How are ATI Drivers these days?

M

Mithan

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Messages
75
I am currently using a GTX285 but am considering an upgrade to either a GTX580 or a ATI 6970 when it becomes available.

In the past, I bought the 9700 Pro and X1900's on release day and didn't regret it too much at the time, but these days, I hear people complaining again about ATI drivers and if I am going to drop $550 or so on a card, I don't really care about a 5% difference in performance, I want stable drivers as well. Now obviously, we don't know how much difference between the two cards we will see...

How are they?
Any major issues with games and programs?
Does alt-tabbing work fine in most games?
Does multi-monitor support work fine (ie- moving stuff around, mousing back and forth, etc)

This would be on Windows 7 64.


Thanks!
 
The drivers are fine. They aren't perfect.

Even with a configuration that might seem particularly susceptible to driver issues (quad crossfire) I really have not encountered many issues.

When problems do crop up, AMD is generally pretty quick to come out with a fix. For example- Blizzard implemented an experimental DirectX11 mode for World of Warcraft that you can't even enable unless you modify a configuration file or your enter an in-game command manually. It didn't work properly with crossfire. Yet despite it not even being an official in-game option yet, AMD released a profile update that fixed the issue less than 24 hours later.
 
Don't ask someone with a 4870x2. Like me. I am likely to tell you that they have sucked unbelievably for the last 6 months. They may work better with the newer cards, but I won't be finding out.
 
No driver is perfect.

AMD drivers are fine these days.

CFX could use some improvement as we've shown in the past.
 
You mean compared to Nvidia drivers right?

It's 6 of one half a dozen of the other, neither are perfect, drivers are not a reason to select a card in todays market, the only people who do have a massive bias.
 
They are on par with Nvidia, not better. Not worse either though. Thats not to say AMD's have improved drammatically (they have mind you) but more to say Nvidia's have progressively gotten worse. Between CUDA, Quadro PhysX and games they are just spread too thin and it has been showing.
 
I feel like ATI's unified driver and monthly release schedule actually hurts them when it comes to perceived driver reliability.

It's extremely common for people to have a completely working setup, then they will see that new drivers have been released. They update to the new drivers and all of a sudden something doesn't work anymore.

This was the case with the 4870x2 where drivers past 10.5 had changes which were supposed to boost crossfire performance on newer cards but ended up breaking crossfire in cases like the 4870x2. I'm sure a lot of people were using 10.5 and saw 10.6 come out, and even though they didn't need to update the driver, had their OCD kick in and updated anyway, finding out the hard way that it didn't work correctly. They did eventually address this issue with the 10.8b and 10.9a hotfix drivers (the fix is now included in the regular 10.10 drivers) but not before causing a lot of people a lot of headaches - except those who never updated and were happily using 10.5 or older drivers the whole time.

The only thing you really *need* to update as often as possible is the crossfire application profile (assuming you're even running crossfire), which is separate now and does not need to be updated at the same time as the driver.

Nvidia gets around this issue by only coming out with new drivers every 3-6 months. Everything in between is always a "beta" and no one generally knocks a beta driver for not being stable. Nvidia's drivers aren't better they've just figured out a system that entices fewer people to break their own systems when they are working perfectly fine.
 
Mostly working fine for me. I had some games that had issues with Crossfire but they were fixed by either beta profiles in a week or so or at the end of the month when they update the WHQL'd stuff.

So they're not perfect but not bad either.
 
They've been working perfectly fine for me, I remember having a few issues when I was running 5850's in crossfire, but that was only due to the game not being supported for crossfire at the time. The only thing I'd really like to see is the ability to set 3d profiles for specific games rather than having a single all encompassing profile. but that's not a reliability issue its more of a feature request..
 
Brent_Justice said:
No driver is perfect.

AMD drivers are fine these days.

CFX could use some improvement as we've shown in the past.
Click to expand...

As I always say, both drivers equally suck in their own ways.

Cali3350 said:
but more to say Nvidia's have progressively gotten worse. Between CUDA, Quadro PhysX and games they are just spread too thin and it has been showing.
Click to expand...

Not to mention the number of features that seem to go missing as time goes on.
 
I've been using an AMD videocard for the almost 2 years straight, and the only problem I've ever had with the drivers is when I used a very early beta. Even then the driver itself wasn't bad, but the install process somehow went bad. Completely wiped that install, downloaded from a new source and didn't have an issue. Since you're looking at going with a single card, I would say that the chances of you running into anything is pretty low. As for Nvidia drivers, I had a few game issues when I had a 8800GT and GTX260 but nothing major.
 
Meh they're equally the same, but I do like AMD's monthly schedule compared to Nvidia. With NV you just never know when something is going to get fixed/patched or when a new driver comes out. Heck didn't early GTX460 SLI adopters get shacked for ~2 months with no new drivers?

Right now I'm running 256.89's and there are only 2 issues I have: When your OC fails the driver will clock the core at 405 and stays there until you reboot. It's pretty annoying. The other one is graphics corruption on Street Fighter 4 on certain stages
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
Don't ask someone with a 4870x2. Like me. I am likely to tell you that they have sucked unbelievably for the last 6 months. They may work better with the newer cards, but I won't be finding out.
Click to expand...
Haven't had any issues with my 4870x2 :confused:

GotNoRice said:
This was the case with the 4870x2 where drivers past 10.5 had changes which were supposed to boost crossfire performance on newer cards but ended up breaking crossfire in cases like the 4870x2. I'm sure a lot of people were using 10.5 and saw 10.6 come out, and even though they didn't need to update the driver, had their OCD kick in and updated anyway, finding out the hard way that it didn't work correctly. They did eventually address this issue with the 10.8b and 10.9a hotfix drivers (the fix is now included in the regular 10.10 drivers) but not before causing a lot of people a lot of headaches - except those who never updated and were happily using 10.5 or older drivers the whole time.
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I heard wind of that issue but forgot to look into it because even "crippled" my single 4870x2 is still enough to get the job done. A good friend showed my the 10.9a hotfix though and now I am happier for future usage.
 
This has been my 2nd (maybe 3rd) ATI purchase in years, but it seems to be working fine.
 
Really good on my 5870. I don't upgrade to the new drivers every month, only when it's absolutely necessary. I'm on 10.6's still and they are golden. I play bc2, l4d2, civ 5, and fallout NV all with no issues whatsoever.
 
I switched from Nvidia due to driver issues, and have no regrets coming over with that motivation. The cards (IMO) are without a doubt better engineered, so roughly equal or better drivers puts them over the top. I'm on 10.10, upgraded from 10.7. The newest features such as VLC video acceleration are amazing. Full screen videos on a 2nd monitor while fullscreen gaming on the next with 0 jitter.
 
The ati drivers have been pissing me off for a few months. At some point, my HDMI stopped storing the scaling of the picture. This is annoying because I have to rescale the image every time I turn on and off my monitor.
 
Just talked to my brother in law recently, he is still running 10.4 because even the new 10.10 C or whatever patch they are in, still crashes at random in Borderlands running on a 5970, which is his favorite game. If he disabled his CFX, crashes go away but he wants to play it on max settings.
 
The drivers are fine for me. The worst part about AMD drivers is their insistence on a monthly WHQL release. I cannot fathom how that helps their driver development. Not that I'm against frequent updates but I think they take it to an extreme that benefits no one.
 
The only real issue I have with ATI's drivers is with CFX and Eyefinity - it's still a mess. I notice no performance difference between crossfire off and crossfire on with Eyefinity, as the microstutter is so bad. On top of that, it appears to try to vsync at 120hz when my monitors are 60hz, and as a result even with vsync on, 60-70 fps is stuttery. Ridiculous. Waiting for Cayman so I can go single-card eyefinity and be done with it.
 
Works fine for me, except I'm using a HDTV as my monitor and when I play DX11 titles the screen won't fill, I already set it on 100% via CCC, it works fine with DX9 and DX10 games and on the desktop but for some odd reason the screen won't fill which is strange.

And I have a 6850.
 
I've never owned an ATI/AMD card. This topic is the only reason keeping me from jumping over. I would love some 6870cfx goodness, but not at the risk of a buggy system. I've never really had any major issues with nvidia drivers. I've been through a fx5200, 6800gt, 8800gtx, and now a gtx280. I really would love to upgrade my graphics card, but I don't really have that big of a reason to. Yes, the 280 still plays today's games just fine. Absolute speed is not my concern, neither is heat or really power consumption. I upgrade based on what is available at the time, provides a great gaming experience, and will give me the performance difference to justify another couple hundred bucks put to the computer.
 
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oshia86 said:
I've never owned an ATI/AMD card. This topic is the only reason keeping me from jumping over. I would love some 6870cfx goodness, but not at the risk of a buggy system. I've never really had any major issues with nvidia drivers. I've been through a fx5200, 6800gt, 8800gtx, and now a gtx280. I really would love to upgrade my graphics card, but I don't really have that big of a reason to. Yes, the 280 still plays today's games just fine. Absolute speed is not my concern, neither is heat or really power consumption. I upgrade based on what is available at the time, provides a great gaming experience, and will give me the performance difference to justify another couple hundred bucks put to the computer.
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I agree. I don't doubt for a minute that AMD makes better cards. They have won this generation handily and will likely win the next as well. But their drivers... well, at least they're improving. But you just don't get these kinds of problems with NVDA drivers.
 
these days? only the nvidia fanboy or the uneducated user who heard from his grandma's friend say nvdia drivers are any better.
 
I have used ATI mostly but have bought a few Nvidia cards along the way. The worst problems I have had/most unsatisfactory experiences I have had gaming were with Nvidia. The only time I didnt have a problem with Nvidia is when I had a 9800GT set up as Physx only, That, once I got it working, was great in Batman. I have had ATI or Nvidia since right after 3dfx folded, so I have been around the world a few times. But I dont come on here beating on Nvidia for having bad drivers or bad cards all the time, Its just the nature of the game.

The reason your seeing a lot of posts about ATI Drivers is because a few people look like a lot on forums, while the vast majority are out playing their games because they ahve no problems with them at all. Same thing with Nvidia Drivers.
 
Haven't had much of any issues with my X1950 XT, 4770, and now 5770. Maybe I'm just lucky.
 
xBanzai89 said:
Haven't had much of any issues with my X1950 XT, 4770, and now 5770. Maybe I'm just lucky.
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ATI does single card, single monitor well. It's CFX + EF that are really broken sometimes. I'll admit it's gotten better but I'm still not even convinced CFX improves performance at all in EF... kind of sad.
 
I've been having very few issues with my 5750 crossfire for the last 6+ Months. Honestly, I've had NO issues with games (the starcraft 2 Beta didn't work with crossfire, but thats a BETA- the full game seemed to be fine). I had a couple of times where the install wouldn't go quite right and I'd have to clean it and try again, but thats really not that big of a deal. Just last night, I got my new Gigabyte 6850 and threw it in, installed the 10.10d hotfix drivers and up and running with NO issues. I haven't had a chance to really game yet, but I was able to do a quick run of Vantage and it performed excellently. Drivers at this point seem to be fairly similar. Don't worry about it and just pick up the hardware you like:)
 
if its for video games, they fix it. for HDMI audio, they never get around to fix it.
 
I find the AMD drivers to be a pain in the ass, moreso than the Nvidia drivers. If AMD decides to ditch CCC, (fat chance) I'd probably go back to AMD. CCC is what made me switch over to Nvidia and it's what keeps me away from AMD now. I personally hate it. It's just bad programming.
 
I was VERY unpleased with the 5870 / Cataylst 9 and 10 drivers under Windows XP, after upgrading to 7/32bit all of my driver issues vanished, and I freakin love my 5870, which is my first ATi card in at least half a decade of frequent hardware upgrades
 
Flyinfinni said:
CCC isn't that bad- it could be laid out better, but it works fine.
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They ruined the layout after getting rid of the side menu. Getting to some of the settings now is just ridiculous... Also the underscanning on 1080p TVs, fucking annoying.
 
My concern isn't about single cards. This generation I have been debating on lower end dual gpu rig, or a single high end card. I can get more performance out of a lower end sli/cf rig, so I think I want to go that way. Being I already have a motherboard that supports CF, that route would be cheapest for me. But, I do not want to jump into a dual gpu rig if i'm not going to have a good experience with it.

I guess I'm just hesitant because I don't like to jump into an unknown area when it involves my hard earned dollars. Reminds me of those hesitant about water cooling. I do use an ATI gpu at work, and have never had any issues though.
 
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I have installed ATI cards as recently as 4870 in friend's PC's and absolutely hate their drivers. I had to install an AGP 2600 in a family members A64 system and it took literally 4 hours and 10 different hotfixes to get that to work. I also have a Latitude XT with x1250 integrated graphics that I have to mod the ini on catalyst drivers just to have them install. The lack of support for recently discontinued products is really just appalling. It seems that ATI users are more patient with these things, considering the showstopping issues that persisted with the 5xxx series for months yet we didn't get massive outcry.

Conversely, with the exception of a rocky period when Vista launched, Nvidia drivers have been rock solid for me. The fact that you can download a single driver package and it supports EVERYTHING back to the 6xxx series is awesome. The newly added clean install option with the 260's eliminated the need to use a driver cleaner program and really streamlined the process.
 
Driver-wise I've had pretty good luck with the recent 10.x releases in Windows 7 64 bit, but when upgrading CCC usually gets borked. Complete uninstall/reinstall fixes the issue, but a bit annoying.
 
John Vuong said:
Works fine for me, except I'm using a HDTV as my monitor and when I play DX11 titles the screen won't fill, I already set it on 100% via CCC, it works fine with DX9 and DX10 games and on the desktop but for some odd reason the screen won't fill which is strange.

And I have a 6850.
Click to expand...

To solve this just go into the HDTV support section and make sure you add all the 1080p60 standard resolutions. It should work fine then. If it doesn't work at that, then you just need to start a DX11 game, alt tab to desktop and go into the scaling options and change it to 0%. You will only have to do this once and only in one game.

As for the topic, ATI drivers are fine. Nvidia drivers are fine. There are some rare exceptions on both sides, where they make a complete mess of the drivers, but, thankfully they are rare!!
 
PrincessFrosty said:
drivers are not a reason to select a card in todays market, the only people who do have a massive bias.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but you're also the person who suggests CrossfireX performance isn't important for AMD to work on, when you yourself run a card that's internal CrossfireX. Positions like that suggest a bias, and you lose credibility on your opinion.

Look, you run a PC gaming standards site, and it's pretty good. How about a video card drivers standards site as well? Afraid to embarrass AMD on that one? When there is a problem with a driver on games, would you praise AMD on your site for this issue and support AMD's efforts to not work on it and ignore their users?

One reason Nvidia never released a dual-GPU card this round is that they realized (thanks to drivers) that the GTX 480 was already a winner against the 5970. For some reason that fact comes across as massive bias to you?

(I won't even mention AMD's 2-D driver issues at the desktop...)
 
Tolyngee said:
Yeah, but you're also the person who suggests CrossfireX performance isn't important for AMD to work on, when you yourself run a card that's internal CrossfireX. Positions like that suggest a bias, and you lose credibility on your opinion.

Look, you run a PC gaming standards site, and it's pretty good. How about a video card drivers standards site as well? Afraid to embarrass AMD on that one? When there is a problem with a driver on games, would you praise AMD on your site for this issue and support AMD's efforts to not work on it and ignore their users?

One reason Nvidia never released a dual-GPU card this round is that they realized (thanks to drivers) that the GTX 480 was already a winner against the 5970. For some reason that fact comes across as massive bias to you?

(I won't even mention AMD's 2-D driver issues at the desktop...)
Click to expand...

Wow dude chill no need to personally attack people. LOL The reason nvidia didn't release a dual gpu card is because it wasn't feasible, the laws of thermodynamics had them beat and any kind of dual 470 or 480 would have been far far beyond 300watts. The only way to cool a beast like that would have been water or something insane like a TRAD + HR-03 combo.
 
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