I am hoping to buy a new PC/laptop this year, since my HP one is prolly gonna die anyway...not cool

One thing i cant decide is which graphics card should i buy.

If:
-i were to buy a desktop or custom build my own, should i get a Geforce or AMD graphics card? How good are their drivers for skyrim? Does Nvidia drivers do better than AMD's?
-if i were to buy a laptop, which graphics card should i get, amd or nvidia? Also, i need a GPU that can handle skyrim very well(50-60 fps on high/ultra etc), but does not cause massive overheating unlike HP's crap 'laptops'

This isnt about what graphics card i should buy, but rather AMD or Geforce, and how well its drivers are and whether they cause overheating or not on a laptop/desktop

I prefer Nvidia's cards.

As to a specific card, see: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1350063-unofficial-will-my-pc-run-skyrim-thread-58-w-hardware-guide/

I am using the AMD 7970 right now, and its a great card. I have always stuck with AMD graphics. I like the graphics part of the company.

Currently using ATI but going back go Nvidia when the 680's go down in price a bit. Prefer Nvidia especially if you play multiple games on your PC.

i dont mind which GPU as i can research them myself. It seems Nvidia is more preferred o.0
Are their drivers better and can they withstand overheating better?

Better Drivers from Nvidia imo...the brand decides more about how much of a beating the GPU can take.....my XFX can handle some pretty insane temps that it never seems to see. That said my Nvidia 8800 EVGA went hard for 7 years almost a year and a half played time in WoW alone and it is still kicking in a friends rig.

thanks, i might choose nvidia cards. Looks pretty tough o.o

Def recommend EVGA or ASUS brand for Nvidia GPU.

If you have the money go for a nvidia 680, though I personally won't pay any more than 400 USD for a graphics card again. I'm planning on getting a Sapphire 7870 2GB. It's 350 USD and while it performs roughly equivalent to an nvidia 570 in Skyrim, it has more VRAM which should help with all the nice HD texture packs coming out. I'm upgrading from a nvidia 285 gtx, so I think this will be a nice upgrade. I was planning on waiting for Kepler's mid range to come out but I want to enjoy my newer games now.

I have an AMD 6870 which worked fine until one of their driver updates refused to get along with Skyrim.

They've since figured out a way to correct the bug, but I don't recall seeing any mention of a similar issue with any Nvidia cards, so I'd go with Geforce if you can.

I recently went from an AMD 6870 to my Nvidia GTX 570. My new card is better and can handle the game better obviously, but I was getting solid 60 with my 6870 anyway at max settings with texture mods

AMD have been letting me down with drivers for a few games including Skyrim since the Rage fiasco though, part of the reason I switched to Nvidia again.

Its more of a guessing game for me, some games are made to work better with AMD cards, and some games with nVidia..

Both AMD and nvidia make excellent videocards,
However, nvidia cards seem to perform better in Skyrim.

Check out this benchmark.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/22/nvidia_kepler_gpu_geforce_gtx_680_video_card_review/6

At 1920x1200 without any AA, the differences between nvidia and AMD are not big.
But when you start enabling eyecandy, the differences become bigger.
This might be a bug, and solved in drivers later. But currently, running an nvidia card gives much higher fps with high AA.
The last graph in the benchmark shows 8X MSAA + 8X TR SSAA and Adaptive SSAA.
The difference is huge: gtx680 - 83 fps, amd7970 - 27 fps, gtx580 - 55 fps.

This performance benchmark in Skyrim was the reason I didn't hesitate, and bought a gtx680 right away when it was released.

nVidia!
The Way It's Meant To Be Played.
I have two GeForce vidcards, and trust me nVidia drivers are far superior.

ATI got their start in the late 1980's in my hometown of Toronto.
I have used their vidcards for 20 years!
(Most recently HD 4870)
But I have had awful problems with their drivers not installing, and "CCC-he||"
Got my 256-bit GTX 460 18 months ago and have never looked back...
Sure do wish I had a GTX 560ti 2GB though - that's a great vidcard for only $250 bucks.
I think I'll grab one (and demote my 460 to PhysX, upgrading the GT 240).
Regards

@ OP: Both offer numerous video cards that will play Skyrim just fine.
Both have had problem drivers in the past and both currently have working drivers that perform quite well.
Drivers themselves won't cause overheating unless there is a very serious bug involved. The hardware itself is the deciding factor on how hot they will run.
For your money, you'll get much better performance from a desktop system. Performance gaming laptops can get very pricey very quickly and have a much harder time keeping cool.

Yep a REAL gaming laptop will run you close to the 3000 dollar range and are thus imo not worth it. You could spend half that and build a beastly gaming PC.