Decided to return XFX 6950 unopened

[Alaska Wolf]

It's being rerouted. I called TigerDirect and they contacted UPS . It's on it's way back to them before I received it.

12/21/2010 9:29 A.M. THE SHIPPER HAS REQUESTED A DELIVERY INTERCEPT FOR THIS PACKAGE / RETURN TO SENDER PENDING

THIS was the proverbial straw:

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst1012ahotfix.aspx

NO WAY.

I give up, I'm going to pay the extra dough and go for a GTX-570 once TigerDirect credits my card back.

 

[thilanliyan]

The 10.12a driver was the straw? Why exactly?

 

[badb0y]

I don't get it? But okay it's not like the GTX is a bad card to begin with.

 

[Kenmitch]

The 10.12a driver was the straw? Why exactly?

Maybe he has dial up? The file is like 120mb's or so.

 

[taltamir]

can you explain what it is about the 10.12a hotfix that bothers you? I am not trying to be a wise guy, I just have no idea whats going on with it.

 

[Rhezuss]

I'd like to know too. Except for the size of the file, I don't see what could be the problem...

 

[Wreckage]

Maybe it's the numerous hotfixes. It's bad enough to have to install a new driver every month, but every week or more. Didn't a recent driver need 5 hotfixes.

 

[tviceman]

It's being rerouted. I called TigerDirect and they contacted UPS . It's on it's way back to them before I received it.

12/21/2010 9:29 A.M. THE SHIPPER HAS REQUESTED A DELIVERY INTERCEPT FOR THIS PACKAGE / RETURN TO SENDER PENDING

THIS was the proverbial straw:

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst1012ahotfix.aspx

NO WAY.

I give up, I'm going to pay the extra dough and go for a GTX-570 once TigerDirect credits my card back.

Insofar as bang-for-buck, both the 6950 and gtx570 are about equal so you really can't go wrong performance wise with either one. If you do anything with cuda, or like the idea of physx, then you will be happier with the gtx570.

 

[Chiropteran]

Didn't a recent driver need 5 hotfixes.

Need?

I'm still running the 10.10 drivers. You don't *need* to install the latest driver every time one gets released. IMO it's better to have the option to use an updated driver on a weekly basis than not use it.

Weren't people complaining about lack of driver updates when they only released a new driver every 3-4 months? Now a new driver every week is too often? Seriously, is that really a problem?

 

[sandorski]

lol, ok.

 

[badb0y]

Your mad because of a hotfix? Do you know what the hotfix was for?

10.12 was released before the release of the 69xx series, the hotfix was probably added to support the 69xx when they launched.

 

[Elixer]

It's being rerouted. I called TigerDirect and they contacted UPS . It's on it's way back to them before I received it.

12/21/2010 9:29 A.M. THE SHIPPER HAS REQUESTED A DELIVERY INTERCEPT FOR THIS PACKAGE / RETURN TO SENDER PENDING

THIS was the proverbial straw:

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst1012ahotfix.aspx

NO WAY.

I give up, I'm going to pay the extra dough and go for a GTX-570 once TigerDirect credits my card back.

I think you just had buyer's remorse, and was just looking for a excuse.
Whatever.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Having cards on both sides of the playing field, I will give the "stability" and "easy use out of the box" edge to Nvidia. However, my HD 5770 has been a great card, and I'd be more than happy to buy another AMD card in the future.

For me, the power / heat / noise advantage, and the fact that AMD chooses to include DisplayPort on their cards are what's swaying me towards them for my next purchase.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Your mad because of a hotfix? Do you know what the hotfix was for?

10.12 was released before the release of the 69xx series, the hotfix was probably added to support the 69xx when they launched.

Exactly. This is similar to the Nvidia drivers that came out right after the release of their recent card(s) that ONLY supports the GTX 570 / GTX 580. The difference is, Nvidia just bundles a new driver number onto it rather than calling it a "hotfix" (which is misleading on AMD's part; marketing should jump on this).

 

[tviceman]

Having cards on both sides of the playing field, I will give the "stability" and "easy use out of the box" edge to Nvidia. However, my HD 5770 has been a great card, and I'd be more than happy to buy another AMD card in the future.

For me, the power / heat / noise, and the fact that AMD chooses to include DisplayPort on their cards are what's swaying me towards them for my next purchase.

You do realize that since the gtx460 was released, for the most part both companies have been on a fairly equal playing field when it comes to power, heat, and noise?

 

[Wreckage]

You do realize that since the gtx460 was released, for the most part both companies have been on a fairly equal playing field when it comes to power, heat, and noise?

http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/20126/15

Under load, Nvidia's stock coolers simply outperform AMD's. The GTX 570's GPU temperature exactly matches the 6970's, the two cards' power draw is only 5W apart, yet the GTX 570 is 2.5 dB quieter.

Indeed.

 

[taltamir]

Need?

I'm still running the 10.10 drivers. You don't *need* to install the latest driver every time one gets released. IMO it's better to have the option to use an updated driver on a weekly basis than not use it.

Are you saying that the hotfixes are NOT fixes for major bugs, but new features and performance improvements?
Because if they are for major bugs then they are indeed needed.

Weren't people complaining about lack of driver updates when they only released a new driver every 3-4 months? Now a new driver every week is too often? Seriously, is that really a problem?

Yes, people did complain about that a lot. Just shows that people don't know what is good for them and will never ever be grateful when you give them what they asked for.

 

[Powermoloch]

Damn, so fast lol.

Besides it's your time and money.

 

[Tegeril]

http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/20126/15

Under load, Nvidia's stock coolers simply outperform AMD's. The GTX 570's GPU temperature exactly matches the 6970's, the two cards' power draw is only 5W apart, yet the GTX 570 is 2.5 dB quieter.

Indeed.

How long did it take to find those numbers?

Anandtech shows a 21W difference under load between 570/6970 with Crysis and and 85W difference with Furmark, both in AMD's favor. Idle temps tied and under load with Crysis, AMD was 4 degrees cooler, Furmark load, 5 degrees cooler. Idle, noise was 0.4dB in Nvidia's favor, and under load 3.3dB in favor of AMD.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4061/amds-radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950/24

 

[DaveSimmons]

This does sound like buyer's remorse. I'm still not seeing a good reason why 10.12a is "the proverbial [last] straw":

"AMD Catalyst driver 10.12a Hotfix Feature:

* AMD Catalyst driver support for systems running Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® with an AMD Radeon™ HD 69xx series graphics card installed
* Includes support for 5x1 AMD Eyefinity display configurations"

I'll keep enjoying my 6850 with no need for this hotfix.

Just because a new driver is released doesn't mean you must download it. With my old 4870 I went at least a year without needing to install any of the driver updates and had no problem playing games like Fallout 3, Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2.

 

[Vesku]

If you are refusing delivery on a card because of an out of cycle driver update, guess I better just destroy my nVidia cards with a hammer.

http://www.betanews.com/article/Nvi...le-for-fan-problems-issues-updates/1268942898

Hmm, wait perhaps that is an over reaction on my part.

 

[MentalIlness]

It's being rerouted. I called TigerDirect and they contacted UPS . It's on it's way back to them before I received it.

12/21/2010 9:29 A.M. THE SHIPPER HAS REQUESTED A DELIVERY INTERCEPT FOR THIS PACKAGE / RETURN TO SENDER PENDING

THIS was the proverbial straw:

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst1012ahotfix.aspx

NO WAY.

I give up, I'm going to pay the extra dough and go for a GTX-570 once TigerDirect credits my card back.

trying to get a card back before the Holidays.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

So, you're willing to pay an obscene premium for the latest and greatest but, you don't want to deal with s hot fix?

 

[Alaska Wolf]

Well, at least it will be different. I've been running ATI cards since the 9700 Pro.

 

[badb0y]

The funny thing is, it's not even a majore hotfix, all it did was add support for the new cards and guess what? nVidia does this too...lol.