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Best drivers for Dell 8800M GTX SLI


Nofearangel

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I have done alot of searching on the web about the 8800M GTX to find out how to get the best performance out of my card. I have seen 3dmark06 score of 13000 using the default drivers from dell website which are really old and bad game support.

I am using dox's drivers 180.84.1on quality setting I get a 3dmark06 score of

10665

Its a far cry from 13000

I am going to try dox drivers on performance setting and see if i get an better results.

I hope All you out there with Dell XPS M1730 will contribute so we can all enjoy our amazing machines to its maximum performance.

If anyone can post benchmarks and driver version that you found the best i greatly appreciate it.

OK UPDATE!!

I have installed 185.20 small improvement over previous but Gpu runs at max clock speed of 1250 all the time and does not scale down during normal windows use as with previous drivers would go to 500.

3dMark 06 score 11060

only 400 better. on 1280 x 1024 on 1280x800 11247. Stil hecticly short of 13000.

This driver also crashes Windows explorer everytime I open Nvidia control panel and when selecting Sli option it freezes. after reset it does appears to have enable sli. my clock speeds are 500/1250/799.2 in rivatuner max is 575/1150/455 so no overclocking only underclocking available. Gpu does seem to run a bit cooler with 185.20 not worth the continuous max scaling as with scaling down it runs around 60s.

ANybody with some new idea that has an XPS M1730 8800M GTX

I do realise 3Dmark 06 is not the best benchmarking tool as games can run alot differently but it is a good indication if I am lacking alot. I also have a quesiotn about CORE 2 DUO. I have the T9300 2,5Ghz 6mb cache and i see that often one core peaks at 97-100% while the other is at 50+ a big problem in Need for speed under cover as when u downgrade graphics it doesn;t stop gerking in game as the one cpu keeps maxing out and then gerks until processes have finished. very irritating.

on 180.84.1 Dox performance setting I get 10928 going to try overclock next

RadiXXx how did you overclock??

OK I downloaded the new tuning tools from nvidia which hav allowed me to finally overclock woohooo!!!

Nvidia overclocking tools

600/1600/987.4

3DMArk 06 score 12714

SM2 4584

SM3 6030

I still wonder how people are getting scores of 13000-15000 without overclocking?? AM I missing something here?? going to run 3d vantage now will update soon. I really hope this will help all the XPS M1730 8800M GTX owners.

I am using Dox 185.85 Win 7 Drivers working wonderfully. Running Demigod at full 1920x1200. All settings on High. AAx16Q getting avg 25fps

Edited by Nofearangel
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take a look here:

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index....5&hl=8700gt

also 185.20 seems to be good. have not finished testing so have not put up the data/ scores of this driver. hope that info helps.

im hitting 10,000 '06 points, so you should be getting 15,000 with new drivers.

enjoy!

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I have done alot of searching on the web about the 8800M GTX to find out how to get the best performance out of my card. I have seen 3dmark06 score of 13000 using the default drivers from dell website which are really old and bad game support.

I am using dox's drivers 180.84.1on quality setting I get a 3dmark06 score of

10665

Its a far cry from 13000

I am going to try dox drivers on performance setting and see if i get an better results.

I hope All you out there with Dell XPS M1730 will contribute so we can all enjoy our amazing machines to its maximum performance.

If anyone can post benchmarks and driver version that you found the best i greatly appreciate it.

:) 185.20 gives good results and as for me it is stable at 600/900/1500 clocks as Wook wrote a check over the drivers, though they will choose something that will match you (thanks for the work which Wook have any in these tests). For any other driver will be suitable so he must try to reach some of the application that is best for you! ! !

:)

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:) 185.20 gives good results and as for me it is stable at 600/900/1500 clocks as Wook wrote a check over the drivers, though they will choose something that will match you (thanks for the work which Wook have any in these tests). For any other driver will be suitable so he must try to reach some of the application that is best for you! ! !

:)

How did you overclock your GPU. Flash bios?? does that not void your warrenty?? can you control your fan speed as mine is locked and dell told me it cant be changed with software.

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changing the bios to overclock the clock speeds will void the warantee. But if software overclocking wont work, that may be your only option. Overclocking gives you about 15% increase in performance. its not massive, but is worth it i feel.

its your machine, so its up to you. there are a few bios overclocking guides on here you can follow. just do a search

Overclocking: setting the core clock higher and bring down the memory lower will give you a better 3d mark score. but for quite a few games a higher shader/ memory speed is what matters.

up to you, try different core and memory speeds to see what works best for your game.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Until now, did not change the BIOS in my 8800M GTX but I would like to do this, if anyone can help me from the technical how to do this, or perhaps someone has already done on a laptop as my ? ? ?

And what values are most compatible clocks ? ? ?

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I am currently using dox 182.05 and they work pretty well have not had any problems. a few connectivity issues with dual screen but I think that is also depending on the device connecting to. I am running vista 64bit and run all games on 1920x1200 full detail and full AA. there are some games u need to tune detail down abit but very few. use FRAPS to help get best FPS. look at getting Zalman NC2000 laptop cooler. very nice. works great. and can sit in bed with the cooler under laptop and not worry about it over heating on duvet. Hope this helps any other questions let me know.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm also using 182.05, not tried the newer drivers yet, anyone been able to compare those with the newer ones?

Only problem I've found with 182.05 is the lack of powermizer function, although i'm hoping a program I've just downloaded has sorted that!

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I will make it my mission to test them among a few games. I have found 3dmark 2006 and 3D mark vantage unreliable when it comes to Gaming performance. As the stock drivers that came with my laptop gives scores like 13000-15000 on 3Dmark and I have not seen anyone replicate these results on newer drivers, but the never drivers perform much beter on new games. Where as the stock drivers fail terribly. THanx to people like Dox and others that pioneer drivers for laptops.

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Benchmarks give just a rough base for comparing and hint for possible positive development especially when the drivers are not matured. For instance my default 101.63 drivers are 15 - 19 % slower than the recent drivers - that's a remarkable difference. 100 points difference between the latest drivers means almost nothing - comparing in real games is what counts.

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  • 5 weeks later...

SLI error?

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YES! It was :)

For some reason, after installing the drivers it had defaulted SLI to disabled. I've re-ran it, and now scored 11626 :) Happy with that.

However, next problem is that I'm not sure powermiser is working, as temps rise up as before, fans kick in, rinse and repeat. What should it be downclocking to, and whats the best prog to find out?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello,i can't choose my games in the nvidia panel with the 185.20 driver,all in the internal panel for choosing my games settings are "blocked" :P (suurrounded??) aplogize for my basic english :) ,i try a lot of drivers on my dell xps m1730 with 2 x8800M GTX nvidia cards because on my external screen "ACER G24" who run really good before i have horizontales line in my games when the SLI is enabled,without SLI all run good,but if i have buy a dell with 2 8800M GTX is for playing with the SLI,i have also an AGEIA processor series 100 PhysX card separately (i know Nvidia have buy this company),i just would know if my AGEIA card is good for my graphic system or NO?

Tank to all who can help me,i'm french but the french forum is too quiet in this moment,english is the global linguage so i use it ,i yty to do my best.

Stephane (nice) :)

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Hello

I don't quiet understand what you mean by you can't select your games in the nvidia panel?? Do you mean under "Manage 3D settings" that you can't select any programs/games? On Dox 185.85 the games are available. Dox drivers are very good. But you will need to install PhysX drivers seperately as they were removed from his modded drivers. :)

When you run Sli mode on your laptop screen does it have lines?? or is it just on the Acer G24 screen?? ok if I understand correct the 185.20 are running fine with Acer G24? awesome!

Sli is the bread and butter of the XPS M1730. :) It boosts game performance and allows you to run games at high resolution 1920x1200.

The ageia card has been said to be a waste of time as not many games support it. But I am sure as nvidia have bought it Games will be released supporting the Ageia physx card and physx on Graphics card. The 8800M GTX supports physX so you could turn the ageia card off and use the 8800M to run the PhysX BUT then it takes all the Gpus processing power from one of the graphics cards. Basically you will have less performance if I am correct. The ageia PhysX card is slightly slower than using the 8800M to run PhysX.

I personally use the ageia Physx card to run my PhysX and disable it on the Nvidia control panel(under Set SLI and PhysX configuration) Leaving my dual 8800M to make pretty pictures at high resolution. Not many Games use the PhysX to its full potential so I would defiantly use the Ageia PhysX card. Would I buy a Ageia Physx card again, Probably not. You can also google ageia PhysX and see what people have to say about it.

I really hope this helps you. Please let me know if your still struggling with something. I would gladly help. I am using Dox 185.85 and they are working very well with Windows 7 x64bit

God Bless :P

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Hello

I don't quiet understand what you mean by you can't select your games in the nvidia panel?? Do you mean under "Manage 3D settings" that you can't select any programs/games? On Dox 185.85 the games are available. Dox drivers are very good. But you will need to install PhysX drivers seperately as they were removed from his modded drivers. :)

When you run Sli mode on your laptop screen does it have lines?? or is it just on the Acer G24 screen?? ok if I understand correct the 185.20 are running fine with Acer G24? awesome!

Sli is the bread and butter of the XPS M1730. :) It boosts game performance and allows you to run games at high resolution 1920x1200.

The ageia card has been said to be a waste of time as not many games support it. But I am sure as nvidia have bought it Games will be released supporting the Ageia physx card and physx on Graphics card. The 8800M GTX supports physX so you could turn the ageia card off and use the 8800M to run the PhysX BUT then it takes all the Gpus processing power from one of the graphics cards. Basically you will have less performance if I am correct. The ageia PhysX card is slightly slower than using the 8800M to run PhysX.

I personally use the ageia Physx card to run my PhysX and disable it on the Nvidia control panel(under Set SLI and PhysX configuration) Leaving my dual 8800M to make pretty pictures at high resolution. Not many Games use the PhysX to its full potential so I would defiantly use the Ageia PhysX card. Would I buy a Ageia Physx card again, Probably not. You can also google ageia PhysX and see what people have to say about it.

I really hope this helps you. Please let me know if your still struggling with something. I would gladly help. I am using Dox 185.85 and they are working very well with Windows 7 x64bit

God Bless :P

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Hello

I don't quiet understand what you mean by you can't select your games in the nvidia panel?? Do you mean under "Manage 3D settings" that you can't select any programs/games? On Dox 185.85 the games are available. Dox drivers are very good. But you will need to install PhysX drivers seperately as they were removed from his modded drivers. :)

When you run Sli mode on your laptop screen does it have lines?? or is it just on the Acer G24 screen?? ok if I understand correct the 185.20 are running fine with Acer G24? awesome!

Sli is the bread and butter of the XPS M1730. :) It boosts game performance and allows you to run games at high resolution 1920x1200.

The ageia card has been said to be a waste of time as not many games support it. But I am sure as nvidia have bought it Games will be released supporting the Ageia physx card and physx on Graphics card. The 8800M GTX supports physX so you could turn the ageia card off and use the 8800M to run the PhysX BUT then it takes all the Gpus processing power from one of the graphics cards. Basically you will have less performance if I am correct. The ageia PhysX card is slightly slower than using the 8800M to run PhysX.

I personally use the ageia Physx card to run my PhysX and disable it on the Nvidia control panel(under Set SLI and PhysX configuration) Leaving my dual 8800M to make pretty pictures at high resolution. Not many Games use the PhysX to its full potential so I would defiantly use the Ageia PhysX card. Would I buy a Ageia Physx card again, Probably not. You can also google ageia PhysX and see what people have to say about it.

I really hope this helps you. Please let me know if your still struggling with something. I would gladly help. I am using Dox 185.85 and they are working very well with Windows 7 x64bit

God Bless :P

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