ATI Graphics & Clouds ?

[harleyman]

I hear folks all the time saying that ATI cannot render clouds in FSX worth a darn...

I still for the life of me cannot figure out what they are talking about....

These shots are out of Apple Valley in real world weather updated using FEX textures....

On my little baby rig with a VisionTek 3850 vid card

[bushpilot]

I have HD 3850 and works perfectly. Clouds look as good as they did with my previous Nvidia card.

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m465/bush_p/md80_mexico.jpg

[6297J]

Cool, now the political correctness thread has been closed we can have an ATI versus Nvidia argument again :icon_lol:

I think my FEX FSX clouds rendered using my HD 4870X2 are the best I've ever seen.

I have never seen FS rendered on an Nvidia machine and I'm sure they look just as good.
Those using Nvidea based machines are just as nice as you and me and should be respected at all times.
They are in no way using an inferior product.

[hey_moe]

I haven't really seen that much of a difference from one card to another. I guess it's all about preference. I have had both but I still lean toward Nvidia due to they are always coming out with new drivers and I haven't had a problem with them....but that's me...Mike

[Mathias]

Cloud visuals are superb with my ATI Firepro 5700 but I get bad st-t-t-t-tuttering with clouds. Then again it's a CAD card not a gamers card.
The other machine with an Nvidia 7600 GT cuts through the clouds like a knife fps-wise but boy every ATI card I ever owned looked heaps better than any Nvidia card I ever had.

[MCDesigns]

Actually in the past (not sure if it's still relevant) due to different drivers, the nvidia cards handled anti aliasing and transparencies better than the ATI cards and this helped on performance in FS with lots of clouds.

[harleyman]

Cool, now the political correctness thread has been closed we can have an ATI versus Nvidia argument again :icon_lol:

I think my FEX FSX clouds rendered using my HD 4870X2 are the best I've ever seen.

I have never seen FS rendered on an Nvidia machine and I'm sure they look just as good.
Those using Nvidea based machines are just as nice as you and me and should be respected at all times.
They are in no way using an inferior product.


LOL...Thats not my intent at all...I like both Nvidia and ATI cards..

Its just that many say that ATI has problems displaying clouds and kills frame rates in the clouds... I have never seen it happen...Thats all..

Gee.. I hope this is politically correct too !

[icarus]

I hear folks all the time saying that ATI cannot render clouds in FSX

what???

http://www.icarusgold.com/FS/images/photoalbum/album_21/dragscree16.jpg

http://www.icarusgold.com/FS/images/photoalbum/album_21/dragscree8.jpg

http://www.icarusgold.com/FS/images/photoalbum/album_18/gamma3_1.jpg

ati forever

[noddy]

I always used to have ATI cards, and never had any trouble with them, it's only when I got my new machine which had Nvidia cards in that caused me to change.

If and when I do change cards, not sure what to go for ATI or Nvidia they both seem to perform well, having good and bad points.

[Major_Spittle]

My Nvidia Clouds are lighter and fluffier than ATI clouds. :icon_lol:

[6297J]

My Nvidia Clouds are lighter and fluffier than ATI clouds. :icon_lol:


Who wants light and fluffy? :icon29:

My ATI clouds are dark and full of foreboding :guinness:

[harleyman]

My Nvidia Clouds are lighter and fluffier than ATI clouds. :icon_lol:



I guess it all has to do with what texture set you are using..I can make mine Light and Fluffy too ! :ernae:

[gera]

Both cards are probably done in the same "factory" in China!!!! and different lables placed on them!!!----LOL...The workers call one Ying and the other Yang...or is it the other way around??? must check on that......I wrote a Chinese "Exporter" (what??) and asked him if I could get a Video card with my own label " Enviuos Atire"---:monkies:and to what other distributors he sent his represented products to....guess what he said???...it was not Mamma Mia!!!!!:mixedsmi::mixedsmi:

[Meshman]

These shots are out of Apple Valley in real world weather updated using FEX textures....

Apple Valley? KAPV?? Kalifornia???

WTH you doing out in these parts of the country?

I just finished an AFCAD (generic term) for KAPV, along with a few more. LMK if you want to explore Kalifornia some more. There's plenty of places to get lost...:wavey:

[StickMan]

I too have heard talk about this and I have run FSX on ATi cards before without a hitch. Now running Nvidia and same, perfect. Not all PC are the same and the software that is installed same on any two machines being OS software or third party FS software. For me this is like the DX9/DX10 talk of flashing runways, taxiways, etc etc. But for me I can only play in DX10. If I go to DX9 then I have flashing guages in tubliners and other flashing textures. I'm sure those who have the ATi problem can fix with some adjustments, drivers, or even a reformat would/could fix there problem, same in my situation. I'm sure if I looked enought, I could find out why I can not play in DX9 without flashing gagues when other play fine in DX9, mostly have flashing in DX10 when I don't. So in summing it up, it really is not a problem becasue it is not 100% of ATi cards with this problem, more hearsay and most likey can be fixed as the proof lies in the pudding above

[Bjoern]

I have never seen it happen...

I have.


Although the visual quality was a wee bit better on that 4850.

[harleyman]

Man See...Thats what I'm talking about...

Do you have pics of it? will the difference even show in a pic?

[Bjoern]

Do you have pics of it? will the difference even show in a pic?

The low FPS didn't persist as soon as I pressed the "pause" key. Kind of figures.

And obviously, I can't reproduce or videotape anything since the card is now hundreds of kilometers away and making another PC user happy, who would never touch FSX.

Granted, there are always troubled ones regardless of card manufacturer and model. It's just my personal experience that's making me look at ATI a bit more critical. You wouldn't see it much more differently than me if your saviour turned out to be a royal PITA.

Anyways, I'm not the only one:
http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=243274&hl=ATI%20%20stutter*%20%20overcast&st=0
http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=207005&st=25&p=1348183&#entry1348183
http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=207005&st=0&p=1345807&#entry1345807

Yet:
http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=249857&hl=ATI++stutter*++clouds


And if it makes you happy, my 9800GTX+ has her hiccups as well, as she's a bit bitchy if it comes to drivers and overclocking.
Still haven't figured out whether there's a pattern in getting a working driver/OC combo or whether it's pure luck.
I miraculously got 182.46s to work a while ago, so I think I'll boldly try any new driver NVidia throws at me next time.