Re: ati (fwd)

["Adam Williams" <awilliam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
> > I agreed with Adams' line of reasoning. Since the drivers shipped with NT
> > ARE NOT OPEN SOURCE, there's no clear way (other than disassembly
> > and EXTENSIVE STUDY) to make assertions about the quality of the software
than
> > by observing the behavior of systems so configured.
>
> ok, i didn't think we were talking about NT here, i just assumed win95, and
> i also when i said i didn't have any problems i ment not with the ones
> shipped with win95 for my diamond card (there wasn't any) i use the ones on
> diamonds site and they work pretty good. no problems yet at all.
>
> > However, Mr. Williams is a system/network admin working in an organization
> > with machine counts in the multi-hundreds, and I'm assuming that
> > his advice stems from experience on numerous machines and configurations. I
> > tend to listen to folks like that, and in general to people who buy stuff
and plop in
> > front of others for a living, especially if they have a vested interest in
> > making sure it's reliable.
>
> well, it sounded like to me in his message he was just talking about his
> roomates problems with his diamond card. so it's kind of hard to tell.
>

That was the first time I attempted to fix a buggy Winbloze that way,  and
given the success I have performed the same operation many times over.  How
many exactly I don't know but close to a couple of dozen.   I'm certaintly not
saying that ATI is the fastest (it's not) or that it is appropriate for every
application (I have no experience with gaming for instance),  what I have been
impressed with is the quality of thier product in the stability catagory.  At
seminars and conferences I have heard the same mumbling from other people,
 mostly against Diamond,  not specifically for ATI.  And the contact I have had
with ATI tech support has been pretty impressive.  I think some of it simply
grows out of their history; ATI comes from a high-end CAD & DTP position and
entered the commodity market when those "niches" began to dissolve.  Diamond
started out as a commodity player.  When you replace the video card you still
have to reinstall Winbloze,  as you don't know what the repeated crashes has
corrupted.  I'm not dissing Diamond's products, I just doubt whether they are
appropriate for a "production" environment,  where that machine has to be up so
you can move (or compile) the product that butters your bread.