Vista Tutorial - Going from NVidia to AMD card....

In the not to distant future, I plan to change my 8800 GTS 640 card to an AMD 4800 series card. I'm currently running Vista 64.

I'm concerned that I'll run into a whole host of problems and will end up just reformatting my C drive and starting with a fresh install of V64 with the new card already installed.

Can anyone share their experience? I'm sure someone has successfully made the N to A transition.

Any advice would be appreciated!
MoreGooder

I dont know why you would want to go from nvidia to ati however it would be simple as anything else. Remove the nvidia drivers, remove the video card, install the ati card and install the ati drivers.

whats ur system specs.. just so we know what you have.. do you have an AMD or Nvidia SLI ready Motherboard.

Why not just get a GTX260.. ?

System Spec:
See sig below.

I've been considering a watercooled 260 or 280 actually. But, they're just so darn pricey. I've been reading great things about the 4800 series from AMD.

I won't be able to upgrade until sometime in November anyway. Perhaps the nvidia die shrink for the 200 series will be done by then. That would be enough to keep me on the green team.

Honestly, I'd rather pay $299 for the card now (it may be a bit more as I don't look for Water cooled) than spend more for the increased power consumption on the HD 48xx series.

Besides, it is almost a written rule that the performance of nVidia cards increases over time with newer and better drivers.

I have an 8800 GTS but since mine is the G92 GPU based card, I was, with a bit of hacking and a lot of help from fellow Guru Skunksmash, able to get the nVidia PhysX software running in conjunction with newer drivers that make full use of the PhysX software - and though my 'benchmark' from 3D Mark doesn't show it, I have a *massive* increase in graphics due to the PhysX engine now running and the new driver.

I'll back you up MoreGooder. The HD 4000s look amazing. And dollar-for-performance, they are very competitive.

My big warning is this: Everyone I know who has done it has had trouble getting rid of nVidia drivers. Installing the ATI drivers is pretty easy (and upgrading them is insanely easy).

Good luck.

Getting rid of he nVidia drivers is easy - Guru3D - Driver Sweeper

And, again, yes, it is cheaper in the short term - but look hard and carefully at the long term - will an average of 30W draw *more* pay off the difference in the prices between the cards? Will the less clockability of the cards be a factor in the longer run?

I just had the choice to go with the 4780 or the 260.. I got my card like 3 days ago.. I had a very hard time choosing.. and I put multiple threads here and in other places for peoples opinions. I got a lot of mixed reviews from everyone, I think I read every single review for the 4000 series vs the 200 series I could find online.. and then some. it was a hard choice..and to be honest.. the 4870 was almost what I got, but I looked at it this way, I already have Nvidia on my system, thats only a smalllll part. The cards IMHO are basically neck and neck, ya the 4870 wins a lot of reviews, same does the 260. They are even, they both trade off with how many wins, and in what situation. and now with the 260 bein the SAME price.. it makes it just slightly a better choice IMO. Here's what did it for me, I already have Nvidia on system, Nvidia has better company's carryin the cards. the only company on ATI with lifetime warranty.. the only one is Visiontek.. On Nvidia XFX has a double lifetime, BFG has lifetime, and overnight next day card replacement guarantee (and they hold to it). and then eVGA. they have lifetime warranty, and even better. is eVGA has the 90 day step up program. all you do is pay the difference on a new card.. you might as well get the 260 now. and then you can upgrade to the better 55nm cards when they come out. These details here are what Won me over to the green side, not to mention that XFX, BFG, and eVGA all 3 recommend adding 3rd party coolers for better performance and they agree with overclocking. so if you change the cooler, take apart and add different thermal paste, or OC and burn it up. those 3 brands will cover ya.. they are for the real enthusiasts. ATI is more for business (don't be offeneded anyone with an ATI card). so these all together make it a pretty easy choice, plus the cards cost the same now. so I got the eVGA 260. and depending on price and performance I'm going to use my 90 day step up here in 1 month when the new 55nm GTX 200 cards drop..

Sorry this was so long, but I had to get the facts in there.. Question more gooder (good name). What size is your monitor(s).??

oh and as John or whoever said, Nvidia's drivers slowly improve performance. ATI just have drivers.. Nvidia makes improvements.. and Nvidia cards can and usually always OC better. for the exception of a few..

Thanks for all of the excellent posts, gents.

I've done a bit more searching and really haven't found very many nightmare stories regarding ditching gfx manufacturer X and moving to gfx manufacturer Y on Vista 64. I suppose it's just like anything else you attempt to do on a Windows machine. You make restore point, go thru the official and unofficial driver removal tools (aka driver cleaner for instance), install the new stuff and hope for the best.

At the very worst I'll have to reinstall Vista and all of my games and software, but that is something I like to do periodically anyway. The difference being in this situation, though, is that a forced reinstall of Vista would probably not be something I'd appreciate nor want, especially considering my Vista64 installation is working absolutely flawlessly.

So far, though, I'm leaning on staying with the green team because of the better selection of water cooling blocks for the 200 series compared to the 4800 series. 55nm down the road is also very appealing to me.

Once again, thanks everyone. I'll report back in September whenever I make my selection and attempt to install.

MG.