Difference Between NVIDIA and ATI

NVIDIA vs ATI

NVIDIA is one of the reputed multinational corporations based in Santa Clara in California, specializing in the development of chipset technologies and graphics processing units for use at work stations, mobile devices and personal computers. On the other hand the ATI Technologies Inc. commonly known as ATI is a major designer and supplier from Canada dealing in motherboard chipsets and graphics processing units.

NVIDIA has already established itself as one of the prime suppliers of ICs or Integrated circuits including the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) along with chipsets for graphics cards, personal-computer motherboards and video game consoles. On the other hand ATI which later on became the Advanced Micro Devices Graphics Product Group in 2006 is a sort of a semi conductor company that carries out in-house research and development along with the outsourcing of manufactured and other assembled products.

Both NVIDIA and ATI are the closest competitors manufacturing handheld and graphic cards. NVIDIA’s GeForce is the direct competitor of the Radeon series of graphics cards manufactured by ATI.

Following is a list of some of the NVIDIA products,

Graphics chipsets

• NV1, the first product drawing upon quadratic surfaces
• RIVA TNT2, RIVA TNT: OpenGL 1 support (this gave the brand unprecedented success), DirectX 6 support
• Nvidia GeForce which is the acceleration-solutions for desktop-graphics
• RIVA 128 and RIVA 128ZX: DirectX 5 support, OpenGL 1 support, the brand’s first DirectX-compliant hardware

Motherboard chipsets

• nForce series
• nForce3 (AMD Athlon 64/Athlon 64 FX/Opteron, MCP only)
• nForce (Duron K7 line or AMD Athlon)
• nForce2 (Duron K7 line/ AMD Athlon), IGP (Integrated Graphics Platform) or SPP (system platform processor) and MCP (Media and Communications Processor which in addition features SoundStorm)

Following is a list of some of the leading ATI products,

Computer graphics chipsets

• Rage Series
• Rage Mobility
• Radeon Series
• Graphics Solution / “Small Wonder”
• EGA / VGA Wonder
• Mach Series
• FireMV
• FirePro
• Mobility Radeon
• ATI CrossFire
• FireGL

Personal computer platforms and chipsets

• IGP 3×0, Mobility Radeon 7000 IGP
• Xpress 3200
• AMD 580X CrossFire chipset
• 690G, Xpress 1250
• AMD 700 chipset series
• 9100 IGP
• Xpress 200/200P

The NVIDIA GeForce 4 FX 5600 card is not in production right now. Only those individuals who are absolutely tech savvy can purchase it at a price of $160. In case a superior performance is expected, the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra is a better option. Right in competition to this product is the Radeon 9800 series cards which are the latest series. It has an 8 pixel interpretation pipelines, 256-bit memory interfaces, and 2.6 to 3.3 Gpixels/sec fill rates.

Summary:

1. NVIDIA specializes in the development of chipset technologies and graphics processing units whereas ATI is a major designer and supplier of motherboard chipsets and graphics processing units.
2. NVIDIA is an American brand from Santa Clara, California whereas ATI is a Canadian company, both being closest market competitors in their particular niche.
3. NVIDIA supplies ICs, GPUs, and chipsets for graphics cards, personal-computer motherboards and video game consoles. ATI is a semi conductor company for in-house research, development and outsourcing of manufactured products.

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