AMD vs. Nvidia - Prefs & Why

[Homeles]

As for GCN and Kepler. Kepler has the edge on GCN in raw power.

This is patently false. Raw power? The 7970 has significantly higher floating point output, and even if you take a look at GFLOPS/mm², the 7970 is higher despite having a significant amount of die space set aside for the larger memory bus.

Then there's double precision floating point... Kepler's FP64 capability is a joke.

AMD's been miles ahead in raw power for years now. The issue is software support, and they are making up considerable ground there.

Despite anecdotes one way or the other, both of them put out good stuff. I used AMD cards mostly the last few years, but only because their particular cards filled my niche at that time. I just switched to a 670, couldn't be happier.

The driver business.... overblown.

Yes and no. I agree with your first statement. As far as "driver business" goes, neither of them are perfect. Nvidia actually has killed cards with their drivers for example. As far as the AMD side of things go, they have legitimately had issues since last fall. Hopefully they turn things around soon with their new development schedule.

I agree it's overblown, but it is important. The real issue with the "driver business" is that "AMD drivers suck" is essentially a meme, and people with absolutely no damn idea about AMD's drivers think that they have the wisdom to tell others that their drivers suck.

 

[Kalessian]

I prefer nV for physx and their linux drivers. That's about it. Also I believe geforce audio out over hdmi is more capable, but this could be old info (gtx 460 in my gaming htpc). Would love to be able to add to my radeon collection but for what I use them for nV is better atm.

 

[xp0c]

AMD cards hold their value longer than Nvidia.

 

[Don Karnage]

AMD cards hold their value longer than Nvidia.

No they don't

 

[xp0c]

No they don't

oh
how much does a used GTX 570 go for?

 

[Don Karnage]

oh
how much does a used GTX 570 go for?

How much does a used 6950 go for?

 

[xp0c]

How much does a used 6950 go for?

dont know, but do to bitcoin miners probably more than the 570.
I sold my 5870 in May for $150. Pretty much a three year old card.

 

[Homeles]

How much does a used 6950 go for?

The 6970 is obviously the better card to compare it to.

 

[xp0c]

The 6970 is obviously the better card to compare it to.

doesnt really matter though. lol

 

[Arzachel]

I prefer nV for physx and their linux drivers. That's about it. Also I believe geforce audio out over hdmi is more capable, but this could be old info (gtx 460 in my gaming htpc). Would love to be able to add to my radeon collection but for what I use them for nV is better atm.

AMD actually has improved pretty well on the linux side. They're pretty much on par with Nvidia for native applications from my admittedly limited experience. Although Wine still might work better Nvidia, dunno.

 

[Grooveriding]

I prefer AMD because from what I have seen, nvidia tends toward some underhanded scumbaggery, and that plays into the way I spend my money.

That said, if one provides an advantage over the other I want, I'll go there.

My 5870s served me well but didn't have enough VRAM, so I moved to 480s because they did.

Could of easily wound up with 7970s but I wanted a certain amount of performance from two cards in BF3 compared to what my 3 480s were giving me. 7970s didn't have it, the 680s released and did, so I bought a pair.

The driver stuff is nonsense and hyperbole in my experience. Both have been stable for me for the most part, single and multi-gpu.

 

[tornadog]

AMD drivers are the suck!!! If only they put some effort into them, their cards would fare much better.

 

[Zanovar]

AMD drivers are the suck!!! If only they put some effort into them, their cards would fare much better.

LOL,and it begins...

 

[Stoneburner]

I have to say though, for low power HTPC, AMD has been on a tear since the 4x00 series.

 

[tornadog]

LOL,and it begins...

well I have an AMD card, and I have experienced it first hand

 

[Zanovar]

well I have an AMD card, and I have experienced it first hand

im curious they sucked for you,why do you think they sucked for everyone else?*laughs*

 

[BlockheadBrown]

Alright. Let's not pile on here.

 

[Zanovar]

Alright. Let's not pile on here.

yeah im out.

 

[SirPauly]

I prefer nVidia based on their pro-active nature which encompasses facets like developer relations, differentiation and IQ enhancing tools and features that improve flexibility, immersion and the gaming experience.

One of the aspects I really liked is improving on the long and winding road on aggressive and questionable optimizations of the past.

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Its sad how ATI got bad driver reputation from the pre-catalyst days and it still haunts them nowadays even though its not true anymore

If you have a bad experience with AMD drivers = OMG AMD IS TEH SUCK
If you have a bad experience with Nvidia drivers = User error, youre doing it wrong

Love the double standard

 

[BlockheadBrown]

Its sad how ATI got bad driver reputation from the pre-catalyst days and it still haunts them nowadays even though its not true anymore

If you have a bad experience with AMD drivers = OMG AMD IS TEH SUCK
If you have a bad experience with Nvidia drivers = User error, youre doing it wrong

Love the double standard

There are legit driver issues from both. My recent experience being:

1. Nvidia - Firefox browser crash (forgot what it's called because it's fixed now).
2. AMD - Needing to re-seat the HDMI cable after going into suspend mode or after switching from one HDMI port (on a multiplexor) to another (I don't have an AMD card any more, but I believe this is fixed now).

 

[Gordon Freemen]

AMD actually has improved pretty well on the linux side. They're pretty much on par with Nvidia for native applications from my admittedly limited experience. Although Wine still might work better Nvidia, dunno.

AMD I would say is still not on par for Linux support being that nvidia is supported Natively by Linux and is in the repository and the nvidia Xsever drivers ship with most distros of Linux.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Nvidia and Radeon both offer competitive products that perform the same.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Suggestion for you.

1. Goto College
2. Get degree
3. Make a crapton of money so you don't have to bitcoin

Little do them Bit coiners know that you need ton's of initial cash investment to net a decent return in say a monthly profit. When I say tons of cash I mean real money to the tune of at leased $10,000 on the low end if you want to make a decent living for a short time not a long time LOL. Otherwise at best Bitcoining is a good way to offset or mitigate paying for that new 7970 Radeon card if you don't mind not being able to use it for 3 to 6 months while it's mining coins to the tune of less than $1 a day LOL.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Little do them Bit coiners know that you need ton's of initial cash investment to net a decent return in say a monthly profit. When I say tons of cash I mean real money to the tune of at leased $10,000 on the low end if you want to make a decent living for a short time not a long time LOL. Otherwise at best Bitcoining is a good way to offset or mitigate paying for that new 7970 Radeon card if you don't mind not being able to use it for 3 to 6 months while it's mining coins to the tune of less than $1 a day LOL.

What are you talking about? I have no clue where you're getting your numbers or the context you want to use them in.

But buying AMD cards and using them to game and bitcoin when you're not gaming isn't a joke. I make over a $100 a month on Bitcoins. It's not enough to live off but it does feed my tech and gaming habits.