Stay away from nVidia! (rant)

onelifecrisis · 11-24-09, 10:05 PM

In 2003 I switched from nVidia to ATI and stuck with ATI... until very recently. I now have a new GTX 260 and I'm gradually working my way back through nVidia's enormous catalogue of drivers trying to find one that just works. The current drivers have a bug which has been listed in their release notes under "known issues" for more than six months now. The drivers from seven months ago don't have that bug, they have other bugs instead. And I'm not talking about minor bugs here: I'm talking about being unable to select my native resolution, or being unable to get TRAA working in any of my games, or huge graphical corruptions that can only be fixed by switching drivers or messing with cvars using the in-game console (I'm talking about Crysis with that last one). I used to think ATI were bad because of their slightly finicky control panel apps, but I now realise that was a small price to pay for drivers that just frickin work!

Bah! Buyer beware.

Rockin Robbins · 11-25-09, 07:59 AM

Just shows to go ya that it's not enough to build a great card. I've always loved my old 7600GT but I have had a problem or two with drivers. I've been a loyal nVidia fan, but it's good to see ATI on top and running good for once. Hope the competition pushes both companies to clean up their acts and give us consumers the best possible products.

goldorak · 11-25-09, 08:37 AM

Any sensible person (excluding obviously fanboys from one camp or the other) would have told you that neither ATI or Nvidia had ever had perfect drivers. And neither of them have crappy drivers. The truth is every once in a while Ati and Nvidia have problems in their drivers and they take their time to fix it.
Ati drivers generally are more stable than Nvidia's, but they take time to fix if an error comes up. Nvidia on the other hand has a plethora of beta drivers, and you are lucky to find one that works for your specific game but breaks the others. You generally have to wait months for a certified WHQL version.
I've had ATI since the 8500, before I used Matrox, and recently since the 7900 I started using Nvidia. Well the conclusion I've come to is choose the card for the operating system you are going to use.
On Windows ATI has always been superior (and has had less sucky drivers than Nvidia's, control panel notwithstanding), if you want to use any other non windows os then Nvidia is the only choice (for 3d support, energy management and performance etc...).
Choose the right tool for the right task, but never believe that Nvidia drivers are somehow divine-perfect because its a blatant lie.

AVGWarhawk · 11-25-09, 08:57 AM

I tried ATI once. I did not like the control panel nor the cards performance. I do like Nvidia and can say I really never had a big issue with their cards or drivers. Then again, I do not play a wide array of games that certain drivers work great for one game but not the other. If a new driver is offered I load it and play.

kiwi_2005 · 11-25-09, 11:39 AM

when the sh*t hits the fan, go here

http://www.guru3d.com/

Arclight · 11-25-09, 11:43 AM

It has something to do with architecture as well. When they overhauled it, getting rid of pipelines and switching to the Streaming Processors / Unified Shaders you have today, it was driver hell. Going from G92 (8800GT&GTS 512, 9000 series) to GT200 cores likewise caused issues because of an overhaul (I honestly wouldn't recommend a GTX2xx card to anyone).

I'm guessing the launch of Fermi is going to be mayhem as well, though it seems to me like the GTX series is a testbed for their upcoming releases, or perhaps merely something to bridge the gap between the 9000 series and Fermi.

Dowly · 11-25-09, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

I tried ATI once. I did not like the control panel nor the cards performance. I do like Nvidia and can say I really never had a big issue with their cards or drivers. Then again, I do not play a wide array of games that certain drivers work great for one game but not the other. If a new driver is offered I load it and play.

Same here. I dont keep my drivers up-to-date usually, only when I get bad performance on a game I go and see if newer driver has done something to boost it up.

Always been a Nvidia user and have had 0 issues with drivers or hardware. *knocks the wood*

Schroeder · 12-03-09, 12:40 PM

I have a GTS 250 and this driver works fine for me: http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/winxp...2_whql_uk.html

I play Crysis too and don't have any issues (at least none that are caused by the graphics card...

).
From what the page says it should be compatible with your card as well.

onelifecrisis · 12-03-09, 06:52 PM

I did finally find a set of nVidia drivers that work without issues.

11-24-09, 10:05 PM	#1
onelifecrisis Maverick Modder Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: England Posts: 3,895 Downloads: 65 Uploads: 3	Stay away from nVidia! (rant) In 2003 I switched from nVidia to ATI and stuck with ATI... until very recently. I now have a new GTX 260 and I'm gradually working my way back through nVidia's enormous catalogue of drivers trying to find one that just works. The current drivers have a bug which has been listed in their release notes under "known issues" for more than six months now. The drivers from seven months ago don't have that bug, they have other bugs instead. And I'm not talking about minor bugs here: I'm talking about being unable to select my native resolution, or being unable to get TRAA working in any of my games, or huge graphical corruptions that can only be fixed by switching drivers or messing with cvars using the in-game console (I'm talking about Crysis with that last one). I used to think ATI were bad because of their slightly finicky control panel apps, but I now realise that was a small price to pay for drivers that just frickin work! Bah! Buyer beware.

11-25-09, 07:59 AM	#2
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,900 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	Just shows to go ya that it's not enough to build a great card. I've always loved my old 7600GT but I have had a problem or two with drivers. I've been a loyal nVidia fan, but it's good to see ATI on top and running good for once. Hope the competition pushes both companies to clean up their acts and give us consumers the best possible products. __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

11-25-09, 08:57 AM	#4
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,253 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	I tried ATI once. I did not like the control panel nor the cards performance. I do like Nvidia and can say I really never had a big issue with their cards or drivers. Then again, I do not play a wide array of games that certain drivers work great for one game but not the other. If a new driver is offered I load it and play. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

11-25-09, 11:39 AM	#5
kiwi_2005 Eternal Patrol Join Date: May 2004 Location: Aeoteroa Posts: 7,382 Downloads: 223 Uploads: 1	when the sht hits the fan, go here http://www.guru3d.com/ __________________ RIP kiwi_2005 Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.*

11-25-09, 11:43 AM	#6
Arclight Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. Posts: 8,467 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 10	It has something to do with architecture as well. When they overhauled it, getting rid of pipelines and switching to the Streaming Processors / Unified Shaders you have today, it was driver hell. Going from G92 (8800GT&GTS 512, 9000 series) to GT200 cores likewise caused issues because of an overhaul (I honestly wouldn't recommend a GTX2xx card to anyone). I'm guessing the launch of Fermi is going to be mayhem as well, though it seems to me like the GTX series is a testbed for their upcoming releases, or perhaps merely something to bridge the gap between the 9000 series and Fermi. __________________ Contritium praecedit superbia.

11-25-09, 08:37 AM	#3
goldorak Admiral Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,320 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Any sensible person (excluding obviously fanboys from one camp or the other) would have told you that neither ATI or Nvidia had ever had perfect drivers. And neither of them have crappy drivers. The truth is every once in a while Ati and Nvidia have problems in their drivers and they take their time to fix it. Ati drivers generally are more stable than Nvidia's, but they take time to fix if an error comes up. Nvidia on the other hand has a plethora of beta drivers, and you are lucky to find one that works for your specific game but breaks the others. You generally have to wait months for a certified WHQL version. I've had ATI since the 8500, before I used Matrox, and recently since the 7900 I started using Nvidia. Well the conclusion I've come to is choose the card for the operating system you are going to use. On Windows ATI has always been superior (and has had less sucky drivers than Nvidia's, control panel notwithstanding), if you want to use any other non windows os then Nvidia is the only choice (for 3d support, energy management and performance etc...). Choose the right tool for the right task, but never believe that Nvidia drivers are somehow divine-perfect because its a blatant lie.

12-03-09, 12:40 PM	#8
Schroeder Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Banana Republic of Germany Posts: 6,170 Downloads: 62 Uploads: 0	I have a GTS 250 and this driver works fine for me: http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/winxp...2_whql_uk.html I play Crysis too and don't have any issues (at least none that are caused by the graphics card...). From what the page says it should be compatible with your card as well. __________________ Putting Germ back into Germany.

12-03-09, 06:52 PM	#9
onelifecrisis Maverick Modder Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: England Posts: 3,895 Downloads: 65 Uploads: 3	I did finally find a set of nVidia drivers that work without issues. __________________ Freedom of speech - priceless. For everything else there's Mastercard.