The Defininitive nVidia Driver Upgrade Guide

Sweet how are they?

I have been waiting for these, but really have not had any problems (performance or otherwise) with the 182.05's.

 

oh nice im gonna try using these on my win 7 installation hopefully they dont blue screen my 7805u at boot like the 182.05 did.

 

I tried xfastest 185.20, but I can't stand it. I haven't run any games with it, but it seems to lock the idle GPU temp at 44C, and at the same time keep the GPU fan on, which is annoying as hell.

 

Mine idles at that temp.... Did you try the new dox drivers?

 

Mine idles at that temp also 44%, no problem with the fan

 

I don't like Dox drivers. They newest ones actually perform well on 3dmark, better than anything else I've tried, but they don't do so well with the games I play.

 

Can we take a poll or a vote to see what the best, most current driver is, or maybe by category if there is no clear "best", like:

-best fps performance in new games
-lowest gpu temperature
-best overall stability
-best legacy performance for older programs and games


I'm pretty sure this forum supports polls, could we do it? I'm currently running 179.48 stock and i've found for me:

-highly stable
-very acceptable gpu temperatures with no cooler or lifts, sitting on a wooden table (maxes at 61-65C for me for L4D. Increase that 10 degrees if on a table with a plastic tablecloth or sitting on my legs! = )
-mediocre frame rates for most games i've tested. Could someone recommend a "standard" 3dmark0x most people have been using for our machine, so i could rate my fps performance that way?

 

^^^ I like that idea. Problem is, new drivers are coming out fairly frequently, so the poll would be old new quick. For me, I'm using the Xfastest 185.20 rt now, and I guess I like it. No real noticeable performance increases, but it's stable, and it seems to control temps a tad better. I'm not getting the GPU fan constantly running either.

 

there's too many variables to do that polling thing... not everyone uses the same apps, background processes, cooling solutions, nor does everyone play the same games, some just use their gpu for graphical work in photoshop etc.. people can also be biased towards xfastest's or dox's drivers, i.e., if they liked one of their drivers in the past, they may be suggestive towards new dox/xfastest drivers even if they aren't that great.. there's no way to tell

besides, like eric said, by the time substantial enough data was compiled to see which driver people really prefer, a new one would be out already

just my opinion, but try if u like

 

You should include the link to the NVIDIA Mobility Modder.

 

No download accelerator utilities are mostly third-party programs you can use. Like Flashgot, Downthemall, etc.

 

i just wanna kno what drivers give better fps than the nvidia beta driver 179.48

if there are ne.

 

That will depend on the game and the card itself but really as far as fps all of the latest drivers should be about the same...

 

I'm showing a lot of drivers here that haven't been listed:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/drivers

It also shows 179.71 as the latest NON-BETA drivers, rather than 179.48.

 

I'm using a stock P-7805u w 1920x1200 display.

I have not performed any upgrades, only performance tips.


My plan is to mainly use the 7805 for video editing.

I'm using Sony Vegas 8 Pro 8.0c and rendering Sony XDCAM 1920x1080 footage.

I have to tell you (although, I'm sure we all know ) this laptop display is jaw dropping awesome when playing back the full 1080P footage.

Which NVIDIA driver (and where) should I download that may even help or improve on video playback?


Also, for the life of me, I shut off just about everything I can find that would task the Hard drive and CPU when not in use. Even though nothing obvious (short of windows essentials) is running . My CPU dances up to 10% on occasion. Also, the hard drive LED blinks constantly about once a second.
Resource Monitor only shows the drive every other second or so reaching a peak of only 128KB, so the drive does not seem to be tasked. It's just odd the HD LED blinks every second. Is this normal?

Any suggestions?

 

I am just using the Nvidia drivers from their site. Much better than stock, and keeps all functionality. I used to update drivers every time a new one came out but found little to no benefit doing it that often.

As far as the cpu and hdd, everything i've read about it says it's just vista doing it's thing. So if this is your first Vista machine, it might look alarming, but it's not.

 

Mormegil83,

Thanks for the reply.

Is there a particular NVIDIA driver that may work better for video editing on the 7805u?

 

vx2000, Mormegil83 means these: http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook_drivers.html

 

Thanks iaTa.

I'll have to download NVIDIA version 179.48 and check it out.
Is there anything I need to know that can improve its perfomance?

 

Not really. There are so many variables, even down to what 'max performance' means to you - max fps, max minimum fps, max average fps, best image quality, any combination of these etc etc. Also very much depends what apps / games you use. The best way is to just try different driver sets for yourself.

 

Thanks iaTa.
I'll have to check it out and report back.

 

New Dox and PhysX.

 

wow (think im late to the partty) xFastest 185.20 works great on my system ^^
jumped my 3dmark06 by around 250 points all around (stock and oc) also notice better performance on my gpu heavy games ^^

EDIT: while i did notice the fps increase on my games, i couldnt play crysis or gears of war for more than 7 mins before they froze my pc....so i have gone back to xFastest 180.70 and all is well now ^^

 

The guide says that the geforce 8800m and 9800m gts should be the only option present. When I try to install the 185.68 drivers I get all options except the one I need.... 9800m gts. Help please.

 

So what is showing in the device selection box at step 11?

 

[DEV_042C] NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT[DEV_05E0] NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295[DEV_05E1] NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280[DEV_05E2] NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260[DEV_05E3] NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285[DEV_05E6] NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275[DEV_05EB] NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295[DEV_0600] NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512[DEV_0601] NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT[DEV_0602] NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT[DEV_0604] NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2[DEV_0605] NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT[DEV_0606] NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS[DEV_060D] NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS[DEV_0610] NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO[DEV_0611] NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT[DEV_0612] NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+[DEV_0613] NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+[DEV_0614] NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT[DEV_0615] NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250[DEV_0622] NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT[DEV_0623] NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS[DEV_0625] NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO 512[DEV_0626] NVIDIA GeForce GT 130[DEV_0627] NVIDIA GeForce GT 140[DEV_062D] NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT[DEV_062E] NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT[DEV_0637] NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT[DEV_0640] NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT[DEV_0641] NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT[DEV_0643] NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT[DEV_0644] NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GS[DEV_0645] NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GS[DEV_0646] NVIDIA GeForce GT 120[DEV_065B] NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT[DEV_06E0] NVIDIA GeForce 9300 GE[DEV_06E1] NVIDIA GeForce 9300 GS[DEV_06E6] NVIDIA GeForce G100[DEV_06E7] NVIDIA GeForce 9300 SE[DEV_06E9] NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS[DEV_0847] NVIDIA GeForce 9100[DEV_084A] NVIDIA nForce 730a[DEV_084C] NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI[DEV_084D] NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI[DEV_0860] NVIDIA GeForce 9400[DEV_0861] NVIDIA GeForce 9400[DEV_0864] NVIDIA GeForce 9300[DEV_0865] NVIDIA GeForce 9300[DEV_0868] NVIDIA nForce 760i SLI[DEV_086A] NVIDIA GeForce 9400[DEV_086C] NVIDIA GeForce 9300 / nForce 730i[DEV_086D] NVIDIA GeForce 9200[DEV_0871] NVIDIA GeForce 9200

All of these

 

They are all desktop cards. Have you replaced the inf file?

 

Anyone get the new beta drivers working?

 

Good spot. Main post updated and installing nVidia GeForce for Notebooks Win7 x64 v185.81 myself now.

 

It won't install for me, I get the "device not supported" error or something along those lines.

 

Are you installing the notebook version as it installed fine for me?

Vista (64-bit)
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/geforce_notebook_winvista64_185.81_beta.html

Vista (32-bit)
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/geforce_notebook_winvista_185.81_beta.html

Windows 7 (64-bit)
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/geforce_notebook_win7_x64_185.81_beta.html

Windows 7 (32-bit)
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/geforce_notebook_win7_185.81_beta.html

Windows XP (32-bit)
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/geforce_notebook_winxp_185.81_beta.html

 

I guess I didn't, thanks!

 

Intel Chipset and Matrix Storage Manager now have official Win7 support (finally!).

Links updated.

 

GeForce Driver Release v185.85 for NoteBooks WHQL out.

 

Has anyone been able to get PowerMizer to work with 185.85?

I went to LV2G and tried using the 185.81 modded inf since they don't have one for 185.85. The driver installed with the modded inf, but PowerMizer did not work. I noticed that they added what looks like some redundant reg keys for enabling PowerMizer in 185.81. Have they played musical chairs with PowerMizer key settings between 185.81 and 185.85, again?

 

Try reinstalling... this is actually the first time I've been able to live with PowerMizer... it actually ups the clock when I'm gaming. 'Bout time they figured out it's supposed to do that.

 

I tried again after a format/reinstall of Vista64. PowerMizer still did not work, not with the default NVIDIA inf, nor the modded 185.81 inf that I subbed into NVAC. The registry entries from the modded 185.81 install were present after the installation completed, but it didn't matter. PowerMizer did not work with either inf.

Actually, PowerMizer is supposed to reduce the clock when your gaming. By default this happens only when on battery mode, for reasons that should be obvious. The NVIDIA drivers I'd been using previously, I could get to work by modding the inf and/or registry to include the relevent keys. I could get PowerMizer to turn on either when I was playing on battery or on AC power. However, the keys now don't seem to make a difference in any case.

Could someone who has gotten 185.85 PowerMizer to work on Vista64, prefferably with the P6860-FX, but otherwise I can figure it out, please post their ini?

 

Dox v185.85 out with Powermizer enabled for all mobile GPUs.

 

Wrong date, should be 16/05/2009 at the first page.

 

setup : p7805u windows7 64bit build 7100

Wether I manually search on the site for drivers on nvidias site or I let it scan my computer for the right driver, I always come up with the driver I have quoted here. When I attempt to install it, It only installs the audio drivers. There isnt any option for the video drivers either. Ive tried running as admin, uninstalling everything (using guide found on these forums) and I still cant get it to install the video drivers.

Anyone know whats up?

 

You need to run through the manual process as listed in my guide using 'nvwi_win7.inf' or just use Dox v185.85.

 

can you elaborate?
im using the vista drivers cause it wont install the graphic windows 7 ones.

 

The best drivers for Windows 7 at the moment are v181.72:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showforum=136

The 185 series still have major issues on Win7.

Also to drastically improve flash video performance disable powermizer on AC:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19134

 

What kind of issues are experienced with 185?

 

Screen corruption both in Windows (personally only experienced on WUXGA screens) and games (experienced on all screens).

 

I have had no screen corruptions... And my FPS is very stable with Dox185.85.

 

What kind of screen corruptions? All seems to be fine here really.

 

im using dox's 185.85.
on windows 7.

im trying to figure out how to install the original 185's 64bit windows 7, without getting the error in the installation saying there is not hardware found...

thanks.

 

I tell you how in the first post...

 

the last nvidia i upgraded to was the -179.48_notebook_winvista_64bit_beta and everything runs great. What should i upgrade to that will be just as stable as what i have now?

I should mention i have stock p-7811fx x64