m15x: 8800M GTX display driver update

Sorry, I am very new here.. I am about to order my m15x... I thought all the downclocking issues were solved... but now I see this thread and I'm wondering...

1. Are there still lots of m15x issues like the one this thread is about?

2. When my m15x comes in am I supposed to download this driver or will everything be set in the box?

3. Is there anthing, and I mean anything else I will need to download in order for the computer to work right? I assume it will come with the Service packs downloaded... (Vista 32 is what I am choosing).

4. (Random) If I choose to get an Area-51 desktop instead.. are the chances of problems/issues much less? It just seems like the m15x has so much you need to do in order for it to work right, is it just because it's a laptop? Are desktops more reliable?

Thanks guys so so much for any help. Sorry if this is in the wrong spot

~B

 

I hope this help

1) My replacement set comes in perfect. Even touch control function fully.
2) U dun need any drivers. Its updated to x32 already. Work straight out of box
3) just run windows update follow by SP1
4) Really there is no need to install anything. Update vista and start fraggin aliens.

THose problems that u have read are the old sets. I get all those problems b4. But now the fixed up everything.

R

 

Thanks Sogarth. I wish my M15x was back from repairs So I could give these a try.

 

Just downloaded the driver, I'll be testing it on m15x when I get back home.

 

Sogarth, does this driver branch also contain the fix for Windows XP?

 

Atlast, thei're out!!! But one thing - I see download link for Vista x64 and x86. What about my x32?

 

It' known as X86 for the 32bit OS.

X86 = 32 Bit Vista

 

Ooops, you're right. Anyway, grab a rep downloading now, will see how it works. Oh and why don't they write that it supports the 8800?

[DEV_0095] NVIDIA GeForce 7800 SLI <- that's the newest one they write as supported.

EDIT: Ok first thoughts after instaling new driver - idle temp lowered, probably because the card downclocks now when no programs are open. But as soon as I ran future mark all clocks went back to high. Ran future mark for a few minutes (can't do more now, no time) and now donclocking, fans kicked in at 85 degrees and the heat stopped to rise. Will try some games later, now playing The Witcher (and I love it!)

 

I was just wondering if I could use these drivers with the x30 BIOS? I havent upgraded since Im not having any problems and Im waiting for the final version.

Could someone give me step by step instructions for installing these drivers? I have installed drivers before but this modded inf thing is making me **** myself cos I might screw things up.

 

Paste the modded nvac.inf file (which is for download on the same page) in the same folder that you extracted the 175.63 driver to. It will ask to you overwrite. Click yes.

And extract the zip file of the .inf files into the same folder as well. Again, overwrite when prompted.

Now, you can began installing. But, first uninstall the old driver following the steps on laptopvideo2go

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11997

 

What zip file of infs are you talking about? I only got the driver and one inf file nvac.inf which i used to replace in the extracted drivers folder. Is there another set of infs that i need to get? Should I uninstall my older drivers as usual or just do an update as it is mentioned on laptopvideo2go ?

 

When you extract the driver itself, there should be a zip file in there that says .inf, after the extraction.

I'd recommend uninstalling your older drivers the usual way to rid of any traces...

 

There is a compressed file in the driver folder that you simply extract. My problem is that after I install the driver I run 3dMark and my score is like 5500 with these drivers. I follow the directions and place the modded nv4_disp.inf in the directory but I do not see any nvac.inf for download on the page where the driver package is offered. Has anyone gotten full speed with these drivers? If so let me know what I am doing wrong.

 

Here is the nvac.inf download link...

Link

 

Yeah I suppose it matters that I am a windows xp user. Is this driver fix for vista only??

 

Most of the m15x owners here are Vista OS users. You sure that you aren't running in stealth mode...? And make sure that the AC adapter is plugged into an outlet. And set to high performance.

EDIT: just click "modded link" on the same page as the driver download link to get the nvac.inf modded file. Here's the link for XP Link

 

Yeah I installed the driver correctly just as your directions have instructed. Sadly, (at least for me) this driver does not work correctly with windows xp. Stealth mode is definitely not on, and as soon as i revert back to the original alienware xp driver, all is well and my 3dmark scores return to their original values.

 

pity
but thats the decsion you made when u decide on what os to use

 

This doesn't make sense. Did you try reinstalling the drivers again to see if the same thing happens? The video BIOS for the 8800 is the same regardless of what OS that you use...So, I see no reason why it shouldn't work on XP.

Did you use DriverCleanerPro to clean any remaining remnants of the older driver before installing these new ones?

 

yeah I choose not to use a huge piece of bloatware that effects the overall performance of my machine. I can simply install vista in seconds but choose not to because of how my previous deployments have turned out (Office environment/ non - gaming machines on a domain) just terrible. I am not here to debate the choice of OS though but simply to test the driver to help out other users of this forum.

 

uninstalled drivers from add/remove programs. Ran driver cleaner. Went into the registry to check if any residual nvidia strings were there (they were not). downloaded new drivers. extracted compressed file. put modded nv4_disp.dll in folder.restarted. installed. restarted. rand 3dmark no go.

 

Well, I must not work for XP then...

What kind of 3dmark scores are you getting with stock drivers on XP?

 

I'd been informed that the issue wouldn't/shouldn't appear on XP, but I guess that information wasn't correct. Not sure what to say, really....

 

In any case, I think I've accomplished what I set out to here (pushing for a Vista display driver that doesn't have this silly downclocking issue), and I'm glad to see people are being able to use it. For those of you that are care, the target driver release that first has the fix is 175.56 (4/17). A brief check of the branch diagram seems to confirm that everything that's been built thus far after that release (in the 175.xx line) should have the fix. I can't vouch for the early 177.xx drivers, though, although I would imagine by the time those are released, they should have the change.

Now that I've let people know when a driver was available like I said I would, back to überlurking! There are plenty of people who know what they're doing, so there's not much need for me here at this point.

 

Did anyone try Call of Duty 4 with this driver ? All 175 drivers give me errors on my other PC with a 9800 GX2.

 

Here are my initial 3d benchmark findings.

My system:
M15x with x7900 2.8 cpu / 8800m GTX 512 / 2 GB memory

Using 3DMark06 basic at standard settings - 3 runs and averaged.

With driver 167.55 average was 10072 marks
With driver 175.63 average was 9238 marks

So just going on 3dmarks I scored 8.5% less with the new driver.
The real deal clincher will be if this driver can run some of my older games properly while still running the new ones decently. I am on the road so I can't install these games until I get home.

 

My 3DMark 06 score also went down from approximately 10k to around 9300 (with 8800m gtx and t9500). So far I had no issues with cod 4. However, I had some problems with crysis, but I am not sure whether they are driver related or not.

 

I installed the drivers however I didnt extract the original ini files. Will it be ok or should I reinstall ?
Will do some gaming benchmarks and report back

 

played crysis at 1440x900 no AA settings all set to high. I was getting 19-22FPS.
2xAA FPS drop to 12-15, 4X AA FPS drop to 9-10

 

Hey Ricky if you turn down the resolution a little bit more, I bet that you can get a couple more FPS.

 

@ 1280x800 I was still getting 19-20FPS sometimes it bumped up to 26, but average was 19-20. and with explosions i was getting 13-16FPS

 

On testing Crysis it feels slower and more laggy. There does seem to be a bit of a drop in performance in gaming as well as synthetic benchmarks.
Not sure if its because I didnt extract the original inf files?

 

Strange. It should go up. Looks like the driver doesn't do much in terms of performance on Crysis.

@Mortis - Try reinstalling the drivers with the original .inf files.

 

yea my 3d mark score also went down from almost 10k to 9284 or something
haven't tested in game performance though im not thinking great things but hey maybe the people who are in aoc beta can now play the game full screen succesfully

 

I don't think these are 100% yet. Riva shows only up to 500mhz when a 3D game is launched. The 8800M is clocked at 575 IIRC, so there still seems to be some underclocking.

Edit: This would cause the drops in 3dm06 and such, thats for sure. Anybody here have this running at 575? Sogarth, think you need to ping the devs yet again.

Edit 2: I guess I'm wrong - nvidia's web page does show 500mhz core speed. Can someone with 167.55 verify this clock speed with the original drivers?

N

 

umm, no...stock for the 8800M GTX is 500/800

 

OK, Thanks. My mistake. Still, my 3dm06 score is 700 points lower with these than the 167.55. This doesn't make any sense.

Just trying to figure out why...

N

 

yep, a lower score with this new driver seems to be the popular opinion but hey, maybe some old games will run better, or that game aoc will run

 

hm, dunno if I should keeps the new drivers. They don't give better performance, but my Idle temps went down. Just booted up my m15x and it shows 34 degrees Celcius! I was allways at about 65 before. Hm, hard to decide.

 

I would use the new one as you won't need the full power at them moment (except for Crysis) and until there are games that really need the full power of the 8800M GTX there might be a new driver with better performance...

 

I wonder that since these drivers are out already, if Alienware is currently working on new stock drivers for the m15x...

 

While yes this is true, realise that RivaTuner is seeing it as 575, meaning that if it only sees 500 now, then it is technically underclocking.

 

I had alot of fun flashing the GPU BIOS and I tell you 100% for sure the clocks are: core 500 shader 1250 mem 799 (1598).
The profiles are:
Extra 500 1250 799
3D 383 767 301
Thrtl 275 550 301
2D 200 400 100
Bootup clocks 275 550 300

 

did your graph look like this

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w137/darkdragon298/driver175v2.jpg

i figured out if it does then you need to uninstall the driver. then go back to the folder you extracted the 175 driver to and look in the folder for a zip file with original inf files and unzip that into the folder. then install again and it does run in full clocks. it worked for me.

 

Yeah your graph is bad, it should just be a straight line.
By the way, update to the latest Rivatuner (2.09) to get correct clocks.
The clocks I posted are taken from the .rom file I extracted with nvflash.

 

new driver is out... anyone tested?

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18604

 

17570 did not work for me. The card would go up to full speed and then cycle between full and low speed. Reverting to 17563 and all was well.

N

 

You mean that it downclocks the GPU during gaming sessions?

 

Yes, and then immediately jumps back up. I'm sorry I didn't take a screen shot in RivaTuner. Something broke between 175.63 and 175.70. I hope Sogarth is still paying attention to this thread.

N

 

My card does this with both new drivers, the 175.63 and 175.70. It jumps up and down completely at random and im still stuck with the stock drivers which is a shame because having the GPU step down is really nice, I like to keep it as cool as possible.