Are Nvidia's drivers really that good.

[Makaveli]

Just something I was thinking about. Alot of people say that nvidia drivers are more stable than Ati's. However what I want to know is why? Is it because alot more games are optimized Nvidia Hardware, Are the game makers favouring Nvidia Hardware? I've had my own experience with both Nvidia and Ati cards. From what i've seen Nvidia drivers usually work with most of the new games that come out without a hitch. Ati drivers however work most of the time but sometimes require a driver update or a patch. This is just based on games that are newely released. I know some will say it happends to Nvidia cards also, but it is far more frequent with Ati cards.

So back to my point is it just bad driver design on Ati's part, sloppy coding by the Game makers, Driver bias by the game makers. I know some of you will say it is stupid for a game company to just release a game that works with only one manufacturs card. And I agree cause that would kill the market for gamers and be a big loss in profit.

So the question is are Ati to blame for the drivers or are there more things involved here that we the public just don't know about.

 

[ltj311]

Maybe ATI is rushing their product. Releasing it prematurely and hoping driver updates will fix the ensuing problems(i.e. 9700pro).

 

[johnoh]

My experience is that buggy drivers are buggy drivers and their problems are not to blame on other code like games or microsoft or whatever. Nvidia seems to write cleaner code. No idea what the underlying reason for it is. I suppose every business has a different perspective on how they balance the old saying: you can choose any two of the following - made inexpensively, made quickly, made with quality. Back when IBM thought os/2 had a shot at displacing windows they had a big thrust on the how much buggier windows was, and they clearly underestimated user tolerance for systems that were not that reliable. One of Gates' highest acheivements was hiding a decrease in software reliability within the increase in hardware reliability. If hardware hadn't broken so often back in the DOS world (which didn't break) it would have been much harder to accustom users to the instabilities inherent in his products.

John A

 

[knowan]

nVidia actually employs more software designers than hardware designers. That's why their drivers are (usually) better. Until about a year ago ATI drivers were well known as buggy. Now adays the gap between the 2 is closing.

As for sloppy coding on the part of game programers, I suppose it's possible, but I have no real idea.

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

 

[eden]

Along with what the others said, ATi is finally putting their groove together, as part of their latest ATI Mojo day event, proving they do care. They have a line where they read every single mail about bugs, and will try to fix it ASAP. So yes ATi is becoming an attacking prey than a defensless prey in nVidia's camp.

--
The worst of enemies shall be prone to later be the best of friends. -Eden

 

[wolfboy]

In my opinion , the driver of Nvidia is the best of the world !

 

[Ghostdog]

Well I´m glad you´re having fun.

<font color=red>I´m starting to feel like a real computer consultant.</font color=red>

 

[Makaveli]

I wouldn't say there the best drivers in the world.
I've seen numerous problems with nvidia cards and drivers.
Just Ati has had more issues. And its funny how there is always a spotlight on Ati drivers but never one on Nvidia's.

 

[Skipper007]

I've never quite been able to get over how much some of Nvidia's newer drivers crash on my system. Under XP I had trouble with 30.82 under 3Dmark, as well as a version 28.84 (I think), although 28.84 later worked, so I'm wondering if it wasn't the driver after all. On the other hand, I can't get any of the recent Nvidia drivers to work with high res textures in JK2 and Return to Castle Wolfenstein under Windows 98, and I seem to get a lot of random lock ups (possibly audio related.) Hell, RTCW failed to load it's levels a lot until my dad use a special command to give it extra memory.

Athlon 1200 with 133 bus
MSI K7 Master
256MB PC2100
Leadtek Geforce 2 Pro 64MB
Sound Blaster Live Value
40 and 6 GB hard drive
Sony CD and Lite On burner.
300 watt PSU (has run a more stressful run this config with three hard drives and no trouble, so I don't think it's power related).

 

[eden]

The Detonator 40s are relatively unstable in performance on my Ti200, especially the 40.72s. I am gracefully awaiting the real deal, or as some call it, the Detonator 5.

--
The worst of enemies shall be prone to later be the best of friends. -Eden<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Eden on 11/05/02 03:54 PM.</EM></FONT></P>