Are the AMD drivers really that bad?

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HTPC - Ryzen 1700/Radeon Vega FE - zero driver issue with the GPU - computer is on 24/7
Linux build Ryzen 2700/Radeon Vega FE - zero driver issue including playing multiple Steam games

Ryzen 3900/5700 XT AE:
  • Had black screen issue on December driver, I think it was 19.12.1 and maybe .2 as well - used DDU and that did not work - reverted to older driver back then solved the issue
  • Newer drivers after that resolved the black screen issue and I cannot recall having any black screens
  • I get a light pink/lblue/green screen, very easy to reproduce, on my primary 144hz monitor when changing memory speeds on the card, the 60hz secondary monitor remains ok during the setting change. Turning off the primary monitor and back on resolves the issue - not a crash, monitor and GPU is not syncing is what it appears to be.
  • The computer is on 24/7, CPU at 100% and GPU at 100% most of the time when I am not on it - no crashes - steady as a rock
  • Newest optional driver 20.2.1
    • First driver I can play a full screen 1440p video with the 5700XT at 100% GPU usage and CPU at 100% with zero stutter (Mining) in Microsoft Edge, Chrome still stutters unless I stop mining while Edge is completely fluid. Brave browser is also ok
    • So far it is stable like the rest of the drivers except for changing memory timings
Intel 6700K/SLI 1080 Ti's
  • Zero significant issues, some nuisance issues like FreeSync, poor UI but overall very solid
 
That was a top notch report/reporting. I am beginning to think it is indeed a hardware level issue which for most users can be compensated by drivers but depending upon the severity it may not be. AMD cannot afford to send out faulty cards/drivers in large numbers. Older AMD GPU's for the most part seem to not be affected nearly as much with the black screen issue. While Nvidia had space invader syndrome which over time they completely fix, a blank/black screen with crash actually seems to be a worst issue if it happens often over space invaders.
 
That was a top notch report/reporting. I am beginning to think it is indeed a hardware level issue which for most users can be compensated by drivers but depending upon the severity it may not be. AMD cannot afford to send out faulty cards/drivers in large numbers. Older AMD GPU's for the most part seem to not be affected nearly as much with the black screen issue. While Nvidia had space invader syndrome which over time they completely fix, a blank/black screen with crash actually seems to be a worst issue if it happens often over space invaders.
its the same thing every time....they use some many different hardware models with different firm wares and same exact driver for all....none of this stuff is new
 
this is the crazy thing about that...My Vega card is the most reliable problem free card i think i ever owned...but its also the first pure reference one i have purchased....go figure right? Thats not to say they never had bugs Before i got mine, as im sure they did when it was new, as always.
Vega 10 has no problems because AMD probably didnt mess with the old code from the drivers. Radeon VII should be getting some optimization and probably they make some changes also vega 10 is 2.5 years old
 
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I was waiting to see what AMD was going to release this year for the high end card but now I am a bit uncertain if I want to risk it.
 
For video cards, i totally think so. AMD drivers just aren't as good as Nvidia's right now. That doesn't mean Nvidia doesn't have driver issues, they just aren't as bad.

Now when it comes to CPU/Motherboard issues, those AMD drivers are very good now with the 2000/3000 series.
 
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Ouch.

Retailers saying they are seeing 5 times the return rate with Navi vs NVidia equivalents is particularly damning. This isn't some kind of internet poll subject to all kinds of self selection biases.

This is the end user getting so fed up, they return the product. As he says, this potentially burns bridges for AMD.

Price drops decent enough on some open box/refurb 5700 XT's I'm in for 3.
 
I see enough names in this thread I recognize so this must be an actual issue.... Sorry guys, hope it works out (went through it in the 5000/6000 era)
 
Here's my experience, and I don't know if it's changed at all since the launch. I bought a 5700xt at launch to replace my 1070 GTX. What I noticed was pubg was a lot smoother due to the raw power, however, there was something wrong because if I went to specific towns it would have all this studdering, also lots of other features kept acting wery working then failing next update then something out working and failing. The last AMD / ATI card I had was the 5770 which I kept for 6 years! it was a beast and I loved that card, worth every penny. Anyways, after all the problems I returned the card to amazon, and went stupid mode and bought a 2080 TI and everything was working just as smooth as it was before except faster. WAYYY faster. One of the biggest things that helped that was missing was the gamma control and vibrantce color options as I use them for PUBG. AMD has its own versions but they don't help at all.


I'd love to get another 5700 because I hate Nvidia, they are too greedy, and always have been, however, until they fix the issues with drivers. Forget it.
 
I hate Nvidia, they are too greedy, and always have been
If you recognize (for yourself) that Nvidia has a better product, shouldn't they charge more for it?

Just a thought exercise, it applies to AMD and others as well :)
 
I bought an AMD card just this month. Not a single issue. My first AMD card ever.

People need to pay attention to timing of news like this.

Will people have issues? Of course but I really don't pay attention to much of it because I've had problems with all sorts of hardware at times where I should have had none and no problems where other people have them.

Essentially buy what you like and keep it moving.
 
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My 5700 Pulse works well with 20.1.3. Early 2020 edition drivers had some instabilities but now it is rock solid.
 
It's still funny. No one is saying nVidia doesn't have issues but to claim their drivers are just as broken is ignorant at best. I'm a 1080Ti user with zero issues, so I cancel out your example. I'm also a Vega user with issue, now i've one upped you.

I really don't know what say other then I don't have any of the said driver issues and own two RX 5700's.. So some of us think this is PR work of stills trying to make people buy Nvidia cards.
 
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I really don't know what say other then I don't have any of the said driver issues and own two RX 5700's.. So some of us think this is PR work of stills trying to make people buy Nvidia cards.

Try this: first, acknowledge the evidence, and second, acknowledge the fallacy that by not having a problem yourself, others shouldn't be having problems either.

If Nvidia were to be doing something underhanded here, as has been seen in the past, it would likely blowback on them to a point beyond which they could derive any benefit. Nvidia's best move is to let AMD deal with AMDs problems (or not), while continuing to release superior products and benefiting from that revenue stream.
 
Try this: first, acknowledge the evidence, and second, acknowledge the fallacy that by not having a problem yourself, others shouldn't be having problems either.

If Nvidia were to be doing something underhanded here, as has been seen in the past, it would likely blowback on them to a point beyond which they could derive any benefit. Nvidia's best move is to let AMD deal with AMDs problems (or not), while continuing to release superior products and benefiting from that revenue stream.
How much Nvidia stock do you own? Be honest :)
 
Anyone that thinks there’s this large of a campaign of Nvidia shills making this up are idiots. Nothing more nothing less. I’m not saying you’re one of them I’m not saying you’re not. That said, you do seem to be of the opinion that since you’re not having issues none exist for AMD and that since you found an example of someone with an nVidia card having issues that they are worse than AMD. So.... yeah. 🤷🏼‍♂️
Not idiots at all. I remember the HDMI 2.0b fiasco. All of a sudden it was a must have feature out of no where (that was perfectly timed for AMDs release) even though there wasn't a single video card that could do 4k at 60. The only way to pull it off was two 980s and even then it was limited. The amount of TVs that could do it at that time was minimal. But apparently everyone was buying new TVs right at that moment without a video card that could perform at that level. It was a total coincidence... Truly. :rolleyes:

But the entire internet made it seem that one 980 was all you needed. Not true. Not even close.

Since then I paid attention to perfectly timed bad news that seemingly comes out of no where.

It's called marketing.

You see this in Mobile devices too. Everyone believes Apple invents everything first and everyone else copies when in reality it's the other way around. How do you think that was started?
 
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Not idiots at all. I remember the HDMI 2.0b fiasco. All of a sudden it was a must have feature out of no where (that was perfectly timed for AMDs release) even though there wasn't a single video card that could do 4k at 60. The only way to pull it off was two 980s and even then it was limited. The amount of TVs that could do it at that time was minimal. But apparently everyone was buying new TVs right at that moment without a video card that could perform at that level. It was a total coincidence... Truly. :rolleyes:

But the entire internet made it seem that one 980 was all you needed. Not true. Not even close.

Since then I paid attention to perfectly timed bad news that seemingly comes out of no where.

It's called marketing.

You see this in Mobile devices too. Everyone believes Apple invents everything first and everyone else copies when in reality it's the other way around. How do you think that was started?

So let me get this straight. You thought stuff happening then was a shill marketing army making things up, and now you think that again?

That you thought this before, doesn't make the shill army any more real this time, than it was last time.
 
Anyone that thinks there’s this large of a campaign of Nvidia shills making this up are idiots. Nothing more nothing less. I’m not saying you’re one of them I’m not saying you’re not. That said, you do seem to be of the opinion that since you’re not having issues none exist for AMD and that since you found an example of someone with an nVidia card having issues that they are worse than AMD. So.... yeah. 🤷🏼‍♂️
Try this: first, acknowledge the evidence, and second, acknowledge the fallacy that by not having a problem yourself, others shouldn't be having problems either.

If Nvidia were to be doing something underhanded here, as has been seen in the past, it would likely blowback on them to a point beyond which they could derive any benefit. Nvidia's best move is to let AMD deal with AMDs problems (or not), while continuing to release superior products and benefiting from that revenue stream.

Guys don't feed the troll, it's a well known troll, he just enter in every possible thread spreading misinformation, off topic random statements and just spamming his useless Youtube videos just to gain clicks and watch..
 
OK, I did some extensive testing here. The driver black screen issues, I believe its different quality of silicon or firmware issues. Had a reference card, black screened, Had a red devil 5700 and it black screened, RMA'd and black screens gone. I bought a warehouse deals RX 5700 MSI Gaming X, flashed it to an XT, its been 2 days, flawless gaming on the newest drivers and older ones. No black screens at all. I updated it to the latest BIOS too.

One thing I noticed. -

Driver 19.9.3 - Afterburner default Voltage reported for core was 1.173v
Driver 20.2.1 - Afterburner default Voltage reported for core was 1.200v


I believe AMD is trying to dynamically define the vcore on these GPUs like Nvidia instead of just applying an insane amount of voltage to the GPU like in the previous GPU releases. This is to reign in the power consumption that they are famous for. Well, since they went to 7mm this is causing an issue for them and also all the other cards are getting dynamic voltage as well is causing stability issues. So what my advice would be is to increase voltage in afterburner and see if your black screens go away. I am almost certain this is a good portion of the issue AMD users are experiencing. I will continue to keep beta testing.

EDIT: Also one thing to note, when I received this GPU the junction temp was exceeding 110c. I had to increase the pressure mounting by installing washers and I applied Thermaltake TG-7 and the junction temps decreased 20c in doing this. This seems to be a widespread issue as well and reviewers are not capturing this in full as well.
 
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So let me get this straight. You thought stuff happening then was a shill marketing army making things up, and now you think that again?

That you thought this before, doesn't make the shill army any more real this time, than it was last time.
It's not that I thought it was happening it was. It's based on facts not made up stuff.

You needed two 980s really 980 tis back then that's a fact.
 
I really don't know what say other then I don't have any of the said driver issues and own two RX 5700's.. So some of us think this is PR work of stills trying to make people buy Nvidia cards.

I have zero doubt that, at least in part, this is quite true. It is not either or and does not have to be either or.
 
I have zero doubt that, at least in part, this is quite true. It is not either or and does not have to be either or.

You can maintain your irrational beliefs when it comes to forum comments, because in the end, that isn't some kind of viable statistical metric.

But the definitive item here is when HWUB/Techspot talked to retailers, and they were seeing over 5 Times the return rate on Navi cards.

For that to be the work of shills, they would have to be buying and returning cards on a large scale.

If you believe there is massive campaign of buying and returning Navi cards to make AMD look bad, you are losing your grasp on reality.
 
You can maintain your irrational beliefs when it comes to forum comments, because in the end, that isn't some kind of viable statistical metric.

But the definitive item here is when HWUB/Techspot talked to retailers, and they were seeing over 5 Times the return rate on Navi cards.

For that to be the work of shills, they would have to be buying and returning cards on a large scale.

If you believe there is massive campaign of buying and returning Navi cards to make AMD look bad, you are losing your grasp on reality.

The first page alone makes me chuckle.

People have issues. Popular YouTube channel has issues. Popular YouTube channel host contacts retailers for real numbers. Numbers are bad. AMD comes out and says there are issues.

Must be Nvidia shills.
 
You can maintain your irrational beliefs when it comes to forum comments, because in the end, that isn't some kind of viable statistical metric.

But the definitive item here is when HWUB/Techspot talked to retailers, and they were seeing over 5 Times the return rate on Navi cards.

For that to be the work of shills, they would have to be buying and returning cards on a large scale.

If you believe there is massive campaign of buying and returning Navi cards to make AMD look bad, you are losing your grasp on reality.

Dude, do you bother reading my post or just fly off the handle because it is something against your precious?
 
The first page alone makes me chuckle.

People have issues. Popular YouTube channel has issues. Popular YouTube channel host contacts retailers for real numbers. Numbers are bad. AMD comes out and says there are issues.

Must be Nvidia shills.

Does not have to be either or, which makes me chuckle for those who think it must. Real problems occur and can be taken advantage of.

Why shills get upset about this is beyond me.
 
His answer is valid. You said you believe that, in part, this whole issue is attributed to PR shills. It isn't. It's an issue that's been acknowledged at the company level.

No, his answer is not valid but an overreaction. Basically one thing was said and he read something completely different.

Basically, the issues are real and shills take advantage of it to push their agenda.
 
No, his answer is not valid but an overreaction. Basically one thing was said and he read something completely different.

Basically, the issues are real and shills take advantage of it to push their agenda.

So, AMD is having driver issues (we assume, who knows at this point) and people point it out and suggest Nvidia, who isn't..

Is that your definition of a shill?
 
I only recommend Nvidia anymore, especially when I am building for someone. I do not want the headaches to fall back to me because of issues such as these. I personally like to buy Radeons especially when they are having issues because for some reason if I can fix the issue through troubleshooting it gives me some kind of pride that I just cannot explain. I just like to fix things I guess you could say.
 
I wonder if people who strongly support a particular GPU maker in their sigs do not fall under his definition of shills. :D

Not really, since the sigs always only tell part of the stories of the folks on these forums. However, I prefer and use only AMD hardware in my personal builds, because that is what I prefer. That does not make me biased, no matter what. ;)
 
Not really, since the sigs always only tell part of the stories of the folks on these forums. However, I prefer and use only AMD hardware in my personal builds, because that is what I prefer. That does not make me biased, no matter what. ;)

When you go out of your way to buy hardware that's worse than the competition just because it has AMD on the box you are biased.
 
When you go out of your way to buy hardware that's worse than the competition just because it has AMD on the box you are biased.

Nope, I buy the hardware I choose to use and no, it is not worst than the competition and therefore, I am not biased. As I said, what is in a persons sig tells only part of the story but hey, you show your own personal biases anyways.

Edit: Unless, of course, you mean by making my own personal choices based upon what I want and not want everyone else says I should get or do, then yeah, I could be biased but only then. In the past, I have made decisions based upon what everyone else said I should do instead of what would make me happy and always regretted it.
 
I wonder if people who strongly support a particular GPU maker in their sigs do not fall under his definition of shills. :D
We do seem to get a lot of post from people pointing out AMD deficiency's who havent even owned or used said hardware. Sometimes we do but even then they dont bother to even state what the issue was or what troubleshooting steps were or were not taken. 80% of the posts in this thread are from people who have not even used said hardware in many years, much less the exact models with said issues. This is a fact!
 
We do seem to get a lot of post from people pointing out AMD deficiency's who havent even owned or used said hardware. Sometimes we do but even then they dont bother to even state what the issue was or what troubleshooting steps were or were not taken. 80% of the posts in this thread are from people who have not even used said hardware in many years, much less the exact models with said issues. This is a fact!

AMD has used their own cards. AMD says there are driver issues.

Checkmate.
 
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