New Graphics Driver needed for Z12

Hi

I just booted up a game (City of Heroes) and I got a message that my Z12 is running a old graphics driver and the game may have problems running because of it. So I went to Sony support site to download a new driver and no surprise there wasn't one. I tried Nvidia site itself and did a scan and a message come back saying I must use a driver from the manufacturers support website!

I am just wondering what driver is everyone using and where did you get it from? Nvidia scan says my current driver is 1.88

Thanks

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/342947-my-discoveries-vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics.html

There aren't any later official drivers, but there is alot of community work here.

 

False : 190.24 has been released from sony with Z13.

But the link you pointed allow to use much more recent drivers...

 

Can I presume the 190.24 driver for Z13 will work with Z12?

 

AFAIK they should work with all VPC-Z model Vaio Zs. (VPC-Z11/Z12/Z13)

And yes the first post of my thread is a mess and hasn't been updated in a while, sorry about that.

 

Links to to the latest drivers from sony: Sony eSupport - VPCZ13GGX/B - Software Updates & Drivers

I suggest you use that until they find a way to get the latest drivers working with hybrid graphics.

 

Thanks for the link - going to try and install it now.

The website says US only but I am in UK - is this still ok?

 

Yes, works just fine.

 

Any benifits using this updated driver?

 

Seems more stable and no crashes with Flash/youtube.
Works great.

 

I installed the driver and the game still has the "old driver message". I guess I just have to wait for Sony to get its act together.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

I am afraid you probably have to wait forever. Sony will do not much effort about this as the past clearly shows. Dont expect updates soon, neither a more recent official driver version (when sony released the updated 190.xx drivers with the Z13, there were already 260.xx drivers out from nvidia!)

Just take a look in the http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/342947-my-discoveries-vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics-227.html thread, there is much work being done and you get very new drivers which work great.

 

I will check it out thanks. You would think the amount of money people like us pay for the Z, Sony would make an effort to keep drivers up to date!

Thanks

 

You and most power users may think like this, but sony does not. Since the computer simply works as is (even tho with basic driver support and no special driver enhancements) they will do nothing about that.

 

Is the game not working correctly or do you just not like to see the message?

 

Correct. The only time they tend to update drivers is to fix bugs and then usually only if they are critical. Also since this is a business class notebook the idea tends to be if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Things like this are especially difficult because the Hybrid Graphics system that the Vaio Z has pretty much requires the manufacturer to release new drivers. Nvidia can not do it since the Hybrid Graphics driver package includes Intel drivers also. So we are essentially left with a technology that can only be officially updated by Sony and they won't do it. This means the only option is for people to put together their own driver packages or download one that myself and the community has put together. This IMHO is one of the reasons Nvidia fundamentally changed the way their switchable graphics technology works with Optimus. With Optimus there is no dual driver package, you can download Verde drivers from Nvidia and they should work or download Intel drivers from Intel. Optimus essentially removes the requirement that the manufacturer releases updated graphics drivers. Sorry to go off topic a bit but I feel it is important for people to know about the technology we are using and how they have changed it.

 

Didn't know that! Good to know - thanks!

 

The game works fine but it peeves me off that I could get better performance from having a more updated driver and the fact the game itself is telling me that my driver is old!

I love the Z but it things like this I think Sony should be more switched on about since the people who buy the Z I would say are more technologically savvy and care about these things!

 

^Do you know for sure a newer driver would give you better performance? If it's that important to you just download one of the custom driver sets on the forum here from Nautis/thomas.dk