Ati drivers have been lousy for as long as I can remember to atleast as far as the Radeon 9700PRO days. Each time a discussion takes place on the matter it breaks down like this.

The bottom line is this, nvidia has always, ALWAYS had reliability issues mechanically however their software team is top notch and makes a fool of ATi's and has for years. ATi has better manufacturing and has for many years but their software is laughible. Before anyone wants to call me a fanboi need I remind everyone how DISASTEROUS the launch of CCC was? HMMMM?