ATi Rage Fury Pro - Thoughts/Input

[cputnam 0]

I'm consider switching to this card. Primary reason is that the drivers for my current card (Matrox G400) have problems with certain applications (same problems that occurred w/ Win98SE continue in Win2000).

 

I use my system primarily for work (Word/WordPerfect, Excel, PhotoDraw, PaintShop Pro, Web design), and occasionally for games (usually D3D based games).

 

Would appreciate thoughts/comments on this card and driver stability/problems, etc.

[DosFreak 2]

hehehehhe...hahahhaah.

Your going to switch from Matrox's EXCELLENT (or nearly excellent drivers) to Ati's crappy ones??? You might as well just leave your Matrox card in and switch to VGA color.

[SHS 0]

I see nothing wrong with ATI Win2K drivers on the other hand there Win98 do blow.

cputnam the real questions is what all in your system "list all your hardware".

[DrSchmoe 0]

The inlcuded ATi drivers on the Win2k CD are fairly decent. However, if you attempt to run certain applications (i.e. 3DMark 2000) you will need to reboot your system.

 

ATi is actually making good headway on their 2K drivers. Their NT drivers are among the best, so I have no reason to believe their 2k quality will be poor. Win 9x quality is also fairly decent, but is quite poor if you are looking at an AFR card like the MAXX.

 

One word of caution though. The beta's on ATi's site are "extremely beta." It might cause spontaneous reboots, etc. The flaws are fairly critical, however they aren't too difficult to correct and the final drivers should be in decent shape.

 

Realistically, the best drivers for 2k have come from NVidia, however since so many manufacturers use NVidia chipsets, the results have been spotty for some people.

 

Personally, I think ATi and Matrox provide the best solutions because they do the whole package from silicon, to boards, drivers, etc.

 

Also, unless a new video card is a critical necessity, I would wait for the Rage6, or NV15.

 

[This message has been edited by DrSchmoe (edited 26 March 2000).]

[SHS 0]

That what I'am useing rigth now DrSchmoe it is the ATI Win2K Enhancements Beta Drivers, that ture 3DMark 2000 dose crash hehe you find so dose few other card as well.

Let not forget Voodoo4/5.

Hot on my list is a Voodoo5500.

Why that long "12/15/2000" so I'am tolled.

[DrSchmoe 0]

True, although I have never been a huge fan of 3dfx. They do gaming "well", however they ignore certain segments of the market. If you want a gaming solution, consider them for a purchase, however, if you are looking for a more robust product then Nvidia and ATi are the better choices.

 

Both do video well, and both are planning on releasing "professional" silicone of all their new chips. Matrox is pretty decent, but they falter on the professional market.

 

Then, there are brands like E&S, and 3DLabs, however their boards see such limited use that the drivers can be abysmal and they quickly bail on supporting older hardware. Case in point, I have workstations outfitted with Oxygen GMXs ($1600 on sale six months ago), and 3DLabs response for Win2k drivers is "use the latest NT4 version." Needless to say, we are replacing them with Nvidia Quadros. I was considering pureeing the GMXs and sending them to 3DLabs in a small jug.

 

Anyway, I completely digressed

[DosFreak 2]

Strange my Matrox G400 runs 3Dmark 2000 flawlessly.

[DrSchmoe 0]

Strange we never said Matrox boards were effected.

 

NVidia drivers also run 3DMark 2000 flawlessly.

[cputnam 0]

Yikes...I almost feel like I started a Mac vs. PC debate.

 

O.K. First things first - System Info: Gateway G6-400 w/ upgraded Intel PIII 550, 128mb SDRAM, 13.1GB WD HD, Toshiba DVD-ROM, Internal 100mb Zip Drive, Epson Perfection 636 Scanner w/ Adaptec 2902 SCSI, Epson 860 Printer. Major software - WordPerfect 9, MS Office 2000 SBE, MS PhotoDraw2 2000, PaintShop Pro, symantec TalkWorks Pro 2, SoftQuad HoTMetaL Pro 6.

 

My major concerns about the G400 - From a hardware standpoint, very solid. Output is very good, excellent color quality. Concerns: Problems I had w/ Win98SE included

1. major problems to TalkWorks Pro (certain fax cover sheets didn't work),

2. use of OpenGL screen savers would cause GPF's (tried under Win2000 and got one also),

3. Matrox insists on providing their monitorr settings, so you have a choice of only one refresh rate if you use their's (usually set to the monitor's max - can manually adjust, but no ability to choose from a drop down list)

4. I've had a long history of Matrox issuing drivers where one "bug" is fixed and 2 new ones are delivered w/ the update.

 

I've tried Nvidia based cards. If I used my system predominantly to play games, that'd be my choice (course I'd stick w/ Win98SE too). Guess I'm just at a point of frustration w/ Matrox (love 'em and hate 'em). Tired of the same ol' driver related issues that nver get fixed.

[SHS 0]

Symantec TalkWorks Pro 2 is well know for this under Wiondows2000 you should get a newer ver of it.

Have you play any OpenGL Games ?,

OpenGL screen savers "GPF's" this been very well with every video out there.

Your monitor settings has it owen tab in the display properties.

 

It didn't matter if a Nvidia,Voodoo3,ATI,Matrox,S3 what you want very solid 2D & High Output 2D it just happing they all support 3D to.

I just like point out you that no video card is 100% compatible with ever system out there.

 

Under WinNT or Windows2000

The very best Solid 2D & High Output 2D are

Best----------------- to ----------------Worst

Matrox,Voodoo3,Nvidia,ATI,S3,3DLabs,Trident,SiS

 

Direct3D "Windows2000 Only"

Best----------------- to ----------------Worst

Nvidia,Voodoo3,Matrox,ATI,S3,3DLabs,Trident,SiS

 

 

[This message has been edited by SHS (edited 26 March 2000).]