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    The Defininitive nVidia Driver Upgrade Guide

    Discussion in 'Gateway and eMachines' started by iaTa, Jun 26, 2008.

  1. FreddyFreak

    FreddyFreak Notebook Guru

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    Maybe we should see if we can get the first page updated to include the Vista64 fix for the 177.66 drivers. I tried a lot of drivers and 177.66 by far outperformed even the drivers that came with my brand new P-173XL FX. But getting that error is kinda scary so I'm sure quite a few people removed that driver.
     
    FreddyFreak, Jul 17, 2008
    #151
  2. iaTa

    iaTa Do Not Feed

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    The modified infs have been updated on lv2g to include the fix anyway.
     
    iaTa, Jul 18, 2008
    #152
  3. FreddyFreak

    FreddyFreak Notebook Guru

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    Cool! Thx :)
     
    FreddyFreak, Jul 18, 2008
    #153
  4. F34R

    F34R Notebook Consultant

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    Got the 177.66's installed. That brought the score to 6946, @ 1280 x 800. Still 400 or so less than before.

    Here are my scores before upgrading the drivers from whatever shipped with the laptop..

    3d Mark 06 scores
    7070 @ 1440 x 900
    7382 @ 1280 x 800
     
    F34R, Jul 18, 2008
    #154
  5. maharajah420

    maharajah420 Newbie

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    just an FYI to all those who intend to play orange box.
    the 177.41 drivers were causing hl2.exe to crash when trying to initially load the game.
    I am using vista 64bit, SP1.
    Went to the 169.12 drivers, and worked for a long time, but did eventually crash again when playing portal.
    I will try the 177.66 later
     
    maharajah420, Jul 18, 2008
    #155
  6. iaTa

    iaTa Do Not Feed

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    I never had an issue with hl2.exe on any driver version, including 177.41.
     
    iaTa, Jul 18, 2008
    #156
  7. jglatt

    jglatt Notebook Consultant

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    Just a few quick questions, what is the extracted driver directory? just hte folder i extracted? And two I dont really understand what file im overwriting with what.
     
    jglatt, Jul 18, 2008
    #157
  8. iaTa

    iaTa Do Not Feed

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    Ah yes my bad the latest drivers don't have a nv_disp.inf file so you wont get the overwrite message. I'll update the guide.
     
    iaTa, Jul 18, 2008
    #158
  9. maharajah420

    maharajah420 Newbie

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    really strange, we have the same OS.
    I initially thought it was an issue with windows vista 64bit...
    But after reading steam support FAQs I found that I have all the updates I'm supposed to have as they were included in SP1.
    Switched my drivers and it seems to work now.
    Any ideas?
    Won't be able to try 177.66 until I get home from work today.
     
    maharajah420, Jul 18, 2008
    #159
  10. Tom1222

    Tom1222 Notebook Consultant

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    I have Orange Box and have been Playing HL2 and Portal and they work fine with the 177.41 and now the 177.66 drivers. No crashes so far.
     
    Tom1222, Jul 18, 2008
    #160
  11. maharajah420

    maharajah420 Newbie

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    What version of windows? Vista 64 bit with SP1?
     
    maharajah420, Jul 18, 2008
    #161
  12. FreddyFreak

    FreddyFreak Notebook Guru

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    You know it's the nvac.inf that gives you the better performance on 177.66. When I installed with the nv_disp.inf on the 177.66 it actually hurt my performance.
     
    FreddyFreak, Jul 18, 2008
    #162
  13. Tom1222

    Tom1222 Notebook Consultant

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    Freddy is right. Don't use the modded inf for the 177.66 drivers. The nvac.inf seems to do a lot better.
     
    Tom1222, Jul 18, 2008
    #163
  14. KGann

    KGann NBR Themesong Writer

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    Wow, I don't know if it was the new drivers, or the nvac.inf trick, but my 3DMark score just went up to 7201, all stock! Thanks Freddy!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG] Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 7, 2015
    KGann, Jul 20, 2008
    #164
  15. royk50

    royk50 times being what they are

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    can any of you who installed using the nvac.inf check if your powermizer is working?
    (does your gpu downclock when its idle ?)

    < curious > the reason i ask is because i see no powermizer entries in the nvac.inf
     
    royk50, Jul 20, 2008
    #165
  16. FreddyFreak

    FreddyFreak Notebook Guru

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    You know that power cycling is what has been killintg NV laptop cards dead lately right? I can make a power saving 'inf' if you want though.
     
    FreddyFreak, Jul 20, 2008
    #166
  17. royk50

    royk50 times being what they are

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    that is not what i asked
    and i would like to read more about :
     
    royk50, Jul 20, 2008
    #167
  18. FreddyFreak

    FreddyFreak Notebook Guru

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    Well downclocking is not a full power cycle... ie. turning the power on and off. However it does stress the card due to the rapid change in voltages/temps.

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=270732 We don't have to worry too much becaue the 8800 isn't on the list, but better safe than sorry in my book. Anyway if you want performance out of your laptop it's better to leave it plugged in, then you shouldn't have to worry about power saving.
     
    FreddyFreak, Jul 20, 2008
    #168
  19. mokylim

    mokylim Notebook Evangelist

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    can any1 guide me through the "nvac.inf" trick on the 177.66???

    i was using the 177.66 drivers but was using the "nv_disp". and got about 68xx on 3dmarks.

    then i tried to change it into 177.66 didnt use the nv_disp instead choosed the "nvac.inf" when looking for the folder for driver. i got it to install perfectly and 3dmark increased to 7202 points. BUT i get this error everytime i startup my windows.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG] Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

    cant figure out what this error is. can any1 help?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 7, 2015
    mokylim, Jul 20, 2008
    #169
  20. FreddyFreak

    FreddyFreak Notebook Guru

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    Yeah, I made a fix for that error. Just make a new nvac.inf with the code I gave in this post pervious_post
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 7, 2015
    FreddyFreak, Jul 20, 2008
    #170
  21. KGann

    KGann NBR Themesong Writer

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    Freddy, seriously, how does this trick show so much improvement?! Even my Crysis framerate went up a bit!
     
    KGann, Jul 20, 2008
    #171
  22. Johnksss

    Johnksss .

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    time to find out what is going on with this next set of inf's
     
    Johnksss, Jul 20, 2008
    #172
  23. mokylim

    mokylim Notebook Evangelist

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    thanks freddy!! that fixed it.gonna run 3dmark and bench some games to check if theres improvements!!! :D

    EDIT: just ran 3dmark. score shot up to 7211 from 68xx!!! gonna try some game benchies!!! tnx fred
     
    mokylim, Jul 21, 2008
    #173
  24. royk50

    royk50 times being what they are

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    now john what have you been up to all this time ?
     
    royk50, Jul 21, 2008
    #174
  25. Johnksss

    Johnksss .

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    working. and trying to catch that record for a single gtx 280 card.

    what about you
     
    Johnksss, Jul 21, 2008
    #175
  26. royk50

    royk50 times being what they are

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    lol you bought that beast :)
    give us your desktop spec
     
    royk50, Jul 21, 2008
    #176
  27. FreddyFreak

    FreddyFreak Notebook Guru

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    Hope you have a vmod, a serious power supply and some LN2. lol :p Oh yeah and a serious processor to push data to that thing. Good luck :cool:
     
    FreddyFreak, Jul 21, 2008
    #177
  28. schoolboydj

    schoolboydj Notebook Guru

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    I upgraded my drivers last night and this morning when I tried to play World of Warcraft I got this error.


    This application has encountered a critical error:

    ERROR #132 (0x85100084) Fatal Exception
    Program: C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft\WoW.exe
    Exception: 0xC0000005 (ACCESS_VIOLATION) at 0023:05F7A568

    Is this from the upgraded drivers?
     
    schoolboydj, Jul 21, 2008
    #178
  29. Tom1222

    Tom1222 Notebook Consultant

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    Is that the first time you got this error? Are you using the 177.66 drivers with the nvac.inf not the modded inf? Did you use the updated code that Freddy posted?

    I don't have WOW but I am playing Crisis, Half Life two Episode One and Two,
    Portal and Age of Empires III and so far so good not even a Hic up. Everything plays very well with these new drivers.
     
    Tom1222, Jul 21, 2008
    #179
  30. Hypnoz

    Hypnoz Newbie

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    For the sake of reading through these billions of pages, my 173X comes today. Do I need to do this?
     
    Hypnoz, Jul 21, 2008
    #180
  31. Tom1222

    Tom1222 Notebook Consultant

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    What are you referring to?
     
    Tom1222, Jul 21, 2008
    #181
  32. Dook

    Dook Notebook Virtuoso

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    It depends. Are you happy with the framrate/gameplay out of the box? If so, then probably not. Are you a tinkerer and like to squeeze every ounce of performance out of your rig, then yes, go for it. Mine was playing fine with the factory drivers and I updated for the hell of it and it still plays fine. I didnt notice a difference.
     
    Dook, Jul 21, 2008
    #182
  33. KGann

    KGann NBR Themesong Writer

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    The only difference I noticed was when using the nvac trick. My 3DMark score broke 7k, with the T5550!
     
    KGann, Jul 21, 2008
    #183
  34. schoolboydj

    schoolboydj Notebook Guru

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    The only thing that didn't happen that the guide mentions is, when I copied my .inf into the folder, it didn't ask me about overwriting or anything.
     
    schoolboydj, Jul 21, 2008
    #184
  35. schoolboydj

    schoolboydj Notebook Guru

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    Why am I seeing two options for my graphics card (Both the same) Nvadia 8800M GTS....

    Ya I don't know what the heck is going on but for some reason after I click "have disk" and open up the nv_disp I see TWO drivers listed, but they're exactly the same.

    NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS
    NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS

    I don't know why two are appearing, but I'd like to know which I'm supposed to be selecting...
     
    schoolboydj, Jul 21, 2008
    #185
  36. Johnksss

    Johnksss .

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    dont need all of that and i already got the record, but i need it to be with a whql driver. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
     
    Johnksss, Jul 22, 2008
    #186
  37. schoolboydj

    schoolboydj Notebook Guru

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    I believe there is a problem with the newest drivers posted (177.66). I tried 177.41 and had no problems whatsoever.
     
    schoolboydj, Jul 22, 2008
    #187
  38. Tom1222

    Tom1222 Notebook Consultant

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    You don't use the modded nv_disp file with the 177.66 drivers. You use the one that came with the 177.66 drivers it's a nvac.inf file.
    The 177.66 drivers work a lot better for me than the 177.41 drivers did.
    A lot faster 3d Mark scores.
     
    Tom1222, Jul 22, 2008
    #188
  39. Tom1222

    Tom1222 Notebook Consultant

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    Yes. I am using Windows Vista 64 with Sp1. 177.66 drivers work GREAT
     
    Tom1222, Jul 22, 2008
    #189
  40. Tom1222

    Tom1222 Notebook Consultant

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    Look for Freddy's post #140 and #162.

    He posts the updated code for the nvac.inf file so you don't get an error at start up.

    In post 162 he says and I quote:

    You know it's the nvac.inf that gives you the better performance on 177.66. When I installed with the nv_disp.inf on the 177.66 it actually hurt my performance
     
    Tom1222, Jul 22, 2008
    #190
  41. alexlm

    alexlm Notebook Consultant

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    hey guys, there's a new driver the 177.72!
     
    alexlm, Jul 22, 2008
    #191
  42. Tom1222

    Tom1222 Notebook Consultant

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    Is it any good?
     
    Tom1222, Jul 22, 2008
    #192
  43. alexlm

    alexlm Notebook Consultant

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    I cant try it because I have windows vista 64 bit, and the driver is 4 32 bit...
     
    alexlm, Jul 22, 2008
    #193
  44. royk50

    royk50 times being what they are

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    the 177.72 seems good enough i just added two lines to the original nvidia inf and updated the drivers. dont have numbers to check if running any better than predecessors.
     
    royk50, Jul 24, 2008
    #194
  45. alexlm

    alexlm Notebook Consultant

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    hey guys! lets keep updating this thread with the latest drivers!
     
    alexlm, Jul 26, 2008
    #195
  46. Tom1222

    Tom1222 Notebook Consultant

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    Me too. Vista 64 that is. I am happy with my current driver.
     
    Tom1222, Jul 26, 2008
    #196
  47. Zakk

    Zakk Notebook Guru

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    Got a nice little boost when running 3DMark06 from 6824 to 7166 after installing the 177.66 drivers. I was previously running 177.41 drivers.
     
    Zakk, Jul 26, 2008
    #197
  48. jm821

    jm821 Notebook Consultant

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    running into a problem here, im using 177.41 and i can barely hit 7900...

    what device settings are you guys clocked at? (core,memory,shader)

    btw...
    6831fx T9300
    3gb ram
    2x 200gb HDD raid0
     
    jm821, Jul 27, 2008
    #198
  49. Zakk

    Zakk Notebook Guru

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    The 177.41 set has numerous reports of lower 3DMark06 scores. You might try 177.66 (check Freddy's nvac.inf fix in this thread first) and see if that helps a bit.
     
    Zakk, Jul 27, 2008
    #199
  50. FreddyFreak

    FreddyFreak Notebook Guru

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    I have actually moved from the laptopvideo2go drivers. They were never complete and no one who knew what they were doing ever really worked on them. I am now using the 177.41 drivers from tweakforce. Those guys actually make sure the drivers are the complete mobile versions. Also they came pre-modded with a nice installer so you don't have to jump through hoops to get them installed.
     
    FreddyFreak, Jul 27, 2008
    #200
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