AMD + freesync or no freesync and less problems?
Hello, currently I have an AMD R9 270X and a GTX 670.
I switched the cards like 20 times comparing their latency/frametime/responsiveness and their drivers. Also switching countless times between DX and Mantle in BF4 just on the AMD card over many months with all the known problems.
My plan was to get a screen and a new AMD card with full FreeSync support.
But I really have a problem with the AMD drivers, not only the quarterly updates. Do I really want to be bound to AMD and their drivers for many years?
Nice, here we have an AMDMatt, so:
1. Why doesn't the AMD driver/CCC have a setting for the max prerendered frames like Nvidia has to massively reduce latency in competitive gaming?
Please don't say to use any third party software like some radeonpro stuff one has to configure and start with every game - not acceptable!
2. Why doesn't the driver have an option like Nvidia "Override the scalling mode set by games and programs" to prevent the game from getting stretched even when scalling is deactivated? (BF4 does this).
3. Why does CCC have this obscure "Alternative DVI operation mode" where no one can really say for many years now what it does, what to chose, which effect it has, like on latency? Why is this undocumented, why is this needed, why can the Nvidia drivers work without this?
4. Why do the AMD drivers produce dozens of errors in the event viewer, spamming the system with error logs every single startup and during games? Why such bad drivers? Why no support to solve this massive spam of errors?
5. Why does every user have to disable that Hotkey poller service/external event utility that autostarts as default and results in massive mouse latency? People think it's only to poll (USB keyboard) hotkeys (resulting in USB mouse lag), others say it also polls stuff like temps/fans and those errors in the event log and is needed to get not that famous AMD black screen after standby? Why do we need such service, why don't you prevent that unacceptable mouse lag?
6. Why are there all these other autostarts/services that have like no measurable use and are totally unneeded and start each other in a chain like MOM, reduced CCC start initiaters and so on which many users will disable anyway? Well Nvidia also spams the system with services. But why is this comman practice when not needed?
7. Why aren't there any game profiles showing up (non crossfire user)?
The Nvidia driver shows me my games and I can set stuff like prerendered frames for each game, but when I want to add a game like CS:GO in Catalyst, it tells me, that there is already a (pre-delivered?) profile for this game - well where is it?!?! Show it. I see nothing in the list!
8. I wonder, why of 100s of professional gamers I watch at Twitch or Youtube, who play highly competive latency/frametime critical games like first person shooters, no one states AMD graphics cards in their specs/profiles but Nvidia cards?! I wonder, maybe this has some reason like the drivers and sluggish latency? And please don't say those guys are all sponsored by Nvidia, because AMD could also sponsor pro gamers and learn from their feedback.
I write this, because I thought it was kind of funny when I saw one counter strike pro ("Scream") who states to use an R9 200 series in his profile - but coincidence, he is without a team now. I thought, wow finally a guy who also shares such card, I could share problems in his chat. Maybe the R9 + drivers harmed his aim/muscle memory?
So, I really want to invest into an new AMD card and screen that support freesync (because we know the R9 270X doesn't support it) - but after all these years I have no trust into AMD anymore and about their upcomming driver support. I really want to spend a lot of money in the next weeks (well this "Announce Company" announced freesync for the last christmas holliday season and I was waiting for screens which never showed up and a "Radeon R9 285X" which also never showed up, because the only 2GB of the R9 285 are not acceptable).
Why don't they implement easy stuff like prerendered frames and many other settings a competitor offers his customers? Why don't they solve the many errors that show up in event logs? And so on, and so on...
Funny bonus: that
@AMD_Roy (Corporate Vice President IPG at AMD.) wrote me a mail for an R9 290X offer to win back business, but sorry, who wants to buy a new R9 290X in 2015? That's why their stocks are filled with stone old cards and they have to postpone new releases.
Well I'm off to watch the CS:GO katowice major tournament later this day. Let me gues, those pros fighting for several 100.000 $ are playing on Nvidia cards?