Are Nvidia drivers really better than AMD?

[olivier renault]

I've had issues with both, and having more issues with CCC. The last hilarious one is when upgrading drivers, at the end, my screen blacks out completely, and I have to reboot. And since I cannot see what the driver installeer is doing, I have to give it five minutes before pressing the reset button.

AWESOME!

 

[arc@css]

Despite the initial agressive 'all in' shove by Sin Chase, I do think he has a point.

 

[TheRealDeal]

I changed from 3870 to 8800gtx to 5770 to my current 6870. I never had to use any driver cleaners at all. I just used the uninstall software from both camps and banged in the new cards. Its what i have done for years without any problems. Switching from amd to another amd card should be really easy and always has been for me. Even amd to nvidia and vice versa has never caused me any trouble.

 

[topdog@OC]

I've always given time for other people to jump on the new driver bandwagon with nvidia releases before I apply them, so if there's a bad one I can skip it, and if there's a good one, then waiting a couple of months won't kill me.

So I've seen of and heard of driver problems, but unless I break this self-rule above, I don't encounter any issues.

I have recently broken this self-rule with the latest whql drivers and applied them, and it was a generally pleasant experience this time (big problems are rare), it just lost me my stereo3d game configurations (depth and convergences) that were saved so I have to reset them in each game to my preference. Other than that, the install didn't even need me to reboot (a nice though fairly insigificant change over driver updates of old).

I imagine a similar experience can be had with AMDs drivers by doing something similar?

 

[Rroff]

I changed from 3870 to 8800gtx to 5770 to my current 6870. I never had to use any driver cleaners at all. I just used the uninstall software from both camps and banged in the new cards. Its what i have done for years without any problems. Switching from amd to another amd card should be really easy and always has been for me. Even amd to nvidia and vice versa has never caused me any trouble.

I've done a few upgrades for people from an AMD/ATI GPU to another AMD GPU without any issues... (likewise with nVidia) however had plenty of fun and games when trying to install AMD drivers for the first time or updating drivers :| having to "guess" when the install has finished doing it stuff and force a reboot hasn't been uncommon and getting it wrong and rebooting too early seems to cause no end of issues.

 

[TheRealDeal]

I've done a few upgrades for people from an AMD/ATI GPU to another AMD GPU without any issues... (likewise with nVidia) however had plenty of fun and games when trying to install AMD drivers for the first time or updating drivers :| having to "guess" when the install has finished doing it stuff and force a reboot hasn't been uncommon and getting it wrong and rebooting too early seems to cause no end of issues.

It should tell you its finished and you click finish. There is no reboot required with amd these days. If this does not happen i would try again as for me its a bad install.

 

[Sin_Chase]

Laugh on my friend, installing any new hardware requires uninstalling the part being replaced by way of add remove hardware in device manager to avoid possible conflicts, which if you fail to do, is user error.

Someone has been studying their Dummies Guide to Computer Hardware a little too much. Published in 1992 also no doubt.

Maybe we should consult those who make the hardware for thier specific instructions.

Let's see:

20870: Guide on how to install an ATI graphics card and / or its drivers

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/737-20870HowtoInstallYourATIProduct.aspx

It even has a specific section for upgrading from existing AMD/ATI hardware. Helllls yeah! This should be easy.

2. Upgrade an old graphics card to a new model

Note! Before getting started, ensure that you know the model of your graphics card. It will come in handy for several steps in the process. Refer to Article GPU-55 for information on how to identify your graphics card
Verify that the new graphics card is compatible with the motherboard. Refer to the motherboard manual to determine compatibility
Verify that the graphics card’s requirements are met by the system. Refer to AMD’s Products and Technologies page to determine the system requirements for your graphics card
Verify that the operating system has the latest service packs / updates
Download the latest drivers for the graphics card from AMD’s Graphics Drivers & Software page. Refer to Article GPU-56 for information on how to use the graphics driver utility
Download the latest drivers for the new graphics card
Remove any pre-existing drivers / software for the graphics card. Refer to Article GPU-57 for detailed instructions on how to uninstall old drivers
Uninstall the old graphics card. Refer to Article GPU-58 for detailed instructions on how to uninstall the old graphics card
Install the new graphics cards. Refer to Article GPU-59 for detailed instructions on how to install the new graphics card
Install the latest drivers for the graphics card. For detailed instructions on how to install the latest graphics drivers, refer to:
Article GPU-33 for a Windows 7 based system
Article GPU-1 for a Windows Vista based system
Article GPU-2 for a Windows XP / Windows 2000 based system

Return to Table of Contents

GPU-57: How to uninstall pre-existing graphics card drivers from a Microsoft Windows based system

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/GPU57RemoveOldGraphicsDrivers.aspx

How interesting! It details the use of the Uninstallation programs provided by AMD. But, what is this, not a single mention of uninstalling the hardware from device manager! What is this madness!

Maybe it is contained in the hardware removal process

GPU-58: How to remove old graphics hardware

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/GPU58RemoveGraphicsHardware.aspx

Oooh rejoice, further instruction!

3. To avoid any potential conflicts when installing the new graphics hardware, remove any pre-existing drivers / software for the graphics card. Note! This step must be completed before physically uninstalling the old graphics card

Wait...no....it just sends us back to GPU-57 and the uninstall program. No manual removal from device manager here!

a. If the old graphics card was manufactured by ATI or one of its partners, refer to Article GPU-57 for detailed instructions on how to uninstall old drivers

So, the best you could ever expect from a user is to follow the guide/instructions/KBs to the letter. Shame that, as in doing so they would be performing a user error by omitting a step not prescribed in the instructions.

Again, those of us with further knowledge KNOW to use a driver cleaner to avoid issues but it is NOT detailed in instructions and the uninstallation manager makes no mention of it. How on EARTH is this user error?

If it was such a critical step it should be detailed.

If it was such a critical step why do nVidia uninstallation managers do a good enough job that the step is not required?

 

[dave_beast]

Nvidia drivers are better not without issues but they just are better, better support, better config, a more solid feel. Out of the box SLI is better than crossfire.

I own both ATI and Nvidia cards in my house now. and owned just about every card from both sides.

Did you get that 7970 in the end mate?

 

[inSilica]

I would you the phrase "More refined ... " and it's been that way since the days I used to get the Omega drivers over the ATI ones, that's 8K series for me

Sad thing with Omega drivers, feel for the guy, hope he sorts himself out.

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

Since 2004 I have owned 1 high end NVidia gpu and 3 high end ATI/AMD gpus.
The driver issue I have had is when the ATI driver took ages to load a new map on Bad Company 2.
Driver issues are like taking medical drugs - Millions use them fine and a few people have issues. The few who have issues whine on the internet a lot so having 'a quick google' makes it look like the issues are rife and the world is about to end.

I have never had worries about driver issues.

 

[BarBrawllin]

I've owned a lot of ATI gpu's (11) and the drivers were always fine except for 1 time in the original Crysis,you had to turn off catalyst A.I in the driver settings or the game would randomly crash,especialy on the last level with the big boss that comes out of the sea,if you google that problem u see so many complaining about it lol. Im surprised they never had something in the drivers to do this automaticly when it detected the game but it was years ago so meh. Very recently with my 9800GT i was getting texture flickering and weird stuff in BF3. turns out i wasnt the only one with the problem and it was due to the nvidia drivers. When i first bought my 480 GTX i ran some tessalation benchmark thing and it would artifact badly after a while like a defective GPU,turns out it was a driver problem so saved me RMA'ing another working card Thats the only driver issues i've ever experienced from either nvidia or ATI in the last 13 years of PC usage. Make of that what you will

*EDIT,just remembered,i had a 1 more driver issue with ATI and bad company 2,id get all these little squares around the 3d models when i endabled certain AA settings and it was fixed by a driver update pretty quickly if i remember correctly.

 

[Locky]

Did you get that 7970 in the end mate?

you know what, The way nvidia are being at the moment I might just do just that. got some blocks lined up too.

 

[TAC4U]

I'm running Windows 8 Consumer Preview. I just replaced an AMD card with an nVidia card. I booted up and I THEN uninstalled the AMD drivers (I had completely forget), installed the nVidia drivers and everything was up and running without a restart. Honestly, the days of messing about with driver cleaners and having to uninstall drivers before changing cards is long gone. You can pretty much do whatever you please and Windows will sort it all out.

In my experience driver cleaners cause more problems than they solve. I always simply install the new graphics drivers on top of the old and it hasn't caused me any issues (even here where I changed between manufacturers).

 

[Gazb]

I'm running Windows 8 Consumer Preview. I just replaced an AMD card with an nVidia card. I booted up and I THEN uninstalled the AMD drivers (I had completely forget), installed the nVidia drivers and everything was up and running without a restart. Honestly, the days of messing about with driver cleaners and having to uninstall drivers before changing cards is long gone. You can pretty much do whatever you please and Windows will sort it all out.

In my experience driver cleaners cause more problems than they solve. I always simply install the new graphics drivers on top of the old and it hasn't caused me any issues (even here where I changed between manufacturers).

Once MS changed to the new driver stack/model in Vista (which is the same one 7 uses), a lot of the old driver issues don't seem to crop up/affect the OS.

I would however add, the exception to this (as always) is/was Creative Audio drivers. Gloriously buggy and unstable. lol

 

[se_vietboi]

I've been using both brands equally over the years and haven't noticed one being better than the other - this is with single card solution.

 

[tommybhoy]

Despite the initial agressive 'all in' shove by Sin Chase, I do think he has a point.

I'm more chilled mate, can't be ***** with aggressiveness myself, don't know whether it's down to personality/immaturity/aggressive type of person or not but I don't give a **** who gives me lip in here, it just makes me laugh tbh.

So, the best you could ever expect from a user is to follow the guide/instructions/KBs to the letter. Shame that, as in doing so they would be performing a user error by omitting a step not prescribed in the instructions.

Again, those of us with further knowledge KNOW to use a driver cleaner to avoid issues but it is NOT detailed in instructions and the uninstallation manager makes no mention of it. How on EARTH is this user error?

If it was such a critical step it should be detailed.

If it was such a critical step why do nVidia uninstallation managers do a good enough job that the step is not required?

The Amd/Nvidia instructions are for the masses, they don't come round to your house and fix the problem you when it doesn't work out quite right when you followed the guide/instructions/KBs to the letter, do they?

Or is the uninstall of Nvidia/AMD gpu's always plain sailing and they never leave anything behind?

Times like that is what the guys in 'Give Me Loads Of Cash World' foam at the mouth when they see the next guy approach the counter!

The top sticky over at Evga in the 400 series:

5/6/7/8/9/200/400/500 Series Trouble Shooting/Updating/Install Guide for Drivers

'Great Failsafe way when your Installing/Updating your video drivers
This works with XP/Vista/Win 7 32/64bit operating systems

Vista and Windows 7
1. Unplug your computer from the net then right click on Computer-->Properties-->Device Manager
1b. Or go to click Start-->Control Panel->Programs and Features RMB on NVIDIA Graphics Driver *skip to step 6*
2. Click on Device Manager
3. Expand Dislpay Adapters
4. Right Mouse Button over the Video card Name
5. Select Uninstall, Click Delete the driver software for this Device
6. Do not reboot '
7. With new technologies from nvida from Physx, 3D Vision, or their gpu audio whatever extra you have in stalled you will want to uninstall them in your control panel in programs in features *Older OS's add/remove programs* '

There is another thread @Evga, that must be the longest guide I've seen yet.

Although the guy states not to remove the legacy driver while updating drivers due to the way Nvidia changed their drivers, this is not in relation with changing vendors:

Ultimate Nvidia Driver Guide for Uninstalling and Installing driversets

As this guy points out there is tons of problems awaiting that can go very wrong when installing/uninstalling gpu drivers by just following the Nvidia uninstall method.

As we mostly here are enthusiasts we all know how it can go bad with both vendors(which you should know as it happens with Nvidia too).

Looking back at my comments, in hindsite I should have said it was an error that could have been avoided if you took the time to better remove all instances of previous driver files instead of using 'user error', but again I'm always thinking that the majority of the time with certain members they have the savy to get the job done right.

Apologies go out to 555BUK if any offense was caused as none was intended, admittedly I jumped the gun while presuming(due to your posts) that you would have done more than just uninstall a gpu through add/remove option.

Lastly @Sin_Chase, it should be pointed out that driver cleaner can cause a complete wreck of Windows if it decides to go wrong for whatever reason, it should be used with extreme care and attention as it can be fallible and wreck your OS.

There are other steps I use that can bypass possible problems without the use of any driver cleaner type program, I only use it as a last resort.

 

[Mean Mr Mustard]

Used both (although not nvidia for a few years now). Never had a problem with either.

Currently have 6950 xfire and everything's hunky dory.

 

[AWPC]

Recently Nvidia drivers are having major problems. They obviously are not spending the same amount of money as they used to. Flash videos can cause blackscreens on the most recent WHQL drivers even if you touch the Windows 7 show desktop button the screen goes black for 2-3 secs before recovering Shocking they have not done much QA recently as there is also a massive TDR issue with certain Nvidia GPU's when overclocked which has been going on since Oct 2011.

Whether this is related to half of Nvidia's driver team being based onsite @ Rocksteady N London in Feb to fix the DX11+PhysX FPS issues in Batman Arkham City is anyone's guess.........

 

[bagaante]

I've only used nvidia cards before and have had differing results,
But only ever minor issues that were solved with reinstalling

 

[Vir]

I'd had lots of cards of both brands and I've had my problems with ATI/AMD and I've had my problems with NVIDIA but at this point the NVIDIA drivers really satisfy. AMD/ATI drivers of my last ATI/AMD were pretty ok too.