Graphics cards . . .
The ATI card on my three year old Fujitsu laptop crapped out a few months ago, and cost $400 to fix. That beat spending the fat part of $2K on a new laptop, but sure didn't make me happy, especially since the problem was random and I spent most of a day formatting the drive and reloading all my applications just to make sure it wasn't a software issue. According to the tech, the Pentium 4 chip is the real culprit because it makes so much heat. I think ATI should have insisted on better ventilation before allowing Fujitsu to use their product.
That said, nVidia is on my sh*t list too. The cooling fan on the Quadro FX card in my desktop started making nasty noises after about a month, and had to be special ordered from nVidia by the manufacturer of the computer. So far the replacement is woking well, so I keep my fingers crossed. I can't figure out whay nVidia distributes the Quadro FX series so poorly, while they push the GeForce line so much. Most of the GeForce cards work well, but according to user groups there can sometimes be display issues with graphics intensive applications. The Quadro FX line was fully certified by the manufacturer of my software, while the GeForce wasn't, so that made my decision.
Best cards I ever had were a Matrox of some sort under Win 3.1 and 95, and a 3d Labs card under Win 2000 Pro. Neither gave a moment's trouble. The 3d Labs card would open and run new applications even after it and the computer became outdated enough that the software manufacturer said it wouldn't work without a more powerful card. I'd have insisted on a 3d Labs card in my new computer but they seem to have abandoned the graphics card market to ATI and nVidia. Sad, because I really think their product was more professional and better made.
The ATI card on my three year old Fujitsu laptop crapped out a few months ago, and cost $400 to fix. That beat spending the fat part of $2K on a new laptop, but sure didn't make me happy, especially since the problem was random and I spent most of a day formatting the drive and reloading all my applications just to make sure it wasn't a software issue. According to the tech, the Pentium 4 chip is the real culprit because it makes so much heat. I think ATI should have insisted on better ventilation before allowing Fujitsu to use their product.
That said, nVidia is on my sh*t list too. The cooling fan on the Quadro FX card in my desktop started making nasty noises after about a month, and had to be special ordered from nVidia by the manufacturer of the computer. So far the replacement is woking well, so I keep my fingers crossed. I can't figure out whay nVidia distributes the Quadro FX series so poorly, while they push the GeForce line so much. Most of the GeForce cards work well, but according to user groups there can sometimes be display issues with graphics intensive applications. The Quadro FX line was fully certified by the manufacturer of my software, while the GeForce wasn't, so that made my decision.
Best cards I ever had were a Matrox of some sort under Win 3.1 and 95, and a 3d Labs card under Win 2000 Pro. Neither gave a moment's trouble. The 3d Labs card would open and run new applications even after it and the computer became outdated enough that the software manufacturer said it wouldn't work without a more powerful card. I'd have insisted on a 3d Labs card in my new computer but they seem to have abandoned the graphics card market to ATI and nVidia. Sad, because I really think their product was more professional and better made.
