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John Carmack says NVidia drivers are 'consistently superior'

I think Carmack is talking out of his backside about this, especially after having my nice new GTX760 purchase ruined by sub-standard drivers.
 
As an aside was there some talk a little while ago around an update for AMD 7XXX drivers to fix a smoothness/scaling problem in crossfire? I'm sure I read it but darned if I can find the details again now.
 
For me real issue with RAGE was the poor gameflow/disjointed upgrade mechanics, with a bit of refinement I'd have really enjoyed it instead of enjoying it in parts.
 
Macro said:
As an aside was there some talk a little while ago around an update for AMD 7XXX drivers to fix a smoothness/scaling problem in crossfire? I'm sure I read it but darned if I can find the details again now.
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They are being released at the end of July.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
This.

I've always found it hard to believe that people argue and make conclusions over
code to which they've never seen or had any experience of developing yet make conclusions from a front user perspective based on performance and benchmarks only. The results of which are effected by other factors. :confused:

oh well.. watching thread..
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Part of the issue is that very few people actually understand what they're talking about when they refer to drivers.

That, and the complete unwillingness that most people have to accept blame for a problem they are having with their computers means that drivers are the first to be blamed, rightly or wrongly, as they are simply unwilling to consider that it might have been a case of PEBKAC.

Typically, whenever I've had a driver misbehave, with any hardware, it's been due to PEBKAC.

As for Carmack's comment, it doesn't mean much without context, which he hasn't given.
 
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Carmack doesn't really care about game design. Just technology. Don't expect him to make a great game, he is an engineer / wizard. ID is too tech-centric for its own good.

He is talking about drivers in that context too. He's had decades of experience with many graphics companies and put up with shoddy drivers and poor compatibility (especially OpenGL, his pet API) since the Quake days, so he knows what he is talking about, even though fanboys will probably take this the wrong way.

Personally, it doesn't bother me. That's his opinion, but be certain that he can back it up.
 
jimfowler_82 said:
Carmack is a legend but needs to release something decent again soon otherwise he loses his "halo" with me :)
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AS I usually point out in the gaming section "I hate EA because they destroyed my franchise" ranting threads. Simple fact is the majority of well, simply artists, writers, game makers, film makers, musicians, get worse over time. They have one great thing and the second thing is a bit worse, the third thing is much worse.... and it just goes further downhill till in the case of gaming studios they run out of cash.

Carmack hasn't done anything good in ages as he's had his great idea and rather than repeating it, he wants to better it, and does something more stupid every time. megatextures... woo, he couldn't just make a great quake with a great story and the same gameplay and just a good "normal" engine. He had to make something new.... thats one of the failings of creativity, they think they "new" part of what they did the first time was important and it becomes their goal to make something new rather than good.

He hasn't done anything relevant for donkeys years and likely won't. Basically none of the greats have, Fable 3, Spore, Rage, Duke Nukem, etc, etc, etc. Franchises almost always get worse, normally so much worse its embarrassing.

Either way, statements like these are usually more for attention than any relevant content or useful talking points. Carmack's over, his opinion is pretty much irrelevant, who cares which cards or drivers he prefers?

Nvidia sell more mobile than desktop cards and less and less are actually for gaming, the low end, mobile and desktop markets are shrinking rapidly and frankly only companies with large volume will find the R&D cost repaying itself. Tegra's bought its last generation of wins, Nvidia didn't decide to sell their GPU IP because they forsee a fantastic future for themselves in manufacturing gpu's to sell.
 
Having had a selection from both sides in recent years (2900, 3870, 4870, 470, 580 and now my 7950) I can happily say that since my 4870 days there hasn't been much noticeable difference between either sets of drivers as both have been pretty flawless for me.

It means I have no qualms simply picking the best card for my needs irrespective of brand loyalty (which imo is pointless when it comes to gfx cards).
 
drunkenmaster said:
Carmack hasn't done anything good in ages as he's had his great idea and rather than repeating it, he wants to better it, and does something more stupid every time. megatextures... woo, he couldn't just make a great quake with a great story and the same gameplay and just a good "normal" engine. He had to make something new.... thats one of the failings of creativity, they think they "new" part of what they did the first time was important and it becomes their goal to make something new rather than good.

He hasn't done anything relevant for donkeys years and likely won't. Basically none of the greats have, Fable 3, Spore, Rage, Duke Nukem, etc, etc, etc. Franchises almost always get worse, normally so much worse its embarrassing.
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Innovation and change often repeats the same pattern for most, havent played a game he done since Doom.

driver aside but amd has got some guys on it with crossfire now that its likely to be a game changer for them, single side they been great.
 
The thing is with BOTH the consoles having AMD GPUs and AMD CPUs he really has no choice whatever he says, and does Id Software tend to have closer links with Nvidia?? After all Epic Games has closer links with Nvidia(IIRC,they supply them with free hardware,I could be wrong there) than AMD and the CEO said Nvidia hardware was the best for him.

Then you got other devs saying AMD is the best choice for them,etc.
 
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Think Carmack just wanted some attention, maybe he's not getting many hits on his Twitter etc. Thought a bit of Nvidia VS AMD convo would put him in the spotlight, a bit like that other has been developer, what was his name? That little guy from Epic? I forget, but he's writing tweets about consoles and PC...
 
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