17" i5 arrived, need bootcamp graphics card help...

So I just got this baby in today, as usual it's perfect all around. Installed windows 7 64 bit, the bootcamp drivers installer. Tried Unreal III. Maxed out the graphics and resolution. Performance was acceptable (20-30FPS) however on intense action and levels with water, green liquids, performance was cut in half. Basically I want to install the best possible drivers, but nvidia won't let me because of apple's lock. The correct driver installer does not recognize my 330M. I am totally new to modifying INF's etc. I went through a mac rumors post, but I had to stop when I did not have the 330M'S phrase, I don't know. If someone could explain exactly what to do for this specific laptop it would be great. After installing these new drivers I want to overclock, if I still need a boost. I installed ntune, but was greeted with a BSOD on starting it. I also need to monitor my graphics card tempture, but I could not find where in rivatuner that was displayed, and if I did it was blank? I unistalled it... is thier something more simple like CPUZ for graphics cards?

 

something like GPUZ? yes...

 

lol awesome, thanks. I am working with the overlock thread on this forum to figure out how to perfect this beast. However I have some wifi problems in bootcamp, so I might have to head to the apple store about that (not sure if they even care about windows problems). Im just going to download all the drivers through leopard and copy them over for now.

 

I use Windows 2 or 3 times a year.. for the last couple of years... so can't help you much on that.

I don't think Apple will help much with Windows problems, as they don't support using Windows, just Bootcamp installation.. if it doesn't work once its installed... well, they just say they don't support it.

Besides changing graphics drivers, your pretty much stuck with bootcamp drivers for everything else in your machine.

 

Yea, when you install BCamp you need to pray everything goes without a hitch. Because really, that's all you have. I've had the same WiFi problems as you under boot camp also. I despise Boot Camp with a passion. "Oh but a Mac can run OS X AND Windows, it's so cool!"

My @$$. What it runs is OS X and a semi-transparent rough cut squarish opening in a wall.

K, rant over.

But yea good luck, best thing you can hope for is Apple releasing a BC update.

 

My 2009 MBP has no such "lock." I use the plain old nVidia notebook drivers off nvidia.com on my MBP's 9600GT.

Did you download the notebook-specific drivers?
NVIDIA DRIVERS 197.16 WHQL

 

I love how people bash Boot Camp.

Boot Camp only partitions your HDD. The rest is all Windows and drivers.

I play Starcraft II beta maxed out on my W7 64bit without a hitch. Of course Windows just decides to randomly crash or whatever, but that's all because of Windows itself and the drivers. Boot Camp has nothing to do with that.

 

Why did you buy a Mac? Honestly, can you not see that a Windows machine would suit your needs much better?

What's ultimately going to happen is that you aren't going to get the performance you're expecting/hoping for, and then it's going to be Apple's fault for whatever reason.

 

bootcamp includes the bootcamp drivers and the bootcamp program that runs in Windows... if the Bootcamp drivers are shoddy, I don't see a problem with saying Bootcamp is bad.

 

The wifi is kind of crazy, but I am getting perfect speeds now (although I can't yet determine its reliability. After an easy flash of the drivers with the have disk method, and over clocking with nvidia tools. I am running at FULL power.

So far I have maxed (1920x 1200, 2 x aa, all settings on high --not very high--, perhaps one minor settings removed for better performance):

L4D: 30FPS+
MW2:20 FPS+
TF2:40FPS+
Portal (windows FTW): 40 fps+
Batman Asylum: 20FPS+
Unreal III: 25FPS+

Above FPS results are the worst moment possible I saw. The average for each of the games is 30 and even higher. I know 20 is low, but all things considered, its playable for me. My max temp was 80c using the values from mac rumors. I don't recommend gaming on this laptop without over clocking . It made the difference in several of these games being playable. The drivers did not do much I think. I am going back into bootcamp to try out fallout 3 and far cry 2.

Oh and Khris, no I am not going to take the bait...I will just say gaming is only 10% of my computer use. I have very low expectations in this respect. Overall I am very happy with my second MBP, that is if it does not rip in half like the last one

 

It wasn't bait at all, it was a genuine question. The fact that you're simply dismissing it lends credibility to the fact that it's true.

For someone who says that "gaming is only 10% of my computer use", it seems a little extreme the lengths you're going to for that 10% of the time. I could be completely wrong, but that's the way I see it.

 

Is it possible to overclock the GPU easily in BOTH windows 7 (bootcamped) and OS X?

Talking about the new 2010 models..namely the 15 inch i7 and the 17 inch.

 

not gonna let you get away with that. it's not because of Windows. it's *only* because of Apple's mediocre drivers.

I haven't had any of my Win 7 laptops crash. I take that back, I had a problem with a wifi driver that was causing blue screens when running certain internet-enabled applications. upgraded *the drivers * (not Windows) and all's been well. I've been running Win 7 (Beta and final Pro version x86 & x64) for over a year. No Windows 7 crashes. I almost forgot what a crash looks like.

here's hoping Apple makes their drivers better. nobody wants a fragile OS experience, even if it's not the OS people bought the computer for.

in Windows: yes.

in OSX: no. it's possible, but no options currently exist and haven't for many years.

 

There are no overclocking programs for OS X?

 

What is this lock? I am once again intrigued by the new MBPs, but am very leery of switching. I am a PhD student and one particular Stats program is Windows only. Many profs use Parallels or Bootcamp and go from there, but I am still hesitant.
That said, I am also hesitant of the Apple's seemingly obsessive need to make many decisions for the users of its products. So, what do you mean about Apple lock and the NVIDIA drivers? Is the card purposefully weakened?

Thanks

 

As I said, my 2009 MBP has no "lock." I suspect these don't either. I have a feeling the OP may have downloaded the *desktop* drivers and tried to install them on his notebook, which nVidia (and ATI) doesn't support. nVidia produces a separate notebook driver, though not as frequently. It's usually a version or two behind, some people prefer the absolute latest regardless.