ATI - I loved U, but your support is never there! Now we are getting a divorse!

[DA1745]

Irreconcilable Differences

I too am so frustrated with ATI's crap. I think that the hardware is great...but bundled with the software & the amount of issues they have with installation they are just failing their customers that come back & back.

Here (HEXUS) is a website that ATI has a moderator (at least one on) and yet 6 pages of questions on the 650, go with ZERO RESPONSES. That's JUST ONE SUB THREAD!

If ATI had a clue or gave a $#it they'd 0pen up a decent forum on their site or link officially to a site like this and staff it with intelligent techs who could clear up the problems, or frack things up worse! Support tickets are a JOKE. I can't tell you how many times I get the re-install windows then install the drivers reply. WTF kind of outfit is this!?! It's rhetorical, I know its dying... and that is a shame because without ATI to push nVidia & Vise Versa they have been slow walking GPU's & it will only get worse!

I DON'T WANNA BUY NVIDIA! Once I first got my All-In-Wonder card I was hooked! Now (6) - All-In-Wonder cards later, (3)-TV tuner cards, and another (5) straight up graphics cards. I place them in my time wasted just behind M$ofts crap. Most of the issues relate to the more recent A-I-W's & TV tuners & the Installation / Program problems.

I am sure Haupauges have their problems but I don't think anything could be as bad as the lack of service we've / I've gotten with ATI or their affiliates who play this it's ATI's fault...no it's the manufacturers problem...

[Blitzen]

The ATI section is the most 'ignored' in Hexus from what i have seen.

I dunno why this section even stays open.

[Cosworth]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

The ATI section is the most 'ignored' in Hexus from what i have seen.

I dunno why this section even stays open.

I had the same thought. SHAME...As not everyone has a card from the green team.

Perhaps they need to get rid of the All-In-Wonder title and re-vamp the forum. It may be that this that is confusing some, say for those using say Radeon cards who feel this section is not applicable to them and so ignore the forum.

I've noticed also that some of the sub forum links don't work, but I personally think that to many sub forums becomes to complicated and hard work to read.

I personally would love to post here but as you say it's doubtful a reply will arrive hence my posting on ATI products in the hardware section.

[Dreaming]

There's no ATI support on the forum from what I can see. Lian Li is marginally better, with someone making an appearance every 4-6 weeks to answer a few threads. Not the speediest response, but at least it's there.

Post something here and unless it's another user you won't get an answer. May as well just post it in the hardware section as it has more people.

In conclusion, the ATI forum and subforums are completely redundant and serve no purpose that I can see (except possibly old answers, but with the rate of technology change are any still relevant?)

[Blitzen]

I used to buy ATI but the way they serve the public here, reflects to me the way their service is in general.

I wouldnt buy a product where they cant be bothered to answer simple questions on it once in a while.

Maybe they are busy plotting against nVidia because god do they need to.

[walibe]

Hexus has given ATI the opportunity to have a support forum here and if ATI choose to use it (I imagine they have made some sort of financial contribution) is down to them but they did clearly have the intent, just a shame they didn't follow through.

In all fairness though this is a relatively new form of customer support compared to traditional e-mail and phone support so it will take some companies some time to improve.

I hope Hexus continues with these sort of forums though. Hexus must by now be Europes biggest Tech Site so these companies are shooting themselves in the foot as readers here will have a large impact on them (ATI etc) financially.

[dc72]

Just spotted this section and I was hoping to find some support available and some kind of ATi community. Needless to say I'm more than a little disappointed.

This section needs a serious revamp.

[Blitzen]

Originally Posted by dc72

Just spotted this section and I was hoping to find some support available and some kind of ATi community. Needless to say I'm more than a little disappointed.

This section needs a serious revamp.

Replace 'revamp' with 'deletion' and you might be about there.

[AndrewJ]

I agree, I am so glad I made the move back to Intel and Nvidia.

[DecomposingStar]

I've decided my next card is going to be nVidia aswell...

[AndrewJ]

Good move

[dc72]

I'd rather see it rescued, but if that's not an option then I guess it should perhaps be put out of it's misery.

I chose ATI based on pricing, performance needs and another big factor was the relatively low power consumption of the HD 38XX cards. I can play Crysis on high with my card on a 19" LCD (as long as I don't go near the AA settings) and my main regret is not paying the extra for a 512Mb model really.

Both camps have their advantages, but despite having AMD behind them ATi seem to be giving up.

That would be a disaster for all of us. Monopolies are not healthy or conducive to invention or competitiveness.

From what I can see it's not even the hardware that is an issue, it's the development and advancement of the drivers where the gaps in performance seem to be appearing.

I'm still holding out hope that ATi are going to draft a team with the talent, vision and skills to get the best out of their hardware, and even come back in the near future with a truly superior architecture.

They do need the support of game developers as well to succeed.

I just don't want to see them lay down and die.

Already nvidia are getting blase, as can be seen with the "new" "9 series" cards.

[Blitzen]

I would love ATI to be competitive.
It would probably drive the prices of nVidia cards down even further.

The fact that Intel(especially) and ATI have hardly any viable alternative is getting annoying now as nVidia pillage the market.

[Tetras]

Both camps have their advantages, but despite having AMD behind them ATi seem to be giving up

ATI are not giving up, far from it, the only reason 8800 GT exists (at least, at the price it is now) is ATI forcing nvidia to release it. The 3850 and 3870 cards are viable alternatives to what nvidia have out there. While having nothing better than an X2 or 3870 XT is not great for the high end, hardly any sales are met there.

In driver support ATI are way ahead, Crossfire is more consistent, stable and better supported and the regular driver releases are faster and less bug ridden, nvidia have been really poor with Vista right from the get-go.

The 2900 XT was a mess, no one can deny that but the architecture it is based on gave the mainstream 3850/3870 cards which are competitive in every sense (power, heat, noise, performance, price).

In the chipset arena AMD/ATI have some of the best (if not the best) chipsets they have ever produced, so much so that nvidia and Intel look distinctly average. The feature set, power, heat and performance of the 700 series (particularly 780G) are outstanding (though yes, not having to worry about the memory controller helps).

I agree this support forum gives a bad impression of the company but don't let that fool you, ATI are still very much "in the game" and in "Spider" have a fantastic platform.

[Blitzen]

The 3850 and 3870 cards are viable alternatives to what nvidia have out there.

You think?
When they are punching at a lighter weight as nVidia cards (8800GT for instance) that have been around far longer then they certainly arent viable.

They are decent lower end cards but simply cant compete on the level they were actually designed for.

As you rightly pointed out aswell, the HIGH end ATI card only competes performance wise with mid range nVidia cards aswell.<<---Thats very poor.

In the chipset arena AMD/ATI have some of the best (if not the best) chipsets they have ever produced

Thats opinion rather than fact.

[DecomposingStar]

I think alot of issues are down to game sponsorship and optimising. nVidia are more of a gamers gfx card company, where ATi tend to do alot of media centre and professional cards. I think that means alot of game designers dont take them as seriously, and it gives nVidia the edge on sponsoring games. I've never seen a "ATI- Probably the way its meant to be played better" splash on screen before i play a game.

So unless they start to knuckle down, get rid of the gimmicky "Ruby" bull, and start driving some sponsorship (like the orange box... but commit to it. Please.) They are doomed to the OEM.