Whose latest drivers are the "best"?

F

fsh42na

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 13, 2004
Messages
1,472
I'm gonna be working on a SFF computer for my daughter using a DFI P45 board along with either an E8500 or a Q9450. I'm also gonna be working an I7 computer. My plans are for using a GTX 260 for the I7, but I need to get a card for the SFF computer (going into a Qmicra V2). I initially planned on a 4870, but the heat generated by them is swaying towards another GTX 260.

What's the latest opinion regarding ATI vs Nvidia drivers? I'll be using XP pro for my daughter's computer and Vista ultimate 64bit on the I7.


thanks for any and all feedback:D
 
its kind of a tossup. both have their issues and strengths. as far as heat goes your not going to see a real difference between the cards ATI is usually somewhat behind nvidia sponsored games in terms of drivers (though we are starting to see the same behavior the other way now). a lot of Nvidia fanboys love to scream drivers but I have to deal with both and outside of installing red after green they are on pair.

I know this isn't much help.

feature wise I would give the edge to the 4870. not by much but there. price wise it has been a battle with the 4870 slightly ahead (until the next price drop) add that to the fact that your using a P45 board (crossfire) I would say that is the deal maker (even if you don't plan to crossfire the choice between these cards are close enough to make the above the deciding factor)

I will add one more, this is not a reason for a lot of people but it is me, nvidia has been pissing me off lately, stupid business practices, very shady marketing, aka rebranding, and otherwise making an ass out of themselves has all but made my choice for the next generation. and mind you my last two cards were Nvidia. I paid the difference the last time for BFG, I am not doing it again.
 
From a stability standpoint, I've had better luck with ATI drivers recently compared to the Nvidia 18X.XX. Although I've almost always had better luck with Nvidia in the past.
 
thanks for the replies. I was leaning Nvidia, but price wise the 4870 seems to be a bit cheaper (unless I go 1gb). Also, I've gotten wind of some driver with Nvidia and I don't have time to futz around with driver issues.

Thanks again
 
UtopiA said:
Because GTX 260's don't generate heat.
Click to expand...

I suppose I should've worded that differently. I meant that I was concerned by my impression that 4870's put out more heat and have noisy stock fans.
 
I have no recent experience with ATI drivers. With Nvidia I haven't had an issue since about early 2007 - they've been very trouble free for the games I play and performance keeps slowly edging up each release. Again, I have no idea about ATI - they could be performing just as well.
 
fsh42na said:
thanks for the replies. I was leaning Nvidia, but price wise the 4870 seems to be a bit cheaper (unless I go 1gb). Also, I've gotten wind of some driver with Nvidia and I don't have time to futz around with driver issues.

Thanks again
Click to expand...

If you go HD 4870, you want to have 1GB.
 
Get the Sapphire Toxic HD 4870 1Gb. It kills the heat and the noise issue nicely.
 
I don't think it would be fair to base your gpu purchase off who has the best drivers unless you plan on never upgrading the drivers. Nvidia at launch of Vista has incredibly poor support but are fine now but at the same time a lot of people have not been happy with ATI's driver releases lately before the 9 series. It changes all the time. However, even though I currently have Nvidia GPU I do like how you can download 'just the driver' for ATI cards. You don't need to install the control panel, etc. With nvidia you get all or nothing.

Maybe a 4850 512MB, which is cheap now, plus 'just the driver', would be a good setup. I've heard the 9.2 or upcomming 9.3 are going to be decent.
 
When I think about your situation,....Does your daughter even game? If so, what kind, and how often. That is a big decision maker as well. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top