I am surprised with my Intel integrated graphics

I was totaly supprised about this but using the latest new Intel HD drivers from Intel made my games have between 6-10 more FPS than before so now Crysis has around 47 for the highs and normaly around 30 FPS. Crysis 2 has more FPS also now it has around 15 normaly and high as around 30. It use to be like around 10 FPS normaly and around 22 FPS for the highs. I wonder why I' am getting more FPS than using the OEM drivers from Sony. They just recently updated the driver for Intel HD on Intels website. Now it has maintain aspect so Crysis 2 doesn't look skinny like before.

 

OEM drivers are more prone to fixing problems, maintaining stability rather than improving raw performance, and most of the time they fall WAY behind in driver development compared to nvidia/amd/intel, actually you should have ditched your sony drivers the moment you got your machine.

 

Well are you saying that it's possible that I will in the long run have problems with the new drivers I have? Since it seems like you are saying that OEM is more stable and has less trouble. Since if so then maybe it's not good to use generic drivers since I don't want trouble in the long run. Unless does generic drivers are very stable like OEM?

 

I could of missunderstood you but I thought you were saying that OEM drivers are more stable and Intel drivers will have better performance but isn't as stable.

 

No, you should stick with the latest intel drivers, OEM drivers are usually HORRENDOUS compared to Nvidia/AMD/Intel, their drivers are WAY inferior in almost EVERY aspect. Drivers from nvidia/amd/intel not only give you better performance, but also better stability in games.

Edit: and make sure you check the intel site(or other resources) once in a while to see if there is a new driver update, if there is something new coming out, update to the latest.

 

I have noticed this but somewhere in the line everyone says that generic driver will be better and give more performance but isn't as safe as OEM drivers. People has always say that OEM is safer and will work best but then they say generic drivers are better. I kinda wonder if in true life OEM drivers are the best even it won't have the best performance. Since it seems like the generic drivers could cause problems in the long run and if that will happen then I' am better of using OEM drivers to be safe.

Everywhere I goto on any forums or Yahoo question website they say that OEM is recommended somewhere in the line.

 

No.
People who claim that using OEM drivers is 'safer' and 'better' really have no idea what they are talking about.

OEM drivers were useful in times when automatic detection of drivers was not present.
Today, this is NOT the case as Windows Vista and 7 obviously have the ability to find and install latest drivers on their own.

Using the device drivers of the manufacturer that MADE a hardware component you are using (such as the GPU) is the best option.
OEM is nothing more than a supplier.
They usually collect their drivers also from the manufacturers webpages and perhaps add a thing or two of their own in regards to features (but this has no bearing on performance).

In your case, stick with Intel's gpu drivers and you will be far better off.

OEM's have a tendency to develop drivers for specific laptops once or twice and then drop support fairly quickly.

DELL for example tried forcing people into installing their own gpu drivers on a laptop by implementing something which prevented the manufacturer's drivers installing directly from the setup file (it required manual installation via device manager - which incidentally did away with numerous gpu issues that DELL drivers gave and introduced a variety of options that were previously unavailable).

 

Well I have kept like a poll on my computer to see who says what and most have clearly said that use OEM drivers so that means likely OEM drivers are the best for branded computers like Sony, HP, etc. But OEM drivers must be better and safer to use even if the performance isn't as good as generic drivers. People have said that very likely that Sony or other companies have made adjustments to the drivers so they said that it will have some problems if you use generic drivers. It may not show now but likely when you do something it will not work right they said.

 

your keeping a poll of all both people who responded?

use intel's drivers, not the drivers released by your computer manufacturer.

 

Wow, just Wow.

Use the most current drivers for your machine -- this is almost always the best way to keep your machine up-to-date and running optimally.

Anyone else that states otherwise is wrong and feeding you misinformation.

 

Latest and greatest drivers doesn't always mean best, but typically drivers from manufacturer (i.e. Intel) are much improved over OEM (i.e. HP, Dell, etc).

 

Get the latest drivers from the manufacturer as others have said. If and only if you start getting stability issues, then revert to older or OEM ones.

 

Well my poll is based from techs I talk to in person and forums not just computer forums but many different forums since there is always someone that knows about computers on forums. But basicly everyone mostly said to use OEM drivers. I even asked on Yahoo answers and also other asking websites and they said use OEM drivers.

 

They say that OEM drivers provide extra stability, but in practice you never see that. The generic drivers provide the same, if not more stability and performance due to it being newer than the OEM drivers. Every new version will fix some bugs here and there, and after months these bugfixes begin to add up and the OEM driver misses out on all those, which would lead to decreased stability and performance as compared to the generic driver. I use the drivers by Nvidia and Intel and I get better performance on them than if I got the drivers from Asus. Stability wise, the drivers by Nvidia and Intel are slightly better because they are newer and contain fixes that solve crashes which the Asus driver does not have.

 

So are you saying that even most people say that use OEM to make sure everthing runs right I should still use generic drivers? Are you sure about this or are you guys assuming that generic drivers will work better. Since apparently most are saying to use OEM so there's got to be a reason they say that even techs who repair computers.

But if you guys really on this forums think I should use it I can reinstall the latest drivers from Intel again but if I do I hope they will be no problems at all using it and no problems will have conflicts since I' am using generic drivers instead of OEM. I can I guess always roll back to the OEM again. But I don't want any problems because I used generic drivers.

Just wondering but does OEM drivers ever get updated? Since it seemed like you guys were saying that they don't. But eatherway I put back the generic drivers again on my laptop but I hope I won't have problems in the long run. But are you guys sure that even Sony has made sure that there drivers work on my laptop still generic drivers are going to be better overall and more stable? Or are you guys just assuming it will be overall better then OEM?

 

Just go with the latest drivers. You'll have better performance and chances are they're probably more stable than the OEM drivers in the first place since they're worked on constantly. OEM's rarley put up more than a few updates to drivers before withdrawing support.

 

One thing I' am wondering about is that I hope that everyone of you mean what you said and none of you are saying use generic just because few people say so. Since this is the only forums I see that people are saying to use generic the most.

 

It doesn't matter what drivers you use it's not going to cause damage to your computer in the long run.

Sometimes buggy drivers get put out by AMD, Nvidia, or Intel, but you can always revert to a previous version. OEM drivers are generally complete garbage and shouldn't be used.

When it comes to drivers Performance and Stability are the most important. So if you're seeing better performance with the Intel drivers you used and you're not constantly crashing, stick with those. There's no point in going back to OEM and getting 10 less FPS because some retard "tech" on yahoo forums told you otherwise.

 

This is what I love about GPUs. The newer drivers tend to squeeze more performance out of it. Kinda makes you think they don`t try hard enough when releasing the first driver for a new product though

 

I dunno, when they first release drivers, the intent is to make it stable and compatible like most any program out there. Then the concentrate on performance improvements. Plus many times changes are made for specific games, and obviously can't do that if the game isn't available yet.

 

I'm very surprised you even game Crysis on Intel HD! Which version do you have, HD 3000? What is the resolution you play at and what are the game graphic setting that you use for Crysis? Also, what's your Crysis framerate?

 

a very generic example would be using OEM graphic card drivers or stock drivers that came with your computer.. it is obvious that the new drivers provide more optimisation for new games that are not provided by the manufacturers.. the reason manufacturers recommend using the drivers provided by them instead of using the latest, newest drivers is that they have tested it and found it to work properly. they dun want people knocking on their doors asking them to fix problems that arise due to people using the latest driver from intel, nvidia etc.. time is money, why create a problem when all u need to do is ask ur customers to just use the drivers that they provided, even if they know it is at the expense of possible performance loss when it means no requirements for customer support?

 

you gettin 30+fps on crysis? settings plz.Heck i play all high@720p with oc'ed gpu (gt435m) @35+fps

 

I get 30+ FPS everything on low on Crysis. I can't play Crysis on high it will be soo laggy. Remember this IGP is like an entry level card so there's no way it can play on high well it can but will be very choppy. All of the newer games I play has to be set to low and res to low to play well. Anything higher will start to lag. Btw my notebook specs are on my sig so that's the kind of computer I have.


Btw I have the original Intel HD not the 2000 or 3000 series.

The funny part is that why didn't Intel make a great driver like this when it first came out? Since I bet from now on when new drivers come in it will even give more FPS on my games. Apparently they need to experiment the drivers more and update it and that takes time to do that to make a good driver.

Some of my games I play alot had trouble on the generic drivers and it didn't even run right so I rolled back to the OEM and now it works again. I guess Sony was right about OEM is customized to work right for my computer.


I will actualy have to get more details on how much FPS I get for each game I play but I just rounded it up a said like Crysis gets around normaly 20 and has gone high as 30 using OEM drivers. Crysis 2 gets around 10 FPS and high as around 20. Basicly it varies since depending on how much action the FPS could go up or down. When you look at the sky that's when my FPS is good but then you look straight that's when my FPS goes around 20 on Crysis and on Crysis 2 I get around 10 FPS. Other games like The Sims 2 I get around 50 FPS and everything is set to high on that game. Also for Doom 3 and Quake 4 I get around 40 FPS and everthing set to ultra. For The Sims 3 game I set to low and get around 110 FPS and when looking around town area where alot of buildings then it's around 45 FPS.


For Crysis and Crysis 2 I set everything on low and have res like 800x600 or 1024x768.


So eatherway Intel HD is like an entry level card no matter what driver it is but of cource I wish I could upgrade my video card to a mid range card at least. But of well.

 

you known there's no need for double or triple post right? you can always edit your last post instead of making new ones.

You should also check modded drivers that give even more performance and/or features then the latest gpu manufacturer drivers. specially intel ones.

 

Well the reason why I post something everytime I think of something is since I want you guys to know that I updated something. Everything you post the topic goes to the top of the list again so then you know I said something new.


Btw what do you mean to check the modded drivers that give me more performance than the latest from manufacturer drivers?

What do you mean modded driver though btw? Eatherway the only way to show I updated something is to post. But anyways I talked to more tech guys today and they said since you have a problem using generic drivers use OEM. Also they said they would use OEM drivers in the first place since it's customized.

 

Normally OEM drivers are good for things such as the motherboard and some other firmware ... but I find it difficult to believe that graphics OEM are better than from the regular manufacturers, especially given how rarely seldom those OEM drivers are updated.

 

Use the drivers from Intel. They are the ones who made the darn GPU and it is the latest and greatest.

Also there is no such thing as an "OEM driver." There are the drivers supplied by the people who actually developed and made the product (Intel) and there are the drivers that Dell, Sony, etc put on their website. 99% of the time the ones on the Dell, Sony, et al websites are identical to the ones from the actual OEM (Intel, Nvidia, AMD, TI, etc.) except that they are always behind an update, two, or even more. And then on the rare occasions that the driver is at all different, it is the driver from Intel or whoever but slightly tweaked for some reason, but always for something dumb that doesn't help you. But I stress it is extremely rare for the driver to be any different at all.

So please stop listening to these "techs" who don't know what they are talking about. If you want older versions of drivers, download from Sony. If you want the best, newest drivers from the people who actually made the "OEM drivers" you see on Sony's website, download from Intel. The only reason Sony has drivers to download on their website is as a convenience for people who don't know any other place to download drivers from.

I always download the latest drivers from the chip manufacturers. For some things like ethernet chips and sound chips, you would not believe how far behind the motherboard manufacturer's website is on updating to the latest drivers.

 

I'm impressed that Intel graphics can get those framerates on Crysis even on low settings and low resolution, and regardless of drivers.

Yahoo Answers isn't exactly know for reliability. It's good for entertainment value every so often, but if you want a serious, reliable answer, they shouldn't be anywhere near the first stop.

While it will occasionally happen that Intel/nVIDIA/ATI will release drivers that won't work as well as the OEM ones, by and large newer Intel/nVIDIA/ATI ones will be better. Especially a couple years down the line, when OEMs generally quit releasing updates for their laptops. And OEM ones don't necessarily imply reliability - I know someone who had very unreliable OEM drivers in a laptop from HP. The case that comes to mind where I might expect OEM drivers to be generally better is back around 2008 or so, when Sony and a few other manufacturers were first instituting hybrid graphics with Vista. They might have had more practical experience than Intel with it at that point.

 

Well are you guys saying that Sony OEM drivers are the same as generic drivers and not even customized at all? Only the hybrid ones need OEM drivers? If the drivers for my computer is same as generic drivers why does Sony say they are customized? Also I noticed that Sony has changed the version of the Intel drivers since there version is different from Intel. But maybe they used generic drivers and changed somethings to make it work right for my computer and then made there own driver version. But I know that when I talked to many geek squad members they still say to use OEM since you don't know what has been changed on the OEM drivers and it could not work right they said it just a risk you are taking and could make the computer not display right or have problems running a program that Sony uses etc.

There were some Geek Squad members that said use generic drivers like you guys but majority say use OEM drivers since they are designed to work best for your model of computer you have.


Btw I had to system recover my computer so that's why I wasn't posting for a while. I needed to clean up my system.

 

if you want to be on the safe side and do not care about new bug fixes and optimizations, by all means use the OEM drivers. otherwise, use the manufacturer's drivers. everybody here has been saying the same thing over and over, so it's up to you to listen to Geek Squad members or NBR forum members. i personally would pick NBR members' advice any day...

 

If you look closely, OEM drivers are generic drivers, just way older

 

To be honest the OEM drivers are based off these reference drivers at the time of the machine production, what you're installing from Intel is a later iteration of the same codebase. The OEM has provided you a functional driver at time of sale and is not really obligated to do much more (though some do), however the driver continues getting updated at the source as fixes are made and performance increased.

When Intel puts out a driver update it's generally been my experience that it'll come with a boost, I know thats regarded as a given with GPU drivers in general but I've seen some pretty notable jumps in performance going from one Intel graphics driver to another.

I actually INF mod back-port every Intel HD graphics driver release to my Gf's older GMA 4500M equipped laptop (Intel HD drivers are a progression of the G4x codebase) and it results in a considerable performance gain over the older drivers, even resulted in lower temperates.


tl;dr: Best to keep up to date if you want to get the most out of your gear.

 

Well Sony did say that they do update drivers so everything is current and if they don't update something it means that it's already a good driver and has no problems. So basicly if a newer updated driver comes then that means there was something that was fixed and now it works even better. Like example the original driver for my notebook had a video distortion problem when watching MP4 type videos but then they updated the driver and now that problem is gone.


Here is the exact wording that Sony used about fixing the video distortion problem.


"This utility updates the Intel HD Graphics driver to version 8.15.10.2182 to resolve an issue where video distortion or a black screen appears when attempting to playback an MP4 video file with 480x270 resolution."

 

Wow...
reading through this thread almost makes me want to facepalm myself repeadtedly, it's sad and frustrating.

First of all, there's no such thing as a generic driver, the proper term is reference driver. Use of the word generic makes them sound inferior to drivers provided by the laptop manufacturer when in reality it's the opposite.

I cannot state this emphatically enough... reference drivers are far superior to drivers provided by the laptop manufacturer. The reasons have already been stated in this thread.

The reason why a manufacturer or technician will say otherwise is because they're looking at it from a business and support point of view. It cuts down on headaches for them. Also they are often dealing with poeple who know so very little about PC tech and may be using old software on outdated hardware.

In the end it's up to you and you should use what you prefer because it's your laptop.

 

OEM drivers will use what ever is available for their validation.

Later drivers may be much better but OEMs will not release it because they wont spend the money on a second round of validation and testing.

 

Ok I did find this information on Intels website before I download there drivers and this is what they say.


"Usage:

These software drivers are generic versions and can be used for general purposes. However, computer original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) may have altered the features, incorporated customizations, or made other changes to the software or software packaging they provide. To avoid any potential installation incompatibilities on your OEM system, Intel recommends that you check with your OEM and use the software provided by your system manufacturer.

Intel and the computer original equipment manufacturer (OEM) may not provide technical support for some or all issues that could arise from the usage of this generic version of software drivers."



Why does Intel even say they recommend using OEM drivers if general drivers are better?



Btw I' am not trying to be mean or anything but I' am soo confused that why most people and places say to use OEM drivers like even Intel says so. Apparently OEM must be better for branded computers or something.

 

Because you've been speaking to idiots and Intel is trying to cover their @$$ in the very unlikely event that something does happen.

 

All I know is that when I downloaded the driver from Intel before and played Crysis 2 and other games to test them out I missread the part about Intel saying to use OEM drivers. But anyways companies like Intel or Sony don't tell the truth about drivers and they are just saying to use OEM so people don't complain about there drivers??? Since if that is true that is disappointing since I thought companies will tell the truth and what's best to use. So basicly Intel saying that use OEM has nothin to do with saying that OEM driver is better but just saying it so the company doesn't get in trouble???

Also tech guys I talk to are just saying to use OEM since they don't know much about drivers or computers?? and only ones that knows is who are the ones that say to use Intel drivers instead of OEM? Since only few said that to me when I talked to them.

Well anyways you guys are saying that if I decide to go back to generic drivers then I will forsure have no problems at all using it even after few years from now? All I know is that I had some problems running some games using generic drivers eairlier but it might of been because I needed to clean my system like new again and I did do that so maybe this time it would work but it seems like you guys are soo sure that generic drivers from Intel will work forsure and everyone here uses generic driver like from Nvidia.com or Intel.com, etc.

 

It seems you have to read carefully through all the responses given in this thread. OEM are regular drivers (from the manufacturer of the comoponent) that have been verified by the companies. Normally the companies do not keep the OEM support for a long time. So after a while you got only the manufacturer drivers to keep the components up to date.

 

Please go generic.

PLEASE.

 

Well Sony did say that they are always updating there drivers and software since the techs are there to research them and fix them. But do you think that Sony will come with a new update soon for my computer? So far I' am not really having problems using OEM drivers since all my games work fine but if I do I usualy would call Sony techs and report a problem and then they will send a ticket to Sony techs and they will try to fix the problem. But they also said that they might now work on it since it's already a good driver but maybe if alot of people report the same type of problem then they will update the driver.

I remember using the original OEM driver that Sony first released and when I watch certain videos or see flash videos there was a major distortion and could not see the video right. But after I got the new update it totaly fixed the problem and now everything is on the green.

Only thing I guess I noticed when I tested out the generic drivers is the performance was better on the FPS but some games didn't run right. But maybe if I try it again if I want to it would work since I did system restore my notebook to like new again and then I downloaded all of the updated drivers from Sony and all of Windows updates also. I did reinstall all of my games like Crysis too.



This is the drivers for my computer I have and I use to update everything.


http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/mo...te_id=1&region_id=1&tab=download#/downloadTab

But I do remember that the head of the techs did say that they use generic drivers and then modify them to work best for there computers and fix problems if there is any like the video distortion problem.


Maybe Sony does something like Intel does and they fix and modify there drivers and update them. But just Intel makes drivers for all computers and not just Sony computers so maybe there are something that Sony has done differently than Intel since Sony works on there computers only. Sony might of done different updates or so.

 

Since you're clearly intent on using the OEM drivers, just go ahead.

 

Well if you guys really really strongly think I should use generic drivers then I can give it a shot again and hopefuly everything will work. But just wondering how do you know about OEM drivers and everything? Since I thought only techs like Sony would know about what has been done on OEM drivers. It just seemed like you guys already knew how they are made and everything. Since if you guys didn't know how it was made you would not say they are generic driver and just been tested be companies like Sony and then they use that driver if it works. Basicly how do you know all of this if you do really know??


Also if you guys are 100% right why does most people say to use OEM drivers??? I remember even clearly that one tech guy said that he uses drivers from like Sony, Asus, HP, etc to update his drivers since they are likely customized. He works for the Geek Squad. He says when he fixes the computers he uses OEM drivers. Are techs like him doesn't know much about drivers or computers? If so why does he work for the Geek Squad then?

 

This thread should be closed. You got your answer. Move on.

 

LOL if you want to use OEM drivers so bad just go ahead, we'll be the happy minority using reference drivers instead

But really, read through all the responses because you're essentially asking the same question repeatedly, which are:

1. Why are reference drivers better than OEM drivers?
2. Why does everyone say that OEM drivers are better than generic drivers?
3. Are we sure of that?
4. Are we very very very sure of that?

And to respond (hopefully once and for all)

1. Reference drivers are better simply because they are newer and thus incorporate bugfixes and/or performance improvements. The disclaimer by Intel, as mentioned is to cover their butts if you were installing the driver halfway and your com died because you tripped over the power cable. The likelihood of the reference driver actually killing your computer is practically non-existent. For example, this is the changelog for the latest Intel driver. As you can see, there are performance and stability fixes and the OEM driver will not have these fixes. The older the OEM driver is, the more of these fixes it will miss out and your performance will remain stagnant in certain games, while the reference driver will provide increased performance and stability with each release.

2. Everyone says that OEM drivers are better. Why? The "unkind" response would be because they are misinformed. Newer is generally better (yes there are exceptions, drivers are not one of them), and OEM drivers are pretty much the same driver that Intel provides. Whether the OEM wants to update the driver is entirely up to whether they want to spend more money from certification, testing and WHQL-ing it, which is usually no. The only reason why they would update the driver is when there is a very serious bug that Intel forces the OEM to fix, and those are few and very far between. OEMs would not update the driver simply because of performance and/or stability fixes, they would rather you download the reference drivers instead and save them time and resources. Yahoo! Answers is generally not a very reliable source of information, and technicians will usually tell you that OEM drivers are better because they are told it is made for your system or because it is better. That is wrong. OEM drivers are just reference drivers, there are little to no modifications OEMs have to make to the reference drivers for any particular system, exception being AMD switchable graphics. OEMs simply take what Intel gives them and use it. So, skip the OEM and just use the reference drivers.

3. Yes.

4. Yes.

Hope that helps

 

Dude, the Geek Squad are the last people you should be taking computer advice from. They are salespeople who pretend to know a lot about computers.

And to top it all off, you said yourself that using the newer Intel drivers provided you with increased performance over using the ones from Sony. I really don't see what the problem is. If you still think that Intel is not the best source for video drivers for the Intel GPU, I just don't think your mind can be swayed.

Just use the repackaged older Intel drivers that Sony has on their website because that is clearly what you want to do. You just want everyone on here to support your decision, but that isn't going to happen. Your mind is already made up so just let this thread die.

 

Please don't double or triple post just edit your post, it's against the forum rules. If you haven't read them, please do, thank you.

 

Well actualy not just the Geek Squad I talk to for advice I talk to other techs online and localy too. I was just saying some of the techs I talk to were from the Geek Squad. But I have talk to other computer techs. Also even managers that know alot about computers forsure.

But my point was that most people said to use OEM drivers. But I see on this forums that most are saying to use generic driver and yes when I used it it did give me alot more FPS but I' am worried about if I will have problems in the long run. I would rather have a good working system without the computer freezing and having to have to reboot the system or something like that than a system that gets alot more FPS but has problems.

I' am not trying to be mean or anything since I' am a nice guy and I' am sorry if I made you guys upset at all but I just wonder why only in this forums everyone says to use generic drivers.

I really wish there was a way to find out the true fact that has been proven that OEM or generic drivers work best for branded computers like Sony laptops.



Btw I do have OCD and that's why I' am picky about stuff and want to make sure everything will work forsure.

 

Read our responses. Seriously

EDIT: on second thoughts, here's the tl;dr version also posted somewhere above: