Author Topic: Best drivers for a given gfx card?  (Read 331 times)

Offline moot

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Best drivers for a given gfx card?
« on: January 13, 2009, 07:19:37 AM »
Is there a website with an index of the best driver versions for the more popular cards? 
I'm running a 9800 GTX+, if anyone knows which are best for that one..
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Offline BaldEagl

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Re: Best drivers for a given gfx card?
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2009, 09:16:21 AM »
I've got an eVGA Nvidia 8800 GTS (512).  I just go to the eVGA web-site and stay updated on the latest drivers for it.  They have all worked fine.  The last update was in September IIRC.  Just go to your card manufacturer's web-site and DL the newest drivers for your card and OS (the Nvidia site should have the same drivers but I'd stick with the card mfg. site if possible).
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Offline moot

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Re: Best drivers for a given gfx card?
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2009, 09:36:51 AM »
Off the top of my head, I remembered that drivers could make big differences, depending on which version you used with any given card.. Things have changed since. Like you said, the mfg. for my card actualy gives you the drivers for any card of theirs you register.
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Offline Fulmar

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Re: Best drivers for a given gfx card?
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2009, 12:57:57 PM »
I have a 8800 GTS 640mb and I ran into some major problems when I tried the newest set off the Nvidia site (181.xx I think).  I'd get a black screen and lose total functionality once Windows booted.  Otherwise, I've been using the 178.24 drivers for quite a while and have had no problems (which is listed on EVGA's site).
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Offline Coogan

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Re: Best drivers for a given gfx card?
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2009, 01:27:31 PM »
   I'm using the new Nvidia driver 181.20, which was released this month.  I don't have any issues with it.  In fact, my Flight Sim X seems to be more stable.  I only tried AHII once, had no problems.  I didn't notice any great improvement or degredation with this game.
   I am using a very old chip-set though, Geforce 6150se nforce 430.  It would be nice to have a site that has a listing for the optimal driver for any video card, as stated by Moot.  That way I could go back to older drivers that may work better with my chip-set.

Coogan
 

Offline Fulmar

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Re: Best drivers for a given gfx card?
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2009, 01:33:48 PM »
   I'm using the new Nvidia driver 181.20, which was released this month.  I don't have any issues with it.  In fact, my Flight Sim X seems to be more stable.  I only tried AHII once, had no problems.  I didn't notice any great improvement or degredation with this game.
   I am using a very old chip-set though, Geforce 6150se nforce 430.  It would be nice to have a site that has a listing for the optimal driver for any video card, as stated by Moot.  That way I could go back to older drivers that may work better with my chip-set.

Coogan
 
IMO, drivers are only going to make a noticeable difference if you have a higher end card where benchmarks can show a noticeable percentage gain.  You're on an onboard video chipset and a percentage gain of 2% would translate to something like .05 frames per second.

Granted you aren't suffering from make glitches, freezer, or other unmistakable errors.
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Offline TilDeath

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Re: Best drivers for a given gfx card?
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2009, 02:33:41 PM »
I use the nVidia drivers for my cards does not matter the maker.  If I am Overclocking a GPU then I look to http://www.omegadrivers.net/ They have some drivers that perform better then the chipset makers on some and on some not so much.

Offline moot

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Re: Best drivers for a given gfx card?
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2009, 01:23:20 AM »
Thanks Rich.
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Offline drdeathx

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Re: Best drivers for a given gfx card?
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2009, 01:39:54 AM »
IMO, drivers are only going to make a noticeable difference if you have a higher end card where benchmarks can show a noticeable percentage gain.  You're on an onboard video chipset and a percentage gain of 2% would translate to something like .05 frames per second.

Granted you aren't suffering from make glitches, freezer, or other unmistakable errors.

Agreed! WHQL certified drivers work best. Hardware manufacturers frequently update their device drivers to fix bugs and compatibility issues. Don't blame vista for imcompatability issues.

« Last Edit: January 14, 2009, 01:53:02 AM by drdeathx »
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