NVIDIA vs AMD game drivers

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So, in many places on the web there's people spitting on NVIDIA's driver support for older cards while other bash AMD's drivers. I even heard NVIDIA makes drivers for their older cards worse so the newer ones look better. Obviously, many people will say those things and I understand that. But while NVIDIA certainly has better drivers in some ways, is it really worse going team green if you want a card to last a longer time? What are your experiences with their driver support for older gen cards?
Thanks for advices!
 
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Eximo
Well, Nvidia has promised DX12 support for cards as far back as Fermi, hasn't actually happened though, and that promise is now over a year past due. I disagree that they are actively sabotaging older cards, just a cost/benefit for them, and going back that far in GPU terms is asking quite a lot.

AMD is sort of known for releasing drivers over long periods of time that gradually increase performance over time. Nvidia is known for getting almost the maximum output of their cards for popular titles immediately.

You can look at that in two ways. An AMD card might see improvement over time, but then again, where has that performance been since you owned it? With Nvidia, you get what you get when you pay and the prices are usually higher...
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Eximo

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Well, Nvidia has promised DX12 support for cards as far back as Fermi, hasn't actually happened though, and that promise is now over a year past due. I disagree that they are actively sabotaging older cards, just a cost/benefit for them, and going back that far in GPU terms is asking quite a lot.

AMD is sort of known for releasing drivers over long periods of time that gradually increase performance over time. Nvidia is known for getting almost the maximum output of their cards for popular titles immediately.

You can look at that in two ways. An AMD card might see improvement over time, but then again, where has that performance been since you owned it? With Nvidia, you get what you get when you pay and the prices are usually higher.

Both companies occasionally make driver mistakes, more recently with Nvidia and the whole 'removeable' device fiasco and failed updates (the first few versions of the 1000 series drivers failed to install/work with older cards, probably rushed it out the door)

I've only owned one discrete AMD GPU in recent times, and I didn't have many issues until I ran into a scaling issue. A suitable AMD replacement was likely available, but I do enjoy the lower power requirements from Nvidia.
 
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Thank you very much for your response and explanation!
What I do like is indeed NVIDIA's better support right away, earlier than AMD. While both sides can undoubtedly make mistakes, what I'm primarily concerned about here is leaving older cards at a much lower priority.
So, do you think I will run into more issues over time with running a Pascal card for a longer period than with a Polaris or maybe (but hardly) a Vega?
 
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Warmacblu

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Everyone is going to have a different experience but my GTX 580 was still performing very well until I upgraded this month. How old is that card? 6 years old? It could run any game I threw at it at 1080p high settings with a few medium and low AA settings and 60 FPS. The only reason I upgraded was because it couldn't put out 60 FPS in The Witcher 3.
 
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Eximo

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I also recently sold my GTX 580s, they were doing well in everything but Assassin's Creed Syndicate and GTA5. Mostly due to VRAM. Still basically the rough equivalent of a GTX950/GTX960. The 960 seems to do better on average, but it also has a lot of architectural and graphical improvements that newer titles take advantage of so it tends to look better while doing it.

I would expect any flagship card from any company to last quite a few years and remain playable. AMD has their 8GB R9-390 and R9-390x, they should last a while with no VRAM issues. Though an argument could easily be made for the RX480 or even 1060 in that regard. Best value is probably the 1070 overall if you can afford it.

I don't like to tweak settings as much as I used to, just like to install something and know I can run it. Already looking forward to the 1080ti (if it exists) to replace my 980 SLI setup. Looks like SLI is going away in favor of DX12 and async compute. During this transition a single card looks like the way to go.

I think the real problem is that we don't yet know how things are going to go. Normal cycle has been to make games for the lowest common denominator and go for volume. Now it doesn't seem to matter to the developers. They can stick with their known titles and brands and re-release similar games with only minor changes to game engines, and people will buy in droves. Mostly to accommodate consoles. Already a 4K capable (hah!, prepare for more massive upscaling) console announced. Likely be a Zen core with an integrated flavor of Polaris graphics.

Innovation seems to have shifted to the indie and app store games. Quite a few impressive free to play titles (mostly mods and homegrown applications without rights to an IP) Only a few upcoming PC titles that look slightly unique like. Then again, I am not a huge fan of the 'extended' movie format that most game titles stick with these days.
 
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Yeah, I was talking about the 1070. It's a bit of an overkill for my display, but 1060 already can't max everything now 1080p. Plus, frame locked 1070 will run cooler than a cheaper card which is among the highest priorities in my books. If I could push it into my budget it'd be great. The thing is when Maxwell came out everybody was shouting that the 970 is overkill for 1080p and here we are almost 3 years later and it can't max out 1080p. Yes, games got more demanding but it's in no way overkill for any long term build.
BTW: Do you think the 1070 will see a price reduction in Europe by Oct, Nov at the latest? Because at the moment they are a ridiculous MSRP-tripled...
 
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Warmacblu

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The GTX 970 can put out a constant 60 FPS at 1080p in most games with only having to sacrifice a few quality settings. You could probably get away with all high or mostly ultra and some high.
 
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Eximo

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xx70 cards from Nvidia aren't top of the line, but are certainly above the mainstream xx60 class. Just a measure of how often you are going to need to replace them. You can spend a lot and hold out, or replace regularly with a mid-range cards. I tend toward the former, but this time I kind of shot myself in the foot by not holding out for the 980Ti.

I would not expect a price drop with no competition and such high demand. Still see the 1080 I kind of want to buy disappear in only a few minutes when it is available.
 
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