[Ars] Should we be required to create an account to get drivers?

[AnandThenMan]

But honestly I could see nvidia getting away with a move like this.

So you agree it is very poor form for Nvidia to try and get away with a move like this as you put it.

 

[tential]

So you agree it is very poor form for Nvidia to try and get away with a move like this as you put it.

If nvidia doesn't want to invest time in updating their site and instead want to push drivers via a software solution that's their own prerogative. I really think it's a pretty efficient way of driver dissemination. If amd did the same and had a polished raptr experience , I'd just do it.... Its a pretty great package for a 1 time email big deal. Most people here are already using it anyway.

If you're looking for a person to grab a pitchfork with you look it's not me. It doesn't auto update your drivers it let's you update through the interface if you choose to. Sounds highly convenient to me. I'm not on the latest amd drivers because it's not convenient. Nvidia will make it easy for their consumers to be on the latest driver, which will allow them to get the best performance which will hopefully keep then upgrading nvidia.

It's a good strategy and a good ecosystem so meh, I'm not mad. Just indifferent. If it was available I'd use it, if it's not I don't care.

 

[AnandThenMan]

If nvidia doesn't want to invest time in updating their site and instead want to push drivers via a software solution that's their own prerogative.

They have to "spend time" pushing the driver out no matter the method so I don't know what you are trying to get at here. And why do you even care what is easier for Nvidia don't you care what is better for end users? You've stated about 10 different ways how this is "not so bad" even though you characterize it as Nvidia getting away with something. I get it you don't care about choice, but consider others do.

I really think it's a pretty efficient way of driver dissemination.

That's not the issue, it is forcing people to use a piece of bloatware to get a driver.

It doesn't auto update your drivers it let's you update through the interface if you choose to.

For now. Who knows what else Nvidia will try to force on their users once they become forcibly dependent on GFE. What's next, not allowing users to control game settings?

Sounds highly convenient to me.

Then use it. Many users like control of their systems.

 

[Mike64]

i can't say having another account that can have personal information stolen is all that appealing.

What sort of info are they wanting to register you for this "account"? At this point, I have/have had to register for so many effing "accounts" I couldn't count them all if I tried. The user IDs or email addresses are one of a small handful of variations I use for pretty much everything, and unless they have financial info or my SSN, they have mindlessly simple, totally non-random passwords :biggrin: created from the website/organization's name and a "super-secret" suffix whiste, that would be really easy to brute-force (or for that matter, simply guess) if anyone cared enough to do so (but seriously, no one does...) As long as they don't want a credit card or your social security number, what do you realistically have to lose that someone who wanted it couldn't find out with some slightly serious Googling anyway?

 

[3DVagabond]

What sort of info are they wanting to register you for this "account"? At this point, I have/have had to register for so many effing "accounts" I couldn't count them all if I tried. The user IDs or email addresses are one of a small handful of variations I use for pretty much everything, and unless they have financial info or my SSN, they have mindless passwords created from the website/organization's name, that would be really easy to brute-force (or for that matter, simply guess) if anyone cared enough to do so (but realistically, no one does.) As long as they don't want a credit card or your social security number, what do you realistically have to lose that someone who wanted it couldn't find out with some slightly serious Googling anyway?

Also, if they require your name and DOB, lie.

 

[ocre]

What sort of info are they wanting to register you for this "account"? At this point, I have/have had to register for so many effing "accounts" I couldn't count them all if I tried. The user IDs or email addresses are one of a small handful of variations I use for pretty much everything, and unless they have financial info or my SSN, they have mindless passwords created from the website/organization's name, that would be really easy to brute-force (or for that matter, simply guess) if anyone cared enough to do so (but realistically, no one does.) As long as they don't want a credit card or your social security number, what do you realistically have to lose that someone who wanted it couldn't find out with some slightly serious Googling anyway?

I don't even remember signing up for GE at all. It must be uneventful, I don't sign in or type a password, it's just an icon in the notifications, if there is a GeForce driver I will see an exclamation on it when my PC boots up. I click on it and then GE opens up and I click to download the driver......
Actually, I usually ignore it for a week or two then click on it to install the driver.

So, their website still has stand alone drivers? You just won't get the little drivers in between?

I don't think it's gonna matter, I don't think people are that concerned about this.

 

[Atreidin]

Requiring email registration, even for "just" the latest "game-ready drivers", is horrible. Quite frankly, it pisses me off. I have to censor myself here before I get inflammatory.

 

[provost]

So the people who are arguing in favor of this really believe this is just about Nvidia trying to get it's install base's email addresses and deliver a better experience by forcing its customers to use a locked down driver update ecosystem?

That's a pretty a naive pitch (with a straight face) to a bunch of techies , and young gamers who may or may not get the business side of things... Lol

 

[railven]

So the people who are arguing in favor of this really believe this is just about Nvidia trying to get it's install base's email addresses and deliver a better experience by forcing its customers to use a locked down driver update ecosystem?

Better being subjective. /shrug.

My GF loves GFE. She doesn't even use it but re-installed it the moment she realized I uninstalled it. If she posted here she'd probably say it was better. I'd violently disagree.

That's a pretty a naive pitch (with a straight face) to a bunch of techies , and young gamers who may or may not get the business side of things... Lol

Man this issue has really rustled some jimmies if it warranted post number 6 from this user.

Nvidia gonna Nvidia. Thankfully all the AMD users in here aren't buying Nvidia cards. Haha.

Welps, be interesting to see how it plays out. I got a feeling Nvidia is gonna back pedal on this. They back pedaled on OC'ing laptop which could actually cost them (or at least the OEMs) money.

For now, I can cross the Sahara with all the salt in this thread.

 

[Gikaseixas]

GFE is good for noobies, it optimizes games on a touch of a button, it offers driver upgrades without the need of looking for the latest version and (for now) doesn't cost a thing.

For more advanced users it might not be such a good thing because sometimes the latest driver is not necessarily the best for the game we're playing at the moment and waiting for the next driver release before you can enjoy your gaming might turn you off big time. This is taking most of the control we have now.

 

[tential]

Just like the whole gtx 970 thing. The people who are loudest against this will also not be nvidia card owners

 

[Creig]

Just like the whole gtx 970 thing. The people who are loudest against this will also not be nvidia card owners

Give it up. There were quite a few pissed off GTX 970 owners, too. Many even returned their cards for refunds after they discovered they'd been lied to about its specs by Nvidia.

I don't use Raptr and I wouldn't use GFE. All I need is the ability to choose what driver I want to install and when I want to install it. I fail to see why the downloading of a driver would require an email address.

 

[therealnickdanger]

No matter how they spin it, removing choice is stupid and bad practice. Above all else, it simply boils down to that.

This.

 

[Dribble]

GFE is good for noobies, it optimizes games on a touch of a button, it offers driver upgrades without the need of looking for the latest version and (for now) doesn't cost a thing.

For more advanced users it might not be such a good thing because sometimes the latest driver is not necessarily the best for the game we're playing at the moment and waiting for the next driver release before you can enjoy your gaming might turn you off big time. This is taking most of the control we have now.

I can't remember the last time just installing the latest nvidia driver didn't work fine with everything. What will turn off all non enthusiast users is installing the latest driver breaking existing games. I am very happy that I can always just install the latest nvidia driver and it works. I don't want to have to look though compatibility lists, or use a fancy uninstall tool, or require 3rd party modded drivers, or any of that hassle.

 

[tential]

Give it up. There were quite a few pissed off GTX 970 owners, too. Many even returned their cards for refunds after they discovered they'd been lied to about its specs by Nvidia.

I don't use Raptr and I wouldn't use GFE. All I need is the ability to choose what driver I want to install and when I want to install it. I fail to see why the downloading of a driver would require an email address.

It didn't stop the gtx 970 from being the most used graphics card on steam. So sure there are a few loud people who will return their cards or whatever. I never disputed that.
Just that at the end of the day, very few people will switch vendors.
I expect the gtx 970 successor to break another sales record easily even after this situation.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I like GFE, but I dont like having my choice taken. So NO, they should not be locked away

 

[coercitiv]

So sure there are a few loud people who will return their cards or whatever. I never disputed that.

Yes you did.

The people who are loudest against this [970 thing] will also not be nvidia card owners

 

[at80eighty]

another vote for letting people have their choice. i choose to remove GFE and just do clean installs. any argument in its favour as a sole option is bizarre.

 

[Nebor]

I don't remember making an account for GFE. Regardless, this is a non-issue to me. Seems like a strange move though.

 

[tential]

Yes you did.

That says the people who are loudest will be non nvidia owners. It doesn't say that people who are nvidia owners will not be upset.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Even saw people returning their GTX970, only to buy it again.

GTX970 is king on steam, says it all.

 

[CakeMonster]

I have not used GFE so I can't speak much for or against it, but the only thing I'm missing is an automated update process. I prefer to adjust the settings in-game myself, thank you very much.

Creating any accounts, giving them my e-mail, info, or in general letting them adjust anything for me is a huge nope.

 

[cyclohexane]

The last NV card I had was a GeForce4. Been buying from ati/amd ever since, more people need to do the same to prevent a nvidia monopoly and [situations] like this.

Profanity isn't allowed in the technical forums.
-- stahlhart

 

[kami]

I use GFE and never once have used the settings optimization feature. It's not on by default as far as I know (if it was, I must have turned it off when I originally installed it). I prefer to use the old fashioned control panel or just adjust within the game. At this point I mostly use it for updating drivers, but again it's not automatic. It simply informs me if there is a new driver. I also hear the recording feature is quite nice but I haven't tried it yet.

I originally installed it because I used to have a Shield and it was used for streaming. I haven't bothered to remove it because it takes up nearly zero resources and is never in my face and never does anything unless I tell it to.

That being said, I don't see the point in requiring registration for driver updates. Why upset such a tiny user base (the enthusiasts) when everyone else is going to use your GFE anyway? I'm hoping with enough uproar Nvidia changes their mind on this.

 

[Spanners]

Even saw people returning their GTX970, only to buy it again.

GTX970 is king on steam, says it all.

It doesn't "say it all", in fact it doesn't say anything that isn't self evident. The 970 being "king on steam" doesn't change the fact that the whole 970 memory segmentation fiasco was shady and poorly handled. (IMO of course).

To bring it back to the topic here the fact that Nvidia will continue to be the most popular vendor doesn't change the fact that forcing this change on people is also a bad move. (IMO again). I see this argument too often here.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum