Dell's Graphic Driver vs. Modified Nvidia Driver for 445M

Yes, sometimes the scores can vary a little from run to run with everything the same.

I would say it couldn't hurt to close everything else. I don't think you have to restart when you change Afterburner settings.

Yes, if you change something in Afterburner, the score will change. That's why you can only compare scores that used the same settings. I am curious about the NVidia settings too. If I remember, I want to research that tonight.

I use all the defaults.

 

That´s a interesting hypothesis.But it can also be a problem with the power supply.The card is getting very hot under power(felling with hand)..but on the left down side the notebook is not so warm like before the crash.I heared,when you overclocking you need more electricity,too.It´s only a hypothesis..but mybe it can?

And nobody has fault for my OC-crash.It was my own risk like everyone else here.

I think CRYSIS was fault...under oc-power I did´nt control the heat ingame.So it overheats(played 2 hours).I looked at the heatdates without overclocking now...and the heat goes up over 70C.So under oc it can be a lot more and I have´nt seen that ingame.

 

Start CRYSIS on very high settings but controll the heat ingame.

 

It will only use more power if you adjust the voltage, and that is when you can do damage. But from what I read, it's complicated to do that with a laptop video card. I don't think I remember seeing any unusual temps with Crysis, although if you were using an nvidia.com driver, maybe it ran hotter. Usually the games crash when you overclock because the GPU is set too fast and something goes unstable, or the system gets too hot and shuts itself down.

Does it seem to be running OK now, or it still doing the weird throttling?

 

I wonder when Dane mods the next driver ,if it's possible to adjust the fan settings or is it when he mods the driver, he can only change the .inf files that effect the loading only of the driver(most likely answer). I need to research just how specifically the driver instructs the component in question. I am not a programmer, so does anyone have suggestions on finding out this information in layman's terms or is it just going to be over my head?

I don't do anything to 3DMark6(can't really with the shareware model) and nothing to the Nvidia settings as well.
When I run the test, I usually have the monitors and log running in the background and the screen setting to full screen.

When I began this thread, I chose 3DMark6 for it's availability and the simplistic score value, but I am questioning that choice due to the inconsistency of the scores when repeated. I have ran 3DMark6 back to back with the same settings and got a scores that were 1-200 points in difference. Can someone suggest a better benchmark that is more consistent? anyone?

Rooster

 

Yea, I was wondering that about the fan thresholds, too. I'm guessing there must be a way since between the Dell and nvidia.com drivers, the high fan starts around 65C on the Dells but around 62C on the nvidia.com, which can be another annoyance since most games I play max at 63C, so the Dell driver still has the fan at medium, but with nvidia.com drivers, it is at high.

 

Interesting answer. have you had problems with your power supply with any of your other components with your laptop? you can monitor the power draw with CPUID HWmonitor and compare it with someone else's if you request it.
I agree that no one was at fault for your OC crash, but I still couldn't help feeling a little responsible just due to the fact that I have collected most of the information that you used. But I do really appreciate that you have continued to post your results and suggestions. We geeks have to stay together
Could you explain in more detail about the in game heat control that CRYSIS has available? that is most intriguing to me
And for our readers can you post your settings that you are running now?
such as driver version, if you are still OC'ing , are you still getting the "beeping" from your fans?
Curious but also wanting to solve the problem.
Thanks,
Rooster

 

ok.. now no matter how many times i try I cant seem to cross 117xx now..

latest test:


its weird though.. i was getting 11800 with the OC settings mentioned here.. and 12k+ when going higher.. now it looks like the performance is being capped somehow.. temps are still below 66.0

I will try on an external monitor to get the default resolution and see if that makes a difference..

 

My results are all over the place, even with multiple runs at the same settings. But somehow I cannot seem to reach 11900. I'm stuck a few points under there.

 

Yes,stay together..the next crash is coming!
About CRYSIS:Well,other games are running with 64-max.68C heat..CRYSIS with 70C or more and that without overclocking.I used the dell driver 5939,afterburner but no OC..and all is running good.I played Far Cry 2,AvP and Crysis...all on 1600x900, high settings and medium shadows.No problem.Only CRYSIS has some bad slowdowns from time to time..but this game is a really hardwarekiller.
From this point,CRYSIS could run with higher temperature than other games overclocked..so 2 or 3C more heat could explain my heatcrash.What do you think?

About the fan:The beep is gone,because dell changed the fan.Thanks dell.

 

yeah, I get the same when using 3DMark6. can you think of a better test that gives consistant data? I am really wanting to dump 3DMark and find something better that represents the performance. I am open to any suggestions.
Rooster

 

I would have to try the Crysis demo again and take better notice of the temps. I know that demo Rooster recommended for video card stress took it to like 79C. For Crysis I think I just picked High and left it at that. I didn't change shadows after that. I stink at FPS. Is there a way to zoom in on enemies in Crysis like you can in Mass Effect 2?

.....Gonna follow in Rooster's footsteps and dig into the archives for the post about that demo to stress the video card.....

BAH! I remember the game demo was called Kane and Lynch, but the search and reputation engines for these forums leave something to be desired

 

I don't even use the search for this forum. I have post-it notes everywhere and created a document for just finding the interesting info from this forum with pages and post #'s.
oops! I just gave my secret away.. oh well....
Rooster

 

tried 3dmark06 on an external 1080p monitor on the default resolution.. got around 113xx.

Did some more tests on the laptop screen.. but instead of afterburner, used EVGA precision to overclock this time.. i prefer Precision more since it has osd temps sorrta like fraps.. gonna use it in games aswell..

here are the results..



did another one with lower settings..



will probably cross 12000 if I use the settings i posted before..


ok one more thing.. is temperature the only thing i need to watch out for while overclocking? is there any other indication to see if the card might be crapping out?

 

Haha, so you have like - XPS 17 Owners post ####, "compwiz0620 forgot to remove the subwoofer protective plastic" in that document somewhere

 

Temps are a good indicator if something is going to go bad, but also watching voltage usage will also indicate something going bad IE if voltage requirements spike on a regular basis, but temps are best indicator so far.

date 1/01/2011 post #1228 and it was more of a afterthought than a main reason to post...

nah...just a fairly good memory and this forum and a few others is about all the reading I do

Rooster
P.S. do you have a suggestion for a better test for us to post results from our driver testing? something with more consistant numbers?

 

This looks interesting for the Nvidia Control Panel settings:

NVIDIA FORCEWARE TWEAK GUIDE

 

I will update the intro page to include this link.
Great find Matt!
Rooster

 

Crysis Demo never took me over 65C, but I still stink at the game

 

Now when I ran 3dMark06, I got a tip that said you should restart Windows before running the benchmark and not to open any other programs to get the best results.

 

I'm not really as gamer or 3D expert, so I can't help us there

You deserve rep for this, but I'm not yet allowed to git it to you

I got way lower scores on higher clocks! My highest was about 11850 or so on 750/960 (from memory, I have don't my post-it collection with me - )

P.S. Rooster you really need to take a picture of that post-it collection. Just for the archives of the forum.

 

How long did you play?
And about Zoom:That´s possible..it´s the upper right button on the gamepad.I´m playing with a xbox360-gamepad.

 

if you don't mind, can you describe how you are using your 360 controller for your PC? I have a 360 and several controllers and kinda knew that it was possible, but I haven't really researched it all that much. pointers and sites (shareware if possible) would be greatly appreciated.

Rooster

 

I have a cable based controller for the laptop.You can put the usbcable direct in the pc and windows 7 is making the rest for you.For wireless you need this part:

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-Wireless..._2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1295356789&sr=8-2

 

Watch for artifacts too. They present themselves in many different ways but you'll know when you get them. Back off right away when you do.

 

other than the furmark stability test, what would you suggest to test for artifacts and it also have a consistancy thats reliable?
Rooster

 

I'm not sure there is much that will stress the gpu more than furmark. This is pretty much the standard in stability testing.

As for consistent benchmarking? Start with a clean boot. The more there is running, the more the scores are going to vary. Beyond that? Who knows..it will always vary a bit.

I would normally run 3-4 passes with 3dmark as well as a few passes in a few different games and average out the scores.

 

i used ati tools to check for artifacts, but it seems that it's not supported in win 7

 

New one. Testing it now.

 

2463 points in Furmark with Afterburner settings of 750/1500/960. Better than my previous score so looking good so far.

EDIT: 11857 3DMarks on the first test.

I'll do stability testing later on.

 

Oh great now I have to sit here at work all day and think of testing that new driver. Please let me know if it installs straight out without the modded inf. Thanks.

 

Nice. I crashed eventually with 740/960 I will have to compare benchmarks of 750/800 and 730/960. 750/800 ran for a while without crashing before i started testing VRAM OCs. I know 752/800 crashed. I never tried 751/800. How much difference does 1 MHz GPU even make?

 

It installed straight, without a need for a modded inf file. I installed with the "clean install" option.

 

Excellent, I wonder if the fan still runs medium when not gaming.

 

Hey guys sorry I haven't been in here in a while, been battling stomach flu stuff. The drivers Nvidia's posting now will have direct support for our cards without a need for a modded .inf file. If anyone wants a specific desktop driver modded to test go ahead and shoot me a pm, if not Nvidia should support the cards in the mobile releases just fine And to answer the "fan control" question, that's nothing to do with the driver itself. That's a combo of the vBios(video/GPU Bios) and or sBios(system Bios) which is something very different so it's kinda out of the question for the average user.

 

Weird, then why does my high fan speed kick in sooner with nvidia.com drivers?

 

Because the driver changes the way the cards act(clocks mainly) which changes temps and a few other things. The bios/vbios then reads those temps acting differently and the clocks acting differently and kicks the fan it at different points from one driver to the next. Fan control is not built into the driver itself but the driver does play a part in the control of the fan. More performance=higher speeds faster, no way around it unless you want a fried card.

 

Ahh, so you mean that even though the temp is 62C with both drivers, the rate of temp change being higher will make the fan kick it up a notch sooner?

 

so am I. will post detailed run later.

Rooster

 

Me three. Little over an hour and I am out of here and it is another fun night of testing and tweaking

 

Just so you know I have posted all the drivers that we have tested on the 3rd posting on the first page, just in case if you ever need to revert back to a certain driver.

Just tryin to be helpful...
Rooster

 

Awesome. I can finally commence the testing

 

Seems not so spectacular. First of all it crashed at 750/800 during 3dMark06, which never happened before. I only got a score of 11187. But at least the fan doesn't run as loud while not gaming. Now I need to see how Civ V goes.

 

Great news..yes I loaded the new Nvidea driver direct from their website.
Please look in your PM..I´ve sended you one.;-)

 

WOW!!! Sorry but let me get this straight...

It means I can go now to download the nvidia drivers from their website and install them just like that? No more incompatibility??

 

Yup. Splurge on it! IT works like a charm.

 

Tonight I will download it!!!!!!

Thanks!!

 

3DMark 06 - non-registered (so not at native resolution)

Dell drivers - 11241

266.58 drivers with 2 changes - set to performance > power usage, and maximised for single screen, not multiple screens [both in Nvidia options]

11419

266.58 drivers with all Nvidia options maxxed [e.g. triple buffering, quality > performance etc]

11433

266.58 drivers with all Nvida options set to max performance [e.g. all performance > quality, triple buffering off etc]

11421

Current clocks -





One thing - 3Dmark keeps switching me out of aero into basic whenever it does a test?

 

Sorry, I forgot to ask you, how is the fan working with the website nvidia driver?

 

I would say a little better. I've been using nvidia drivers since I could so kind of forgot what it is like with Dell drivers. I'm not one to be much bothered by the fan. I'd rather have a well cooled machine than one that is silent but ends up with a fried card.