ATI looks to kick Nvidia while it’s down

With the setbacks suffered by Nvidia‘s graphics processor debut on Windows Vista, its arch-rival ATI Technologies is looking to capitalize on the situation by providing a more stable graphics environment to users of the new OS.

Nvidia has received a massive amount of complaints regarding its flagship graphics card for the Vista- the GeForce 8800, mostly from gamers who are experiencing general sluggishness and outright crashes when running high-end first-person shooters such as the phenomenal Half-Life 2 and the nightmarish Doom 3.

ATI claims that the key is in its Catalyst line of drivers which allow a seamless transition of games from XP to Vista without technical problems, saying that there is very little trouble reported by users worldwide. Ben BarHaim, vice president of ATI’s software engineering division said “we’re seeing less than a 5% gap on average.”

He also said that ATI and Microsoft are working closely and that all of their drivers have been approved by the Microsoft Hardware Quality Labs (MHQL). And while it is true that Nvidia was the first to release graphics hardware for Vista’s new DirectX 10 graphics engine, it was also the recipient of the lion’s share of criticism for poor performance on the new platform.

To punctuate the situation, angry Nvidia users are threatening to file a lawsuit against the company for its drivers which are still in beta form and have not secured MHQL approval. This prompted Nvidia to issue a statement earlier this month that it is pouring as much resources as it takes to fix the problem.

ATI hopes to win more customers to their fold as the release of its R600 graphics card draws near. The card is the company’s answer to the GeForce 8800 and is expected to perform better than its troubled rival.

Via Computerworld

With the setbacks suffered by Nvidia‘s graphics processor debut on Windows Vista, its arch-rival ATI Technologies is looking to capitalize on the situation by providing a more stable graphics environment to users of the new OS.

Nvidia has received a massive amount of complaints regarding its flagship graphics card for the Vista- the GeForce 8800, mostly from gamers who are experiencing general sluggishness and outright crashes when running high-end first-person shooters such as the phenomenal Half-Life 2 and the nightmarish Doom 3.

ATI claims that the key is in its Catalyst line of drivers which allow a seamless transition of games from XP to Vista without technical problems, saying that there is very little trouble reported by users worldwide. Ben BarHaim, vice president of ATI’s software engineering division said “we’re seeing less than a 5% gap on average.”

He also said that ATI and Microsoft are working closely and that all of their drivers have been approved by the Microsoft Hardware Quality Labs (MHQL). And while it is true that Nvidia was the first to release graphics hardware for Vista’s new DirectX 10 graphics engine, it was also the recipient of the lion’s share of criticism for poor performance on the new platform.

To punctuate the situation, angry Nvidia users are threatening to file a lawsuit against the company for its drivers which are still in beta form and have not secured MHQL approval. This prompted Nvidia to issue a statement earlier this month that it is pouring as much resources as it takes to fix the problem.

ATI hopes to win more customers to their fold as the release of its R600 graphics card draws near. The card is the company’s answer to the GeForce 8800 and is expected to perform better than its troubled rival.

Via Computerworld