New 8600M Driver From Dell

New One (Released October 9)

http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=gen&c=us&l=en&cs=&k=R194805&cat=sup&x=0&y=0

v176.09, A03

Previous (18/8/2008)

http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=gen&c=us&l=en&cs=&k=R194005&cat=sup&x=0&y=0

v175.97, A02

Now > Why is the new one having this description >

while the previous release said it was a driver? I mean whats the actual difference? And any idea why they haven't released this new graphics controller for the other models with the same graphics card? This one is apparently for the "Inspiron 1318"... Thanks for any inputs.

 

Ok I tried installing it, but got an error.. could not proceed with the installation. Anyone else tried? Were you able to install it? It apparently carries a "performance enhancement" under the 'fixes' tab... anyone notice anything?

 

Ya, I installed it just fine!

 

Ah really... phew, I think I have to try again..

Btw, how are the temperatures with this new one, bowlerguy? And hows the performance or anything you notice?

 

The temperatures on mine are almost exactly the same. I did however notice that I used to have infrequent jaggies in Crysis, those now appear to be gone! Other than that everything else seems just about the same as it was.

 

Ah thats nice May be you want to bold out that part with the crysis thing in ur post.. Might be helpful to others... Cheers.

 

just installed these on my 1530, seem to work/act the same. ... don't really notice any difference

 

no problems with the install but haven't tried anything yet. thanks for letting us know

 

no 64-bit version?

 

i'm curious if this driver makes any difference in FPS. could anyone test it out? would love to have a better driver for team fortress 2.

 

I have a widget that monitors temps and I am reading a constant 3 degrees C less on my core 1 and 2....Usuallt idle at 50, now been at 47 since the install!

 

I did install this finally.. and the install works well.. but honestly, I don't see any difference.. may be some games perform better with this driver (like one of the pervious posts!!!) but temperatures are the same for me too.. No big difference.. Anyways!!

 

well I installed it and tried wathing a bluray disk... MediaDirect 3.5 informed me that I need to update my video card driver... I rolled back to 175.97 and all was well again...

so... maybe that's why its not listed as compatible wth the m1530?

 

I dont know why... may be *that*, though the m1530 doesnt have a default bluray, does it, for them not to release the driver if that was the issue?

Also as I mentioned, this one strangely didn't come with the standard 'driver' description.. rather 'extreme graphics controller'.. so I have no idea..

 

the bestbuy, preconfig'd, m1530's come with blu-ray players.

 

Ah ok.. I didn't know abt this.. anyway, thanks.

 

Guys... i'm using 179.13. And the scores in 3DMark06 Pro is 4762 stock. An that's a difference of well over 400 points as compared to the last driver. So all I can say is.. WOW !!

 

What are average idle temperatures for the 8600?

 

mine's 52 degree Celsius at the moment.. playing games for say an hour or so... goes till 68 - 69 max. Blueray works perfect

 

=O

wow, about 10c cooler all around than what I get according to CPUID Hardware Monitor

What you using to monitor temps?

 

I use CPUID Hardware Monitor too. Have applied undervolting as well. But i use the laptop on the bed.. without a notebook cooler. Guess i might get a couple of degrees less if I kept it on the table or used a cooler, but there's no alarming temps to deal with and nothing beats convenience

 

Hmm.. wow, I'm impressed. I'm on a desk and undervolted, I guess it's the different processors (I'm on a T8300)

 

Nah.. don't think it's the processor. The 9500 if anything, should run higher temps. Guess it's the arctic silver that helps...

 

I still have a tube of AS5 from my desktop, how difficult was it to apply to a notebook? I've built countless desktops, but never opened a notebook

 

extremely easy .. I used AC MX-2 .. temps definitely better than stock (although the thermal gunk dell has on there is annoying to remove, but the alcohol eventually got it)

heres a nice tutorial:

http://www.robertbromfield.com/Tutorials/Changing the thermal paste on the M1530.pdf

 

It was real easy to apply... didn't have alcohol to remove the paste dell put on.. so just rubbed it off with a soft tissue paper. Came off real easy. Then put on the AS5 with the applicator.

 

Thanks guys, I'll give it a try.

 

But remember, removing the OEM thermal paste will void your warranty, AFAIK!

 

i just checked out the extreme driver. as far as i can tell, i don't see any differences. 3dmark06 scores were about the same. temps are the same. only thing is i can't get my rivatuner static server for the FPS and GPU temp to display on screen now.

 

Hey...I just saw this post today and checked the Dell website. For those whom which the driver worked well and was stable, and for those who are still experiencing some issues...would you still recommend that I still update mine? Or should I still stick with my current driver version? Most posts don't claim "that much" significant differences and I'm not certain if the driver is stable enough.

Also, if I do end up installing it...can someone please guide me on how I go about doing it? Is it just like a normal install, or do I need to configure anything else to get it working?

Thanks...

 

What problems do you have with TF2? I'm just curious as ever since I bought it on Steam the water on 2Fort doesn't look right, but I only played that map once, everything else has been fine.

 

no real problems. i play on 1440 x 900 resolution with pretty much everythin on high (no AA, etc.) and get 60's - 20's FPS. when i play for longer than an hour or 2 i get a skip once in a while. it's nothin major, it might have to do with my router. my router has been givin me hiccups lately.

 

Well, I tried and I didn't see any difference.. and so did many others, particularly with overall performance and temperatures...

Though there were a few for whom some lag issues or similar were resolved in games like Crysis using these drivers...

So if aren't experiencing any issues with the driver you are having now, just stick with it.. *like one expert around here said many times, if it ain't broke, why fixt it?*

But if you want to install, its like any other driver install... nothing special to do.

 

Am I the only one who has the impression that this driver causes more fluctuations in temperature?

 

it shouldn't. temp fluctuations are what is causin the faulty material in our GPU's to fail. i don't think they would come out with a counter productive driver.

did anyone else have any problems with rivatuner, after installin the "extreme" driver? i can't seem to get my static servers to display anymore.

 

so is it recommended to update to this new driver??

 

Going to apply the AS5 tomorrow evening, do I leave the Northbridge untouched? (in the pdf guide it looks like it has a thermal pad)

EDIT: Did the Artic Silver 5 today. WOW! The temp drops are incredible already... about 6c idle! And it's only been an hour!