What is this AMD "driver issue"?

TNA · 15 Dec 2015 at 10:09

Marine-RX179 said:
I wouldn't have any idea...I assumed that SLI is working perfectly for that game due to some Nvidia users here kept bringing how crap Crossfire is for Elite.

No wonder the general impression that Nvidia driver is better than AMD driver

That is the Apple effect Nvidia has in this space. It is like a jedi mind trick that works on certain individuals. lol

Final8y · 15 Dec 2015 at 10:10

Marine-RX179 said:
Now that you mentioned it, frequent drivers update might not always be a good thing.

I mean people have a habit of updating their driver everytime a new driver comes out and just assume they will get more performance because of it, but on many occassions already where I've seen people jumping on the new driver, and after some benchmarking and running some games they decided to rollback to older one to do having less performance than the older driver (and it is not AMD driver I am talking about )

I update 97% of the time just because there is a new driver and not that i thought i needed it.

And yes the new driver can be worse than the old in performance for some games.

Rainbow 6 Siege 358.50 vs 359.06:

something daft already!! · 15 Dec 2015 at 10:14

Marine-RX179 said:
I think the problem with Elite Dangerous is the lack of crossfire support isn't it? Still Elite is a bit of a niche game, and majority of the users using single GPU...but yes I can understand the frustration for those that play that as their main game and not getting the most out of the crossfire setup.

Nvidia themselve didn't get the driver support and optimisation sorted for the Kepler cards and older cards (700 series and older) even for single GPU cards for the new AAA titles for 6 months due to too focus on pushing the newly released 900 series at the time, so it's not always "greener" on the other side of the fence.

The issue is affecting single card set-up. I had to use a 18 month old driver to be able to play, this stopped me being able to play other games.

I dunno about a niche game, I know quite a few of my friends play it.

Final8y · 15 Dec 2015 at 10:15

Marine-RX179 said:
I wouldn't have any idea...I assumed that SLI is working perfectly for that game due to some Nvidia users here kept bringing how crap Crossfire is for Elite.

No wonder the general impression that Nvidia driver is better than AMD driver

The link is to the latest NV driver thread , Its not about Elite, as far as im aware SLI is working fine in that game.

beany_bot · 15 Dec 2015 at 11:00

If I am being perfectly honest...
If it wasn't for the DX12 results from Ashes then I would "probably" be sticking with Nvidea. Just because it is what I am used to, suits FSX better and the much lower power draw. However having said that, I realise that basing my decision on that result is a big gamble. because the next DX12 offering might well not be the same result. Nvidea could pull level. But I'm willing to gamble on that. Plus the 8GB ram is peace of mind. But not trying to start a flame war. My query about drivers was well answered by the good folk on here. So thank you.

old gamer · 15 Dec 2015 at 11:29

ive used both and feel nvidia and amd are as good/bad as each other, get the 390x play some games and you will wonder what all the fuss about drivers was

meldarthx · 15 Dec 2015 at 11:34

^ ding ding

Gregster · 15 Dec 2015 at 11:36

beany_bot said:
If I am being perfectly honest...
If it wasn't for the DX12 results from Ashes then I would "probably" be sticking with Nvidea. Just because it is what I am used to, suits FSX better and the much lower power draw. However having said that, I realise that basing my decision on that result is a big gamble. because the next DX12 offering might well not be the same result. Nvidea could pull level. But I'm willing to gamble on that. Plus the 8GB ram is peace of mind. But not trying to start a flame war. My query about drivers was well answered by the good folk on here. So thank you.

Just to clarify, Ashes runs better/faster on Nvidia.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18690671

Go with what suits you best and no need to justify it

Superjeep4x4 · 15 Dec 2015 at 11:54

I have ran ATI/AMD since the my old 1900 XT up to my current 7870 which is about to be replaced by a 390 and the only major issue I ever remember having was a "grey stripes" issue with my 5770. Mind you Im not a die hard AMD or die fanboy they just always seem to be what I can afford.

I honestly think a vast majority of driver issues from both sides are people just not cleaning old drivers out when switching back and forth between brands or just having old, bloated windows installs. Some times you just need to bite the bullet and reformat to clean all that crap out. Nvidia and ATI drivers dont play nice.

beany_bot · 15 Dec 2015 at 11:55

Gregster said:
Just to clarify, Ashes runs better/faster on Nvidia.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18690671

Go with what suits you best and no need to justify it

I didn't see the 390x on that list. I'm sure a titan X will beat the 390x but I was thinking more "pricepoint to pricepoint". Everything I have seen, on DX12 AMD is leaps ahead it's "equivalent" Nvidea card.

I might be wrong but everything I have read points to AMD being in favour for DX12 as it so closely matches their mantle API that they have been working towards for so long.

Gregster · 15 Dec 2015 at 11:58

Like I said, buy what suits you best and no need to justify it to anyone. I have run a 290X, a 970, a Fury X and a Titan X and they all do a good job in games

beany_bot · 15 Dec 2015 at 12:04

Gregster said:
Like I said, buy what suits you best and no need to justify it to anyone. I have run a 290X, a 970, a Fury X and a Titan X and they all do a good job in games

Indeed. The problem as ever is having to justify it to myself

David Bisset · 15 Dec 2015 at 12:06

Both sides have occasional driver problems, and people tend to take one issue they have had on their setup to mean side x is better/worse than the other
e.g. my laptop has driver crashes often, my desktop doesn't - so I could go on about the maker of the laptop driver being rubbish but that'd be taking my single experience and extrapolating from it and ending up with a baseless conclusion

Both sides make decent drivers almost all the time. nVidia went through a rough patch a few months back where a few builds caused crash to desktop for a reasonable sized segment of the userbase, but that seems to have been sorted again. AMD have had problems at various times too. On top of these occasional driver issues there may be issues that affect single games, sometimes for both vendors and sometimes for only one or the other. In most cases though if a game is borked it's for both.

Note: I'm talking about single-card here, as multi-card setups have a lot more complexity and talking points beyond just 'how quick for a multi-card profile'. In general I'd say avoid multicard from either vendor unless you're looking beyond the limits of the fastest card available.

Superjeep4x4 · 15 Dec 2015 at 12:11

At this point I would focus more on card models than drivers. Cooling, fan noise and coil whine(or lack of).

anthony566 · 15 Dec 2015 at 12:11

I have been Green and Red and they are both marmite ..... but what I will say is they both run games very well at all levels that you can afford so as already said go with what suites you, your budget and what will fit in your system.

I have a R9 390X and this is my first MSI card and the build quality is fantastic and I am sure it will be the same for the green version of the MSI cards.

TNA · 15 Dec 2015 at 12:38

beany_bot said:
Indeed. The problem as ever is having to justify it to myself

In your situation I would go for a 390, save the extra cash and in 12 months time get a new 14/16nm card. That way if you did not like AMDs "drivers" you can just as easily go for a pascal. Win win situation. Also you would have got two new toys to play with in a 12 month period

beany_bot · 15 Dec 2015 at 12:51

TNA said:
In your situation I would go for a 390, save the extra cash and in 12 months time get a new 14/16nm card. That way if you did not like AMDs "drivers" you can just as easily go for a pascal. Win win situation. Also you would have got two new toys to play with in a 12 month period

I considered that. But I really want to be able to A: run the Oculus rift flawlessly and B: Game at 1440p flawlessly.

I'm not so sure the 390 would be able to manage this. Certainly not as well as the 390x.

TNA · 15 Dec 2015 at 13:03

beany_bot said:
I considered that. But I really want to be able to A: run the Oculus rift flawlessly and B: Game at 1440p flawlessly.

I'm not so sure the 390 would be able to manage this. Certainly not as well as the 390x.

Careful there, we are yet to find out what it exactly takes to run Oculus Rift flawlessly. You don't want to set yourself up for a disappointment.

My understanding is there is not a big difference between the 390X and 390, not to warrant the price difference for me personally anyway

Best bet would be to pick up a 390 for £220. Though don't take too much notice, I just enjoy going for price for performance a lot. Do what makes you most happy.

nashathedog · 15 Dec 2015 at 13:15

Personally I'd go for an R9 980x.

That way you get the best of both worlds,
Good DX11 support, Good DX12 support in the future and when one brands drivers play up uninstall and load the other brands.

It works for me :confused:

TNA · 15 Dec 2015 at 13:21

nashathedog said:
Personally I'd go for an R9 980x.

That way you get the best of both worlds,
Good DX11 support, Good DX12 support in the future and when one brands drivers play up uninstall and load the other brands.

It works for me

Que? lol