ATI Radeon vs Nvidia? Which Better?

[youseven]

Which is better 1gb ATI Radeon HD4850 vs 1.8GB NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 on an HP Win 7 computer?

I don't play a lot of games, but I do play multimedia and do use computer graphics for visual effects reasons. Which is better card and why?

Currently I have this hp computer with the 1gb Ati Radeon 4850 installed and techs have been telling me that the reason I am unable to see a clear screen resolution and display the full 1920 X 1080 that my LCD screen is able to display is because of my graphics card. I have played around with the screen resolution and hertz, but not fix this issue. So if anyone can help understand this issue, I can fix it. Thanks

 

[Dom]

The brand is usually just preference, I prefer ATi for example, johngalt prefers nVidia.
As for the two choices though, the GTX 260 is better as the 4850 is an older card, and also the 260 performs better. I said this because it wasn't my preference of card, if it was I would have said 4850, but based on your needs I have to be fair to both companies, in this case nVidia has the advantage.

As for your screen problem, probably software issues, i doubt it has anything to do with the actual card.
You got this latest driver?:
Drivers & Software

Once installed, download this:
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/ATICatalyst912Hotfix.aspx]9.12 Hotfix - install this!

(Links courtesy of Brink's sticky thread for drivers )

 

[Dwarf]

Hi youseven and welcome to Windows 7 Forums

Personally, I would go with NVidia as they are the only manufacturer that I have had experience with. Others will probably disagree, and there is nothing wrong with that. What will actually help me to make an informed decision for you are your system specs, specifically the chipset and the integrated graphics (if any). If the chipset is NVidia (as mine is) then I would go with the NVidia card. If it is AMD then I would probably steer towards the ATI one.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

Which is better 1gb ATI Radeon HD4850 vs 1.8GB NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 on an HP Win 7 computer?

I don't play a lot of games, but I do play multimedia and do use computer graphics for visual effects reasons. Which is better card and why?

Currently I have this hp computer with the 1gb Ati Radeon 4850 installed and techs have been telling me that the reason I am unable to see a clear screen resolution and display the full 1920 X 1080 that my LCD screen is able to display is because of my graphics card. I have played around with the screen resolution and hertz, but not fix this issue. So if anyone can help understand this issue, I can fix it. Thanks

can you give us some more info about your system? we might can find the problem for you

 

[stormy13]

Another way to look at it, the 4850 is roughly 90-95% of the performance of the 260, but is close to 50% cheaper (and depending on sales and which models, more than 50% cheaper).

VGA Charts December 2009

Currently I have this hp computer with the 1gb Ati Radeon 4850 installed and techs have been telling me that the reason I am unable to see a clear screen resolution and display the full 1920 X 1080 that my LCD screen is able to display is because of my graphics card.

Sounds more like the "techs" don't have the first clue what they are taking about. Have you ever updated the drivers past whatever HP decided to include when they shipped the computer? If you haven't it would be a good idea too,

http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-cards/1810-latest-ati-catalyst-driver-windows-7-a.html

That card is more than capable of running any LCD at that resolution.

 

[youseven]

I have tried the downloads but do I need to do something? I guess I'll keep the cheaper? Bah, not sure what to do.

Here are my specs if that even helps at all.


HP Pavilion Elite e9280t PC
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-975 processor Extreme Edition [3.33GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
• 12GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [6 DIMMs]
• 1TB RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA HDDs)- performance
• 1GB AHP Pavilion Elite e9280t PC
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-975processor Extreme Edition [3.33GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
• 12GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [6
DIMMs]
• 1TB RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA HDDs) - performance
• 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4850 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters]
• LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
• Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet, No wireless LAN
• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio, video (for TV Tuner)
• TV tuner, dual format ATSC-NTSC with PVR, remote
• Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports

 

[ThePizzaMan]

try installing the latest driver first before you go buy anything and wow.... nice rig

 

[SlackerITGuy]

Which is better 1gb ATI Radeon HD4850 vs 1.8GB NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 on an HP Win 7 computer?

I don't play a lot of games, but I do play multimedia and do use computer graphics for visual effects reasons. Which is better card and why?

Currently I have this hp computer with the 1gb Ati Radeon 4850 installed and techs have been telling me that the reason I am unable to see a clear screen resolution and display the full 1920 X 1080 that my LCD screen is able to display is because of my graphics card. I have played around with the screen resolution and hertz, but not fix this issue. So if anyone can help understand this issue, I can fix it. Thanks

I'm sorry but... I'm not following.

Unable to see clear screen resolution?

The HD 4850 should have no trouble running non-gaming related tasks at 1,920 x 1,080.

EDIT: To answer your question: GTX 260 > HD 4850.

By a significant margin.

 

[grimreaper]

that ATI HD 4850 can output 1920x1080 no problems hands down, to a monitor whether it's a 22,24,40, 46, up to 52", also adjust the monitor settings.
With that setup i read, which i have to say pretty impressive, can handle either NVIDIA or ATI GPU'(s)....it's a personal choice.

Since you multimedia and use computer graphics for visual effects reasons, I'd go NVIDIA...that's my 2 cents.

 

[youseven]

Excellent. Thank you all. This thread has helped me really understand my computer better.

 

[grimreaper]

Your welcome youseven

 

[smarteyeball]

As for the two choices though, the GTX 260 is better as the 4850 is an older card, and also the 260 performs better.

Actually, they are roughly the same age age. It also depends on wheter it's a GTX 260 with 192 shader cores or the better GTX 260 with 216 shader cores.

Even though you don't game much, in this case a GTX 260 216 / 1.8GB is a 'better' card.

Currently I have this hp computer with the 1gb Ati Radeon 4850 installed and techs have been telling me that the reason I am unable to see a clear screen resolution and display the full 1920 X 1080 that my LCD screen is able to display is because of my graphics card.

Those 'techs' are full of sh*t.

In the interim-

Try running the ClearType wizard.

Right click on the desktop select:

personalize > Display > Adjust ClearType text > and then follow the prompts.

 

[Frostmourne]

Why would you put a 4850 with a 975? That makes no sense.

 

[Etihtsarom]

Haha I was thinking the same thing. Any ways, if the screen shows a fuzzy picture and text, and/or there are black borders around the screen inside the bezel, you'll need to adjust the scaling options in CCC.

 

[Dom]

As for the two choices though, the GTX 260 is better as the 4850 is an older card, and also the 260 performs better.

Actually, they are roughly the same age age. It also depends on wheter it's a GTX 260 with 192 shader cores or the better GTX 260 with 216 shader cores.

Even though you don't game much, in this case a GTX 260 216 / 1.8GB is a 'better' card.

Currently I have this hp computer with the 1gb Ati Radeon 4850 installed and techs have been telling me that the reason I am unable to see a clear screen resolution and display the full 1920 X 1080 that my LCD screen is able to display is because of my graphics card.

Those 'techs' are full of sh*t.

In the interim-

Try running the ClearType wizard.

Right click on the desktop select:

personalize > Display > Adjust ClearType text > and then follow the prompts.

Haha i got caught out
I forgot to mention the extra graphics memory as well...