The Defininitive nVidia Driver Upgrade Guide

Has anyone tried the Nvidia Drivers from Nvidia yet? currently GeForce Release 179 for Notebooks BETA
Version: 179.28
Do these drivers add any performance? At lest Nvidia has made it easier to get their notebook drivers.

 

i use it on my win7 install
seems solid enough. didn't check for performance.

 

They are very stable, but not great on performance...the fps are stable (doesn't spike), but are about ~10 frames slow then the modded drivers.

 

I've had good performance out of them. Didn't notice any drop in average fps in prince of persia, and about a 2-3 fps drop in far cry 2(comparing to xfastest latest). Also i was able to overclock them very high and still be stable and got my highest 3dmark yet.

 

For me, games like tf2 or cod4...there is a 10fps difference.

 

have you had any luck installing an older version of the matrix storage manager driver?

 

Windows 7 beta 1 comes with v8.6.2.7 included so I'm just using those for now.

 

Dox's Customised v181.20 are out. Been beta testing these for a few days and they run pretty well. They also install on Win 7 correctly from the installer.

 

was dox able to implement the way nvidia detects your notebook and keeps full functionality? or are these like the other custom drivers? I love what dox does but i also like everything running flawlessly...

 

Well he has integrated the official nVidia Notebook driver settings into his so yes these should work pretty well with any laptop.

 

Sweet!!!

 

I just installed 180.44 and crysis is playing so much slower (dox 180.44) i don't understand is going on.. i put it on my 7805u..argh

 

I am using the 179.28 drivers on my FX with windows 7 while I game on COD4 and 5, very stable but it doesnt give me any improvements on framerates over the older version.

 

Would this be a good time to mention for Vista you don't need to driver sweep/clean like with XP? Save yourself alot of trouble.

Great post otherwise.

 

That's the first i heard of that. i thought that if your using the same persons custom drivers you don't have to sweep cause chances are they will be using and replacing all the same files, but if you switched "brands" then you should sweep to make sure the old one didn't have anything lingering that was not replaced by the new...

 

The cleaning or sweeping thing was to avoid conflicts in XP because XP could not remove the drivers properly (or isolate them) which is something Vista is very good at.

Its the same BS with Vista page files and optimizing, you don't do it because you can be doing more damage to the efficiency of your OS.

 

Sorry Ranger but that just isn't true. The problem is not with Windows but with the nVidia uninstall routine. Even Dox himself recommends running driver sweeper before you install his driver sets otherwise there may be older versions of files left on the HD which could interfere with the new drivers.

 

New PhysX and Dox Vista x64 bug fix out.

 

Where's the fix? Or is it already in the download now? I tried out DOX the other day or two and it absolutely killed my system. I noticed less performance and stability compared to the official NVIDIA drivers.

Trying out xfastest right now.

 

I'm currently on a 2888 model, 9c.12.00 BIOS and did a clean install of Vista 64 Home Premium. I tried re-installing all the drivers from the recovery discs but the Conexant Audio driver and the Intel VGA UMA drivers wouldn't work.

For Conexant it said it couldn't find the MEDIA device for the driver. When I look under Device Manager I had only the normal High Def Audio showing, and only one of them. I've read of some people having two show up but I only see one. I tried the work around of downloading the latest Conexant Driver from Gateway Support, but it seems to only install the 4.57.0.50 driver rather than what I downloaded which is Conexant 8.7.0.1007. Are they actually one and the same?

I just noticed that under recording devices too that my microphone won't be recognized now as well.

As for the Intel VGA UMA, it says that the computer does not meet the minimium requirements for installing the software, Setup will Exit. Is this normal? Is this something I even need?

If anyone can help me with these "problems" it'd be appreciated. Also, what order should I be re-installing drivers in the end, or does it matter? Also, one at a time and rebooting after each one, or can I do a bunch at once?

I don't have a problem re-clean installing Vista again if I did something wrong, but I just wanna clear this up first, in case I have to.

Let me know,
Thanks.

 

Wrong thread really but yes 8.7.0.1007 = 4.57.0.50 however some people have reported better results with the standard windows driver. Try uninstalling the Conexant drivers and reboot. If not roll back the driver in device manager.

Why are you trying to install Intel VGA drivers?

 

It was on the recovery disc so I assumed I should re-install if after, heh. If it's not necessary, I guess I can keep it off. And it seems sticking with the default Vista driver solves my audio problems. Speakers still work, microphone is recognized and all. Goes against what I thought would work, but as long as it works, I'm happy. Sorry for the wrong thread, heh.

 

Hey all - I haven't updated things on my laptop driver wise in a while, so I thought I would try something new and see if my game experience increased.

I play WoW so its not anywhere near a hard game on the system compared to most of you - but the sheer number of people sometimes makes things go about 15fps or so. But on average its over 30 and in the old cities its around 60. This is on my stock 6860.

Anyway, so i updated using the guide to the latest Nvidia drivers with the physX and all that from my old drivers which were, um... 177.41 with the modded inf from July i think.

I noticed a pretty significant drop in fps in almost all areas of my WoW game.

Wonder why. I think i'll try one of the other ones and if those stink too, I'll try to go back to my 177. Anyone know why it might have dropped? The 177 drivers were before nvidia supported PhysX too on our cards.

Thanks, Rotz

 

What drivers did you update to and does WoW use PhysX?

 

I updated to the Nvidia websites drivers the Beta 179.28 vista 64bit for my 6860 64 bit vista machine.
Found here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winvista64_179.28_beta.html

Wow doesn't use PhysX, or at least its not listed on nvidias website as using it.

One thing I noticed is that my CPUID temp monitor shows the GPU running much cooler than it was before; seems about 10 degree cooler.

I think I will try to get more performance out of the card with the Dox XP64_180.70
Found here: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=21982

 

How did that work out for you?

 

Updated to Dox 180.70 and the frame rate in this game is about the same, roughly, but the GPU temp is averaging about 5 degree warmer and the fan stays on more often. o0

Kinda odd, maybe i should just stick with the nvidia ones in this case.

 

were you still getting the higher FPS before even after updating to WotLK? the new shadows and stuff put a hurting on lots of ppls FPS.

 

Yeah LK is hard on my system - its a pretty tough revamp! My FPS before LK was almost always 60.

Anyway, to update I noticed fan had been on a while this morning and checked the CPUID temp monitor and it said it had reached up to 102 degrees! HOLY COW. (This was with the Dox drivers still, i haven't changed them back yet.)

Looks like that a definite yes to reinstalling the Nvidia drivers from Nvidia's website. If they're both going to have the same performance i might as well have a quiet fan and a cool GPU.

 

any1 try the new 185.20 drivers? how do they compare to the nvidia beta ones?? i recently installed the 185.20 i think my performance went down not too sure

 

NVidia download site is down. Can anyone list a mirror site for 179.28?

 

It's been pulled by the looks of it. Hmmm strange.

 

Try laptopvideo2go. I just got that same driver off of there.

 

It was suggested in another forum this issue may be GPU related and I give you guys a shot at it (7811FX, vista64).

If I have a program maximized on the desktop, then move a window across the display I get a pronounced window "trail". The trail dissipates but is very annoying.

Moving a window across the desktop without anything open on the desktop: some distortion on the frame of the window, perhaps a FAST trail.

I had originally installed 179.28, so it was recommended I install the OEM drivers, 175.80. Removed 179.28, used driver sweep to clean, then installed 175.80. Trail remains.

Wish I could snapshot this, but haven't figured out how.

Suggestions (and yea, they already told me to lay off the mushrooms) ???

 

have u checked to make sure your vents aren't clogged with dust. Also make sure ur laptop is on a hard smooth surface. If it sits on something like a bed or carpet it will block the airflow and ur unit will over heat

 

Hah, I had that same problem. What I did was disabled aero and all of those other little effects. Those take a lot of RAM anyway. But I can understand how a lot of people like the look of aero. Maybe you can set it so that you have aero on, but when you grab a window, you only grab that grey outline.

 

Appreciate the response, but I'm using the Basic Vista Scheme. I don't have Aero in the list. Also tried the latest vid driver (179.32). Still have the distortion. Driving me nuts!

Update: on a hunch, I turned off the option to show windows content during dragging. That solves the problem but takes some getting used to...

 

Yup, i keep the outside of the vents (sides and bottom) cleaned and the laptop on my desk with the back propped up about an inch. I'm pretty sure it was the drivers. I reinstalled the older drivers and have had my computer on for hours now and the max it has gotten to is 86. This is the with the 177.41 drivers from loooong ago. The 179 drivers from Nvidia that i tried a few posts ago kept the heat about the same also. The only time i noticed it getting crazy hot was with the Dox drivers i installed.

I guess my 6 month old drivers were working fine, so why fix something that isn't broken That's why i'm back on them, although wish I could find some nice stable, cool drivers and gave me a slight performance boost also.

 

Alright, I'm getting tired of this. I can't find a driver that offers good performance with DX10, except for 179.32, but for some reason, I'm missing a bunch of resolutions with that one. I only ever really use DX10 when I'm playing Far Cry 2, because if it's working properly, it runs better than with DX9. I'm going to start trying xFastest drivers now, but if anyone who plays Far Cry 2 or uses DX10 for something else can recommend something, it would be much appreciated.

 

Anyone else having problems with Dox or Nvidia drivers?
When playing COD4, after awhile my screen will freeze, then temporarily go black, I'll lose connection, and then can play again. It says drivers stop working etc. etc.

Never happened before I tried installing those-- same thing with both.

 

I never had issues with Nvidia's, I'm on Xfastest they work well. No issues yet (knocks on wood). I think DOX's drivers are terrible. Or well, at least they were for me in an overall sense (not just gaming). I'm liking Xfastest the best I think so far as I've even had less issues than Nvidia's (had that problem with Nvidia and DOX's and DOX's killed my system and gaming to a crawl...they were way slower and less stable than any others for me).

 

that's kind of a rude way of putting it, especially considering DOX frequents these forums and spends a lot of time customizing the drivers for us (he even listens to what WE say to help hime develop them) and on top of all that, he doesn't charge a dime. saying they don't work for u is one thing, but don't insult the man...

 

Well, its the newest of each. I haven't tried the newest Xfastest yet, I'll try that soon
Also happens when playing the DOW2 Beta

 

Anyone have decided what driver is the best for world of warcraft?

 

YMMV, I have no problem with DOX drivers. See my sig.

 

I am using v185.20 driver and on 2D application, the GPU speed is still at default 600,800,1500. I created a profile with lower clock speed in ntune but it does not load at window start up as created. Does anyone know how I can solve this problem? I also tried Rivatuner but there was no option to create profile for 9800M GTS. Thank you in advance.

 

Dox's Customised, PhysX, System Tools all updated.

 

iaTa, you are the best!!! Thanks again for all the time and work you put into this.

 

New DOX drivers out? Better than 181.20 )) ?

 

tried dox's new 185.20 but while playing gta4 the screen got all pixelated and the game would have trouble loading at times. Moved back 181.22, no problems.