Radeon 9600 Pro vs. GeForce 2
Author
OK, this might be not the correct forum, sorry if so (didn't really know where to post).
I've had a GeForce 2 for like 5 years now (not really sure, my comp is quite old) and I'm OK with this card, works flawlessly, doesn't consume much power or generate heat. Yet, it's native support seems to be only for DirectX 7, which is very old now, and in OpenGL it doesn't support shaders.
I've got an opportunity to buy ATi Radeon 9600 Pro cheaply (~55$, take into account that here everything is more expensive), and I wonder if it's worth it. It's probably one of the best cards for my motherboard (some old MSI with VIA chipset, universal AGP, or so it seems).
Now, it comes down to companies. Has it been a GeForce, I'd buy it for sure. Yet, as it's ATi, I wonder. How much trouble will it cause me? I can bear somewhat annoying drivers (that require .Net), but ATi doesn't seem to be very friendly with OpenGL. It should support Shaders 2.0, but I don't use any shaders yet, and ain't planning that for some time now. From what I've heard, ATi cards lack some basic extensions (even ARB ones) that even older nVidia cards have.
Just how much trouble will I have with ATi when programming OpenGL (not extremely advanced stuff)? Should I stay on nVidia, or get this card (it should support some new stuff GeForce 2 doesn't like framebuffer object)?
Any help will be appreciated.
I've done a massive amount of OpenGL programming on a 9500 Pro (which is pretty similar)--including some fairly sophisticated GLSL. I really doubt you'll have any trouble with it.
And in any case, the 9x00s are VASTLY superior to NVIDIA's cards from the same generation (the GeForce FX).
And in any case, the 9x00s are VASTLY superior to NVIDIA's cards from the same generation (the GeForce FX).
In my laptop I've got an ATI mobility 9000 and I'd swear it runs OpenGL programs faster than DirectX. I'm not familiar with the specs of the card (support of either library) and can't measure between two different programs - but short story, I love my ATi and I'll never go back to nVidia now. Of course, I'm still running a GeForce FX 5200 on my desktop, that might have something to do with it :P
I'm running a 6800 Ultra 256MB in my laptop and I'll never go back to desktops...
oh, and my point is ATI 9800 Pro that I used to have had heating issues and random crashes. So stay away from it, unless you can find stable drivers, which ATI is not well known for.
oh, and my point is ATI 9800 Pro that I used to have had heating issues and random crashes. So stay away from it, unless you can find stable drivers, which ATI is not well known for.
Quote:Original post by oconnellseanm
So stay away from it, unless you can find stable drivers, which ATI is not well known for.
FUD.
The 9600 (DirectX9,SM2) is vasly superior to the Geforce2 (DirectX7,FF) and to the competing NVIDIA GeforceFX generation.
I have previously used a 9600XT (for almost 2 years) and have not had any trouble with ATi drivers or OpenGL (my main OpenGL dev machines are running ATi cards).
i'm downright disgusted with ati's software, but the drivers are much better than they used to be. i wouldn't worry about any real problems using opengl with an ati card. any problems with opengl/direct3d/nvidia/ati are usually a result of the programmer doing something wrong.
I've got an ATi something or other in my PowerBook and it seems to run my GL stuff fine. Never had one on Windows except my old 8 MB Rage Mobility Pro in 1999, and that wasn't too bad.
Though, I like Nvidia better. My 7800GT is like my best friend. I feed it triangles and shaders and it's like "Can't you do better than that? Come on!"
Though, I like Nvidia better. My 7800GT is like my best friend. I feed it triangles and shaders and it's like "Can't you do better than that? Come on!"
I still have a Radeon 9200. I have tested Irrlicht's demos that come with the SDK, and the only real difference between the OpenGL and DX3D renderers on my card is that in the OpenGL side, it doesn't support parralax mapping, and DX3D does. I think that has to do with that DX had the shaders first, not so much with DX better than GL on my card. Besides that feature, the Frames Per Second on the same demo tends to be the same for either render system. The game I'm making has a few good particle systems and the models for the asteroids are over 3000 tris each, and it still keeps over 60 FPS with too many roids on screen. So don't ditch the ATI. Think though, the 9600 is much newer than mine, I'm sure GL could handle the parralax mapping on that one. So yeah, at that good of a deal, take it.
Author
Thanks everyone for the input. I guess there isn't much to lose on the upgrade :D
Now, I still would like to know what ATi doesn't support.
On my dad's comp there is X800 GTO2, so I compared the extensions it supports to the ones GeForce 2 supports.
Out of ARB extensions, no pixel buffer object (not even EXT, and GeForce 2 got it as ARB), texture rectangle only as EXT (GeForce 2 got it as ARB), and no GL_ARB_imaging (what is it?).
Out of EXT, no Cg shaders :( (I wonder how GeForce 2 could have Cg)
That is, GLSL only?
Also, texture lod (not lod bias) only as SGIS (GeForce 2 has as EXT as well), no shared texture palette and no paletted texture. No PBO again.
To summarize, no PBO, texture palettes, Cg shaders and imaging. Never used anything of these, are they important?
Now, I still would like to know what ATi doesn't support.
On my dad's comp there is X800 GTO2, so I compared the extensions it supports to the ones GeForce 2 supports.
Out of ARB extensions, no pixel buffer object (not even EXT, and GeForce 2 got it as ARB), texture rectangle only as EXT (GeForce 2 got it as ARB), and no GL_ARB_imaging (what is it?).
Out of EXT, no Cg shaders :( (I wonder how GeForce 2 could have Cg)
That is, GLSL only?
Also, texture lod (not lod bias) only as SGIS (GeForce 2 has as EXT as well), no shared texture palette and no paletted texture. No PBO again.
To summarize, no PBO, texture palettes, Cg shaders and imaging. Never used anything of these, are they important?
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