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Is software and support a big part of your decision when choosing a card?

Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca

Caporegime
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I know the obvious answer would seem like yes and over the past week or so I've noticed more and more people saying they will be switching sides due to lack of drivers and information from AMD. If a poll could be added with answers along the lines of.

1. Yes, software and support is a big part of my decision making process when choosing a card.

2. No, I'm quite happy waiting for drivers/profiles as long as they work well on release.

I'm just interested in knowing how much of an effect this could be having on the AMD brand.
 
Software support isn't a big part.
But if driver support is causing me problems with day 1 gaming on a new launch, then I'd change my stance.
 
Martini1991 said:
Software support isn't a big part.
But if driver support is causing me problems with day 1 gaming on a new launch, then I'd change my stance.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I could have probably worded it better then.

Just to add it's not just this forum I've seen people posting about switching sides, I've seen it on most of the populated ones the past week or so.
 
It's all about the software for me. That's why I keep going back to Nvidia.

Hardware can be as good as anything on earth but without decent software it's worthless.
 
Software support is a big part for me.

I'm only running a 290 atm because it allows mixed resolution triple screen.

I'd prefer to be running NV though due to the tweaking that NVInspector allows, and that most of the games I play tend to run slightly better on their drivers.

If NV ever add mixed res triple screen support I'll be going straight back to the green team.
 
I normally don't care how long it takes for a new driver to come out (providing things are generally working fine), but smoothness of frame rate - particularly when low - plays an important factor for me.
 
I'm kinda inbetween, I can do without the software as long as the drivers and crossfire profiles are working and updated every so often maybe once every 1-2 months or even before release of AAA titles.
 
So long as the software works and allows me to do what I want 99% of the time (100% would be nice, but I'm realistic), then it never enters my thinking when looking for a new GPU. For normal, run if the mill gaming, I've never found a substantial difference between Nvidia and AMD drivers as they both almost always work but can have the occasional hiccup or delay. To me, a GPU is a purchase that'll last me at least a couple of years, during which time I know both sides will have at least one "worst driver problem ever!!!" internet riot, so choosing a GPU based on perceived "better" drivers has never made sense to me.
 
The AMD driver strategist needs fired tbph, no excuses at all for not getting updated game profiles out the door as and when completed, utter stupidity holding drivers back as unhappy customers are lost customers.

That's where AMD shoot themselves in the foot, Omega driver is probably the best driver I've ever used, but all the good work achieved with increasing AMD's driver perception has probably been undone, even if this delay is a one off.
 
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Yep. Recently switched to Nvidia and everything just works. I never feel shafted anymore. You never hear of things being badly optimized for Nvidia but it's always hit or miss with AMD.
 
The Omega drivers are working fine, and I don't tend to get crappy and expensive games on release (plus quite a backlog) so I'm quite okay to wait for drivers and CF profiles.
 
AMD should start doing what it use to do and offer updated cap files(game profiles) on regular basis like every 2-4 weeks depending on whats released. Should be fairly easy to maintain and that should keep the majority of the userbase happy while letting the driver team focus on bugs, performance and new features. As usual its the silence that kills.
 
Almost all big releases these days are god awful, incomplete bug fests, which 99% of the time I wouldn't even dream of buying or playing at launch, so 'waiting' for profiles wouldn't bother me in the slightest.
 
Software imo is part of the package i do look at when i get a gpu.
Normally both sides are pretty good except this last delay with AMD (got a few angry friends with crossfire 290's cos i recommended them ) :(
 
smilertoo said:
I just buy nvidia cos it's what i always buy; If they actively block freesync i might move to AMD for my next card though.
Click to expand...

As I've said before, I don't see how they can ignore the VESA standard ... none of the big 3 (LG / Dell / Samsung) are even remotely likely to ever use G-Synch, which means it's effectively dead. They achieved what they wanted - temporary vendor lock-in and bleeding people for more money ... I expect it will have completely disappeared within 18 months max, probably a lot less.
 
I care about drivers, you can keep the rest - both vendors other software is sufficiently bad that I don't install it.

Having said I care about drivers - I presume this is in reference to the lack of a release yesterday by AMD. Personally I've never been sat waiting on a driver release from either team and I couldn't care less when the releases happen, so long as my card works in the games I play which to date both vendors have done fine at. The more problematic of my cards is the one in my laptop, but I think that's because it's a mobile card rather than anything to do with brand, and a single data point is hardly meaningful anyway.

I also care about being standards compliant though, which seriously discourages me from going nVidia for desktop, as it limits my options further down the line. Not bothered in a laptop as it's got the screen it's got etc and at the moment nVidia look pretty good for performance/watt so they're top pick there for me.
 
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