Any bad experiences going from Nvidia to ATI (drivers/game wise?)

[happy medium]

Went from a gtx 260 to a 5750, no problems with anything and or windows 7.

I'm currently playing
Crysis
Crysis warhead (finished on gamer settings 5750)
Wolfinstein
Need for speed shift
Dirt 2
Grid
Call of duty WAW (finished)
Call of Duty 4 (finished)
Call of Duty modern warfare 2
Far Cry 2
Left for Dead
Left for Dead 2
Moh Airborn
Sims 3
Call of Duty 4
Flatout Ultimate Carnage

Thank god for a huge hardrive.

Edit:Forgot some steam games
Half life 2 and episode 1 (done)
Stalker (I dont like this game)
Counter Strike source (everyday!)

 

[poohbear]

Well i just found out that the 5830 is expected to perform on par w/ the 4890 and cost under $200 and is coming out january 25th, so i'll just wait for that.

 

[Acanthus]

ATis drivers have dramatically improved in the last couple of years.

I usually buy nvidia products. My 4890 1GB is fantastic.

 

[tviceman]

It seems like most comments here are fixated on desktop drivers. For the most part, both camps are relatively good with desktop drivers. Nvidia might get a nod to quicker support, or more thorough QA, but it's safe to say there are very few games that have video driver related bugs on either side.

On notebooks, though, nvidia is unquestionably CURRENTLY providing better support. Driver releases on notebooks slightly lag desktop releases, whereas with AMD they currently link you to download the driver specific to the laptop vendor. Perhaps this will change/get better with the 5XXX mobility graphics cards, but it's not there yet.

 

[tviceman]

Stalker (I dont like this game)
Counter Strike source (everyday!)

Stalker actually currently has issues with AMD drivers/cards. The game does not display all the textures in some scenes. I thought Stalker was dated and poorly executed.

 

[Via]

FYI,

I recently upgraded to ATI 5870 from 8800ultra. I had some reservations being this was my first ATI card... but I'm rather pleased.

But what I'm most pleased is about how cool it runs. My room temp would increase dramatically with my old 8800ultra but no so with 5870. Maybe because the 5870 is much faster and doesn't have to work as hard as the 8800ultra ? Not sure... but I'm rather pleased that I don't have to open my window to cool my room.

Yeah, my Ultra really heats up the old computer room lol

Not so bad in Winter, but not so good anytime else.

 

[T2k]

Stalker actually currently has issues with AMD drivers/cards. The game does not display all the textures in some scenes. I thought Stalker was dated and poorly executed.

Nonsense.
STALKER games are my favorite games - if you have patched STALKER games you don't have ANY problem with them, regardless of VGA cards.

 

[tviceman]

Nonsense.
STALKER games are my favorite games - if you have patched STALKER games you don't have ANY problem with them, regardless of VGA cards.

http://legitreviews.com/article/946/1/

So this is fixed?

 

[toyota]

Nonsense.
STALKER games are my favorite games - if you have patched STALKER games you don't have ANY problem with them, regardless of VGA cards.

its not nonsense and its one of the reasons I switched back to Nvidia.

 

[MrK6]

http://legitreviews.com/article/946/1/
So this is fixed?

That issue was fixed on my 4870 the driver update after the game released (8.10's?)

its not nonsense and its one of the reasons I switched back to Nvidia.

I've played through both games on both my 4870 and my 5870 with no issues whatsoever.

 

[T2k]

http://legitreviews.com/article/946/1/

So this is fixed?

Never had this problem with my former 4850 X2 2GB... not even before the DX10.1 patch - and this article is from April, 3 months before Clear Sky patch v1.5.10 came out in July.

 

[T2k]

its not nonsense and its one of the reasons I switched back to Nvidia.

I guess that's what Nvidia is banking on - ignorant non-tech-savy users who rather switch VGA cards than installing official patches of their games...

 

[poohbear]

It seems like most comments here are fixated on desktop drivers. For the most part, both camps are relatively good with desktop drivers. Nvidia might get a nod to quicker support, or more thorough QA, but it's safe to say there are very few games that have video driver related bugs on either side.

On notebooks, though, nvidia is unquestionably CURRENTLY providing better support. Driver releases on notebooks slightly lag desktop releases, whereas with AMD they currently link you to download the driver specific to the laptop vendor. Perhaps this will change/get better with the 5XXX mobility graphics cards, but it's not there yet.

yep im only asking about desk tops, not laptops. good to know they're solid.

 

[subtraction]

I used to be a die hard Nvidia fanboy but when the 4800 series came out I gave ATI a try and I have not gone back yet. Just upgraded from 4870's to 5800's and I am more happy than ever. And looking at what Nvidia currently has to offer I see no reason why anyone would go with them over ATI.

 

[toyota]

I guess that's what Nvidia is banking on - ignorant non-tech-savy users who rather switch VGA cards than installing official patches of their games...

well instead of being a jerk and making an ignorant comment, maybe you should know that I did have the latest patch for the game. I also went through 3 sets of ATI drivers and the issue wasnt fixed during the time that I used the ATI card.

 

[evolucion8]

toyota, you did a noob thing. Switching vendors for one single issue in one single game is a fanboy move. I played the game with no patches and the latest drivers of that time and never got a single issue. It was an issue which was solved with patches.

 

[toyota]

toyota, you did a noob thing. Switching vendors for one single issue in one single game is a fanboy move. I played the game with no patches and the latest drivers of that time and never got a single issue. It was an issue which was solved with patches.

so is every ATI user going to make rude and ignorant comments about this? READ my reply again because I said it was ONE of the reasons I switched back. and honestly waiting nearly 3 months and still not getting the missing fences fixed was pretty irritating.

 

[evolucion8]

so is every ATI user going to make rude and ignorant comments about this? READ my reply again because I said it was ONE of the reasons I switched back. and honestly waiting nearly 3 months and still not getting the missing fences fixed was pretty irritating.

The only person here that is rude and ignorant enough calling names is you, I didn't see in any of my posts nor T2K post calling people names like "jerk", it shows that you are a teenager with juvenile commentaries attacking everyone who doesn't think like you.

 

[toyota]

The only person here that is rude and ignorant enough calling names is you, I didn't see in any of my posts nor T2K post calling people names like "jerk", it shows that you are a teenager with juvenile commentaries attacking everyone who doesn't think like you.

give me a fucking break. he is clearly calling me ignorant and trying to insult me with the rest of his comment too. he is most certainly being a jerk and anybody with a pair of eyes can see that. there was absolutely no reason for him acting that way. neither one of you could make a simple reply without turning it into an insult. if you have something to say then say it in a non aggressive and non insulting way and you will receive the same in return. oh and here is a hint...calling me ignorant, a noob, a fanboy, and non tech savvy is being aggressive and insulting.

 

[evolucion8]

give me a fucking break. he is clearly calling me ignorant and trying to insult me with the rest of his comment too. he is most certainly being a jerk. neither one of you could make a simple comment without turning it into an insult. if you have something to say then say it in a non aggressive and non insulting way and you will recieve the same in return.

I never insulted you directly, just pointed your post directly to you, because you are the one here with the smokes up, but seems that your attitude proved my point, just get a life and go outside, there's more things in life than videocards.

 

[toyota]

I never insulted you directly, just pointed your post directly to you, because you are the one here with the smokes up, but seems that your attitude proved my point, just get a life and go outside, there's more things in life than videocards.

but you didnt even take the time to READ my comment before replying. instead you just jump right on me and call me a noob and a fanboy. if you had actually read my comment you would have noticed the issue with STALKER was just ONE of the reasons I switched back. in other words your eagerness to make a little insult or jab made you overlook an important part of what I actually said.

heck I wasnt even the one that brought up the issue with STALKER was I? so now you tell me to get a life and go outside? lol. I probably spend more time outside then anybody on this forum and gaming is far from my main hobby. anyway, there was just no point in the attitude especially from T2K.

 

[T2k]

Frankly, I'm not quite sure what's your problem. Are you offended by the 'ignorant, non-tech-savy' part? It's not a curse word or some derogatory comment, I used it as a simply description of your user behavior and here's why: we clearly demonstrated this problem wasn't really known and also that few of us played through these games with various drivers and patches installed yet we never saw this bug (yours truly played it with a less-known dual-GPU card which tends to be more prone to game bugs.) This tells me that something else was broken there if you had this bug...and since you were "sitting on the fence for months" it also tells me that pulling out another HDD and installing a new Windows on it, along with game-patches and latest drivers to double-check your installation never was an option for you...
Seriously, I don't think there's anything offensive there - sometimes I don't bother investigating things myself either, it's simply easier to RMA the stuff and let the (r)etailer worry about the rest...

 

[toyota]

Frankly, I'm not quite sure what's your problem. Are you offended by the 'ignorant, non-tech-savy' part? It's not a curse word or some derogatory comment, I used it as a simply description of your user behavior and here's why: we clearly demonstrated this problem wasn't really known and also that few of us played through these games with various drivers and patches installed yet we never saw this bug (yours truly played it with a less-known dual-GPU card which tends to be more prone to game bugs.) This tells me that something else was broken there if you had this bug...and since you were "sitting on the fence for months" it also tells me that pulling out another HDD and installing a new Windows on it, along with game-patches and latest drivers to double-check your installation never was an option for you...
Seriously, I don't think there's anything offensive there - sometimes I don't bother investigating things myself either, it's simply easier to RMA the stuff and let the (r)etailer worry about the rest...

you know exactly what you meant by your reply to me. you most certainly indicated that you thought I wasnt tech savvy enough or intelligent enough to patch my game. it was clearly meant as an insult and smart ass remark and you cant deny that.

if you were not being a jerk you would have simply asked if I had patched the game to which I would have replied with a yes. I installed the game, patched it, and noticed the fences appeared to be missing in spots. I dont play games every day so it was a couple of weeks before I got back to it to investigate. I realized that others had the same issue at that time too so I played some other games while I waited for a fix.

I went through 3 different drivers at the time and used the latest patch but the issue was never resolved during the time I had the card. I also could never get vsync to work with Dead Space on any of those drivers. I also had issues with a couple of other games and didnt really care for the CCC so I bought a gtx260. that resolved every single issue that I was having at the time.

I am not a real fanboy because I most certainly recommend ATI cards all the time. for me personally though this was the second ATI card I used. I also had a couple of driver issues with that card from years earlier so dealing with this new ATI card and having driver issues certainly put me off. really I just see that ATI seems to have more trouble with some newly released games than Nvidia does. yes Nvidia has driver issues too but for day to day use and playing newly released games I just have had a much user experience with Nvidia.

the only reason I mentioned anything at all was because someone brought up the STALKER issue. anyway its hardly a big deal and if people are happy with their cards then thats all that matters. heck I probably would have jumped on a 5850 at release had they been cheaper.

 

[Painman]

I think the core drivers for both flavors of card are on par, but nVidia Control Panel is a better app IMO. Mostly because nVCPL lets you set up individual 3D profiles on a game-by game basis, and CCC still does not.

I find this annoying, as forcing global settings for AA can actually break AA in some titles (it does this for me in Fallout 3). Some titles (notably older ones) don't even have their own in-game AA settings, so "application settings" gives you, of course, nothing. I still play a lot of Old Hat (I just finished System Shock 2 again in DDFix'd widescreen), and it would have been nice if CCC had let me define an AA/AF profile unique to that title.

ATi Tray Tools can remedy this, but get off your butts, ATi... I shouldn't rely on Ray Adams for something nV gives its users right there in the official toolset.

That's my only noteworthy complaint. Drivers are OK, toolset is way behind the competition's.

 

[Rhezuss]

I'm a little late in the topic but since my first "self-bought" computer in 1997, a Pentium running at 400MHz stock, I always been with nVidia.

Last fall 2009, I bought my first ATI card, a HD4850 512mb from Sapphire replacing my MSI 9600GT 512mb, and I don't regret the move one bit. I'm probably gonna buy ATI for a long time now.

The only thing is the Catalyst drivers. I had a hard time installing the 9.11 but had not a problem with the 9.10 back then and the new 9.12. Working great so far.

AMD/ATI make great quality hardware at a very nice price and i'll continue to buiy from them for a long time.