How are AMD drivers these days?

[Deleted member 237813]

The problem with drivers are, how can you really tell if its a driver issue or something else?

 

[Beginner Macro Device]

Not only do panel costs have to come down

4K60 is available at 200ish dollars. That's inexpensive.

at least gamers, aren't going to be keen on higher resolution displays when GPUs are being cut down and priced up simultaneously

It's playable (not comfortable!) even with 300ish dollar GPUs like 6700 XT and RTX 3070. If you want everything this resolution can offer then your GPU of choice doesn't yet exist of course. Reasonable performance (DLSS/FSR Quality/Balanced, some ray tracing, everything else High/Ultra, framerate virtually never dips below 48 FPS) is pretty much available even if your GPU was just north of 700 bucks (RTX 4070 Ti, or 7900 XT).

A bit beyond 500 bucks for playable, a tad under 1000 for good 4K performance. Of course this is 60 FPS. 144 FPS gaming is currently the 1440p and 1080p territory if we're not talking rich guys.

 

[Lew Zealand]

I'll give you one example. Person has a Radeon 6900xt. This person left everything at default in the driver and only uses in-game settings. This person plays Hogwarts.

Game loads up and boom, card immediately hits 105C, fans cry, and clocks dive. This person hasn't even left the game menu yet.

Game finally loads, card seems ok again because there is an FPS limiter at 60, so fans are idle as temperature has gone back down to 60C.

Open the journal and boom, near meltdown, again, because the game's FPS limiter doesn't work during menus.

This happens in lots of games, but I most recently saw it in Hogwarts.

That's some strange behavior which I haven't seen on either a 6800 XT or a 7700 XT (in the same machine) but I'm playing with VSync as well as setting the framerate (75 fps recently). In initial game menus and then in-game menus, my 7700 XT is chillin' as there's significantly reduced GPU demand. I update drivers more or less when AMD releases them (within a week or so) so this spans many updates. It's also the same on my 5600 XT in a lower-end machine (at 60 fps), card is taking a break while in the menus.

 

[Princess Garnet]

4K60 is available at 200ish dollars. That's inexpensive.

Perhaps it is, but maybe that's all relative. There's also a whole host of other factors (refresh rate, response times, panel type, image quality, other minor intangible things, etc.) when it comes to displays. Consumers are apparently still choosing 1080p panels over them more often than not, and by a wide margin, and I would imagine it's likely down to panel costs and GPU costs (both of which are "cost") are the two primary reasons. 4K panels alone can be "inexpensive" but it can still be "not worth it". A "maybe playable now" card can be $300 but maybe it's "not worth it" as maybe that $300 "goes further" with high settings or frame rates at a lower resolution. Most consumers are overwhelmingly finding they get better returns at resolutions below 4K (and even below 1440p) for now.

 

[Beginner Macro Device]

Perhaps it is, but maybe that's all relative. There's also a whole host of other factors (refresh rate, response times, panel type, image quality, other minor intangible things, etc.) when it comes to displays. Consumers are apparently still choosing 1080p panels over them more often than not, and by a wide margin, and I would imagine it's likely down to panel costs and GPU costs (both of which are "cost") are the two primary reasons. 4K panels alone can be "inexpensive" but it can still be "not worth it". A "maybe playable now" card can be $300 but maybe it's "not worth it" as maybe that $300 "goes further" with high settings or frame rates at a lower resolution. Most consumers are overwhelmingly finding they get better returns at resolutions below 4K (and even below 1440p) for now.

Of course. Good quality 1080p display will drop your budget by 150ish dollars. $300 worth of GPU is now enough to take full advantage of 120+ Hz refresh rate in 99+ % games. With DLSS in mind, the same can be done with a 1440p display, albeit the monitor will cost you closer to 250 USD. (DLSS Quality/Balanced at 1440p is on par with native 1080p in terms of performance, occasionally superior)

And some gamers are very tight on money so they will get a 50 dollar used 1080p display with the lowest tier VA/IPS and a GPU worth just a little more money, namely a 1660/1070, or even RX 480.

 

[Melvis]

Single or multi display setup? HDMI or display port? Maybe try a different cable. Not some cheap no-name crap, something from a reputable brand with higher specifications.

Might even make a difference if you connect the display directly to the GPU instead of the onboard mainboard port.

I have two screens and I think its connect Via Display port. Ya i was thinking that as well, might see about another cable, like its rare it happens now and again is all, but can be at terrible timing (in a game haha) and both monitors are plugged into the gpu

 

[theouto]

I might pick up a 7900 XTX this weekend. I need something with more 4K power and my RTX 3090 just isn't giving the performance I want with today's titles.
I've owned AMD cards in the past but I remember having issues all the time with the drivers. I have been with Nvidia for a very long time now, their drivers always work, and I never have any issues at all. That said, a 4090 is damn near 2k and I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of cash on a GPU. Now 1K kills a bit of my soul too but it's a bit easier to swallow.

So are the drivers pretty good these days? Thats the only thing holding me up from purchasing the card.

As good as one want drivers to be: You'll probably forget they're there

 

[Palindrome]

My 2 cents:

No issues for me, personally. I've used a 6600XT since launch, and update my drivers every now and then (not always as soon as a new driver releases, mind), and I have only encountered one AMD specific issue:
- Forza Motorsport 7 will crash, eventually, without fail, on Sebring going through turn 6. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later. Known issue with AMD cards, never been fixed, but the game is also dead in the water (as is the franchise tbh).
- I had an additional issue where the original Dirt Rally would crash, without fail, once hitting the main menu. Never managed to solve it. Funnily enough I was able to replicate the issue on a completely different rig of mine with an Nvidia card so... Not a big deal to me, I own DR2 anyway.
- My brother is using my old RX580, and ever since about a year or so, Windows has been updating the Adrenaline Software package, without updating the underlying driver (and without asking the user about any of it), causing a driver-software mismatch. A DDU wipe and reinstall fixes this issue, which reoccurs every 2 months or so, and normal operation isn't affected. Simply a nuisance, and one I have told him I would help him with, but he turned down my offer, so I won't press the issue.

I don't have enough mileage with Nvidia personally to really draw any comparisons, but from using AMD cards on Windows for several years now, and using my current card since launch, I am perfectly fine with the driver/software package for my usecasem, which is mainly gaming, mostly in DX11, sometimes in DX12.

 

[CalzRei]

Drivers are pretty okay these days, and I use a 5700XT, the most schizophrenic of all currently supported radeon gpus today. If mine lasted for an uptime duration of 17 straight days without any fault or crash(only had to reboot due to a strange motherboard issue), RDNA2/3 is even more stable and will serve you well.

I'm curious, do you ever had the green screen problem?

 

[VT1185MF_Rosaria]

I'm curious, do you ever had the green screen problem?

Never had the green screen problem, the only noteworthy bug in my experience is that the gpu driver will crash if power is cut to the pc while it is sleeping. A simple restart fixes it post wakeup, so all in all my 5700 XT is largely trouble free.

 

[Zach_01]

I'm curious, do you ever had the green screen problem?

Had an MSI GamingX 5700XT for almost 4 years and never saw this green screen issue

 

[CalzRei]

Had an MSI GamingX 5700XT for almost 4 years and never saw this green screen issue

Read on reddit a while back that it was issue with first iteration of Navi 21 or something. Rev 2.0 fixed the issue. I'm still looking for a solution since without one my Strix 5700xt is a very expensive and heavy paperweight

 

[Veseleil]

Being in the market for a new GPU years ago I've heard so many horror stories about AMD drivers, especially for RDNA. So I bought a 5700XT and had no driver related problems ever since. 5700XT & 6900XTXH owner.

 

[Han44]

And I'm also faced with the choice of 4080s or 7900xtx, I've never had a red GPU or CPU, now I have a red CPU and I don't know what to choose (I play a lot) and reading the forums it's hard to decide, it's not about the differences of 100 or 200 euros, it's about the capabilities of the graphics card and using its potential and reliability (soft, drivers)

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

I have experienced driver issues on both AMD and nVidia cards. I rate amount of such experiences to be roughly equal in recent years.

 

[dgianstefani]

And I'm also faced with the choice of 4080s or 7900xtx, I've never had a red GPU or CPU, now I have a red CPU and I don't know what to choose (I play a lot) and reading the forums it's hard to decide, it's not about the differences of 100 or 200 euros, it's about the capabilities of the graphics card and using its potential and reliability (soft, drivers)

That's not a hard choice. The 4080s is more efficient, has a better featureset and is much faster in ray tracing while having basically zero downsides in that comparison, you can't do 4K/240 without compression but that's a real edge case. The only negative is it's a little more expensive.

If you're on the latest generation AMD drivers are generally fine, if a little tardy with day 1 game patches. It's older generations that don't get as good support as NVIDIA offers.

 

[Han44]

That's not a hard choice. The 4080s is more efficient, has a better featureset and is much faster in ray tracing while having basically zero downsides in that comparison, you can't do 4K/240 without compression but that's a real edge case. The only negative is it's a little more expensive.

If you're on the latest generation AMD drivers are generally fine, if a little tardy with day 1 game patches. It's older generations that don't get as good support as NVIDIA offers.

And I think I will do that, but I will wait for the official date of the rtx 5000, if it comes out this year, I will wait.

 

[kapone32]

And I'm also faced with the choice of 4080s or 7900xtx, I've never had a red GPU or CPU, now I have a red CPU and I don't know what to choose (I play a lot) and reading the forums it's hard to decide, it's not about the differences of 100 or 200 euros, it's about the capabilities of the graphics card and using its potential and reliability (soft, drivers)

Depends on what you want. If you like the narrative get the 4080. If you are into AAA Gaming get the 7900XTX. Consoles are where Game development is and AMD cards are already being used to create the Game. Of course if you get a 4080 you will be able to use this version of their software package but probably not the next. Just use the 3090 as an example. The narrative has that card completely out of mind share.

 

[LabRat 891]

Another forum but, my feelings on the topic, encapsulated.

Radeon-ID

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sourceforge.net

 

[lexluthermiester]

I will wait for the official date of the rtx 5000, if it comes out this year

I wouldn't hold my breath on that. More likely to be early next year.

 

[Han44]

I wouldn't hold my breath on that. More likely to be early next year.

I had this feeling too, because the red ones in the 8000 series won't be able to compete with the green ones in the top segment, so the green ones don't have to rush, they will sell some weaker wafers and maybe release the 4080S Ti

 

[Event Horizon]

FSR's inconsistency and shimmering (especially on foliage in motion) is the final thing keeping me away. The drivers seem nicer to me.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

For me amd drivers have been fine for the most part especially since RDNA2 I don't really think one company is far enough ahead unless you are really into specific early access type games or specific VR games that do no run well on AMD hardware.

Like I always say it's best to look at professional reviews based on your use cases and then decide, currently for me Nvidia is way ahead for my use case although part of that is amd doesn't even actually compete with the card in my primary pc unless price is your only mesure of a cards worth every ones hobbies are worth different $$$ to them so I will refrain from talking about value vs performance.

Always purchase a card from somewhere with a good return policy the best way to make a decision is buying two competing cards for example a 4080 S/7900XTX use them in games/software you actually play/ use, mess around with the features they offer then decide. It's a shame most can't actually do that due to cost but it's honestly the best way to decide.

 

[Deleted member 237813]

reviewers will never tell you the drivers are shit because you dont bite the hand that feeds you. no reviewer who is not buying his cards for reviews is trust worthy especially since you have to sign a paper with nvidia that goes far beyond typical ndas.

also benchmarking a card for hours or really using it on a day to day basis is completely different. reviewer test pcs are almost completely free of bloat/extra software besides of gpu drivers.

 

[Lew Zealand]

One thing that some AMD cards do (mostly lower-end) that I do not like is overlays seem to introduce microstutter in a performance-dependent manner.

In short: Afterburner or Adrenaline giving a full data dump of info on screen will introduce microstutter on 5600 XT, 6400, 6600 XT. Maybe a bit on 6700 XT and no stutter on 6800 XT. Lol I don't think I've tested the 7700 XT as I'm used not to doing this by now.

However if you limit it to just 3 lines/information bits or so, there's no stutter (not sure on the 6400, I haven't had it for a while). So it's usually just FPS, %GPU and %CPU for me if I have the overlay on and these lo-mid cards are OK.

This doesn't seem to be something that should happen at all though.