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to directly answer your question: all you need to do is to complete remove the nVidia drivers, remove the nVidia card, replace the card with whatever other card your going to use, then use the install disk that comes with the card to get the basic drivers installed.

 

you shouldn't run into complications by switching from nVidia to ATI or visa versa if you make sure that you uninstall the old drivers first.

 

as for choosing an ATI over nVidia: that will depend largely on your own personal preference. i've been choosing ATI recently because they've been a better card up until the release of the GeForce 7800. as for the drivers, i use the Omega drivers, which mostly eliminates the hassle of the Catalyst drivers.

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I had a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (256) that gave me significant hassles with KotOR and TSL, not to mention a few other games as well. I found myself archiving various versions of the Catalyst drivers so that I could play different games (I needed one version for Dungeon Siege, another for KotOR, a 3rd for TSL).

 

I couple months ago I picked up an nVidia geforce 6800 video card. Although I went from 256 to 128, the 6800 card appears to perform just as well (if not better) than my ATI card. Additionally, I've had 0 driver problems. Every game I've installed has run beautifully.

 

And FWIW, I also use Omega drivers :D

 

EDIT: Also, for the record, I know other people with the same card as I did that had no problems whatsoever. It's entirely possible that an ATI card will work beautifully for you.

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actually, since Catalyst 5.2, there hasn't been many issues for ATI users on Kotor and TSL. so if you know to update your drivers, you shouldn't much in the way of issues running either game.

 

you could still run into issues with a Radeon 9800 chip, but thats why i just bought a R9700 and overclocked it past the R9800. :D

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I used to have a Radeon 9800 Pro, but I've been running 6800 GT's in SLI for awhile, and I can say that even out of SLI, there is almost no comparison. I also agree that ATi's drivers also have some issues with KotOR, so I have to side with anyone who recommends nVidia, unless of course you don't want to spend the money on high-end 6-series or one of the newer FX cards...

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^^^^

you do realize that the GeForceFX cards don't even support DX 9, right??

 

thats one of the biggest reason why i reccommend going with a GeForce 6**0 card (particularly a 6600 or better) since you do actually get the full DX 9 support.

 

and currently, the best gaming video card on the market is the GeForce 7800. of course, you'll have to shell out $600(US) for it...

 

and on a side note: what's with all the ATI bashers around here?? if you ask me, ATI has been making the better card for a while with the only exception being the latest from nVidia.

 

and before you bring up SLI, not all of us want to shell out an extra $400+ for a new motherboard. :dozey:

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Originally posted by stingerhs

actually, since Catalyst 5.2, there hasn't been many issues for ATI users on Kotor and TSL. so if you know to update your drivers, you shouldn't much in the way of issues running either game.

FWIW, 4.7 was the only version that I was able to successfully run KotOR/TSL. I know that a majority of ATI owners were able to use 5.2 (and above), but no dice for me. That's when I gave up and switched to nVidia.
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Originally posted by stingerhs

^^^^

you do realize that the GeForceFX cards don't even support DX 9, right??

:eyeraise: dude where are you getting your information?! Nvidia's single driver architecture let's all of Nvidia's cards run DirectX 9.0c... It's OpenGL pixel shading that the lower end cards (MX series) that has the problems.. never with DirectX 9 however...

I still have an old FX 5200 Ultra (AGP) that runs DirectX 9.0c flawlessly

and on a side note: what's with all the ATI bashers around here?? if you ask me, ATI has been making the better card for a while with the only exception being the latest from nVidia.

I don't bash ATI cards, but I've had MUCH better experience with Nvidia... I've often found trouble-shooting threads for ATI cards messing with their game, but nary as many (or as much hassle to fix) with Nvidia... one driver fits all... ;) Even our own troubleshooting thread here is swamped with ATI problems... very few Nvidia ones that haven't already been fixed just by a single download...

 

I don't mean to start a ATI vs Nvidia flame war... but it's mis-information (on BOTH sides) that's gets stuff like this started...

 

BOTH cards are excellent, and until the Nvidia 7800 was released ATI was the dominant card on the market... doesn't mean ATI is out of the fight however, they've got a new R520 chip due out soon that's supposed to shake the market ;)

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Originally posted by stingerhs

^^^^

you do realize that the GeForceFX cards don't even support DX 9, right??

 

thats one of the biggest reason why i reccommend going with a GeForce 6**0 card (particularly a 6600 or better) since you do actually get the full DX 9 support.

 

and currently, the best gaming video card on the market is the GeForce 7800. of course, you'll have to shell out $600(US) for it...

 

and on a side note: what's with all the ATI bashers around here?? if you ask me, ATI has been making the better card for a while with the only exception being the latest from nVidia.

 

and before you bring up SLI, not all of us want to shell out an extra $400+ for a new motherboard. :dozey:

 

I hear ya stingerhs! I personnally have had only very few problems with my graphics card (what with updating drivers from a restore and all) but I do like that my Radeon 9800 I think it is came with a bonus ATI MUlti Media player with a DVD that can take screenshots... its sweet :cool:

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well, let me rephrase a couple of things. the GeForce FX series doesn't support DX9 through its hardware, which means those cards can't fully take advantage of the advanced shaders and features that DX9 offers. i didn't mean that it had no support what-so-ever for DX9 because those cards can still run most of the recent games just fine, minus several of the more advanced features.

 

take Half-Life 2 for example. when running Half-Life2 on a Radeon 9**0 system, it runs in DX9 mode and takes full advantage of most of what DX9 offers in terms of advanced shaders. meanwhile, a GeForce FX card has to run Half-Life 2 in DX8.1 mode because it doesn't support all the same features through the hardware.

 

thats why i highly reccommend choosing a GeForce 6**0 series card over the FX series: they fully support DX9 right out of the box (plus support for the new Shader 3.0: something ATI cards do not support). sorry for the confusion.

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Originally posted by stingerhs

well, let me rephrase a couple of things. the GeForce FX series doesn't support DX9 through its hardware, which means those cards can't fully take advantage of the advanced shaders and features that DX9 offers. i didn't mean that it had no support what-so-ever for DX9 because those cards can still run most of the recent games just fine, minus several of the more advanced features.

Got me on that one! :D

You are 100% correct about that.. one of the "sucky" things about Nvidia (but I still love'm).. hehehe

 

Hey stingerhs, since you're the ATI guy, I've heard rumors of some new "core" ATI is developing, but for the life of me can't find any info on it.. have you heard anyting? I don't know if it's a new processor core, or something else (I think it started with an "F", but that's about the extent of my hearsay knowledge about it :p ). I think it might have something to do with the new R520 chip...but my searches come up fruitless.. :confused:

 

@jedigoku

??? what only goes to 6800? The series or the cards themselves? There is a new 7800 released... but I'm confused (as usual :p ) as to what you mean?

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^^^^

well, it could be the chip they're providing for the Xbox360. my understanding is that its based on the R520, but with some differences, presumably to take advantage of the unified pixel pipeline (at least, thats my take on it). to be honest, neither Microsoft nor ATI has released a great deal of info about the chip they're using in the 360 so most of my info comes from an interview GameSpot editor's had with an ATI executive after E3. give me a couple to find the article....

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and before you bring up SLI, not all of us want to shell out an extra $400+ for a new motherboard.

I only paid like $175 for mine... As for the FX series they're not a bad card for gaming, it just isn't made for it. As for 'ATi' basher, I have nothing against them, especially since they're planned core has either 32 or 36 pipelines :p As for the XBox 360, I'm *really* looking forward to the monster graphics power it has, especially the memory that powers the graphics, it's speed is insanely high... I'm also pretty sure that the new FX series (or whatever nVidia's calling their workstation chips soon) will have DX 9.0c support, and I know that the Quadro FX-4000's support DX 9.0c, on that note though, are Quadro FX's the same as FX's?

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well, you'd have to look up and check what the main chip architecture is on the GeForceFX series (particularly the GeForceFX 5700) and then look up the architecture on the Quadro FX series.

 

you should be able to find a 'techy' article that can tell you if they are similar and what the differences are. just don't feel too bad if you have no clue as to what the heck they're talking about. ;)

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