Radeon 8500LE or GeForce3 Ti 200

[InnovaZero]

Well I want to get a card that will last me and i've been looking at these two. The Radeon does have a more advanced T&L engine as well as higher polygon rates. From what I understand LE is 250/250 right? down from 275/275.

I'm just having trouble deciding. Any thoughts?

Thx

[BipolarBill]

Based on driver maturity and a relative dearth of support requests here for the nVidia, I must recommend the GF3.

ATi is over-represented in this forum - especially considing it's market share in 3D gaming cards.

Whichever you get, get it somewhere with a good return policy.

[muchmark]

Take a look here. (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1583&p=9)

[gibsinep]

I would go with the Geforce 3 ti

I have one myslelf.
And like it very much

[InnovaZero]

Thx for that article, helped alot. Seems to me that either is really underclocked and can be easily put back to the orignal 8500 or GF3 and maybe a tad further.

[JeffD]

Hi InnovaZero,

As the owner of MANY ATI, Nvidia and Matrox video cards my take:

-- Both cards, in a solid computer system, will run ANY consumer targeted application with ease.....i.e. you name the game and both cards will run them at framerates more than acceptable for the average computer gamer.

-- While ATI has a BAD history in the driver and support area.....times have changed. ATI has listened to the consumer and has ramped up support/driver releases. Sure they are no nvidia but they are not that far behind them.

-- Keep in mind neither ATI or nvidia is perfect. Some make out nvidia as "golden" and trash ATI yet nvidia still has issues (i.e. 23.11, infinite loop, game issues, etc.). ATI also has issues so depending on the applications you run one may be a bit better than the other.

--The Radeon 8500, even in LE form will benchmark better than a stock GF3 Ti200. Remember that both will run games faster than one needs for current gaming but if you're into benchmarking then the Radeon may suit your needs a bit better.

--Finally, my latest graphics card purchase was a PNY GF3 Ti200 I got for less than $100 (rebate, open box, gift card). It overclocks like crazy (250/550...higher than a stock GF3 Ti500) and with the right driver is very stable for the games I play.

To summarize.......pick the one the suits your needs and pocketbook the most....you really can't go wrong with either card.

Regards,

JeffD

[InnovaZero]

Thx Jeff. I Think I will take a chance with the 8500. I would like to give the underdog a chance and the Radeon has what I need for games like Unreal 2 with it's advanced T&L engine.

(From what I read the 8500 has a T&L engine that matchs the GeForce 4 Ti minus the one vertex shader)