Who has better Vista x64 drivers? nVidia or ATi?

[zero2dash]

Who has better Vista x64 drivers? nVidia or ATi?

I know they've both had issues in the past with sketchy drivers, especially nVidia, but I'm wondering if they've both fixed those problems and now both work OK (or if one is better than the other right now)?

Any thoughts?
TIA

 

[mruffin75]

No idea about Nvidia, but ATI's drivers haven't had any problems for me in Vista-64..

 

[n7]

I haven't used ATi for a while, but aside from some specific issues is specific games, i'd say ATi's are still better overall.

 

[raddreamer3kx]

both have worked fine for me,no problems.

 

[solofly]

Originally posted by: n7
I haven't used ATi for a while, but aside from some specific issues is specific games, i'd say ATi's are still better overall.

You should be using ati then and get rid of that crappy nvidia.

Anyone who had been around long enough knows nvidia had always better compatibility with games and stability. Anyone tells you otherwise is BSing or a lying fanboy. Being a fanboy is fine by me but lying isn't...

 

[will889]

Originally posted by: solofly

Originally posted by: n7
I haven't used ATi for a while, but aside from some specific issues is specific games, i'd say ATi's are still better overall.

You should be using ati then and get rid of that crappy nvidia.

Anyone who had been around long enough knows nvidia had always better compatibility with games and stability. Anyone tells you otherwise is BSing or a lying fanboy.

Nope. Both companies have had their share of issues, with one side being better with different drivers and yet with different games at different times in history, but one side is not better than the other as far as drivers go over time. So --- maybe that qualifies you in the category of the last line in your post huh?

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: solofly

Originally posted by: n7
I haven't used ATi for a while, but aside from some specific issues is specific games, i'd say ATi's are still better overall.

You should be using ati then and get rid of that crappy nvidia.

Anyone who had been around long enough knows nvidia had always better compatibility with games and stability. Anyone tells you otherwise is BSing or a lying fanboy. Being a fanboy is fine by me but lying isn't...

LOL. I assume that's a joke?

I've owned a total of 3 different nV cards vs. i think almost 10 ATi cards, & have encountered more issues with drivers on those few nV cards than all the ATi ones combined.

 

[chizow]

I have the following currently installed on my Vista x64 rig:

CoH/OF*
The Witcher
COD4
World in Conflict*
Crysis Demo*
Titans Quest/IT
Supreme Commander/FA
Hitman: Blood Money
LOTRO*
CS:S/DoD:S
QW:ET
Dark Messiah of MM

Maybe missing a few here and there.....

Haven't had a problem with any of them, all look and run great. Titles with asterisks indicate DX10 support. There's also a forum member with one of the most comprehensive game collections I've seen running NV hardware and Vista x64, something like 320 games.

Except for a few problems with my mobo/RAM and the X-Fi with 4GB, my current system is by far the most stable and best performing (relative to other options and overall gaming experience) rig I've ever built.

 

[Marty502]

x1950 user here, I had Vista x64 for a while and it was flawless. Even less graphic issues than with XP. And the same as I had with Vista, none.

 

[solofly]

Originally posted by: n7
LOL. I assume that's a joke?

Not at all. There are exceptions here and there but I'm sure majority will agree with me.

 

[Cheex]

I've had no problems with my Nvidia drivers with Vista x64.

 

[will889]

I came from two ATI cards back to NV with the 7950 (current) and I had no issue with any card from the Gforce 2 to the TI4200, R9700P, X800XL, 7950GT (7950SLI at one time). Many games in between those cards.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: solofly

Originally posted by: n7
LOL. I assume that's a joke?

Not at all. There are exceptions here and there but I'm sure majority will agree with me.

Maybe if you'd posted that 5 years ago. Not the case for the last few years, sorry.

These days, it's pretty similar, though i'll say that for newer games, nV tends get optimized beta drivers out faster.

 

[Rebel44]

In my experience ATI has much better (stable) drivers then NV.

 

[Quiksilver]

I believe ATI 64 bit drivers are better. I think there is a thread around here of someone having problem with nVidia drivers on 64 bit vista; something about drivers unloading, screen flickering, and a random bsod's.

 

[taltamir]

as far as I can tell the nvidia drivers are as good as the 32bit. I have had no issues whatsoever in 64bit due to nvidia drivers.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
I believe ATI 64 bit drivers are better. I think there is a thread around here of someone having problem with nVidia drivers on 64 bit vista; something about drivers unloading, screen flickering, and a random bsod's.

I have had no problems with Nvidia drivers in Vista x64,50+ plus games installed,personally I would say they are both good ,so go for what you prefer.

 

[Dadofamunky]

I can't imagine either having any problems at this point.

 

[clickynext]

nVidia's x64 drivers havn't been great for me. I get random lockups while playing games.

 

[will889]

Originally posted by: clickynext
nVidia's x64 drivers havn't been great for me. I get random lockups while playing games.

Sometimes that can be a result of a too tweaked out system. EG 1T vs. 2T timings with memory or too tight in general, or memory voltage, or the overall amount of ram on a particular motherboard with the bios being flakey only with 4GB etc ... etc ... (sometimes it's not directly GPU related yet affects the GPU).

This is where user expertise and research can help you out. What I do with every gaming build is start from what I call a "zero point basis" no overclocking all stock voltages and test 3d stability out before anything is tweaked.

 

[AmdInside]

I had loads of driver issues with my Lenovo notebook whcih featured an ATI v5250 Firegl mobility card (x1600 equivalent). XP is fine. So I personally am not a fan boy of ATI Vista drivers. Been using official and modded with same results.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: will889

Originally posted by: clickynext
nVidia's x64 drivers havn't been great for me. I get random lockups while playing games.

Sometimes that can be a result of a too tweaked out system. EG 1T vs. 2T timings with memory or too tight in general, or memory voltage, or the overall amount of ram on a particular motherboard with the bios being flakey only with 4GB etc ... etc ... (sometimes it's not directly GPU related yet affects the GPU).

This is where user expertise and research can help you out. What I do with every gaming build is start from what I call a "zero point basis" no overclocking all stock voltages and test 3d stability out before anything is tweaked.

I agree. random lock ups? sounds like you have a hardware problem not a driver problem.

OH yea there was ONE problem I had with the driver... if you turn on the computer with the monitor UNPLUGGED and then try to plug it in it will not detect it... I told nvidia and two weeks later a beta driver came out that claimed to fix it. (I have yet to test it since I leave my monitor plugged in at all times. If the monitor was OFF but plugged in it will still worked, only if it was completely unplugged would it not work).

Anyways yea, both are perfect by now. If you have problems they are most likely drivers. or software have compatibility issues with vista (ie, your GAME not the drivers)

 

[Sylvanas]

I have used both a 8800 GTX and my current 2900XT on their respective 64bit drivers. When I had my GTX (was a few months ago, more recent revisions might be better) I used to experience the nvlkm not responding error quite alot which was annoying, but that was fixed by running the card at stock clocks...still not an acceptable compromise but hey, stock is 'The way it's meant to be played' right? . My 2900 on the other hand has had no problems ever so thumbs up to ATI. 64bit drivers have come a long way you can't go wrong with either.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: clickynext
nVidia's x64 drivers havn't been great for me. I get random lockups while playing games.

Only way I can get that to happen is if I overclock my video card too much,even factory overclocked cards don't guarantee 100% stability,I had to reduce my factory overclocked video card by 10mhz,so technically still overclocked but not factory overclocked spec (had to do this in XP too when I was using that).

 

[cputeq]

There is absolutely no way to quantify an answer suitable for this question, because I can assure you zero people have done testing on 100% of the software out there on x64 with both sets of drivers.

Secondly, the OP didn't state what he/she meant by "better", so it's a flawed question to begin with.

Better speed?
Better compatibility?
Better visual quality? Installation routine? SLI/XF performance or compatibility?
Better at playing all the old games, or just the new ones? Or both?
Better at one particular game or subset of games?

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If you really want a truly unbiased possibility of an answer to your question, get the release notes for each driver set and look at the unresolved issues section(s) and make up your mind from there.

Any other answer is purely specutalive.