Dell ATI Drivers vs Official ATI Drivers?

I think this point is extremly important to those who have uploaded ATI drivers and are having problems so have created a new thread.

Have noticed several people comment that after installing the latest ATI drivers their 4870 CF has slowed down. Here is a Dell Laison answering this question, "Dell ATI Drivers vs Official ATI Drivers?" Do the ATI drivers work

According to the Laison

1) The GPU's have been modified to Alienware specs.

2) The Alienware drivers are custom designed for the Alienware laptops

3) Dell does not know whether or not the official ATI drivers will be compatible with the system.

4) Dell does not discuss what modifications were made to the GPU

Dell ATI Drivers vs Official ATI Drivers? - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

 

According to the link you post the OP is stating that the Official ATI drivers have greatly increased performance of his benchmarking and this has been suggested here as well many times.

I am not sure why you would have noticed a drop in performance with your 4870 CF.

Did you re-install Dell drivers? If so, did the scores go back up to what they used to be?

 

Hi Joe,

Several people have reported problems with the ATI drivers. Yesterday this post in particular.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/486161-i-hope-isnt-just-me.html

Too many people are stating as fact that the official ATI drivers are 100% error free with the Alienware m17x and this is bollocks. For every post that says it works have read one that says it doesn't. Yes they may work for some but others are having to reinstall their operating system due to the mess these NON Alienware driver have created. My advice is if it is not broken don't fix it. The vast majority of driver updates do not create a noticable system performance gain.

Dell does not recommend the ATI drivers. They are untested by Dell and could cause system instability. Alienware has modified the GPU's to their specifications and they will not share their modifications publically.

If I read between the lines the GPU's have had certain features nixed. That means that the full blown driver from ATI will be giving instruction that can't be fully utilized by the m17x. Either the m17x ignores the extra instruction or becomes unstable. I think it is safe to say that Dell knows a thing or two about GPU's and knows the ATI version is not fully compatible and for this reason hasn't posted on the Dell site.

 

On the M17X R1 the ATI drivers are stable but I will test them on the R2 and I am sure a lot of very knowledgeable people here will do the same.

Expect to have a clear answer very soon on the 5870 CF.

 

Ill tell you from alot of experience that the ati drivers do NOT work with our systems. You have to use the right driver from dell unless you just want a standard VGA driver installed.

 

The problems that i've encountered with the ATI drivers seem to be related to installation issues. I use driver sweeper, but sometimes I end up with issues that I simply cannot correct without doing a respawn.

Example:

Two days ago I decided to upgrade from the 10.3's to the 10.4's. I uninstalled, ran driver sweeper etc installed the 10.4's everything seems to work fine, games play fine etc yet when i would open the ATI clock tool, my system would hard lock. So I try to uninstall the driver, but even the ATI install manager would make the system hard lock, so I couldn't even use the ATI software to uninstall the drivers. I ended up uninstalling/deleting the drivers through the device manager and running driver sweeper. This got rid of the driver as far as driver sweeper and windows indicated, yet I run the ATI install and what happens? hard lock!

At this point im starting to wonder if i was having hardware issues, so i do a re-spawn and everything is fine! So I go ahead and install the 10.4's again, no lock ups this time! Now though only one GPU was being utilized. So I uninstall the drivers, and then re-install them. Now im having absolutely no problems whatsoever. Both GPU's are utilized and im pulling a Vantage/performance GPU score of 12,300. I've played BadCo2 and ME2 since then without any issues of any kind @ 600/1000.

Bottomline: It's hard to know if ATI's drivers are stable or not, because there seems to be some seriously flawed issues with their installer or something. People are going to have completely different experiences with the same drivers on the same machine.

I've never experienced this kind of thing with Nvidia drivers. It's almost a "ghost in the machine" type thing. I never know what the hell is going to happen when I change drivers.

But yes, im running 10.4's right now as stable as can be, but the 2 previous times that i tried to install them, i had some serious issues. ATI needs to look into this .

 

Sometimes a previous driver install can botch up the registry so that installing an official ATi driver doesn't work unless you do it manually. However, stating that official ATi drivers do not work is untrue.

 

Which drivers do you use Joker?

 

I'm using the 10.6 drivers right now.

 

And everything is stable and great? Did you make any test to see if the official drivers offer an advantage compared to Dell drivers?

 

Here is yet another example of an m17x owner (His system was Brand New Only 3 Days Old) and his new system is trashed with a failed ATI 10.4 driver.

Installation issue with ATI driver on M17x - Guru3D.com Forums

Dell ATI Drivers vs Official ATI Drivers? - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

Here is AMD's official release note comments.

Catalyst Mobility is a notebook reference graphics driver with limited support for system vendor specific features. Support is available for Windows Vista and Windows 7 to be used at your own risk. The Installation Verification Software will prevent driver download on certain notebook products. This is to protect against the installing of drivers that may disable features or functionality provided by the system manufacturer. If unacceptable behavior is experienced using Catalyst Mobility it is recommended to revert back to the driver provided by your system vendor for your specific platform. Please contact your system vendor for the most recent drivers for your notebook.
The following notebooks are not supported in this release:

�� Any notebook launched after this driver release
�� Switchable Graphics enabled notebooks using Intel chipsets.
�� Toshiba notebooks (please contact the notebook OEM for driver
support for these notebooks)
�� Sony VAIO notebooks (please contact the notebook OEM for
driver support for these notebooks)
�� Panasonic notebooks (please contact the notebook OEM for
driver support for these notebooks


The Alienware m17x has a switchable graphics feature which by ATI's defninition CLEARLY IS NOT COMPATIBLE.

For those of you trying to sweep drivers you are wiping away the drivers that were put in place to safeguard you from downloading this incorrect driver in the first place. For those of you who have new systems the release date of your new May delivered Alienware m17x is AFTER this driver update and again not recommended by ATI. And finally the alienware m17x is a switchable enabled GPU and is NOT supported with this driver.

 

Well that must say to be clear and exact information. However the colors you have chosen made me ask my self whether I have been spending too much time reading this thread(they made me rather dizzy) Anyway +1 rep for the nice little warning But please note that people in here like to do some research on how well different drivers and that kind of stuff works(even though it is not always safe to do).

 

Thanks for your feedback, well appreciated.

 

by saying the m17x has switchable graphics you mean the r1 right? i thought the r2s had intel integrated chips in them but are unusable so it doesnt count?

 

The R1 is not an Intel chipset, and if you have the ATI cards, it's hard to call it "switchable". It doesn't say all switchable graphics, just if you have an Intel chipset.

I'm running 10.4's with no issues at this moment. It took some struggling to get it like this though.

 

i installed 10.6 alpha with no issues. dint even need to install them over the dell drivers

 

First of all the Catalyst mobility drivers from AMD have the vendor code for Dell thus they can be used without any issue. Second, the M17x-R2 has no integrated switchable graphics. Lastly, a driver cannot "trash" anyone's system, the worst case scenario would be an operating system reinstall if the registry were corrupted. However, a person with intermediate to advanced knowledge can easily get around it and install the drivers without issue.

 

If you had the patience Joker it would be great if you could put a small guide together on how to install the ATI driver manually and cleaning up in case it messes up something.

 

I downloaded and installed the 10.4 driver from the AMD website and everything worked fine. I'm used to new drivers doing absolutely NOTHING that the old driver didn't do, so I ran Vantage. My GPU score went up around 600 points.

 

737-28041: Information on Drivers for ATI Mobility Graphics Chipsets Back

Last Updated
11/20/2009

Article Number
737-28041

Advisory:
The display driver supplied by the laptop manufacturer is customized for the built-in flat panel display, and the graphics features and functions specific to the laptop. It is strongly recommended to use the supplied drivers.

If installing a different operating system other than the one included with the laptop, the laptop may not meet all the requirements, and supported drivers may not be available.

The laptop manufacturer is the exclusive provider of driver updates. If the required driver update is not available at the laptop manufacturers’ website, it is recommended to contact the manufacturer directly, to see if an updated driver will be made available in the future.

AMD cannot provide driver updates directly from AMD.com.

AMD has provided a list of the major laptop manufacturers and corresponding support websites below for your convenience.


737-28041SupportforATIMobility


Dear DOC, (department of corrections?)

You are too funny, please send your resume to Dell so we can all get a proper driver. Honestly you make me laugh. Your M17x - R2 GPU is switchable to an onboard GPU. It is called Stealth Mode. The 4870 shuts down and a GPU built into the motherboard takes over when running on battery to save energy. The AMD driver cleary states it is not for use on such systems.

Have been around the block enough times to know that driver problems are often unresolvable unless you resintall your operating system. For some on this forum that is a simple task. For others it may mean several hours if not days on the phone with Alienware to reconfigure their system.

If the driver worked Dell would simply update their driver list. Obviously they haven't for a reason all of which I have laid out in previous posts. By using the AMD driver you are turning off Alienware features that were prebuilt into your system as explained by AMD & Dell.

The worst case scenario would be a BSOD and loss of data.

 

Yet another another Alienware M17x - R2 owner succumb to the AMD 10.4 driver and at wits end. Too funny.

AMD Game Forums - ATI 10.4 will not install no matter what

 

We are talking about the R2, not the R1. Most recently configured M17X R2 are either i5 or i7 configuration which are Intel chipsets. The Intel chip controls the discrete onboard GPU. AMD does not recommend the 10.4 for systems with motherboards that have switchable GPU's ( GPU's that shut down to conserve power and utilize on board GPU built into the motherboard.)

 

it was never made clear that we were only talking about the R2

 

Hi ttnuagmada

You make a valid point. I am not familiar with the R1 and I have know idea what options, features, or chip sets it came with. This thread was started after noticing a great number of people were having problems with their R2 after installing the AMD 10.4 driver. Evidently some people were unaware of the problems this driver was causing and encouraged others to use it. As a result some have had major system problems after installing the AMD 10.4 driver. Each his own, I understand that many want to experiment with the latest drivers and thats cools. However many on these forum are more concerned with system stability. Some for example can't even figure out how to turn on and off the stealth mode, yet others don't even know what it is. My point is to present the whole story, not just one side.

 

FalconMachV
I have been amazed owners have had problems installing 10.4 on the M17x R2.I have had zero problems installing on my system.Its very likely that installation of these drivers have failed due to the inexperienced,as i have installed many of the drivers available including beta's & they have all installed flawlessly .I am currently using 10.4 & drivers are 100% .99% off all issues i read on this forum is usually down to lack of knowledge on the owners side.

 

I, for one, know that my install went well, as is shown in the screen shot from my CCC. The 10.4 drivers did cause a noticeable drop in framerates in some of my games. I am not taking anyone's side, on who is right or wrong, as I honestly do not have a dog in this fight, but they did cause me some issues. My problem, may very well be the issue that I am running the factory image, which will be addressed as soon as I have some time to reload my system. But driver install process is not my issue.

The thing about those driver installs, is all the hoops you have to jump through to install them. Although, the process is really no different than Nvidia driver installs as well. I have been using driver cleaner through three different laptops now, due to these issues with all of the GPU manufacturers drivers. I have been working with computers for a lot of years, it actually pays my bills, and I will tell you the install of these drivers is certainly not a straight forward, or even well documented process. The process I followed for my install was directly from this site, and the results were not what I had hoped for. Again, my issue may have nothing to do with the drivers themselves, and I will be able to verify that as soon as I have time to manually install everything. I have downloaded all the drivers I need, I just need to find the time now. Thanks to all of the knowledgeable folks on this site, they have made my job even easier with all the links to the latest drivers, as well as notes from their own trial and error.

 

**********************************************************

I just got off the phone with AMD technical support after a long cue. Here is EXACTLY what they said.

1) All laptop users are to install drivers from THEIR laptop manufacuterer. Do not use the AMD mobile drivers.

2) The Catalyst 10.4 mobile driver IS NOT compatible with any Alienware laptops.

3) I asked the tech than "who" is suppose to use the Cataylst 10.4 mobile driver if all customers were to use their laptop brand of driver? His answer was very blunt. "it was a mistake for AMD to post that driver as only a select few customers should use it under select cirumstances."

4) All laptop manufactures must write their own drivers to keep control of their systems. AMD does not recommend alienware laptop customers use AMD drivers from AMD website.

5) Only desktop customers should update AMD drivers from AMD's site. All laptop owners should only use their Laptop manufacturers drivers.

 

I don't believe that for one minute,Half these guys on tech support don't know there arse from there elbow & probably have been told that as it covers them & there company.If this really is the case Dell/Alienware need to pull the finger out and get with the program and update drivers as there current is well out of date. I will continue using my current drivers as it has no problems that i have seen.

 

I don't believe that either because on my R1 I have 10.4 and it works great. I have never had an issue. Also it works better on certain games then the Dell driver.

 

The r2 does not have a on board gpu falcon I think that is why you have all the hostility here.When you hit the stealth button on a r2 it turns off one gpu and down clocks the other.If I am not mistaken.

 

let's make it clear once and for all alienware is one of the only laptop vendor that does not mess with the default GPU desing proided by ATI simply cause thier user base would start throuwing rocks at them
they how ever put the warnin to prevent joe wo doesn't know anything about drivers to screw up it's windows install and clutter thier suport lines with stupids cals


second the issue with ati 10.4 is when upgrading from 10.3 to 10.4 it does not only happen on the m17x-r2 i had this issue with my m17 (wich has no integrated GPU chip) it's due to the new installer and the new registry key they added to the driver
i also had this issue on my gf's lappy who use a AMD chipset
and none of the system has been bricked

 

Cheers, my understanding it that stealth mode shifts between onboard & discrete graphics cards. Have read this on real laptop reviews not just forums. Stealth mode still works with one card configurations so your explantion does not make sense.

 

Hey why do you say I know nothing... Insult... (I am joking of course, I just wanted to feel like all the noobs here that take every advice as an insult.)

Anyways, like previously mentioned the ATI drivers work best on Alienware laptops, they just require a bit more work to install but no one has ever killed an AW laptop but installing the ATI drivers.

Again like mentioned by many members before the R2 does not have discreet graphics... Again, most of us here don't use the stock drivers and our systems are faster than yours and we never have any issues.

Heck, when I had the latency issue on my R1, the AW tech actually installed the ATI driver himself on my R1 therefore here is another proof that either you did not call AMD or they don't know or they don't want to be liable.

This thread should be closed as it should have gone along those lines:

Stock driver: Easy to Install BUT Not as Fast
ATI Driver: Experience to Install BUT Much Faster and Better FPS in Game

With vantage and 3DMark 06 scores to back up.

That should have been the thread...

 

This.

Lets close this one down and if you all would like to discuss the merits of official alienware vs official ATI drivers feel free to make a new thread