nVidia vs. ATI - Driver Quality?

[sandorski]

Well now that AMD isn't going to release updates for anything past the HD 5000 series they'll be able to focus on getting drivers & profiles out on a regular basis again.

Untrue. They won't be releasing Monthly updates to pre-5xxx, but they will be releasing quarterly updates.

 

[3DVagabond]

Well now that AMD isn't going to release updates for anything past the HD 5000 series they'll be able to focus on getting drivers & profiles out on a regular basis again.

They will be doing 1/4'ly updates instead of monthly. I know the threads were labeled that AMD dropped support, but that's not accurate.

Edit: Sandorski wins.

 

[Dark Shroud]

I wasn't sure if the quarterly updates had been confirmed yet. But good to know since I have a few family members with budget systems running HD 4670s.

 

[dynaboom]

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1683315

As of 5/2/2012, 190 responses to a poll asking which drivers are better.
56% prefer Nvidia,
9% prefer AMD,
remaining 34% say both are roughly equal.

Note the poll was done for single card only. For multi-card, consensus opinion is that Nvidia is better. I can link some articles if anyone is interested.

 

[Obsoleet]

Well, Nvidia has the title of the worst driver bug in history at this point-
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/warning-nvidia-19675-drivers-can-kill-your-graphics-card/7551

So NV definitely cannot be superior to AMD drivers based on that fact alone..

That said, IMO I like both drivers. I've gotten BSODs with Nvidia drivers (verified because switching driver versions fixed the issue)- and never experienced that with my Radeons. But overall I wouldn't be scared enough of Nvidia drivers to switch back, I'm just in disagreement that Nvidia > AMD. I'd say AMD > Nvidia, even if just barely.
5-10 years ago I would've never come close to making this statement but a lot changes.

 

[SolMiester]

The infamous 196.75 drivers, I would be interested to hear how many cards actually died because of those drivers.

 

[Jaydip]

They pulled it off pretty fast if i remember.

 

[amenx]

Well, Nvidia has the title of the worst driver bug in history at this point-
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/warning-nvidia-19675-drivers-can-kill-your-graphics-card/7551

So NV definitely cannot be superior to AMD drivers based on that fact alone..

That said, IMO I like both drivers. I've gotten BSODs with Nvidia drivers (verified because switching driver versions fixed the issue)- and never experienced that with my Radeons. But overall I wouldn't be scared enough of Nvidia drivers to switch back, I'm just in disagreement that Nvidia > AMD. I'd say AMD > Nvidia, even if just barely.
5-10 years ago I would've never come close to making this statement but a lot changes.

One-offs dont count for me. It has to be a pattern that would make me sit up and notice.. just like you would not count Tiger Woods as a bad golfer on a mis-stroke. I used the 196.75 on a gtx275 back then and nothing unusual happened, but did uninstall it once reports of issues were raised. Nothing would have happened anyway since my GPU is always protected when it reaches a temp threshold (95c) and the PC would shut down (courtesy of RealTemp).

 

[d3fu5i0n]

I've used both [nVidia with friends' systems], but I haven't had any issues with either, really.
I think the time when most people have issues is through running test drivers and then having un-install/install issues and have to 'clean' driver files off of systems. I've mainly had my share of driver issues through CF; I spent all my money to buy a powerful single-GPU setup to get off of CF.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

Well, Nvidia has the title of the worst driver bug in history at this point-
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/warning-nvidia-19675-drivers-can-kill-your-graphics-card/7551

So NV definitely cannot be superior to AMD drivers based on that fact alone..

That said, IMO I like both drivers. I've gotten BSODs with Nvidia drivers (verified because switching driver versions fixed the issue)- and never experienced that with my Radeons. But overall I wouldn't be scared enough of Nvidia drivers to switch back, I'm just in disagreement that Nvidia > AMD. I'd say AMD > Nvidia, even if just barely.
5-10 years ago I would've never come close to making this statement but a lot changes.

Don't forget that it happened twice [two different driver releases].
Or was the second time only the testing drivers with the GTX 590?; I'm unsure...

 

[3DVagabond]

Don't forget that it happened twice [two different driver releases].
Or was the second time only the testing drivers with the GTX 590?; I'm unsure...

Yeah, it was the 590. They had to lock down the voltage with the drivers. It wasn't a bug with the drivers. More of an inadequacy with the hardware OVP.

 

[Anarchist420]

Weren't you like five years old in the 3dfx days?

lol,No.

Making good drivers is easy when you have a product range of 1,2 or 3 cards-that's a willfully moronic comparison. Matrox were cretins when it came to the GPU market despite my lovely G400 Max. Nvidia were kings of spin from the outset. When you have a product range of 20-40 cards including old stuff the variables increase at least exponentially (very quickly indeed) and both manufacturers have made rods for their own backs. AMD hardware has always been good and especially good value for money vs Nvidia.

Yes, nvidia has always been kings of spin. 3dfx wasn't the most humble either, but at least their Voodoo5 beat the GF2 GTS's ass in IQ and retail sales.

 

[pauldun170]

I've been running ATI cards since 9700Pro and I can't recall issues with drivers. There may be some game specific issues going way back but I can't remember anything specific.
My htpc has a 4830 in it driver upgrades are no brainer affairs with no issues afterwards.

I can't say that with Nvidia drivers on my GTX570. I've had 3 occasions where drivers upgrades have gone badly.

Either way...I wouldn't really base my purchase on drivers (when it comes to ATI and Nvidia). Worse case scenario is that you pick and choose which driver version works best on your system.

 

[Dark Shroud]

One-offs dont count for me. It has to be a pattern that would make me sit up and notice.

It happened a 2nd time with the 590's launch drivers burning up cards. That was more so the fault of the hardware being pushed to the max trying to keep up with the HD 6990. But still it happened twice with Nvidia cards and never with AMD cards.

 

[Jaydip]

Did NV ever guarantee 590 to run at those speeds?The cards were pushed beyond their limits,do that with 6990 and it will do the same.

 

[thilanliyan]

Did NV ever guarantee 590 to run at those speeds?The cards were pushed beyond their limits,do that with 6990 and it will do the same.

You mean a 6990 would burn up if overvolted even a little bit?

were there reports of 6990s burning up like there were of 590s?