[Forbes] Why 'Watch Dogs' Is Bad News For AMD Users -- And Potentially The Entire PC Gaming Ecosystem

[Tigerbomb8]

Well looks like i wont be "buying" watch dogs.. 

[Camul]

Watchdogs was the only think I had to look forward too, I hope performance isn't bad on AMD cards.

[Misanthrope]

Watchdogs was the only think I had to look forward too, I hope performance isn't bad on AMD cards.

 

It's bad on even a 780ti so I wouldn't get my hopes up

[Camul]

It's bad on even a 780ti so I wouldn't get my hopes up

I have a HD 7970. Do you think that will work?

[l3lackmoses]

I don't even have to read the article to realize this isn't good. And i have an Nvidia graphics card, this kind of crap is the foundation of monopolies

[Syntaxvgm]

I don't even have to read the article to realize this isn't good. And i have an Nvidia graphics card, this kind of crap is the foundation of monopolies

That's exactly what I thought, and why I was mad at AC4. 

[pixeldensity]

Tbh, someone needs to say AMD - deal with it.

 

Afaik, developers don't have to use Gameworks if they hate it (as stated in posts), so I don't know what's the big deal about it. AMD should start developing quality drivers that don't crash my Photoshop and Premiere just because they can (happy Nvidia user since then) instead of crying about what's NVIDIA doing. God forbid someone invest time and money into something and then they're not offering it for free.

 

I'd like to see market share data stating that AMD is holding 40% of GPU market share. If someone has it, I'd like to have a look at it.

 

So, I guess fanboys and haters should take over from here. 

well here's the thing from what i've read from Extremetech, amd can't deal with it even if they want to. Gameworks makes it so that AMD or even the developers cannot not see any of the assets that is necessary in order for them to optimize for their drivers properly.

 

As for market share I believe amd counts for 30% of steam's survey and NV is 52% and intel 17%, even so 30% is a large number of people.

 

As for amd's drivers I've haven't had a problem yet and I feel they are good drivers and I'm sure alot of others haven't had problems either with amd gpus. I'm sure a lot of other people have had problems with NV drivers that they have condemned NV drivers to be horrible drivers that crash their system. Like someone told me gpus are a lottery, maybe you get it good or maybe you get it bad.

[Syntaxvgm]

well here's the thing from what i've read from Extremetech, amd can't deal with it even if they want to. Gameworks makes it so that AMD or even the developers cannot not see any of the assets that is necessary in order for them to optimize for their drivers properly.

 

As for market share I believe amd counts for 30% of steam's survey and NV is 52% and intel 17%, even so 30% is a large number of people.

 

As for amd's drivers I've haven't had a problem yet and I feel they are good drivers and I'm sure alot of others haven't had problems either with amd gpus. I'm sure a lot of other people have had problems with NV drivers that they have condemned NV drivers to be horrible drivers that crash their system. Like someone told me gpus are a lottery, maybe you get it good or maybe you get it bad.

Gonna have to stop you right there, I like AMD GPUs, a lot, but AMD drivers are absolute horse shit. 

The main issues come in for crossfire. You must be lucky. 

[Lukiose]

Luckily i held off on my pre-order for Watch_Dogs, gonna see reviews & if they are any crippling problems since i'm using a 7950. If Nvidia locks down then game then well,

[Nvidia] - Linus Torvolds

[Syntaxvgm]

Luckily i held off on my pre-order for Watch_Dogs, gonna see reviews & if they are any crippling problems since i'm using a 7950. If Nvidia locks down then game then well,

[Nvidia]

I had to modify AC4 and my drivers to get AC4 to work. I agree. AC4 couldn't even get above 45fps at min and I mean min settings for me. Like lowest possible everyhint, including resolution. Made some changes and 60fps plus at med 1080p.

Didn't mess with any patches though. 

It's like it was locked. 

[Lukiose]

I had to modify AC4 and my drivers to get AC4 to work. I agree. AC4 couldn't even get above 45fps at min and I mean min settings for me. Like lowest possible everyhint, including resolution. Made some changes and 60fps plus at med 1080p.

Didn't mess with any patches though. 

It's like it was locked. 

Yeah, i didn't even bother with AC4 and Batman, if Watch Dogs is going to be as locked for AMD users as it is then i'll just camp a couple days for the 29th

Star Citizen Dogfighting Module - Arena Commander!

[Destin]

So Nvidia has a program where developers put some extra time into making the game look good and run well only on Nvidia hardware? Yeah, AMD would NEVER do anything like that. I mean, say, inventing a whole new API that's only compatible with AMD GPUs but boosts performance significantly for games that use it... totally not something AMD would do.

Except Mantle was a secondary interface it was almost like it's own platform, Nvidia could still give suggestions for improvements to the developer and come out with drivers before updates, in this situation, AMD can't even put out drivers until after the update which makes 40% of the market suffer, AND they can't give any insight on how to improve the game. This is bad for everyone. I'm on a 780, but two of my friends are on R9 280x's. If I don't have anyone to play with because Nvidia is making my AMD friends not want to play, then what reason do I still have to buy any games or even update my card eventually.

[Vaub]

That's not even funny. I can understand things like PhysX here and there that don't do a lot, but a full set of "assets" which will only seems to be here for the sake of undermining competition? I don't like it.

It seems so backward in 2014 to start locking games down when it seems the trend is "multiplatform".

 

Some might say Mantle is the same thing, but it really isn't (imo). It's an API which (they said) will be "open" for other manufacturers/platforms in the future.

/offtopic If gaming is to come on Linux I don't think OpenGL (not on desktop anyway) in its current state is the way, hence my hope with Mantle in the long term.

 

Is it me or it's mostly Ubisoft games that use this thing?

[JAKEBAB]

You mad bro? Lol

[Syntaxvgm]

That's not even funny. I can understand things like PhysX here and there that don't do a lot, but a full set of "assets" which will only seems to be here for the sake of undermining competition? I don't like it.

It seems so backward in 2014 to start locking games down when it seems the trend is "multiplatform".

 

Some might say Mantle is the same thing, but it really isn't (imo). It's an API which (they said) will be "open" for other manufacturers/platforms in the future.

/offtopic If gaming is to come on Linux I don't think OpenGL (not on desktop anyway) in its current state is the way, hence my hope with Mantle in the long term.

 

Is it me or it's mostly Ubisoft games that use this thing?

It seems so. Notable mention 2k games did something similar with AMD and BS Infinite. I can't really say they made it work worse for NVIDIA cards so it's not a bad thing at all, but I was able to run it near max on  really outdated amd CPU/GPU combos so it had to have been optimized for AMD really well. This effect wasn't quite as apparent with Intel CPUs and AMD GPUs. 

[pixeldensity]

I'm starting to think that UBI did this b/c they were too lazy to do a proper development for PC b/c the way I understand GameWorks is that it allows an easier way for implementing assets into games for the devs 

 

 

Simply put, a library is a collection of implemented behaviors. They are not application specific — libraries are designed to be called by multiple programs in order to simplify development. Instead of implementing a GPU feature five times in five different games, you can just point the same five titles at one library.

[D3MON]

This is why I got sick of nvidias bullsh*t and for the foreseeable future will only buy amd (before im called a fanboy check my gallery), amd's always pushing open source software and nvidias just taking the apple approach.
"nvidia, fvck you!"-linus torvalds
it wont make a difference anyway "watch-dogshit" will run like a piece of piss anyway, i wont be surprised if my missus 9600gt can run it on medium at 1680x1050

[Syntaxvgm]

This is why I got sick of nvidias bullsh*t and for the foreseeable future will only buy amd (before im called a fanboy check my gallery), amd's always pushing open source software and nvidias just taking the apple approach.

"nvidia, fvck you!"-linus torvalds

it wont make a difference anyway "watch-dogshit" will run like a piece of piss anyway, i wont be surprised if my missus 9600gt can run it on medium at 1680x1050

I have a 9600GT OC if youd like me to test it for you. Kinda doubt itll do well though. 

[D3MON]

It seems so. Notable mention 2k games did something similar with AMD and BS Infinite. I can't really say they made it work worse for NVIDIA cards so it's not a bad thing at all, but I was able to run it near max on  really outdated amd CPU/GPU combos so it had to have been optimized for AMD really well. This effect wasn't quite as apparent with Intel CPUs and AMD GPUs. 

you can run bioshock infinate on anything (ran it on low at 720p on a gt210 even..), theres no optimisation, its just a damn easy game to run.

dont worry ill test this myself (or ill say my missus will) but ill also bench a 8800gts (g92), 7850, gtx480, gtx285 and whatever else i can get my hands on), i collect cards, mostly old nvidia but some newer amd obv.

[Syntaxvgm]

you can run bioshock infinate on anything (ran it on low at 720p on a gt210 even..), theres no optimisation, its just a damn easy game to run.

What I noticed is with some AND cpus it ran better than better intel ones. 

I'm talking 5770s and a 2.8ghz denab phenom quad. vs 2nd gen i7 same GPUs

a 210 is really impressive though. 

I admire the work 2k did on BS infinite on not releasing a broken game. 

[D3MON]

-SNIP-

This isn't "Nvidia optimized", it's "AMD gimped".

i guessed it would run easily, thanks for proving my point man, "amd gimped because, nvidia" sums it up.  [salute]

nvidia-"the way we like to fvck up the gaming community ON THE WHOLE for pure financial gain".

[Switchblade Ninja]

You sir are shit the game is fantastic. But Nvidia is being a huge dick hogging the industry. I am very angry atm.

 

 

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http://a.pomf.se/pbefgb.webm

 

 Amazing indeed

[AHaskin14]

Mantle makes the game run more efficiently, while Gameworks includes a suite of visual effects. Why is it a problem that they chose to add visual effects, is that not what pc gamers want most? the super effects that make the experience all that much better? i think the difference here makes all the arguments about mantly being open irrelevant, its not mantle.

[carolkarine]

And this is why I boycott nvidia.

[Syntaxvgm]

 

 

http://a.pomf.se/cbstes.webm

 

http://a.pomf.se/drieic.webm

 

http://a.pomf.se/vioudo.webm

 

http://a.pomf.se/gbilku.webm

 

http://a.pomf.se/iedeei.webm

 

http://a.pomf.se/oxcrus.webm

 

http://a.pomf.se/rpwefh.webm

 

http://a.pomf.se/pbefgb.webm

 

 Amazing indeed

loved this one

http://a.pomf.se/drieic.webm

the car touches the fence, it explodes.