New Alienware Drivers 179.13 Out!

179.13 is out

By mobilenvidia • September 29, 2008 (2008-09-29) at 23:28:56 GMT
A huge thanks to Pav_37 for finding these over at Alienware
Currently only 32bit versions.

Operating System: Windows Vista 32bit
Driver Version: 179.13
Driver Date: 2008-09-12 (YYYY-MM-DD)
Driver Size: 38.32 MB
Driver Released by: Alienware
MS WHQL Certificate: No
Setup Files Included: Yes
International Files: Yes

Hi guys I found this this morning and being helpful thought i'd post the link...
179.13

The modified Inf file supports loads of GPU's including the 7, 8 & 9M series.

Also read this "It didn't replace 178.13 it is a different driver in a different series.
178.13 is a desktop driver and 179.13 is a mobile driver.",

Seems Interesting, perhaps we'll get better performance?

OB

 

Whoa, updating immediately. Reps for the find, OB.

Edit: Here's a Link to driver performance comparison. Note that it is for the 8700 GT SLi but could still be used as a reference.

 

Thanks & No problem (",)

I have the 176.10 drivers installed, so i'll try these updated AW drivers tonight

OB

 

hey guys where do i get the new drivers from?

EDIT:sorry stupid question....found them

 

quick question guys....
when i download the driver and the .inf file i move both of them to my c: drive and delete the old driver and inf file. then i extract the new driver to my c: drive.

is that what i'm supposed to do???
thanks

 

You will need to follow this guide by Stone825 SLi Guide (Installing, Troubleshooting + Increasing Performance) by the way it also works for single GPU, follow guide A as you don't have Sli working (",)

OB

 

Ha ha, I now have a 9800GT. That is what device manager is telling me. I will get some benchmarks later.

 

So does this mean that your GPU has effectively been "upgraded" to the newer version...

If it's ok, can you see if the clocks have changed at all?

OB

 

The clock speeds are the same and has 4 down steps just like the 178.13. I did not modify the inf file. Just used device manager to update the driver and then I selected the 9800gt since the 8800GTX was not on there to chose. I had no problems during install. I am going to roll back and install with the setup file and see what adapter I have, Since it says I still have the 8800GTX Chip.

I run all my benchmarks at default settings so I do not know why it changed the resolution. I looked and 1280x854 was not supported by 3d mark.

 

no news for XP 32bit version ?

Oups !! It's ok, it's on air !
I'm running now 177.92, i'll try those next time !

 

Ok, just used the setup aplication included in the driver and it refused to install. So then I decided to see if it will install the 9800GTX via device manager. Installed fine, but when restart it was very slow and there was no improvements in the Clock speeds. So I installed the 9800GT driver again via device manager, and it is perfect. I have the original INF file.

Edit: Here is the link for the 32bit XP edition.

 

So it seems that the drivers for the 9800GT unlock the card a little more lol, seems to perform a kind of firmware upgrade...

I'll try it in a bit (",)

So have you tried using the modified inf file, if so does the same thing happen?

OB

 

can this be found on alienware website? i cant seem to find it..

can anyone confirm this driver from laptopvideo2go works with blu-ray?

 

Ok I installed with the modded INF and it gave me the 8800GTX . Also had a drop in performance over the 9800Gt's driver.
Here is the comparison between the modded and original with the 9800GT which was better, I'm switch'n back to the 9800GT

 

I have put the link in the original post and i'm afraid until i get the correct version of PowerDVD I can't try blu-ray.

The good thing though, is that Alienware released it so it "should" work (",)

OB

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3978348

 

I updated this morning for my 8700m.

New 3dMarks: 6,163

Initial 3dMarks from Alienware: 5,873

I don't have fraps on my m15x so I couldn't check actual frame rates, but things looked smoother... could be all placebo effect action tho since my 3dMarks score came out higher.

 

Does not play Blu-ray disks on my m17x..

 

Poopy Double post.
Delete if possible.

 

If you want your computer to tell you you have a 9800GT.
Then download the 179.13 driver only not the inf file.
Extract that file to a E-Z to find place such as your desktop.
Here is the guide I used, except skip over the inf modding steps.
How to on Vista 32-bit
- Open device manger (Right click "Computer" and then "Manage")
- On the left it will say "device manager" make sure your on that page
- open the "Display adapter" should say 8800GTX or whatever card you have
- Right click update driver software
- Select Browse for driver
- Select let me pick from a list
- Click "Have Disc"
- Now browse to the location you driver was extracted, select the nvar file. - Press "OK", now a list of cards will come up, if you have the 8700GT select that, if you have the 8800GTX select the 9800GT, and press next.

- When the Windows warn pops up say Yes.
- It should say install of 9800gt was successful.

- Restart computer.

Do not install the 9800GTX, it caused windows to lock up.

 

so far non of the drivers ive tried on laptopvideo2go plays blu-ray on my 8800m gtx m17x.

unless is an official download from aw site, it just dont seem to work.

honestly, i kind of regret of getting the blu-ray option because of this.

 

So if anyone has the m17x and a blu-ray reader/writer the most up to date drivers are 176.10...

Is it me or does that seem a little unfair...

OB

 

well... for me atleast.

ever since i got my m17x, i have been stuck with 174.83.. and lately 176.10..
every other driver ive tried from laptopvideo2go is not compatible to read blu-ray.

 

Have you tried it without the modded the inf? The 8800GTX aka 9800GT and the 8700GT are supported.

 

Dwend,

Tried using your guide and was successful.

Previous 3 d mark 06 = 9766
After update = 10,020

I finally break the 10K marks.

Thanks and +rep for the guide and the link.

 

... I wish this was x64 compatible...

 

Man, just when I start to get settled with the 178.13 drivers, haha. I'll try this out when I have more time.

 

The performance increase is noticeable with this driver. I can play assasins creed with max everything (1440x900) and i'm geting much better framerates than before!

 

Does this driver include the PhysyX thingy from nvidia which was introduced a couple of driver versions ago?

Anyone tried selecting the 9800M GTX instead of the GT? Any difference?
Also, since the 9800GT is a bit slower than the 8800 GTX, will the performance be a bit lower than if 8800 was selected?

 

I have tried the 9800GTX and it was very laggy, and vista locked up on me. I would not recommended it. I got improved performance when I selected the 9800GT, it is the same chip as the 8800GTX.

 

Dwend, thanks for the info re: installing this set of drivers. I have an m15x with a 8800MGTX and Vista 32 bit. I followed your guide and all seemed to go ok. I seem to be getting slightly worse performance. I couldn't unistall the old drivers first because then only the integrated GPU was listed under device manager. Could this be why I have lower performance? Did I install these incorrectly?

 

hey guys i instaled the new drivers but it still says i have the 8800MGTX does it make any difrence or its the same thing?

 

Humm, m
I'm a bit confuse now when i read those post!

What is the better choice 9800 or 8800 ?

 

8800 == 9800 lol

9800 might be slightly better but it's a waste of money

conclusion: doesn't matter if you get 8800 or 9800 as you'll still get more or less the same result

 

Could be possible that you are on the integrated graphics not the 8800GTX? Press Fn+F7 and restart, see if that helps.

Well good thing no money is involved. Since the 8800GTX is the 9800GT, I decided to use the 9800GT driver instead of the 8800GTX's driver since it not suported.=. By using the unmodified .inf (included in the driver no need to download the modified version) file and selecting the 9800GT out of a list of cards the driver supported. You will be using the 9800GT's driver which in my benchmarks was better than the modified inf 8800GTX.
Your computer will still have the same chip and every thing. it will just think it has a 9800GT instead.

 

There is NO WAY he made this mistake with a score of 4000+

the integrated graphics (I believe) scores around 300 on 3D Mark 06. I don't believe it's possible to score 1000+ on them.

Stealth mode, maybe.

BinaryGFX, no bloody way.

 

I realized that after I posted and was way to lazy to fix it.

 

Well, I rfinally recieved the correct Blu-Ray version of PowerDVD (Many Thanks James, You're a star (",), and installed it.... I now have Blu-Ray working. Played Transformers....Awsome (",)

I'm going to update my existing drivers tonight and see what happens....

Wish me luck lol

OB

 

No, I'm not using binary GFX. It says in the Device Manager that I have a 9800GT but my 3dmark score is about 300-400 points lower - since everyone was getting improved performance I was wondering if I'd installed them incorrectly. I didn't unistall the older drivers because when i unistalled the old nVidia drivers first and went to device manager only the integrated gpu was listed. So I had to reinstall the old drivers and then goto device manager to update the 8800M GTX with these new ones. Is this how you installde them or have a done it wrong?

Cheers

 

You have to completely remove the older drivers and any remnants (I use CCleaner), then install the new drivers. Drivers can conflict and produce undesirable results.

 

@Ennea, I usually do but I need to update my 8800M GTX through the device manager with the 179.13. If I uninstall my old drivers (177.98 with modded INF) the 8800M GTX disappears from the device manager - so I had to reinstall the 177.98 so I could right click and update them. Is there another, better way of updating to 179.13?

 

If you remove/uninstall the existing device from the device manager, reboot and run CCleaner or driver sweeper, reboot (this makes sure you have no "bits" left over from the old device drivers.

You can then either run the setup.exe within the driver folder for 179.13, this will install the new drivers etc. OR, you can go to Add Hardware from the Control panel and add a new graphics adapter/device, then use the have disk option as per Dwend's guide...

Just and idea. Hope it helps...(",)

OB

 

Thanks for the info Oodle-Bear. I'll give that a try. I have a feeling that it if the 8800M GTX isn't in the device manager after I unistall the dirvers it won't be found in a hardware seach when I add new hardware.

 

Why do you have to update through the device manager? What's stopping you from using the setup.exe file from the folder?

 

I didn't get the increase that I had hoped for. In fact I was down about 300 marks.
11368 was the highest I got by using these drivers to detect 9800GTs instead of 8800GTXs.
My normal scores are 11600-700s.

 

Check out 179.15. I'm going to update when I wake up.

 

Hi, did you have the PhysX enabled last time, the newer drivers seem to ship with it enabled by default. When I updated to 177.98 with PhysX i noticed about a 250 drop in score but, gaming performance and temps were better/lower...

I don't use 3DMark 06 anymore as it's really obly a guide because it uses CPU part way through the test, not just graphics performance.

Bioshock at full everything is a good test, I used Riva-Tuner and recorded temps and FPS.

Just my 2p...

OB

I'm going to update when I get home from work tonight, i'll let you know the outcome and if I can still play Blu-Ray... (",)

 

For some reason I cant install the 9800 GT version of the driver... I restart, aero glass disappeared, HWMMonitor cant find the card, windows Performance Tool gives it a 1.0 Index for graphics and when I tried to play a game it crashes saying something about nv4_mini... any help?

 

But you have 8800M in your signature ?

 

Well if you scroll up and read dwend's posts, you can see that he managed to override his 8800m gtx with the 9800 gt version of the driver! I want that but it didn't happen for me....

EDIT: My bad... I installed it with the XP version... he he he... boy my face is red. Works flawlessly now.