VAIO F - NVIDIA Drivers Update (197.16) for GT 330M (10DE-0A29)

Update: NVIDIA released 197.44 drivers for notebooks(with OpenGL 4 support for Fermi GPU), GT300M only gets support up to 3.3

I used the same inf file(changing drivers' version and date, of course) and everything is working as expected.
Just follow the same instructions if you wanna try.
- 197.44 inf file and instructions: Midtown's 197.44 Instructions.zip (Mirrors: Megaupload, Hotfile)
- NVIDIA's original drivers: Download for Windows 7(64-bit)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I managed to install the new NVIDIA drivers for laptops, 197.16 on my VAIO F after modifying the inf file myself for a few hours. I'm no expert, but I guess it worked out fine.

Here's the link for inf file & instructions: Midtown's 197.16 Instructions.zip

Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for any hardware/software failure.


After testing the new drivers for 24hrs:
- No flicker at low brightness
- No uneven brightness after pressing the "Display Off" button
- Fan not constantly running
- "Normal" temperature compared to Sony's "certified" graphic drivers
- No problems after sleep/restart

I don't have PC games, so can't say anything about improvements. I'll keep using the laptop for a while to see if they're stable enough w/ my inf file.


SUCCESS
1. mangosango - Laptop Forums and Notebook Computer Discussion - View Single Post - Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*
2. MelodyMaster - Laptop Forums and Notebook Computer Discussion - View Single Post - Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*
3. crzytimes - Laptop Forums and Notebook Computer Discussion - View Single Post - VAIO F - NVIDIA Drivers Update (197.16) for GT 330M (10DE-0A29) (Fn + F5/F6 keys don't work, maybe hardware related?)
4. To no End - Laptop Forums and Notebook Computer Discussion - View Single Post - Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*
5. A lot of people...lol
6.

FAILURE
1.
2.
3.

 

First of all, BIG THANKS to midtown for testing and sharing his .inf and methods.

All fn keys (audio, video) work. No problems with sleep, no brightness flickering, and gpu-z showing CUDA, PhysX, Open CL, and Directcompute checked (active). In other words, these drivers just work for me.

NOW for preliminary performance gains in gaming.

I haven't been able to really compare framerates yet, but for newer games (ME2, BFBC2, etc) these drivers give about a 10-15 BOOST IN FPS AT STOCK CLOCKS. Basically, the performance at stock clocks on the 197.16 drivers is the same as overclocking your 330m with the Sony drivers. I havent been able to overclock with these new drivers yet, but if the amount of fps gained is the same, then we're talking a 20-30FPS boost from a completely stock gt330m that comes with Sony's drivers (in newer games atleast) (Yes 20-30FPS).

ME2 is now FULLY PLAYABLE without overclock at 720p with 4xAA, 16xAF, all settings maxed out. BFBC2 is now PLAYABLE at 720p (some dips below 20 when there are a lot of particles on screen) with Effects High, Shadows Medium, Textures Medium, Level Of Detail High, no HBAO, 16xAF and 4xAA!!

I imagine overclocking will make BFBC2 fully playable at these settings.

Now, not all games are affected. Crysis is still slow @ high settings without overclock. I still have to do more testing to find other games, but so far, it's looking good.

You can also override antialiasing for ME2 in the nvidia control panel now, so you don't have to use the roundabout nHancer method any more.

Overall, the performance gains look promising. Looking forward to how much fps I can get out of this thing .

 

Hi MidtownHD,

I wanna try out your drivers when I receive my F11 (got shipped today). Could you please PM me? I'm new to this forum, and I don't have any PM privileges yet. Just been reading the threads since I placed an order at SonyStyle about a week ago. Thanks!


-Mark

 

Do these work for the new z too?

 

I've got the drivers installed properly...my brightness keys DO NOT work...but they haven't worked since I did a clean install on my laptop a couple months ago.

will be testin out Fallout 3/Crysis/Mass Effect/Mass Effect 2 tonight.

 

Hi MidtownHD,

I wish to test the .inf on my Z. Would you please send a copy to me?

BTW, how do I PM you? I can't see that function in my CP.

Thanks.

OzB

 

Got the overclock working. Woo hoo! ME2 4xAA is showing a smooth 30-40fps . BFBC2 is FULLY PLAYABLE at those settings I listed above. Vids to follow soon.

 

over clock settings?

 

650/800/1625 (Core/Mem/Shader)

 

ty sir.

much appreciated.

 

BFBC2 (overclock) 20-60fps w/o fraps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCZTgVCh0i8
ME2 (overclock) 25-40fps w/o fraps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HVAXNYBKJ8

 

Hi MidtownHD,

Thanks for your work in modifying the inf file for the Nvidia drivers. As I can't PM yet, I'd really appreciate it if you'd PM the inf file to me.

Thanks in advance for your work!

 

Hi Midtown,

YOu said: And don't bother to install with the inf file from laptopvideo2go, because it's too generic and it will mess up the laptop. The F1's GT 330M + it's 1080p monitor are a bit customized and you'll experience: uneven brightness, flicker at low brightness.

Actually I already upgraded mine to 197.16 using the laptopvideo2go inf file, before you posted this. For me it works fine, no issues at all, same experiences as you and mango had above.

So what is that big difference then? Should I leave it as it is or your inf file would do more magic? In any case, could you pls send it over to me?

Thanks,
V.

 

I'm pretty sure it has something to do with not installing drivers in the proper order when I did my clean install a couple months back...cuz they worked before that. That being said, my Fn + F2/F3/F4/Num Lk work,
but Fn + F5/F6/F7/F9/F10/F12 do not work.

 

Would just like to say thanks to MidtownHD for his work on the inf and to mangosango for his testing, clock settings and video''s. +1 to you both.

Oh, and can you pm me the inf details.

 

install theese :
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/26407-v19725-windows-7vista-64bit-nvidia-desktop/

where is your INF for 197.16 ?

 

Hi Midtown

I would like to try your .inf file. Please send it my way to try it out

Regards

 

MidtownHD, I am not able to PM you, could you plz PM me about the changes in the .inf file.
Thank you very much in advance.

I did give it a look...

Did you copy the items of the [NVIDIA_SetA_Devices.NTamd64.6.0] and [NVIDIA_SetB_Devices.NTamd64.6.0] sections from the 188.67 nvszf.inf into the same sections of the 197.16 nvsm.inf? Or do I have to do more?

 

Please send me your inf file too please

 

I'll give it a test on my games too. Send it along please Midtown and thanks.

 

I'd like to know if these work on a Z11

 

Hi Midtown,

I have pm'ed you twice regarding the drivers to test on the new z. Would you please send me a link? Thx

 

these does'n work on Vaio AW ..

 

MidtownHD's INF was created for the F11.

 

The Vaio Z requires Hybrid Graphics drivers. Hybrid Graphics drivers contain both Nvidia and Intel drivers in the same package. There are a few threads on this topic already for the Z.

 

doesnt matter what vaio it is (nvidia based graphic) am runin latest drivers .. 197.25
and they are really good ... speed up perform ..

 

With new drivers (+overclock)
Modern Warfare 2 @ 1080p gets a solid 29-60 fps. GRID @ 720p with 4xAA or 1080p with no AA gets 30-50fps.

 

how far did yu go with overclocking ?

 

________________________

 

Yeah. Here are some performance figures (from nvidia):

Also, I find this ironic:

Oh how I love the F11 forums on NBR

 

@ MidtownHD: Why not simply attach a zip file of your inf in post #1 instead of the PM thing?

******

Why ironic?

The question is how long will it take Sony_to make it available on the support pages since they opted out of the Nvidia Verde program?

This reply by ManuelG (NVIDIA Technical Support):

Or mod the .inf & get the generic NVIDIA laptop driver's most recent update.

************

Did you test this on your Vaio_F (see thread title)? BTW the GT 330M (see thread title) is not listed as supported on that page.

*************

I think is was referring to the hacked NVIDIA desktop driver that he tried & posted about in the F owner's thread (BSOD).

"...using the laptopvideo2go inf file" - Well, could you post a link to it?

BTW, no need to be so aggressive with MidtownHD, he is just trying his best as most of us.

************

This thread if for the Vaio_ F guys, maybe you missed the thread title?

**********************

Maybe interesting for some of you:

Official NVIDIA Verde 197.16 notebook display driver feedback thread

 

Just posted the link with the file and instructions.

Make sure your GT 330M's device ID is 10DE-0A29

 

Thanks, got it. Will install a bit later when I've woken up properly! I shall report back with the results.

 

All seems to working fine for me too ! Thanks !

 

OK. Applied the new drivers and have had no problems at all. Everything works as it should and I'm seeing a real marked improvement with all the games I have tested.

Thanks again Midtown, if I come across any problems I'll report back.

 

Any idea what happens if I edit the inf file such that 0A29 becomes 0A2B?

 

The Vaio Z also has the GT 330M. Graphic card drivers are almost always just the same for the same graphic card.

 

Nautis' lesson in modding 101:

The way the device id string works in the inf is as follows: (using the vpcz11 vaio zs string as an example since I do not know the correct full string for the vaio f)

The string in the INF will look something like this:
%NVIDIA_DEV.0A2B.01% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0A2B&SUBSYS_905A104D

If we break the string down we get the following:
%NVIDIA_DEV.0A2B.01%
Section003
VEN_10DE
DEV_0A2B
SUBSYS_905A104D

The %WHATEVER% means look in the strings section for this info. If we look in the strings section for what is between the percent symbols we find the following:
NVIDIA_DEV.0A2B.01 = "NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M"
Using this we can see what this device is named. Note: this string also ends up being the name of the device in device manager.

Section003 is what nvidia uses to identify the section [Section###] that contains the install information specific to this device.

VEN_ = Vendor. Which in this case is Nvidia (so 10DE is Nvidias vendor id)

DEV_ = Device. Which in this case is the GT 330M with a certain configuration. Note: The vaio f identifies its GT 330M as 0A29 and the vaio z identifies its GT330M as 0A2B. These are two different configurations of the same GT330M hardware.

SUBSYS_ = Subsytem. This one is a little more difficult to guess from the name. Basically it is the id for a specific system. Note: So in the case above 905A104D identifies the vpcz11 vaio z.

It is also important to note that leaving off the subsystem id will remove the system limit of the device. So for example:
%NVIDIA_DEV.0A2B.01% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0A2B
Will work for any GT 330M from NVIDIA with a 0A2B configuration.

Which is true in most cases but not in the case of the Vaio Z. The Vaio Z utilizes a special dual GPU combination called Hybrid Graphics. With this GPU combination of an Intel and Nvidia GPU installing drivers not setup for Hybrid Graphics will not work properly.

--

As was pointed out before since this topic is for the Vaio F it would be better off moving any discussion on the Vaio Z with GT 330M to a more appropriate place. As such this will be my last post here. Hope the above info will help ya MidtownHD with any future modding endeavors, if you have any questions on modding drop me a message.

 

So far so good!!

No Blue or Black Screen of Death. No issues yet watching online video streams.

No lockups in Autocad 2010 and 3ds Max Design 2010.

Screen is flicker free.

Function keys work.

GPU idle temps at 47-48 degrees Celcius.

Windows Experience Index was initially at 6.5 for both Aero and Gaming. Stepped down to 6.4 after installing new drivers but went back to 6.5 on second WEI benchmarking.

Geekbench 2.1.4 64-Bit took a -200 point hit with the new drivers to average around 6200-6300 points. Initially I ranged at high 6400-6500 points.

Thanks MidtownHD.

 

good for me it really improved gaming performance! thx! =)

 

Sorry to ask such a simple question, but what's the correct way to uninstall the old driver? Is it ok to just do it with add/remove programs?

 

Yep . Then reboot and install the new drivers.

 

I just got the drivers installed with midtown's inf. Everything seems to be working as it should as far as brightness keys etc. I am idling at 46-47 degrees celsius. I did run a couple games real quick. Defense Grid runs well and very smooth although I haven't tested enough to say it runs at higher frame rates yet. I also tried 1701 AD and the frame rates are definitely higher all around, but I still need to test it more. There is a stutter in 1701 AD when zoomed out and moving fast across the map, but that was also there when I used the Sony drivers so I can't blame these drivers. I am running 1701 AD at 1920x1080 and there is a lot going on on the game I loaded so I can't expect miracles and perfectly smooth game play with a 330m card. So far these drivers are keepers so thanks Midtown.

 

The 197 drivers work fantastically for me, although i have yet to do any realy testing. But here is what i have found. The performance over the stock drivers is around 12% according to Furmark. When i overclock using 700/948/1540 settings (from mangosango) i am seeing about a total performance increase from standard clocks and drivers of about 35%. I have not seen any downsides yet, everything seems to be working correctly.

 

Cool - how are those clocks working for you in terms of stability? I tried 700/948/1540 and the fan seemed to be running stronger than usual during gaming. I'm running 650/800/1625 (Core/Mem/Shader) right now.

 

How do you overclock please ? (which software ?)

 

Everything you need and more...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5992644&postcount=554

 

Thank you, I'll read this.

 

Just keep in mind that if you burn up the video card b/c you overclocked too high, then don't expect Sony to fix it for free. Just a friendly warning. It wouldn't be as big a deal on a desktop video card b/c you can just replace the card itself if you fry it, but it's a bit more of a problem for laptop video.

 

Thanks very much for putting this together. It's very helpful to all F owners, I'm sure!