for aggressive software optimisations (e.g. currently the G70 has a texture shimmering bug in a few games, not a very serious one) but they do usually fix these issues when they occur.

 

Nvidia GPUs are usually rock solid stability wise. By contrast, ATI GPUs have crashing and similar "It doesn't bloody work" type issues with a non negligible proportion of games, especially less "mainstream" games such as hardcore RPGs and the like. This is entirely more irritating than minor image quality problems >_<

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...