Moving from Nvidia to AMD - drivers

GoogalyMoogaly · 30 Apr 2013 at 12:19

Hi,

Not starting a thread to ask if I should switch, so lets not get into that.
My question is just if there's anything special I need to do with regards to drivers?

Can I just uninstall Nvidia drivers and install the AMD ones or do I need to run some sort of driver cleaner?

Thanks.

humbug · 30 Apr 2013 at 12:43

Run a Driver cleaner. Definitely.....

welshrat · 30 Apr 2013 at 12:47

GoogalyMoogaly said:
Hi,

Not starting a thread to ask if I should switch, so lets not get into that.
My question is just if there's anything special I need to do with regards to drivers?

Can I just uninstall Nvidia drivers and install the AMD ones or do I need to run some sort of driver cleaner?

Thanks.

Just done the same, easy as pie :-)

Uninstall Nvidia Drivers
Restart
Run DriverSweeper
Restart
Install AMD Drivers
Install RadeonPro :-)

enjoy

WuMyster · 30 Apr 2013 at 14:01

Nothing too technical to do. Make sure you use driver sweeper though. I switched to AMD recently without any problems.

GoogalyMoogaly · 30 Apr 2013 at 19:29

welshrat said:
Just done the same, easy as pie

Uninstall Nvidia Drivers
Restart
Run DriverSweeper
Restart
Install AMD Drivers
Install RadeonPro

enjoy

Not wanting to sound stupid, but at what point would I switch cards, before or after driver sweeper?

WuMyster · 30 Apr 2013 at 19:30

I'd do it after the driver sweep

spoffle · 30 Apr 2013 at 19:33

Driver cleaner is really only necessary if you're having problems.

Maybe people have both AMD and nVidia cards in the same PC at the same time with no driver conflicts.

WuMyster · 30 Apr 2013 at 19:34

But why not prevent those problems from every happening?
Also, stop unnecessary services starting and running

spoffle · 30 Apr 2013 at 19:36

Because it's not a given that they will happen. Driver sweeper should be the last resort before re-installing Windows, as it can and does mess things up itself.

LtMatt · 30 Apr 2013 at 19:38

Driver Fusion is the one id be using, its the best of the lot and takes file backups and forces a system restore point to be created (assuming you have it enabled) before cleaning. If anything goes wrong, not that it should, you can easily put things back to how they were.

WuMyster · 30 Apr 2013 at 19:38

If you say so. Never had a problem when using it on 5 machines...

anthony566 · 30 Apr 2013 at 19:48

Driver Sweep is a good idea when changing GPU's ....

Suarez7 · 30 Apr 2013 at 19:49

Nuke from orbit then install.

On a serious note, use Matt's suggestion.

Arthur Hucksake · 30 Apr 2013 at 20:42

nVidia to AMD is a breeze.

AMD to nVidia ...not so much. They leave behind allsorts of .dlls and crap.

Phixsator · 30 Apr 2013 at 21:47

LtMatt said:
Driver Fusion is the one id be using, its the best of the lot and takes file backups and forces a system restore point to be created (assuming you have it enabled) before cleaning. If anything goes wrong, not that it should, you can easily put things back to how they were.

Normally i agree with you m8 but Driver Fusion has to be been a bunch of poo to me. Fragged up my windows install more than once. Where the older version called driver sweeper (developed by the same guys?) has always worked with no issues, even on beta versions of win 8. Maybe im just one in a million....like 4 times

mattius1989 · 30 Apr 2013 at 21:50

I usually format before I fit a new CPU or GPU. It's nice to try out new hardware on a fresh install.

jkb · 30 Apr 2013 at 21:57

I just uninstalled nvidia and installed amd drivers and it all worked OK for me.

LtMatt · 1 May 2013 at 07:09

Phixsator said:
Normally i agree with you m8 but Driver Fusion has to be been a bunch of poo to me. Fragged up my windows install more than once. Where the older version called driver sweeper (developed by the same guys?) has always worked with no issues, even on beta versions of win 8. Maybe im just one in a million....like 4 times

Driver sweeper has borked windows 7 and 8 installs for me, but i used version 3.2.0 as that was all i could find. I understand there is a 3.3.0 version that works safely. If you have used 3.2.0 trying running a sfc /scannow command prompt scan and see if it can find problems its unable to fix.

Phixsator · 1 May 2013 at 13:35

LtMatt said:
Driver sweeper has borked windows 7 and 8 installs for me, but i used version 3.2.0 as that was all i could find. I understand there is a 3.3.0 version that works safely. If you have used 3.2.0 trying running a sfc /scannow command prompt scan and see if it can find problems its unable to fix.

I've always used 3.2.0. (latest i could find as well). Funny isnt it how "One man's junk is another man's gold" so to speak. I never ran any sfc /scannow. Everything worked so had no reason to. But i'll keep an eye out. Dont want to be caught with my pants down.

LtMatt · 1 May 2013 at 13:45

Phixsator said:
I've always used 3.2.0. (latest i could find as well). Funny isnt it how "One man's junk is another man's gold" so to speak. I never ran any sfc /scannow. Everything worked so had no reason to. But i'll keep an eye out. Dont want to be caught with my pants down.

Just don't run sfc /scannow and you'll be ok.