AMD or Nvidia: Between a Rock and a Hard Place?

[Boomstick777]

Don't know about you guys, but lately I've been feeling like choosing between AMD or Nvidia is like being between a rock and a hard place.

On the one hand you have AMD, you can buy a AMD GPU today and guarantee you will get the that same level of performance from your card when you bought it for years to come. Performance is good (A bit behind Nvidia atm) and prices aren't bad, but you have lacklustre driver support lately, with drivers not launching to coincide with newer games. Drivers coming much later, often after the game isn't as relevant as newer titles are launched.

AMD do have a decent open standard mindset, but the downside of this is it allows Nvidia to keep using Propriety standards as an edge over AMD, should AMD do the same things to stay relevant? Or would that make them just as bad?

Nvidia.. Frankly awful business ethics, showed a real lack of customer support over the 970 incident (OCUK stepped up) but Nvidia didn't. That CEO apology that wasn't an apology just made it worse lol.

A company with a propriety mindset that locks in customers and developers alike, sometimes to the detriment of AMD gamers and even Nvidia users that are still using older than the current generation of video card.. Even the generation just before..

But, they do have great hardware 'for a price' (As long as you get the latest hardware for full support) Nvidia also deliver driver updates bang on time for new games, however lately that has meant an actual reduction in performance for people using older Nvidia GPU's..

Where does this leave the consumer?

What do you guys think about it, do you wish there was another option?

Maybe it's time for me to move to console gaming (Still AMD) but AMD hardware that actually runs latest games really well

 

[elmuzzy66.]

A 3rd player or AMD changing its name to MAD.

 

[Geeman1979]

Nvidia.... Simples! I don't get hung up or care how they run their business, as long as they provide products that tick the boxes I'm interested in.

AMD when I pity them.

 

[Davedree]

In my opinion you should step back from the hardware side of things and look at the main problem, which is software,
Ie windows, direct x, coding for cpu threads/hsa, and development of Gametech and also the console port theory.

I cannot justify spending the money anymore, i've been into computers for the last 25 years.
But I've reached the point where nothing seems to be worth the bother.
Ie i'm still on a 2600k, still at 1080p on a 7950 and it does the job for me.
I've been playing, elite, the longest journey and arma3 epoch this year and I haven't bothered to get gta5, because of its delay to hit pc.

I'm just meh these days. On the other hand I can't wait for an arm chipset that can replace my windows htpc.

 

[mmj_uk]

NVidia if you just want to enjoy gaming and don't mind paying a premium for fewer headaches, otherwise AMD. It's as simple as that really, always has been.

 

[Gregster]

For single card users, you can't really go wrong with either. Since using ShadowPlay and doing fairly well with my youtube channel, nVidia seems to be slightly better for me but that is a personal me and nothing a capture card couldn't do on either brand.

I don't get hung up on the politics and as much as I enjoy a good debate and talking about new tech, I still feel we all (AMD and nVidia) play second fiddle to the consoles. AMD had a great feature in Mantle that could have done both the world of good but the politics got in the way of that. nVidia have some great techs out (gameworks) and maybe they do shun AMD but again, it would have been better for them to work together and whilst that divide is there, it is us PC staunch buggers that end up arguing over their politics.

There is no room for a third player in truth and the Asian market is coming away from consoles now and moving to phones/tablets as a source of gaming (WTF is that about?) AMD are dropping the proverbials and nVidia are charging too much, so again, we miss out. I was looking through twitter and came across a Tweaktown tweet that said "Two more console gens before we get CG quality visuals according to ex-naughty dog dev"..... Seriously? We have basic PCs that can blow the consoles out the water and on the moon now and they are basic.... Why are we struggling to get CG quality gfx to run on high end systems now?

So yer, I am in a bit of a rant mode and feel we are being spoon fed, when really we should be miles ahead and we would stand a chance if both nVidia and AMD got together.

So much for me not getting involved in the politics

 

[Rroff]

What do you guys think about it, do you wish there was another option?

Maybe it's time for me to move to console gaming (Still AMD) but AMD hardware that actually runs latest games really well

I've always wished there was another player, nVidia for me has been the easier of 2 evils to live with.

Console gaming just doesn't have anything on a good PC game.

 

[GSXR Gaz Mc]

a good business always looks after there customers..no matter what goes on behind the scenes...your customers are no1 priority...otherwise they will go elsewhere.

 

[Aretak]

I'd much rather support AMD as a company. A future for PC gaming where there's only Intel and Nvidia is depressing to think about. There's only so far that can go though. I sold my 980 a few weeks back in anticipation of the 300 series, but the recent rumblings about rebrands, 4GB VRAM limits and Titan X-tier pricing for the only actual new GPUs are worrying. If all they offer up at sensible prices are overclocked 8GB 290Xs, it'll be a non-starter for me.

A new player in the desktop industry (either CPU or GPU) would be great, but I can't see that happening. Why would anybody want to go up aginst Intel and/or Nvidia after seeing how AMD have faired in the past five years, even with all their history and loyal customers.

 

[Geeman1979]

The 980Tis are one to keep an eye on.

 

[arc@css]

Would love a third player (more than that, ideally), but I don't think it will happen.

 

[kaku]

a good business always looks after there customers..no matter what goes on behind the scenes...your customers are no1 priority...otherwise they will go elsewhere.

Except for when they can't. What are you gonna do, rely on your integrated Intel graphics? xD

Neither company is your friend, so just buy whatever has the features that you like or performs the best in the games you play.

 

[Mei]

gaming is a lot more expensive in some countries, would be less grim for some if they could do something about that, they do in some countries with computer games, hardware not so much i guess

i dont think uk have it the worst but not the best either lol
im not saying cost fixes everything but maybe uk would be a bit less grumpy
myself im excited about all the new things coming up, pc gaming is still rly strong
i couldnt be console only id miss out on so many cool games

 

[Gerard]

Dont care who i support, i go between both brand quite a lot though my last few cards have been amd. Just whatever ticks the boxes at the time.

 

[Boomstick777]

Some really good viewpoints in this thread.

I agree with all of them tbh, all valid. I guess for me Witcher 3 has got me thinking, like when my £890 Titan X can only just manage 60fps at ultra and a £250 PS4 console really doesn't look much worse, I'm wandering have I just wasted a load of money lol.

AMD might have some better options soon, to level the playing field a bit, but with the rumours of AMD's top card becoming a Titan X alternative not just in performance but also in price, I'm almost tempted to step back from PC gaming for a while until PC really moves ahead, so that we have midrange cards that don't cost a great deal really outperforming the consoles..

For the first time, PC gaming doesn't really have anything that makes me wanna get he best. I got Titan X thinking Witcher 3 experience would be so much better than console.. But it isn't.. Was it worth it?

Seriously considering binning my Titan X while it's still worth something..

Need to think about this lol.

 

[RatmanGB]

I nearly bought a 290 this time around... but then I didn't. Part of that was wanting a quieter/cooler card - although a friend of mine assures me his MSI 290X is quiet - but I have to admit a lot of it was the "I know it'll work" syndrome with Nvidia.

When I was younger I used to love tweaking things to get the best performance, and if a game didn't work out of the box, getting it to work was part of the fun. Now I can't be bothered to mess around with stuff like that, even though I suspect AMD's driver issues are overblown - that particular complaint has been around for a long time, and I never had very much trouble with the ATI/AMD cards I've used in the past.

I would like to see more competition as well, although I agree with those who've said it's unlikely. I remember when my main PC had a Matrox Millennium G200 for 2D, two Voodoo IIs in SLI and a PowerVR PCX2 in it as well. That was fun.

 

[Nexus18]

I always preferred AMD since they are the king for bang per buck but now I can't stand either of them.

AMD:


+ better bang per buck especially when they do the AMD gold game award voucher things
+ love their open source policy and I do believe that mantle was the kick up the backside that microsoft needed for DX 12, bf 4, PVZ and bfh are the smoothest games on my system by far and the fps boost I get in bf 4 is night and day
- their driver support and just general attitude has gone down the drain big time in the last 6 months, "when it's ready" answers etc. just aren't good enough
- initial freesync monitors have limited freesync ranges/problems (although I think this is more down to the monitor manufacturers, however, at the same time, AMD should be monitoring/testing these screens as well)

Nvidia:

+ seem to be quicker with driver updates and better optimisation in dx11 + they get more sponsored games
+ generally better overall software/driver "experience" i.e. shadow play, dynamic vsync (yes I know radeon pro can do this but it doesn't work for every game and you need to install that on top of CCC)
- don't like how closed source they are especially with gameworks, every gameworks game runs crap for me (micro stutters, doesn't matter if I turn the gameworks features off, batman AO is probably the best gameworks title but it still isn't micro stutter free) on my 290, it has to be one of the worse things for the pc gaming industry imo
- don't like their attitude especially regarding the 970 and the vram issue
- always over priced imo, the 970 was spot on for pricing but we all found out soon after why that was...

Overall, neither companies are particularly problem free when it comes to drivers and anyone who thinks otherwise is just blinded by their loyalty, you just need to look in each thread and see that each side has plenty of problems.

I thought AMD would have been the better cards overall for the next few years due to both consoles using AMD GPU's but nope.... although looking at the similarities in mantle and dx12/vulkan, who knows, maybe we will see a big difference when dx12 titles arrive???

I wish there was a 3rd party GPU brand.

 

[Boomstick777]

I always preferred AMD since they are the king for bang per buck but now I can't stand either of them.

AMD:


+ better bang per buck especially when they do the AMD gold game award voucher things
+ love their open source policy and I do believe that mantle was the kick up the backside that microsoft needed for DX 12, bf 4, PVZ and bfh are the smoothest games on my system by far and the fps boost I get in bf 4 is night and day
- their driver support and just general attitude has gone down the drain big time in the last 6 months, "when it's ready" answers etc. just aren't good enough
- initial freesync monitors have limited freesync ranges/problems (although I think this is more down to the monitor manufacturers, however, at the same time, AMD should be monitoring/testing these screens as well)

Nvidia:

+ seem to be quicker with driver updates and better optimisation in dx11 + they get more sponsored games
- don't like how closed source they are especially with gameworks, every gameworks game runs crap for me (micro stutters, doesn't matter if I turn the gameworks features off, batman AO is probably the best gameworks title but it still isn't micro stutter free) on my 290, it has to be one of the worse things for the pc gaming industry imo
- don't like their attitude especially regarding the 970 and the vram issue
- always over priced imo, the 970 was spot on for pricing but we all found out soon after why that was...

Overall, neither companies are particularly problem free when it comes to drivers and anyone who thinks otherwise is just blinded by their loyalty, you just need to look in each thread and see that each side has plenty of problems.

I thought AMD would have been the better cards overall for the next few years due to both consoles using AMD GPU's but nope.... although looking at the similarities in mantle and dx12/vulkan, who knows, maybe we will see a big difference???

I wish there was a 3rd party GPU brand.

Echoing my own sentiments exactly..

 

[Mei]

Some really good viewpoints in this thread.

I agree with all of them tbh, all valid. I guess for me Witcher 3 has got me thinking, like when my £890 Titan X can only just manage 60fps at ultra and a £250 PS4 console really doesn't look much worse, I'm wandering have I just wasted a load of money lol.

AMD might have some better options soon, to level the playing field a bit, but with the rumours of AMD's top card becoming a Titan X alternative not just in performance but also in price, I'm almost tempted to step back from PC gaming for a while until PC really moves ahead, so that we have midrange cards that don't cost a great deal really outperforming the consoles..

For the first time, PC gaming doesn't really have anything that makes me wanna get he best. I got Titan X thinking Witcher 3 experience would be so much better than console.. But it isn't.. Was it worth it?

Seriously considering binning my Titan X while it's still worth something..

Need to think about this lol.

lol you'd miss shiny new bits every month
is ur lacking performance in witcher bcos you leave hairworks on? half the performance just so you can see a built topless guy look like he uses shampoo

i agree it sucks for 4k right now on some games but most people dont need the top end card if they play with settings
i should think there will be more patches coming like always too so
the game still looks great!?

 

[old gamer]

end of the day amd and nvidia both do the same thing, pc gaming is all i care about