Graphics Card Comparison Guide 271
JaniceZ writes "These days, there are so many graphics card models that it has become quite impossible to keep up with the different configurations. Therefore, we decided to compile this guide to provide an easy reference for those who are interested in comparing the specifications of the various desktop GPUs in the market as well as those already obsolescent or obsolete."
Article content is medicore at best (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Thank God (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Article content is medicore at best (Score:5, Informative)
PCI-E 2005 [digital-daily.com]
ATI 2003 [slashdot.org]
for example
Re:Me dumb (Score:2, Informative)
Short list (Score:5, Informative)
If you want a fanless, low-power GPU that can also do light gaming, get a GeForce 6200 with as much onboard RAM as you can find (ignore the TC "TurboCache" crap).
If you want a midrange, not-too-power-hungry card, get the 6600GT. This is my favorite card.
If you need a high-end GPU, get a 7800GT. If you have money to burn, get the GTX version. Check to make sure your power supply is up to snuff (Seasonic S12 series is my favorite, highest efficiency I've found), especially if you did something silly like buy an Intel P4. If you can afford one of these you can afford a proper AMD 64-bit processor to go with it.
There, everything you need to know. The 6200 was a pleasant surprise to me. I put one in my parents' Shuttle SFF box (Athlon 64 3000+), replacing a Ti4200, and the lower power consumption was enough for the main system fan to slow down to its minimum 1000RPM most of the time. It's still good enough to play UT2004 Demo at full detail at 1280x1024 res.
Re:Short list (Score:2, Informative)
If you want silence, there are some fanless 6600's on the market. They may use too much power to run in a Shuttle, though.
Re:Short list (Score:3, Informative)
People will argue it in both directions, but they're just completely incorrect. My 4 year old GeForce works far better under Linux than my brand spanking new Radeon.
Fanless video card Review with benchmarks (Score:3, Informative)
includes...
Rojakpot? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Suggestions for Linux PCI? (Score:1, Informative)
Newegg has them in stock (just search for video cards with a PCI interface).
Whiffed... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:speed of development (Score:5, Informative)
It's a 'textured pixel'. Yeah, I know, that's not too descriptive. In 2D, when you draw a point on the screen, it's known as a pixel. In 3D, when you're filling a polygon with a texture map, every one of the pixels of that texture map is considered a 'texel'. That texel may be drawn of several pixels, but it's still one unit of that polygon that's worth measuring.
Re:Article content is medicore at best (Score:5, Informative)
6600GT "infinite loop": 7,900 hits. (Score:4, Informative)
6600GT "infinite loop" [google.com]. 7,900 hits.
--
If you support dishonesty and violence [doonesbury.com], don't say you are Christian.
Re:Article content is medicore at best (Score:3, Informative)
Really? When I bought my G5 tower I had the choice between a GeForce 6800 Ultra, an ATI X800XT, an ATI 9600XT, or an aftermarket ATI Radeon 9800 Pro.
If you *really* needed the choice you shouldn't have bought a Mini, Emac or an Imac.
No, you don't get all off the off-brand "XFX Sooper EXTREEM O'CLOCKED 78000GTX with Dual Inline Turbo" types of things, but there are choices for some of us.
Re:Nice charts, what happened to Matrox? (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.matrox.com/mga/media_center/press_rel/
Re:Which GPU is best for scientific computing task (Score:3, Informative)
In general, newer is better, but at the moment I'd go with nVidia, since their shader pipelines have much better branch support in the latest generation than ATi - something very important for non-graphics work.
AGP might it might not be a bottleneck, depending on what you do. You can get data onto an AGP card a lot faster than you can get it off, but if you're streaming data in and only want an cumulative result then AGP will be fine (render to target extensions in modern cards are great for intermediate results).
Re:6600GT "infinite loop": 7,900 hits. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Why not open them? (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, you did; several in fact.
* They've licensed some technology from 3rd parties, and can't disclose the related source code due to non-disclosure agreements.
* The GPU industry is encamped in a patent minefield. If they release their source-code, their competitors might find incontrovertible evidence that they have infringed on one or more of the competitors' patents. This would put NV (or ATI) in a costly legal position, even if the infringement was inadvertant. That's not an attractive proposition.
* Even if NV (or ATI) thinks their software has no trade secrets of its own, their hardware certainly contains features that they consider to be trade secrets. Unlike patents, trade secrets have no statutory protection, and so-- were they to become public knowledge-- NV/ATI would have little recourse. Open sourcing their drivers could potentially publicize many of these hardware trade secrets, either by inference, by deduction, or by explicit statement (like, comments in the source.)
If your hardware happens to be better than your competitors at performing some particular task, why would you want to tell your competitors how your hardware does it? (This is not to say your competition couldn't deduce such things via other technical means, but those other means are by definition harder. I mean, what's easier than reading a document your competition so graciously gave you for free?)
The GPU business, perhaps more than any other type of silicon business, is essentially an arms race, and so maintaining technological leverage is paramount. If you trip up once, you find yourself no longer the leader, and playing catch-up.
Consequently, forfeiting any advantage at all can be a financially devastating mistake.