Are Nvidia drivers really better than Amd's?

[win8.1]

The last time I went to Nvidia was with the 670 and was expecting by the hype on the internet about their drivers that they were bug free but that turned out to be not true as there was glitching in Tomb Raider at the time which took them a while to fix.

What I also noticed immediately was the dullness of the color's and image was not as sharp even though certain people where saying Nvidia and Amd had the same image quality. Cranking up the digital vibrance helped but I have always seen Amd's image quality to be better.

I never really have had much problems with Amd drivers myself and I am sure both company's have bugs to fix from time to time. Obviously lately Amd have not kept their drivers updated as regularly as they have in the past and hopefully this will be a one off.

I would maybe like to give Nvidia a try again but their prices never seem to match Amd's performance and price each new generation of high end products and their cards are always cut back until the full fat versions come out.

 

[win8.1]

Is this thread really about you wanting to try nvidia or just a way to have another quick bash at them.

Going off your previous posts there's not a chance in hell you would go green. The only nvidia upgrades for you at the moment as well go against your price/performance buying.

No I am genuinely interested where Nvidia drivers are specifically better. I would buy Nvidia if they suddenly offered the same as Amd each new generation at a decent price per performance.

 

[win8.1]

I have both AMD and Nvidia cards.

You are right in terms of AMD's image quality being better (that's what I also see).

Depends if you have 1 or 2 cards. Usually Nvidia release optimised drivers for newer titles and multi-gpu support more frequently. (that's if you play games on day 1 or have crossfire).

To be honest I prefer Nvidia more as sometimes AMD drivers (mostly the 3rd party software Raptr POS) bugs quite often and I have occasional problems when running MSI AB or equivalents on some games.

Thanks for your constructive answer. What games specifically did you find ran better or where less buggy with Nvidia?

 

[win8.1]

Both companies have problems, many of them, drivers aren't easy, number of combinations aren't easy. But the public perception is very different largely because Nvidia people deny any issues while AMD users don't.

I would have to say that's what I have found too and maybe it's more the hype about Nvidia drivers being better more than the substance.

 

[win8.1]

For single card there's not much between them, for multi GPU setups nVidia are on the ball and rarely make their SLI users wait longer for features or profiles.

I'd suggest making a thread when a nvidia card comes out that you think offers decent price/performance though.

I know Amd lately have been bad for updates but have they really been that much different even in multi gpu setups compared to Nvidia?

It might be a while before that Nvidia card comes out for me to make a thread on it unless Amd force them to reduce prices. I kind of feel that because Amd offer me that price and performance from the start each new generation that I would rather go with them until Nvidia change. (if that will ever happen)

 

[win8.1]

This is talking in terms of both GTX970 single/sli and R9-290 single/cfx combos.

These are a few I remember...

COD:AW - (smoother on Nvidia even with my SLI GTX680s).

Dying Light - (no cfx profile) runs like turd on AMD even on a single card with options very low.

FC4 - I thought my eyes were going to pop out on this one. (generally bad port though even on Nvidia)

AC Unity - better on Nvidia but it's a real poor example again due to Ubi-****

In terms of resolutions I need to hack the drivers to get 2560x1440 on my Asus PB287Q for some odd reason.

Heat is also an issue for me ... a lot of it.

I think the issues are mainly for advanced users (crossfire) and delay of optimised drivers.

Thanks. Heat has never been a problem with a good aftermarket cooler with me but I can see it becoming a problem with 2 cards but then it might be the same with Sli. The 970 due to it being a new generation and better power consumption compared to the 290 would have produced less heat but the full fat version of Maxwell like the Titan-X seems to be not much better on power consumption than the 290. It will be interesting to see what the 390X with water cooler turns out like in power consumption.

 

[win8.1]

I've seen a lot of other people this week though saying they are fed up and going back to team green. Not just on this forum either.

They are probably saying that thinking that Amd will shift quicker if they say it. Hopefully Amd will get back to their one month drivers and better crossfire support.

 

[win8.1]

Sadly I had 4xR9-290s MSI Gaming 4G hitting crazy temps which left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I played around with a R9-290 Tri-X that could handle the heat better (57c at full load) and was a lot happier.

I prefer the plug-n-play option though with Nvidia, with little to no hassle on the software and bug side of things.

Will have to wait and get the Titan X to give a unbiased opinion. You never know if I would get ticked off .

Msi gaming though alright for single configs is not that good for multi with the heat being dumped in the case. I personally have not found Amd any less plug and play. The Titan-x will have to come down a lot in price for me as in principal even though I could buy it I could not give that money away on a single card. If it was 3 times as powerful as a 290 maybe but with the 390X coming soon I think it will be the card to go for. Maxwell seems to have lost it's advantage with the Titan-X as heat and power consumption is much higher compared to the 980 and fans have to be ramped up to compensate.

 

[win8.1]

Some of them might just be saying it but some are also genuinely frustrated and will make the switch.

It's not good losing any customers when you've already lost over 10% discrete GPU market share in under a year.

Of course some people would be frustrated. If they feel they are better off with Nvidia then they should try them out if they can justify the price. I personally have never seen much difference but then I usually stick to one gpu each upgrade. Hopefully this is a one off for Amd though.

 

[win8.1]

Yep people told the truth both Nvidia and AMD had same image quality, that why games sites stopped compared games image quality years ago.

There are lots of games image quality compared on both Nvidia and AMD side by side on youtube so you will find all games image quality looked same.

My eyes tell me different. Only have to swap a Nvidia card with a Amd card and immediately I see the difference. Others have noticed it as well but obviously not all people see it even though it's obvious. Amd is always more vibrant in colors and sharper out of the box.