I have a question. Say you have a pci-express ati card and you bought a motherboard with an nvidia chipset but it does include a pci-express slot. Would have an nvidia chipset with an ati pci-express card going to do anything? Will it affect it in speed or anything at all?

Thanks

Both ATI & nVidia based video cards work with motherboards based on ATI, Intel, nVidia, SiS, ULi, or VIA chipsets.

It is going to work, no doubt, but it is a safe thing to say that nVidia chipset + nVidia graphic card will be better than nVidia chipset + ATI graphic card.
The difference will be a few frames which you might not even notice, but its there.

Same with ATI chipset + ATI graphic card Vs ATI chipset + Nvidia graphic card.

However, if you are getting a ATI for a good price, go ahead and put it on the nvidia board, a few frames less (at most) wont kill you :)

Kailas Shastry

3000+ Venice, A8N-E, 768MB DDR266, 160GB Barracuda, 380W Cooler Master

"it is a safe thing to say that nVidia chipset + nVidia graphic card will be better than nVidia chipset + ATI graphic card"

Got anything to back that up? Because I don't believe it's true. And how can you even fairly compare them? nVidia chipsets perform differently than ATI...same can be said for GPUs, so it's not a direct "apples to apples" comparison

I need an answer based on fact, not on guess. That's the problem. I've heard that it doesn't affect it at all since the chipset (onboard graphics) will be turned OFF, but I just want to make sure. If anyone can provide those facts I'd appreciate it.

Also, has anyone heard of the brand ASRock? I found a motherboard with an ati chipset for them, but I've never heard of the brand.

AND, when you use two graphic cards on a crossfire motherboard, are they 8x each? But when you use only one, it's 16x?

ATI chipsets simply aren't that popular (yet)...nVidia "rules the roost" for both AMD or Intel systems. I've NEVER heard anyone say that it's better to run ATI cards with ATI boards or nVidia cards with nForce boards. The only time it would make a difference is if you'd be getting into SLi or CrossFire setups.

Maybe you can find some info to your liking at the following sites, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a non-issue:

http://www.tomshardware.com/motherb...

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic...

I found a decent motherboard with NO onboard graphics, but it does have crossfire. It says that if you use one graphics card, its 16X, but if you use two for the crossfire, it's 8X each, is that for all crossfire motherboards or just this? And it's a brand I've never heard before, ASRock, anyone know them?

It might help if you explained what you're plans are. Do you ever intend to run two video cards in a Crossfire setup? If not, why buy a Crossfire board? The same can be said for an SLI board...if you're not gonna use it, why get it? And if you do plan on running Crossfire (or SLi), make sure to get a power supply that's capable of handling the load of two high-end video cards.

http://www.theinquirer.net/default....

ASRock is the "value" division of Asus.

It's not that I'm going to use crossfire (would be nice for a future upgrade, though I only have a 350 watt power supply). I'm looking at it because it's the only motherboard I found that has no onboard graphics and supports ati + am2 and is between my price range. I found MANY motherboards with am2 sockets but they have nforce chipsets, and everytime I ask someone if it affects the ati card I get different answers. I just want an ABSOLUTE answer based on FACTS/experimentation. My price range is 50-75 dollars for the motherboard, I've found many on newegg, but as I said, they have nforce chipsets. I'd rather it have no chipset than an nforce chipset.

Jam,

here is a test I performed:

Video card: Asus 7900GT

Motherboards: M2N32 SLI (nvidia chipset); K9A Platinum (ATI chipset)

all other hardware being same (CPU, hard disk, RAM, sound card).

The K9A scored slightly higher in CPU intensive tasks (video editing, photoshop), but in games, it produced atleast 10% less frames than the M2N32.

Kailas Shastry

3000+ Venice, A8N-E, 768MB DDR266, 160GB Barracuda, 380W Cooler Master

Don't you think the performance differences could have been from the motherboards themselves? And yeah, that's what I was worried about. I do not want to lose ANY fps in games, so I'll just have to find a crossfire motherboard. Any help would be appreciated.

"Don't you think the performance differences could have been from the motherboards themselves"

That's very possible.

BTW, if you're looking at AM2 boards that have onboard graphics, you're not looking at nForce5 boards...you're looking at boards based on "older chipsets", probably the GeForce 6100/6150 which were originally developed for S754/S939 CPUs.

Kailas is a regular around here so I have no reason to doubt his claim, but I just did a bit of digging & wasn't able to find a single hardware site that suggests it's better to run ATI cards on ATI boards or nVidia cards on nVidia boards. And even if his 10% claim is correct, do you really think your eyes can tell the difference between 100FPS & 90FPS?

Jam,

dont you remember the days when ATI chipsets would not accept nvidia cards or have issues with them?
the RD chipset series?

Now, the difference in performance could be due to the motherboard 'as a whole' being slower. But it (K9A platinum) performed better than the M2N32 in all benchmarks EXCEPT games.
That tells us something.

It might not be right to say Nivida cards 'lose' performance with ATI chipsets, but you might say they work 'better' with nvidia chipsets.

I would not be surprised if ATI and / or nVidia have deviated 0.01% from PCIE standards. We never know if that small deviation could escalate and cause a performance difference.

Kailas Shastry

3000+ Venice, A8N-E, 768MB DDR266, 160GB Barracuda, 380W Cooler Master

Yeah that gives me a problem. I am still trying to find a decent motherboard with an ati chipset (or no chipset at all) that has a pci express slot for am2 sockets, and it's giving me a headache. If anyone help me find one for a good price, please post it here.

Thank you guys for all your help :)

nightscope,

What I posted as an worst-case scenario. Some of the RD series chipsets not working with nVidia cards is like a freak case.

The essence of my earlier posts is that - get an ATI chipset if possible, but do not give up on a good nForce chipset if you come across it for a good price. It is NOT compulsary to have an ATI chitset ONLY for your card.

btw, I have tested the K9A platinum (for AM2) - it worked well expect for lower scores with a 7900GT compared to the M2N32 SLI that uses the 590 chipset. You can consider that.

So, dont climb mountains and explore valleys for a ATI board :) If you get one - good. Else, get an nforce board.

Kailas Shastry

3000+ Venice, A8N-E, 768MB DDR266, 160GB Barracuda, 380W Cooler Master

Would it be better if the motherboard had a VIA Chipset? I found a decent ASUS motherboard with a VIA Chipset, it doesn't have crossfire, but I don't think I am going to use crossfire for a long time. What do you guys think?

no via chipset.

You are probably better off with an Xpress chipset even if you cant find an nforce one to your liking

Kailas Shastry

3000+ Venice, A8N-E, 768MB DDR266, 160GB Barracuda, 380W Cooler Master