Which drivers would have less amount of issues: 5870 vs 470GTX

[Kyanzes]

I got offered both cards from two different people and both would come at a nice price.

Benches show these cards are very close in performance. Sometimes one dominates the other but it goes both ways.

I need to find something on which I can base my decision, so which one would have less amount of issues in games?

What do you think?

 

[Sylvanas]

That question is about as subjective as you can get, people will offer you their first hand experience which won't be indicative of the overall state of both vendors but it's about as accurate as one can be. Basically, both vendors have 'stable' drivers, that is to say both Nv and ATI have games which may not work correctly but the majority will work fine without issue.

In order to determine what card is best for you it comes down to price and performance and if you'd make use of any of the vendor specific features. What games do you play and how do the 5870 and GTX470 perform in them? Will you make use of Eyefinity or perhaps CUDA/PhysX? In general and as a blanket statement the 470 is competitive with the 5870 with recent drivers ( see here here).

I have owned both and used drivers from both vendors and both in recent times have been without issue. However I do appreciate the driver specific features that Nvidia offers which ATI does not- and example being Ambient Occlusion in games which may not use it by default or per game profiles. So, after asking yourself the above questions it comes down to what you'd find useful, If I were in your shoes I'd go the 470.

 

[Kyanzes]

...
I have owned both and used drivers from both vendors and both in recent times have been without issue. However I do appreciate the driver specific features that Nvidia offers which ATI does not- and example being Ambient Occlusion in games which may not use it by default or per game profiles. So, after asking yourself the above questions it comes down to what you'd find useful, If I were in your shoes I'd go the 470.

I don't use any extra features. I play games (and do stuff that won't need any such features). The SOLE thing I can think of is that NVIDIA drivers allow for custom resolutions which is extremely important to me. I need to be able to set arbitrary resolutions. E.g., I almost always play RPGs (and EVE Online) in a window so I can look up stuff here and there, use forums and stuff like that.

I don't like that ATI won't allow for this. Then again one can still dig up some registry tweaks and solve this (I actually owned a 5870 before but got angry when I couldn't set custom resolutions, not even with hacks, and sold it, and threw in my old 8800GTX. I was like "I paid $500 bucks for a freaking card that won't allow me to set a custom resolution WTF")

Then again I'm not sure that I should base my decision on such a narrow aspect.

 

[zerocool84]

The only problems I've ever had with drivers was the common Nvidia driver crashing during games sometimes. Other than that both camps have been good to me.

 

[Borealis7]

Drivers from both companies are equally bad

really, its threads like this that perpetuate the myth about bad drivers from this or that company. the drivers are fine, just make sure not to mess up your DLLs by constantly overwriting them without uninstalling first.

 

[3DVagabond]

I don't like that ATI won't allow for this. Then again one can still dig up some registry tweaks and solve this (I actually owned a 5870 before but got angry when I couldn't set custom resolutions, not even with hacks, and sold it, and threw in my old 8800GTX. I was like "I paid $500 bucks for a freaking card that won't allow me to set a custom resolution WTF")

This seems to settle it, doesn't it? You already owned one and didn't like it. A 470 definitely wouldn't be my choice. I'd much prefer the 5870. You seem to already prefer nVidia. What's making you question wanting a 5870 again?

 

[kami]

So you owned a 5870 already? You must have really hated it at the time if you ditched it that quickly. You seem like you'd be more comfortable with nvidia.

 

[Scali]

I tossed out my Radeon 5770 in favour of a GTX460, mainly because both OpenGL and OpenCL don't work as advertised.
Then there are various other minor glitches, such as the Catalyst Control Panel always crashing when you use Remote Desktop... hardware-accelerated video decoding often messing up the deinterlacing etc...

For your average game, it won't matter much... but for me as a developer/power user, I'm done with ATi for a while. They don't live up to their promises (OpenCL, physics acceleration etc)... and even though the OpenGL bug in Unigine Heaven is claimed to be fixed in the 10.7 release notes, my system still hung up completely.

The press and community needs to stop loving and hugging ATi/AMD all the time, and tell them where it's at: their marketing department is continuously making claims that their their software department can't live up to.

 

[RussianSensation]

It looks like Ben90 was able to set custom resolutions on his 8800GT. So if this is something you need, go with NV.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2095112

 

[Axon]

I haven't had an issue with either side's drivers. Of course, like all hardware, potential issues are always lurking in the background, like a grenade hanging out with the hot chick at the club.

...

what?

 

[shangshang]

Get Nvidia. They have a closer relationship and work more closely with more developers. This ultimately will translate to better driver performance and stability. If prices are the same (which they are now if not in favor of NV), NV gets the nod in my books.

 

[Chiropteran]

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/03/28/29-of-windows-vista-crashes-caused-by-nvidia-drivers/

Yeah, it's a few years old but history tends to repeat itself. While neither company is perfect, in my experience the problems that ATI drivers have are poor game performance, while the nvidia drivers have a nasty tendency to cause windows to BSOD. That said, I haven't used a nvidia card since my 8800 GT back in the days of Vista, maybe they are better now.

 

[happy medium]

Get Nvidia. They have a closer relationship and work more closely with more developers. This ultimately will translate to better driver performance and stability. If prices are the same (which they are now if not in favor of NV), NV gets the nod in my books.

+1

 

[Gikaseixas]

Never had any issues with either one. I owned x number of Nvidia cards and not a single one gave me driver problems. This is my 4th ATI card and it's the same thing, no issues ever.

What i like about my 5870 is that it is very efficient when it comes to cooling. Even after hours of playing my system never goes crazy temperature wise. I was considering getting a GTX480, which has excellent performance but it's hot as hell so i'll hold on to see how SI performs or wait for a GTX485

 

[Xarick]

I have also found that ATI seems to have more game specific issues. However since jumping to my 5850 I have not had the Driver not responding issue that I use to get periodically with my 8800gts.

 

[TemjinGold]

OP: You paid $500 for a 5870?

 

[Genx87]

With CCC installed? Nvidia
Without CCC installed neither is better imo.

 

[pjkenned]

I'm fairly certain that my GTX 470 SLI drivers turn my PC into a leafblower. Holy... I was shocked coming from dual GTX 285's. I will say that I bought both the EVGA GTX 470's for $500 so prices have come down... which they need do so you can buy waterblocks.

 

[Kyanzes]

OP: You paid $500 for a 5870?

Yeah, a year back or so it cost me about that. I also live in Hungary and prices here are higher by about 25 percent by default.

Also, to answer another question, posed by a different poster, regarding my inclination to buy a 5870 yet again: I was offered one for $250 which is considered cheap over here.

 

[Sylvanas]

With CCC installed? Nvidia
Without CCC installed neither is better imo.

Welcome to 2010, CCC is fine. What problems are you encountering specifically with the CCC?

 

[extra]

c) the same.

 

[Tempered81]

I would say the 470 would have less issues with games comapred to the 5870, but the 5870 would be faster, cooler and use less power.

Both can be a pain in the ass, and it's really luck of the draw. However from my own experience with ati & nvidia software, and i can tell you that the nvidia software and drivers are more friendly.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Since I use cards on both sides of the camp on a daily basis, I'd say Nvidia is slightly more stable / issue free. My ATI cards / drivers don't have any game-breaking problems, just a few minor quirks.

In the end, either one is great. Go for whichever card offers best performance per dollar, and take heat and noise into consideration. At the moment, I'd take a GTX 470 over an HD 5870 if you have a case with good airflow, and a GTX 460 1GB over HD 5770. The HD 5850 is a good value with some of the low prices we're seeing, though.

 

[dajeepster]

I have both cards.. running the latest drivers on both.. I haven't seen anything wrong with either. Catalyst 10.7... and a bunch of numbers for the gtx 480 .. i downloaded the invidia one on saturday.
My main rig that I use all the time has the 5870 in it. I use this one all the time because it just happens to have the faster processor.
In the gtx480 system, I haven't seen any problems, but I only use this system about half as much as the main.

 

[Carcass]

Past 3 years I've had Nvidia and ATI cards, I've never had any issues with either. Anything before then is going to be too old to consider. I play a lot of different games, and having had no issues, I personally don't feel there's much relevancy in people who claim one is more stable than the other.

As already mentioned, best performance for your money is all most people need to consider. In your case it sounds as though your decision is already made though, given your issues with custom resolutions.