X1600 drivers -> FireGL V5200

Has anyone been able to install mobility radeon drivers for the firegl card? Even if I use the mobility radeon driver and catalyst package from Ati (opposed to the firegl specific pack), the Firegl drivers and Catalyst suite automatically get installed. Same deal with Omega drivers. The reason I'm trying to do this is that I don't really use the Firegl type functionality too much, but do game occasionally and think the X1600 drivers might add some performance for that type of use esp considering the Firegl chipset is almost identical to the X1600.

 

just download omega catalyst driver from the web, it should work fine.

 

Eh... to be honest, the Omega releases are kinda old; barely newer than the stock Lenovo releases. I haven't really seen much information on soft-modding a V5200 into an X1600(or a V5250 into an X1700), but using Mobility Modder and a fairly new Catalyst release has definitely improved the gaming performance on my T60p. As you are still using FireGL drivers you will experience some weird texture glitches from time to time(nothing serious, IMHO), but I've been able to play some fairly modern stuff on my T60p... actually did a few hours in Far Cry 2 earlier.

 

Yea, I'm going to go back to the Ati drivers, T60p here too. Was just surprised to see the Firegl drivers and ccc automatically get installed from the standard package. Btw, if you go dl the drivers from the regular place on the Ati site, those drivers can't be modded and won't work. I had to get them from here to be able to use mobility modder on them.

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/previous/Pages/radeonaiw_xp.aspx

Btw, how big really is the difference between X1400 and V5200 in gaming? I've got a T60 with a year warranty left and this T60p which expired a couple months ago. Debating which one to keep, need to run some benchmarks.

Also what's the highest temp your T60p goes to? I haven't been playing much other than GTR2, and the gpu gets to 80-84C during that. During the Lenovo System Toolbox 'stress test' though, it gets up to 90C.

 

The T60 with a X1400 runs at 55 to 77 degrees celsius. While the T60p with the T7600 processor and the firegl GPU can easily reach 80 to 85 degrees when stressed.

 

If my T60p with T2500 is getting to 90C during a stress test, I take it something is wrong with the heatsink/fan? I've already removed the keyboard and blown out the dust.

 

To be honest, I'm pretty much convinced that these are the normal temps for these systems. When playing games my GPU gets up into the high-80s to low-90s, and my idle temps are between 66-70. This is with a brand new fan as well, and I've been through this system enough times to make sure it's squeaky clean.

I've logged about 20-25 hours in games(mostly Dawn of War and Far Cry 2) on my T60p and haven't had any artifacting, glitches, bluescreens, or thermal shutdowns. While I think these are extremely hot temperatures and I've done several things to try and make things run cooler, I've decided to put my trust in the Lenovo engineers who designed this system and say that it's running within spec. I haven't heard of any ATI-equipped T60/p with graphics card issues, either... so I would say keep a watch for anything weird for a while but overall just enjoy the system!

Out of curiosity, what games are you playing on your rig?

 

So far just GTR2 and GTR Evolution. I'm just getting back into pc gaming now, mostly into racing sims.

I guess the my temps are about right compared to yours then (they're identical). The T7200 models got a revised heatsink/fan I think to deal with the extra heat.

How much better the Firegl will be better than X1400 though. I doubt the Firegl would be able to use hardware/3D acceleration, whereas the X1400 probably can?

Btw, the Fujitsu hdd is cracking along nicely. It's unbelievably quiet!

 

Glad to hear about the HDD... mine's been working pretty well. I was considering going for a 500GB, but I've got all the apps and games I normally use installed and am only using just over half of my 320.

Sounds like I need to pick those sims up, at least once I get a decent wheel setup. I've actually been using my T60p more than I have my M1730, as I don't have to lug it around the house just in case I want to play elsewhere than my room. I'm also thoroughly surprised at what this system manages to run; I'm getting a list together of what I've been able to play.

 

Does the Firegl chipset support any type of hardware/3d acceleration in games?

 

Yes. The real difference between the FireGL V5200 and the MR X1600 are the drivers. Both are 3D accelerator cards(even integrated Intel solutions are 3D cards; I don't even think you can buy a computer newer than '99-2000 vintage that doesn't have some sort of 3D card), and both support shader model 3.0. Both these cards are DirectX 9, which means they can't perform all the nifty eye candy you can get in DirectX 10 games... not a huge loss as these cards won't handle those games at higher quality settings.

The FireGL drivers are just optimized for performance and accuracy in CAD and 3D modeling work, which means that the overall gaming performance takes a minor hit and you can run into some incompatibilities.

 

Good to know. Btw, you weren't kidding about the latest drivers from Ati improving gaming performance over what's available from Lenovo. It's a massive difference!