Are ATI cards worth the driver headaches?

I have been thinking about buying a 9600XT. Worth it? Doesnt look like it to me.

I think both NVIDIA and ATI are good cards.. I would use either at any time. NVIDIA has had some issuse recently w/ its drivers also.. not near as bad as the bf issuse though. Right now I am using the 9600 Pro, I have a 128mb fx5200 if I want to build a decent 9.0 compatable system for my wife or if someone asks me to build it (i tried it out.. hell, it was only 50 bucks when I ordered it.. the people apparently had to many in stock or something... awful awful gaming card... worse than a GF2.) Anyways, before that I had a Geforce 2 TI, which I loved.. And before that I had a Diamond Viper v770d (TNT2) which I also loved.. And my first "3d accellerator" was a 4mb Rage 3d.. I have never had problems w/ either company at all. I dont really pick a side, I just buy who ever has a better card cheaper at the time I am getting it.
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"You can drink a shy girl crazy, you can drink 'till that good girl sins.. you can even drink an ugly girl pretty, but you cant drink a fat girl thin" -Jeff Daniels

“Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made,” Otto von Bismarck

I wouldnt even consider an Nvidia card with whats available at the moment. I dont wont to start a flame but I really like ATI at the moment. I havent had any real issues with the drivers. ATI is on a monthly driver update cycle. I have a 9800XT and love it it plays all the games I play flawless.

I agree with Adrenaman... ATI just does what I want it to do... So, I have gone that route...
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meh... Don't have anything really to put here right now...

Love my 9700 pro but driver removal and updating kind of sucks.
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"Wherever you go, there you are" - Buckaroo Bonzai

driver problems are nowhere NEAR what they were in the original radeon days, but i've seen the same damn problems with both cards in the driver department, each will have it's own issues, and i wouldn't really worry about it since you have to deal w/ problems either way.

i got a 9700 and i gotta get those new drivers to test, i'll see if the rule is broken.
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www.thefifthcolumn.net ... watch your back!

The latest release of the Nvidia drivers is the first one I've ever had problems. Still though, if I were to buy a new card right now, I'd probably go with ATI even with all the problems I hear about. They're king of the hill right now and I would get one with the hope that eventually they'd get all the bugs worked out.

6 month release cycles... remember that both manufactures were shooting for 6 month release cycles for the next cards.. I would hold off on it for just a while before I bought again.. not because a new card might come out, and you would want that, but because prices will probably drop off atleast a little bit...
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"You can drink a shy girl crazy, you can drink 'till that good girl sins.. you can even drink an ugly girl pretty, but you cant drink a fat girl thin" -Jeff Daniels

“Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made,” Otto von Bismarck

What driver headache? I don't have any more trouble with my ATI drivers on my main rig then I do with my Nvidia drivers on my spare rig.
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Blargle Flarg Bergah Merg

I don't know what's wrong with my set up. But my 9800XT is a whore on some games. I need to find out what mobo I have. I know it only have 4x AGP, it's a 2.43 Ghz I processor I think, but not for sure what the mobo is off the top of my head and I'm no where near my computer right now. None the less, my 9800XT crashes a lot, but I don't know if it's the vid card or not. I also think one of the fans on my power supply stopped working, that might have something to do with the crashes. But, I don't see how that would just make a game crash back to windows desktop.
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It's just me..

Well if one of the fans in your power supply isnt working then you really need to replace it. Most people dont realize that the power supply is actually one of the most important things in your system. That being said dont go cheap on the power supply. I use Enermax power supplies and love them. I also have used Antec and they are really nice too. I would reccommend either one of these brands. Dont get anything less than a 350watt. Also take the time to really educate yourself on all of your system components. Google is your friend for any Technical questions you may have. I have a 9800XT too and it runs flawless. Maybe you dont have proper cooling in your system? How many fans do you have? You should have atleast 1 intake in the front of the case and 1 exhaust. Your power supply acts as an exhaust too, so if one of the fans is out then you definatly can have lock ups because of heat. There are too many variables to consider. Do you have the most current drivers and all the windows updates? What programs do you have running in the system tray and in the background? When was the last time you formated your system? What games are giving you problems?

I would upgrade to an 8x. I stuck my 5200fx ultra in a friend?s computer to check his. He was 4x. Night and day. 8x slaps 4x around. With a card like that to I would upgrade without thinking twice. Spending 500 on a card and only using half of what the card can do is crazy.
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More RAM than Dodge!

hmm, i guess i need to upgrade my shit as well. i just got the 9600XT, and i can tell a huge difference between my old ti4200 and this on even 4x agp. someone send me money so i can upgrade!!
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site5 hosting • facebook • flickr

Will a thousand cover it?
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More RAM than Dodge!

i think i could make do with a grand. check or paypal?
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site5 hosting • facebook • flickr

Pay Pal on my bosses account. You have to explain when he looks at the bill for the month though. LOL
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More RAM than Dodge!

just tell his it's miscellaneous office supplies.
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site5 hosting • facebook • flickr

I tried that last month for me. Went over like a terd in a punch bowl.
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More RAM than Dodge!

Killaholic wrote: Went over like a terd in a punch bowl.