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Anyone else feel underwhelmed by Fermi?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Sorry if this isn't the right forum, but I wasn't sure where to post a discussion on nVidia's new line of graphics cards.

The performance reviews for boards based on the Fermi chipset are starting to come out, and it looks like nVidia will be calling them the GeForce 400 series (460 and 480 so far). While the 480 does beat the best single-GPU board by ATI, it does so not by much and they expect us to pay an extra $100 for the privilege. On top of that, both cards burn through a hell of a lot more electricity than ATI's 5000 series of cards (which of course comes with more heat and louder fans).

Unless a game comes out that makes me want PhysX or APEX, it's looking like my next card will be a 5000 series from ATI. Probably a 5850 once the prices come down a little. That's too bad because nVidia makes much better drivers than ATI ever will.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    No one has any thoughts about the new GeForce series?

    This is a tech demo using APEX. I believe CCP is planning on using this tech in a vampire MMORPG:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrtwESnTOwY

    I don't think that's enough to make me want a GeForce 460, but surely someone has a different opinion.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I dont like ati cards for the lack of a nice little software called "nHancer" that i just love.
    That is realy the only thing that i missed when i had my HD3870, now i have a GTX260 and i dont miss anything from the ATI one. So nvidia has a small bonus for me.

    Ati Eyefinity is as intresting to me as PhysX is... not realy important but *nice to have*


    The new cards from ATI and nVidia are pretty much in the same pricerange here.

    HD5850 - 251 €
    HD5870 - 357 €
    HD5970 - 538 €

    GTX470 - 336 €
    GTX480 - 479 €

    for me it is realy only the race between the HD5870 and GTX470 ...which one of those will first drop to ~250€
    (and i am not intrested in the 5850 after seeing benchmarks, not that mich faster then my GTX260, yeah a little but not worth 250€ and a to big gap between this one and all the +350€ cards to even want that one)


    i have yet to see a proper benchmark that includes the GTX470 though.

    i'll give it at least 6 months until they have acceptable Pricetags.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I have zero interest in Fermi (aka GTX470 or GTX480). I've been enjoying that same type of video horsepower since October of last year with a pair of 5870's in CrossfireX. Fermi is too little FAR too late to make any difference to me. ATI drivers have been just fine on these cards since launch, everything works the way it's supposed to without problems.

    I'm currently playing STO at 1920x1080 4xSSAA 16xAF all settings maxed out and it looks gorgeous. Frame rates are usually awesome except for the occasional known STO slow down bug, which affects both ATI and Nvidia cards. I've noticed this bug has ceased happening since the most recent patch though. Here's to hoping it stays squashed for good.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    The "Fermi" seems alright to me, not bad, not great, but ok, power consumption and heat really isn't an issue for me, noise, meh like you'd be able to hear it over the explosions anyway. :p The 480 is a little steep in price IMO for the little 5-10% increase in performance (kind of normal for Nvidia anyway), however as the drivers mature I'm sure/hopeful the numbers will improve. Look at ATi they came out with a driver that increased performance by up to 20% on some programs. :D The 470 however looks to be the best bang for buck atm until ATi lowers prices.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I am just waiting until they do some improvements to lower power usage and heat heat output. Once that's done and they have lowered the price due to new versions/models (eg 8800GTS/8800GT) its upgrade time for me. I've never been a fan of ATI due to poor drivers.
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