Best drivers for Vista 64...ATI or nVIDIA?

[Sulaco]

I'm currently building a new rig that is just about ready to order, but I'm still undecided in terms of graphics cards. It's down to the Radeon 4870 1gb and the GTX 260 c216 Superclocked. They seem to be a toss-up performance-wise, maybe a slight edge to the Radeon, but the GTX has the power/heat advantage. They're nearly identical in price, so I'm trying to look at it from every angle. And driver stability is one of those angles.

I will be using Vista Business 64-bit, and I've never used Vista 64 before, so I'd like to make the transition to 64 bit as smooth as possible.

Does either side have any kind of advantage in 64bit Vista? Anyone who has had experience with both makers in Vista, I'd love to hear your experiences.

Thanks for reading!

 

[adairusmc]

I just upgraded from a 9800GX2 to a 4870 Tri-Fire setup, and the drivers have worked perfectly for me on both platforms so far (in vista 64). Even starting off using the tri-fire I so far have not ran into any issues with the catalyst 8.11's.

 

[error8]

I had a 8800 GT and now I have the 4870. Both had good drivers on Vista64, so I can't complain about anything. Vista 64 is rock solid. I'm still trying to find a program that doesn't work or has issues under Vista 64.

Choose whatever card you find better in terms of performance, drivers are not an issue.

 

[Fattysharp]

Agreed. Both companies have solid drivers for the cards now. It pretty much depends on what games you want to play.

For me, I prefer the way ATI handles video so i traded in my 8800gtx for a ati 4870. This is just my preference though.

 

[Grinja]

Been running Vista 64 with a 6800GS, X1950pro and now an HD4870, no issues so far. The only problem i've found was with 3rd party tools that require driver signing to be off.
Even though ATI releases drivers monthly, I only update mine every 2 or 3 months or if I encounter a show stopper in a game.

I don't think you could really go wrong either way.

 

[TridenT]

nVidia. ATI has shit drivers ATM.

 

[zerogear]

They both are fine, The only problem i've had with nvidia is with their HDMI out. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

 

[TridenT]

Originally posted by: zerogear
They both are fine, The only problem i've had with nvidia is with their HDMI out. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

You sure about that? Maybe you should read all the threads about people having trouble with crossfire and many other issues with ATI cards. >_<

 

[Fattysharp]

Originally posted by: TridenTBoy3555

Originally posted by: zerogear
They both are fine, The only problem i've had with nvidia is with their HDMI out. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

You sure about that? Maybe you should read all the threads about people having trouble with crossfire and many other issues with ATI cards. >_<

I do not believe the op mentioned anything about xfire .. and for every thread on someone having trouble with an ati card there are the number for nvidia cards. Unfortunately, no manufacturing line is 100%

If the OP was asking about an xfire or SLI setup, both have their problems. I am sure there would more to talk about then. Since he isn't ..

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: Fattysharp

Originally posted by: TridenTBoy3555

Originally posted by: zerogear
They both are fine, The only problem i've had with nvidia is with their HDMI out. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

You sure about that? Maybe you should read all the threads about people having trouble with crossfire and many other issues with ATI cards. >_<

I do not believe the op mentioned anything about xfire .. and for every thread on someone having trouble with an ati card there are the number for nvidia cards. Unfortunately, no manufacturing line is 100%

If the OP was asking about an xfire or SLI setup, both have their problems. I am sure there would more to talk about then. Since he isn't ..

Meh. He's just one of those users who is bitter with ATI cause he can't get his crossfire setup working right. Personally I think it's a PEBKAC, but we will never know.

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: Quiksilver

Originally posted by: Fattysharp

Originally posted by: TridenTBoy3555

Originally posted by: zerogear
They both are fine, The only problem i've had with nvidia is with their HDMI out. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

You sure about that? Maybe you should read all the threads about people having trouble with crossfire and many other issues with ATI cards. >_<

I do not believe the op mentioned anything about xfire .. and for every thread on someone having trouble with an ati card there are the number for nvidia cards. Unfortunately, no manufacturing line is 100%

If the OP was asking about an xfire or SLI setup, both have their problems. I am sure there would more to talk about then. Since he isn't ..

Meh. He's just one of those users who is bitter with ATI cause he can't get his crossfire setup working right. Personally I think it's a PEBKAC, but we will never know.

That, or an ID10T error.

 

[GaiaHunter]

Had no problems with either.

 

[nitromullet]

Both ATI and NVIDIA single gpu drivers are quite good in Vista x64, and chances are you'd be happy with either.

If I was trying to decide between a 4870 1GB and a GTX 260, I'd go with the EVGA card. In my experience you will not find a company they comes close to EVGA in terms of service/support in any of the ATI vendors.

 

[Spike]

I have been running Vista 64 for about 10 months now and the only GPU driver related issue I have had was BSODs when using nVidia's ntune. I found out the early version had some problem with vista 64 so I avoided it after that. I ran the setup with my 8800GTS 512 for 6 months and then upgraded to the 4870 512 and I have had 0 driver related issues with either. There have been texture problems in certain games with both but as for Vista there were no issues after the ntune errors.

I think you will be good to go with either card. If there are certain games you like that one card or the other excels at then go for that. Otherwise if everything is equal in your mind (slight gaming edge for ATi = better power/heat for nVidia) then I would go with the GTX 260 simply because of the better warranties available.

Good luck!

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: adairusmc

Originally posted by: Quiksilver

Originally posted by: Fattysharp

Originally posted by: TridenTBoy3555

Originally posted by: zerogear
They both are fine, The only problem i've had with nvidia is with their HDMI out. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

You sure about that? Maybe you should read all the threads about people having trouble with crossfire and many other issues with ATI cards. >_<

I do not believe the op mentioned anything about xfire .. and for every thread on someone having trouble with an ati card there are the number for nvidia cards. Unfortunately, no manufacturing line is 100%

If the OP was asking about an xfire or SLI setup, both have their problems. I am sure there would more to talk about then. Since he isn't ..

Meh. He's just one of those users who is bitter with ATI cause he can't get his crossfire setup working right. Personally I think it's a PEBKAC, but we will never know.

That, or an ID10T error.

or a PICNIC

 

[Mem]

My 4870 and Vista x64 solid in all my gaming, I've also just installed Runes of Magic (Closed Beta) no issues to report,personally I would just grab lastest official drivers(Nvidia or ATI) like I always do.

 

[jacktesterson]

Radeon HD 4670 works 100% in my HTPC system running windows ultimate x64

 

[Sylvanas]

Used both Nvidia and ATIs drivers and I have had much better experiences with ATIs drivers- never had a problem. BFG did a poll on this a while back and people where very much more pleased with ATIs drivers than Nvidias, I remember for ATI it was 20:1 Happy to not happy, and Nvidia was 1:1.

 

[solofly]

Originally posted by: Spike
then I would go with the GTX 260 simply because of the better warranties available.

Not if you go Visiontek...

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: solofly

Originally posted by: Spike
then I would go with the GTX 260 simply because of the better warranties available.

Not if you go Visiontek...

Ummm...
Nvidia still has the better AIB partners.. even if you count VT for ATI.

ATI has no AIB's that support modding, and still has a lifetime warranty.

Only thing closest is VT with a lifetime, but any mod's voids that.

 

[RallyMaster]

Originally posted by: TridenTBoy3555
nVidia. ATI has shit drivers ATM.

Funny, I switched to ATi just recently because NVIDIA drivers were making me artifact in anything Direct3D related every single time I set my monitor to shut off after a certain period of time. Switched to ATi, problem solved.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: Quiksilver

Originally posted by: solofly

Originally posted by: Spike
then I would go with the GTX 260 simply because of the better warranties available.

Not if you go Visiontek...

Ummm...
Nvidia still has the better AIB partners.. even if you count VT for ATI.

ATI has no AIB's that support modding, and still has a lifetime warranty.

Only thing closest is VT with a lifetime, but any mod's voids that.

This was my biggest issue. Obviously warranty is not the end all for me as I have a Sapphire 4870 but if everything else is equal including the price then I would rather get an eVGA, XFX, or BFG card simply for the better warranties. Yes, visiontek has a good warranty but I'm told getting a RMA is harder than with the nvidia partners and as Quicksilver pointed out, I can't mod the visiontek without voiding my warranty.

 

[lifeblood]

I use Vista 64 Ultimate with a 3650 and it works without problem except... Running Dreamscenes and a graphical type application together (Skype with video, 3d Game, etc) will occasionally lock it up solid. However, I bet that is a Dreamscenes issue as it doesn't happen when I turn off Dreamscenes. Your running Vista Bussiness so you don't have to worry about that unless you buy Dreamscenes.