38 replies to this topic

[Fabrice Roux]

Note: This topic is not maintained anymore

1) Introduction
When a GPU is released it is followed by numerous driver updates that add new features and/or solve issues. Thanks to nVidia Unified Driver Architechture you are able to use the latest driver to date on some REALLY old GPUs. Using a little trick I can use the latest 91.33 on my really really old TNT2 Ultra or Geforce DDR.

Being an adept of the cult of "Don't fix if it ain't broke"... I tend to keep drivers that work for a while. Unless I run into an issue or a new major feature is released, I keep my good old drivers. On my desktop Geforce 4 upgrading to 60+ drivers broke the special TV mode I was using. So I kept the 50+ driver on my HTPC for a long time.

Is it wise to download a 50Mb driver made for the recent 7900 GTX in SLI when your laptop has a Geforce 2 Go (equivalent to a Geforce SDR)?

2) Optimal drivers per GPU family
Keep in mind the following points:

• The recommended drivers are for Windows 2000/XP 32 bits. The general guidelines can be applied on Windows 98 SE.
• If your OEM has an official driver supporting your GPU, you want to use this driver first. The main reason this driver is the most likely to fully support your hardware. (TV-out, Powermizer,...)
• The GPU families are WIDE. For instance the 7800 GTX is supported since driver 77.72 while the 7900 GTX requires at least the driver 84.63. (check the specifications table below for minimum driver required)

3) Last solved issues by GPU family
In order to chose the "optimal" driver for each GPU family, I needed a list of the lastest issues solved for each desktop GPU family. You see that Geforce 1, 2, 3 and 4 haven't recieved a lot of issues fixing in a long while.




4) Drivers feature history
I also listed the new features for each official driver.




5) Mobile GPU specifications
The last thing that is useful when comparing GPUs is a list of their major features.





ps: I'll update this thread soon... Real life keeps calling me.

Edited by sn0wl, 02 April 2008 - 05:08 AM.

[gabeeg]

Great job Fabrice!

[®®®]

uploaded pics to server

[Fabrice Roux]

I updated the FMS definition, added the known VBIOS and known overclocks.

[®®®]

If you have spare time (Justine sleeping) here's new info for GF 7950 GX2:
http://www.nvidia.co...force_7950.html

[Fabrice Roux]

I limited the specs to the mobile GPUs... otherwise we would have a HUGE list.

[chavadiyil jose]

Beautiful list

Kepp up the good work

[The_Lead_Factor]

Best stable overclock with fan/heatsink cooling for a GeFocre Go 6600 is 378/756....Might be able to squeeze a bit more in a cold environment or with more adequete cooling. BTW clicking Detect Optimal Settings overclocks it to 373/747.

Edited by The_Lead_Factor, 24 July 2006 - 08:38 PM.

[®®®]

Fabrice, if you add the OC result, then also update the VBIOS version of the 6600 (The Lead Factor pls. attach a NERD logfile so we know the specs).

[The_Lead_Factor]

Here ya go....I ran it on my XP Home partition since thats what I ran those overclock tests with.

Attached Files

•  LaptopVideo2Go_LogFile.zip   9.05K   1279 downloads

[Fabrice Roux]

I just updated the Specs with the 6600 Go VBIOS and overclock... and my own overclock limit for the 6800 Go.

[Lych]

I'm curious, what testing methodology did you use to develop this guide? Did you compare the various issues resolved from driver version to driver version? Feedback from the forum? I hope that synthetic benchmarks did not affect the results. There is a really good article on the problems with synthetic benchmarks, like 3dmark and aqua mark, on HardOCP. I encourge everyone to read it.

[Fabrice Roux]

3DMarks (and alike) are good for only one thing... testing the stability of most elements in your PC.

I didn't list the new features per driver release and the issues fixed by GPU for the pleasure of wasting hours of work.

[sandman55]

Great work - a really, really useful guide. Thanks from me personally for for all the time & effort this must have taken!

Sandman

[Lych]

3DMarks (and alike) are good for only one thing... testing the stability of most elements in your PC.

I didn't list the new features per driver release and the issues fixed by GPU for the pleasure of wasting hours of work.

I didn't mean to offend anyone. I was just curious, thats all. I've read other recommendation guides that are simply cut and pasted from other websites without any research done at all. Nice job on the guide.

[Craig Corp]

A general question about MCE since I have MCE 2005:

Is it necessary to use an MCE specific release (such as 9131) if you have MCE, or can you do just as well with a
general XP driver? If so, what is different about the NV MCE drivers?

[The_Lead_Factor]

You can use XP drivers on MCE but usualy the MCE drivers are better.

[superalf]

I have a Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop with a Geforce Go 7800 video adapter and I'm not sure which driver version to use. I'm torn because I have Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 installed so I'm looking for a driver which has MCE support and since this is laptop I also want a driver with Full Mobile Support. If I have to go with either one or the other which would you guys recommend?

I'm looking for a driver that is very stable but that also has good performance. I mostly use my laptop to play games. I'm currently playing Caesar IV which is pretty graphic intensive for a strategy game. The game is brand new so it would probably benefit from newer drivers I'm guessing.

I know there is no one driver that is best for all situations, but given the above requirements I would like to hear people's opinions about which one would be best for me.

Thanks in advance.

[Fabrice Roux]

Try something wild... use Dell official driver for your laptop.

[superalf]

I have the latest driver from Dell, but they haven't had an updated driver since December 2005. I'm looking for newer drivers because I'm sure the drivers have changed a lot in almost a year.

I'm also having problems with Caesar IV, which could be game bugs, but they could also be compatibility issues between the drivers and the game. I want to try a different driver to see if the game runs better.


Thanks.

Edited by superalf, 11 October 2006 - 11:10 AM.