(guru3d) Want new drivers? Must use Geforce Experience to get them

[BFG10K]

GFE does a lot more than just update drivers.

So does Malware.

The whole reason of GFE is so that they don't have to do things like download a quarterly driver update, or know what settings to pick for a game, etc.

That's simply awesome. So where does the whole "DRM the driver for the rest of us" come into it?

This is exactly the same camel dung as Razer DRM'ing their peripherals. Seriously, why does a mouse need to activate and authenticate itself over the internet? Now we have graphics cards doing the same.

What's the next? Intel requiring CPUs to be "activated" over the internet? How about a logon to use my Creative sound card? Do my USB ports and Realtek NIC also need valid email addresses too?

I can't believe some people are willingly pulling their pants down and bending over to accept this.

You weren't the intended target.

That's like saying "you weren't the intended target of game DRM, pirates were".

 

[mikeymikec]

and reviewers should only use website drivers when reviewing nVidia products.

Nvidia would respond with "use this supplied graphics driver to test our product, or you don't get to enjoy getting early parts from us that help drive traffic to your website".

 

[Sabrewings]

So does Malware.


That's simply awesome. So where does the whole "DRM the driver for the rest of us" come into it?

This is exactly the same camel dung as Razer DRM'ing their peripherals. Seriously, why does a mouse need to activate and authenticate itself over the internet? Now we have graphics cards doing the same.

What's the next? Intel requiring CPUs to be "activated" over the internet? How about a logon to use my Creative sound card? Do my USB ports and Realtek NIC also need valid email addresses too?

I can't believe some people are willingly pulling their pants down and bending over to accept this.


That's like saying "you weren't the intended target of game DRM, pirates were".

This website requires an email. Is it the devil?

And, no, we don't now have graphics cards that have to be activated. You're being obtuse or you don't really understand the situation. Quarterly driver updates are available to everyone just the same as they always have been.

 

[tential]

You're making a bunch of arguments for the existence of GFE. What you're not doing is making any compelling argument for Nvidia FORCING it on everyone who wants access to regular drivers updates.

Easier for nvidia to dispense driver updates without needing to update a website area. Just convenience.

As a business streamlining your process as much as possible is desirable. Sucks for us, but like I've said before, it's all bark no bite. People will complain, but I expect less than 5% of complainers who are long time nvidia buyers on this forum to switch to amd for arctic Islands.

I'm sure you'll complain about the ease of adding drivers to the site for you to download and what not, but you're thinking of how you would do it. In a business things work differently and that whole process of getting a driver out on gfe, and the website is now reduced to just gfe. Time is money!

 

[tential]

So does Malware.


That's simply awesome. So where does the whole "DRM the driver for the rest of us" come into it?

This is exactly the same camel dung as Razer DRM'ing their peripherals. Seriously, why does a mouse need to activate and authenticate itself over the internet? Now we have graphics cards doing the same.

What's the next? Intel requiring CPUs to be "activated" over the internet? How about a logon to use my Creative sound card? Do my USB ports and Realtek NIC also need valid email addresses too?

I can't believe some people are willingly pulling their pants down and bending over to accept this.


That's like saying "you weren't the intended target of game DRM, pirates were".

Complain about it but at the end of the day, nvidia will only care if you upgrade to arctic Islands over pascal. Are you willing to do that over this?

 

[nurturedhate]

Complain about it but at the end of the day, nvidia will only care if you upgrade to arctic Islands over pascal. Are you willing to do that over this?

Everything else being relatively equal, I would.

 

[HurleyBird]

Complain about it but at the end of the day, nvidia will only care if you upgrade to arctic Islands over pascal. Are you willing to do that over this?

Certainly, although I already planned on jumping ship that generation anyway. I'll probably want to upgrade sooner than later, and I don't want to go through the living hell that was the early GTX 980 drivers ever again. AMD's new parts seem to take a lot longer to reach their performance potential, but I trust them a lot more in terms of stability.

 

[tential]

I doubt nvidia loses market share. After 7 months of using this system, people will be over this.
Nvidia is pretty smart at making calculated decisions.

But hey if it backfires that would be hilarious. No one would expect that this would be the way amd gains marketshare lol.

 

[mikeymikec]

I wonder if nvidia are getting the 50-90% figure out of their ass in the same way that MS did about Windows 8 and the Start menu.

 

[Skurge]

Wow, this sucks. So if a new game comes out I need to get GFE then register, just so I can get a new driver with an SLI profile?

This is such a dumb move. I don't get why they won't be on the website anymore. That's the puzzling thing.

AMD let you update through CCC, Steam or Raptr and still let you download the newest driver from their website.

I don't use GFE, but it will let you download a specific driver? Like say you want the previous driver cause the current one is giving you issues or will it only offer the newest driver?

 

[AdamK47]

I have never installed GFE and will never install it. Bloat of any sort is contort.

 

[rchunter]

Really annoying for those that have multiple machines to update. Will have to download the driver multiple times for no good reason.

Keys - make sure you tell your contacts how asinine we all think this is.

I've got 5 different computers with nvidia cards in them and a very sucky internet connection. I'm not too happy about the news that's for sure.

 

[Genx87]

I always find it amusing the conspiracy theories people make up about anything new. We can register and get game day release drivers. Or we can wait for the quarterly updates.

I'd say this is more a marketing move than anything related to a paywall. If people give them their email. Then they will be able to contact you regarding new game and product releases.

In todays world everything requires an email registration. My gmail is filled with spam tens of thousands deep. I'm not going to worry is one more is spamming my email.

 

[YBS1]

It's a very stupid move that will do nothing but enrage nVidia users and give ammo to the vocal anti-nVidia crowd. I always install GeForce Experience with my driver updates anyway, so I don't care that it's running on the system. My beef with it is the fact that using Geforce Experience to perform the actual driver update has always been a hit or miss experience at best, it's wonky as hell. While I don't usually have issue with nVidia drivers, the GFE program in particular frequently suffers from "has stopped responding", "has encountered an error", etc. Stupid move.

 

[sxr7171]

Some will be outraged at the collection of data. I'm not a fan but they already have my info through free game promotions or the fact I bought my last card directly from them.

But this bloatware is inexcusable. I tried it once and found it useless. Its just another useless program (for the experienced user - probably great for the casual user) that introduces another point of failure in my PC.

I haven't used a recent version but I'm assuming you can disable it in autorun and perhaps services and run it only when updating drivers. Major hassle though.

 

[Elixer]

Looks like the only way to avoid GFE DRM, is to use linux.

 

[tidy]

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[Compddd]

I use to not use GFE but then I started using it and it's nice and handy. I don't mind this new change.

 

[tential]

It's a very stupid move that will do nothing but enrage nVidia users and give ammo to the vocal anti-nVidia crowd. I always install GeForce Experience with my driver updates anyway, so I don't care that it's running on the system. My beef with it is the fact that using Geforce Experience to perform the actual driver update has always been a hit or miss experience at best, it's wonky as hell. While I don't usually have issue with nVidia drivers, the GFE program in particular frequently suffers from "has stopped responding", "has encountered an error", etc. Stupid move.

Can you find outrage of this on casual forums like neogaf, ign, etc? I didn't see any on neogaf for this whole on neogaf the thread for 970 3.5gb was miles long.

I could have just missed it, but if it's just enthusiasts I'm not sure if nvidia will care enough to accommodate them. Enthusiasts need to convince the general user base this is an issue and I don't think the general user base will care as much as they did with the 970.

 

[tential]

You said it.



Where do you think GFE gets it's drivers from? The driver packages are already there on Nvidia's servers. The work has already been done. Poor little Nvidia, struggling along on their shoestring budget, can't manage what amounts to nothing more than linking the file to their website? Don't be absurd.

All the infrastructure for hosting the drivers is going to be there no matter what, and the effort involved in making them available via the website is absolutely trivial. Even more so when you consider that they're still going to be doing it several times a year.

If you think it's just slap 1 link on a page and you're done then you have proven my point that you don't get how a business runs.

 

[tidy]

.

 

[AnandThenMan]

If you think it's just slap 1 link on a page and you're done then you have proven my point that you don't get how a business runs.

The download interface is already in place, all that has to be done is a new driver put up on the server (Nvidia uses akamai.net) and the driver added, which is very likely done via database.

Very simple procedure one person with moderate coding experience could write the entire thing and easily maintain it.

 

[Mistwalker]

Can you find outrage of this on casual forums like neogaf, ign, etc? I didn't see any on neogaf for this whole on neogaf the thread for 970 3.5gb was miles long.

NeoGAF thread here.

Not too different a picture there or elsewhere: some OK with it, a few defending it, and some who realize these practices inevitably end up being the first step to something even worse once we're acclimated.

I wish I could say I'm surprised there is anyone portraying this as a cost savings move (over updating a standard template download form on an established website), but I'm not. Still ridiculous though.

 

[Creig]

The targets are t he casual users who are having issues with AMD drivers like the person I encountered. With that user, GFE is an easy sell. Actually, GFE is something I ALWAYS hear about from casual Nvidia users.

People are having issues with GFE itself. It's just one more piece of software that can go wrong and cause problems. Forcing people to use GFE just to install a driver is a bonehead decision. Period.

Oh, and I don't hear of people having any more driver issues with AMD than they do with Nvidia, at least in single card systems. It's been that way for a number of years now.

 

[BFG10K]

This website requires an email. Is it the devil?

This website isn't required to operate my $1000 graphics card. It's a throwaway timewaster with zero financial investment on my part.

And, no, we don't now have graphics cards that have to be activated. You're being obtuse or you don't really understand the situation.

We need client software installed and running to get a driver. Would you be happy if every hardware component on your system required a separate client to download drivers?

"Realtek Experience"?
"Intel Experience"?
"Creative Experience"?

You a shareholder or something? Because no legitimate consumer would defend this company pissing on customer rights.

Quarterly driver updates are available to everyone just the same as they always have been.

So it's either a forced client or wait a quarter to get drivers for my $1000 GPU. This is better for me how, exactly?