Switching from Nvidia to AMD GPU Insights?

[PwnyTheTiger]

I'm about to switch GPU manufacturers completely having absolutely no hands on experience with AMD graphics cards, and the accompanying software. I've been on Nvidia for the longest time and very familiar with the software and how to tweak the card for the best performance to longevity, my concern is where to start and what things should I be doing immediately with the card. I know about resizable BAR as well as Smart Access Memory, but I'm very unsure of the software and what else I could do to get the best performance out of the card. Currently running a EVGA 1080 SC, I have the software set to max power limit and temp limit, with the fan curve getting and keeping the card right around 85 degrees. It's perfect for me and doesn't get too loud and performs exactly where I'd expect it to perform. I'm going to be getting a 6700xt in this rig shortly and am unsure going in with AMD what it's like in terms of how I set the limits on my current card and am looking for any tips or suggestions for the switch.

 

Thanks ahead of time for checking this out.

[xAcid9]

1. DDU Nvidia driver. Shutdown.

2. Remove Nvidia GPU, plug in AMD GPU.

3. Install latest AMD driver from AMD.com

4. Full install if you want all the bells and whistle.

5. Use the card at stock settings for couple of days to make sure it work perfectly out of the box. 

 

For tweaking just use the bundled Radeon Software. You can do all sorts of thing with it. 

[DarkD]

It's nothing too difficult just download the adrenaline software version for your card and you can either oc the card with custom settings from Tuning tab or you can oc it with auto function and the fan curve and power limit works like msi afterburner so no props 

[emothxughts]

1 minute ago, xAcid9 said:

1. DDU Nvidia driver. Shutdown.

2. Remove Nvidia GPU, plug in AMD GPU.

3. Install latest AMD driver from AMD.com

4. Full install if you want all the bells and whistle.

5. Use the card at stock settings for couple of days to make sure it work perfectly out of the box. 

 

For tweaking just use the bundled Radeon Software. You can do all sorts of thing with it. 

Beat me to it. But if you're using Afterburner now and would like to stick to it, pick "driver only" or "minimal install" when you install the AMD driver.

[xFluing]

11 hours ago, emothxughts said:

Beat me to it. But if you're using Afterburner now and would like to stick to it, pick "driver only" or "minimal install" when you install the AMD driver.

The crimson software is very good in its own right. Not for the gpu controls because those suck ass, but for all the driver level settings you can set on games like image sharpening, frame limiting (so you can stay in freesync range also savings on power and temps)

[emothxughts]

54 minutes ago, xFluing said:

The crimson software is very good in its own right. Not for the gpu controls because those suck ass, but for all the driver level settings you can set on games like image sharpening, frame limiting (so you can stay in freesync range also savings on power and temps)

For my setup, I use the Adrenalin software on minimal install for those driver level settings, and Afterburner for the actual GPU controls. Though this is mostly because I want to use RTSS too...

[xFluing]

21 hours ago, emothxughts said:

For my setup, I use the Adrenalin software on minimal install for those driver level settings, and Afterburner for the actual GPU controls. Though this is mostly because I want to use RTSS too...

I mean rtss and afterburner are kind of a must, they are just so good

[PwnyTheTiger]

On 3/10/2023 at 6:33 PM, xAcid9 said:

1. DDU Nvidia driver. Shutdown.

2. Remove Nvidia GPU, plug in AMD GPU.

3. Install latest AMD driver from AMD.com

4. Full install if you want all the bells and whistle.

5. Use the card at stock settings for couple of days to make sure it work perfectly out of the box. 

 

For tweaking just use the bundled Radeon Software. You can do all sorts of thing with it. 

This is exactly how I installed it. After I installed the Adrenaline software, I went into the BIOS and enabled Resizable Bar, which automatically enabled above 4G. Soon as I booted the software automatically switched on SMA and asked to reboot and that's as far as I got before I had to leave for work

 

I'll go ahead and run it at stock though to ensure the card functions as expected before tweaking stuff. I was using EVGA Precision X but it stopped loading itself once the new GPU drivers installed. I'm not running anything super high end but I do have a freesync monitor. 

 

How does RTSS work on AMD and what's exactly the selling point on Afterburner? I do want to get the most out of the card once it's broken in, but am not super familiar with either of these. Though I am pretty sure RTSS is essentially a frame limiter. 

[QuantumSingularity]

Do not be afraid of the AMD software - it's far more user friendly than NVCP. Much easier to tweak and in my opinion - better sorted for navigation as well. I really hope you found the 6700XT for a good price though, because the 1080 with FSR on Quality or even Ultra Quality performs exactly the same at 1440p with almost no quality loss. The 6800XT is the next serious step up, where even with FSR the 1080 can't match.

[PwnyTheTiger]

16 hours ago, QuantumSingularity said:

Do not be afraid of the AMD software - it's far more user friendly than NVCP. Much easier to tweak and in my opinion - better sorted for navigation as well. I really hope you found the 6700XT for a good price though, because the 1080 with FSR on Quality or even Ultra Quality performs exactly the same at 1440p with almost no quality loss. The 6800XT is the next serious step up, where even with FSR the 1080 can't match.

Isn't FSR an AMD only thing? I'm not entirely following you here on this post. My thoughts are that you're saying the 1080 with FSR would preform the same as my card now. Which makes no sense. The 1080 I had doesn't have FSR and while I think it did have software upscaling, I can already tell a massive difference in FPS from my 1080 to the 6700XT in the games I play regularly. Although I am having some weird frame time issues in Destiny 2 but I think that's more of a configuration issue that I need to sort out.

 

I have a 144hz 1080p panel either way so I'm not asking a ton from either card. Regardless I got the 6700xt for 350 and have had that 1080 since 2018, so it's good to retire it regardless.

[QuantumSingularity]

FSR unlike DLSS works on both Nvidia and AMD GPUs. That's the other big F U AMD did to Nvidia aside from the RDNA2 and RDNA3 GPUs. It works officially back to the GTX 1000 series, but some people had successfully used it on stuff like GTX 970Ti and GTX 980Ti. I use it daily on my GTX 1070 and it works flawlessly. In Cyberpunk it holds around 111 FPS on High/Ultra settings at 1440p and FSR Quality. ACC never drops under 120 at 1440p High/Epic and under 90FPS when i play it with the Quest 2. Most games benefit greatly from FSR, especially on high GPUs like the 1080 and 1080Ti.

[PwnyTheTiger]

Oh okay, that's good info to have, and I guess I was doing it all wrong before. I was just running it without all of that, though for what I play it worked great none the less. I was playing around with RSR and FSR in Cyberpunk last night and it is quite amazing running it at high settings. I also have a Quest 2, and was stoked to upgrade for a boost in PCVR games. I have yet to play though, last thing I like doing after working on my feet for 10 hours is to stand and play games I get FSR would be good for VR though but considering it's all right there in front of you, I feel like I'd notice the upscaling. My hope is I can turn it back up to 90fps in Virtual Desktop though and bump the quality with this upgrade. Prior to, I'd see quite a bit of stuttering in Pavlov, and Beat Saber would do that horrible stuttering at the beginning of some songs. Luckily there's a mod that compensates for that though.

 

Regardless, like I said it was nice to finally retire the old card, and I hooked a local gamer up with it for $100. I'd personally prefer to just get raw frames than use upscaling, though for more demanding games where Freesync can't handle the low FPS, I could see it being something I'd use.