Best nVidia drivers to date

  • Last week-end I reformatted my computer rig and changed my nVidia 6800 graphic card drivers to 84.21:


    ForceWare Release 80
    Version: 84.21
    Release Date: March 17, 2006


    http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_84.21.html


    *WHQL Certified
    *New NVIDIA PureVideo features and enhancements. Please visit the NVIDIA PureVideo website for more information on PureVideo technology and system requirements.
    *Support for high definition H.264 hardware decode acceleration on GeForce 6 and 7 series GPUs.
    *Support for high definition MPEG-2 inverse telecine.
    *Support for high definition MPEG-2 spatial temporal de-interlacing.


    You have to install nVidia Pure Video (they have a 30 day trial of it on their site somewhere).


    It is preferable that you don't install right over the top of the old ones. It is better to run Driver Cleaner in safe mode first, just to be sure you get rid of everything old.


    Especially if you have a LCD monitor, I highly recommend using these drivers with "many" more resolution options and spectacular fluid video performance.


    Mayor of Smyrna
    Izmir-Türkei


    für mechanik übersetzung : http://babelfish.altavista.com

    Inventor of the "Turkish Building Technique"


    Game Ratings:
    First time total population beyond 3Mio frontier:3 045 259
    Current Game: P2_Herz andP2_Kanoneof course..


    Verloren ist nur, wer sich selbst aufgibt.
    Lost are only those, who abandon themselves.

  • Well,


    not bad. I had some weeks ago a complete mainboard crash (dammed cheap bullshit in cheap pc´s from discounters) and now I have also an Update of new things like graphic card, sound card and so on to prefer that they got out of order in the next weeks.
    It make me angry, when things get 1 months after end of guarantee busted :mad:


    The dates are sounding good for your graphic card. :)

    Nur der Pirat ist der wahre Händler, denn nur er hat alle Möglichkeiten (business is war !!! ;) :P

  • I always wonder what's inside those $400 PCs. I never managed to get one for under $2,000 but I have none of the peripherals (sound, video) on board, all are separate cards. I am still running good old dependable Win2K Pro and Office 2000. My video card is a mere 128MB nVidia 4 series but it does what I want it to do. I don't play videocard-busting shooters. Even DVDs play nicely. As monitor I have a small 17" LCD from BENQ = Acer. It's 3 years old but still performs nicely.
    I let pro's deal with my PC, once a year it goes to the shop where they do all the stuff I would, most likely, screw up. Beyond automatic virus definition updates and portection of my anynomity on the Web I'm useless, but then I don't expect the tech to do his corporate tax return. :D

  • Well,


    my pc is now a lttle bit more than 2 years old and costed about 800 Euro without monitor.


    After the hardware crash a specialist took a look on it and he show´s me the buying list (also the 2 year old lists) of the hardare stuff.
    Inside my PC is (sorry ... was) much "scrap" of hardware and also he shows me statistics of that stuff in case or repair frequencys.
    In the end there is no wondering about it. Cheap is surely not allways scrap, but sometimes it is. Also I believe slowly that there is a watch inside, that runs 2 years revers and on "0" the thing goes busted.


    First my TV goes avfter 26 months busted, then the DVD player after 25 months, then the Sat Reciever after 26 months, and at least the PC. :mad:
    Only my gas heating went busted after 22 months, maybe an error in the watch inside. The needed spare part costed normally 250 Euro, but it was during guarantee. :D

    Nur der Pirat ist der wahre Händler, denn nur er hat alle Möglichkeiten (business is war !!! ;) :P

  • Well, just to be different, I have ATI mobility card, and play on an Acer Ferrari, the old (out two years now!) 3200 model laptop. 500 RAM only, but so far it does well. The AMD processor is the mobility type, runs several hours without recharging, can handle 64 bits when we get the new Windows. Playing on the little touch screen has its aggravations, you use your right index finger for the mouse, your right middle for the cursor on the touch screen. With Patrician, there is no appreciable lag on any display setting. Windows XP Pro.


    NVIDIA and ATI battle back and forth, and it is the consumer who benefits.


    I will probably upgrade next year, the Acer Ferrari 5000 is out now, ATI X1600, AMD Turion X2, when it gets Windows Vista.


    But NVIDIA is great, no question. Alienware offers it in their laptops.

  • As Baltic Trader mentions, battles between major players on hardware arena, are beneficial for us, the consumers. I wish to permit to myself to transmit some new facts on this domain, wishing too to be helpful for who will plan to upgrade their equipment in near future.


    By the last bold move of Intel, a new set of processors will be launched this mid-to-end July, codenamed "Conroe".. They are adding nearly 40% more performance on these (already) very powerful AMD FX-5x series processors, while (in addition) lowering or keeping the same level of power requirements. This means these new Intel processors will generate less heat and will not demand a surplus of (already voracious) power from our comp's PSU's. In addition, they will be priced surprisingly low too.


    On the AMD's side, in the close horizon, there is not a good reply to contain this Intel tidal wave. AMD is enjoying since many months a total "Power Supremacy" that is billed heavily to the costumers however. It is close to certain that AMD will cut drastically the price of its processors (those wonderful FX-5x's) after july launching of Intel. A technical reply based some nano-architectural improvements are not to be expected before 2007.


    So for a new buyer, AMD or Intel? Todays, many people are asking the same question. The quasi-consensus is about to see these Intel Conroe's on the work after July, seeing also AMD's price cuts and making a decision on performance/price basis... I am one of these. We will wait until this autumn.


    For me, a good assembly of computer rig is beginning with a good "Case" and a good "Power Supply Unit".. Nearly always neglected by the buyers, these two components are most important parts of a computer *on the long run*. The health and a good functioning of many other parts are "dependent" of this two units. A large and airy case and a well built "heavy + powerful" PSU are guarantors of problem-free functioning for many years. Most of the problems on mainboards + hard discs + ram modules and most of the crashes are originating from the incapacities of these two components. PSU's and Cases have also the most longevity between other elements. They are outdated at the last run.


    So I recommend to every hardware fan for their future buys, a good (and pricey ;-) ) PSU, in order of preference Antec and Enermax (in Turkey, most of the Tagan's and Thermaltake's suffered breakdowns or blow-outs --maybe bad lots of import) at min. 480W of "real" power. If afforded, a 550W. Antec's have separate circuitries in 3 of these power rails, and finally, the "weight" is a really good parameter for the choice of a good PSU.


    ------------------


    For nVidia and ATI... I too have a Mobility Radeon X-700 on my recently bought 17" Asus W2V laptop, and of course satisfied with its performance. Although I am no shooter-kind, my other games like Sim City 4 and NFSU 2, are requiring high level of performance infrastructure. In my actual Patrician game, I have for now 12 500 ships and if a convoy for America, full of 413 000 iron goods w/ 1 652 ship + 13 200 sailors leave the port of Groningen..... on the General Map, the game is c-r-a-w-l-i-n-g as slower than molasses on a cold day.


    ATI's Catalyst drivers are updated every month so more optimized for some; while nVidia's ForceWare's are less complicated and more compatible for some others. I am not an expert or specialist but my choice of nVidia label is originated from my Voodoo 2 (3dfx) days. And feeling myself more comfortable with my nVidia graphic card while tweaking/overclocking on these numerous performance settings.


    PS. Acer Ferrari's are nice pieces and manufactured by Asus too, if my memory don't lead into error. For all laptop buys, a choice of a glossy screen, will not to be regretted.

    Inventor of the "Turkish Building Technique"


    Game Ratings:
    First time total population beyond 3Mio frontier:3 045 259
    Current Game: P2_Herz andP2_Kanoneof course..


    Verloren ist nur, wer sich selbst aufgibt.
    Lost are only those, who abandon themselves.

  • Any fan of Patrician III should verifiy if the new PC/laptop will allow him/her to play the game. I tried it on a friend's computer. He has the ultimate gaming machine with fual processor, dual graphics card etc. BUT P III will not run. So, if you upgrade, don't throw out the old. On the laptop that work provided me I can't play P III either. I don't know if it is due to the IT guys rigging it or if it is too advanced.
    I would stay away from Acer laptops, they don't stand up to abuse by airlines. Toshiba's pro- lines are the Timex of laptops, they take a licking and let you keep on clicking. :giggle: In my experience Acer's screens are very sensitive.
    A final word of advice, the new Microsoft OS will most likely not support P III.

  • In Ascaron Forums, I remember a similar complaint about the incompatibiliy of Patrician III with a state-of-the-art machine. This will be prudent, as said, to check the PIII compatibility, if possible.


    -------------------


    I don't know the sales conditions outside, but in Turkey, Asus and Acer laptops are sold with -0- (zero) dead or stuck pixel warranty. Lastly one of my friends has bought a Toshiba with three red pixels that he will enjoy them for the rest of his life, as Toshiba refused to replace it, claiming as their global policy. Toshiba Qosmio's are really performing exemplars, but their weight (around 4 kg.'s) is limiting their "portable" qualification.


    I bought my Asus W2V ca 6 months ago w/2.13 GHz Intel, 1GB ram, 100GB HDD to 17" Wide (1680 x 1050) glossy screen. I am playing Patrician III on it from the beginning without special tweaks. I use it extensively on my tour-guide activities under Turkey's heavy and dusty conditions with 2 severe drops. This aluminium-built chunk is weigting 2.9 kg.! Not very heavy for a 17" -verified- portable.


    Edit: Typo

    Inventor of the "Turkish Building Technique"


    Game Ratings:
    First time total population beyond 3Mio frontier:3 045 259
    Current Game: P2_Herz andP2_Kanoneof course..


    Verloren ist nur, wer sich selbst aufgibt.
    Lost are only those, who abandon themselves.

    Dieser Beitrag wurde bereits 2 Mal editiert, zuletzt von Mayor of Smyrna ()

  • Our company swirtched from Asus after 3 screens broke. They were not covered under the warranty since Asus claimed that the laptops were dropped. Well, we have to check our laptops since they weigh too much with all the assorted peripherals so we need soemthing sturdy. Over the last two years not a single Toshiba had a screen problem. And believe me, Air Canada is not a gentle airline.

  • I broke a screen once; cost 560 US to replace, done in two days. Previous laptops were HP and Compaq, much happier with Acer. 0 dead pixel policy, too. Nice. One of the HPs died after a stay in Afghanistan, probably dust related. Always wise to clean your machine, fan especially. The Acer Ferrari does run cool by the way.


    Oh, the friend's machine, did you go first through the little videocard test run? If not, P3 won't play. It's commonly forgotten. Vista is supposed to handle old 32 bit programs fine. P2 wouldn't play on my newer machine, Ascaron's protection against copywright gave problems in Windows XP.

  • Zitat

    Original von Baltic Trader
    Oh, the friend's machine, did you go first through the little videocard test run? If not, P3 won't play. It's commonly forgotten. Vista is supposed to handle old 32 bit programs fine. P2 wouldn't play on my newer machine, Ascaron's protection against copywright gave problems in Windows XP.


    Yes we tried, and it choked. I believe the ability of Vista once someone, who is not in Billy' s employ, has tested it. Microscrap has the tendency to tell fibs about the ability of its products. ;) I don't think I will touch it until SR2 is out and prooven bug-free.