Win7 64-bit + Quadro FX 350M + Final Fantasy 11 = Graphical Stutters

[Sam G]

System: Dell Precision Laptop M65

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (fresh install, not an upgrade)

Graphics Card: Nvidia Quadro FX 350M (VEN_10DE DEV_01DC SUBSYS_01C81028REV_A1)

Driver Info: Driver Date: 3-11-2009 Driver Version: 7.15.11.7968

I recently migrated from Windows XP Pro SP3 to Window 7 Pro 64-bit. While on XP, I was playing Final Fantasy 11 without any graphical problems. I always had relatively poor frame rates when in very crowded areas, but that's due to my entry-level video card. The low frame rates are not bad, it's rather expected with most entry to mid level cards in those in-game areas. However, since I did my fresh install of Win7, the game graphics have a stutter every 2-3 seconds. This stutter causes the game to become choppy and basically unplayable. I've already tried drivers #: 179.68, 186.91 and 190.73 from this website, but to no avail.

I followed some of the suggestions from the "Troubleshooting Gaming Issues" sticky, but everything thus far has pointed to a driver problem. I'm open to try any suggested troubleshooting methods to further flush out the problem. I'm really trying to avoid partitioning my hard drive to reinstall & dual boot XP just for a stutter-free gaming experience.

I'm currently back on version 179.68 as it gave me the more manageable in-game stutter to do basic character movement. I was wondering if anyone else with this same video card has had problems similar to mine with either this game or another while using Windows 7 (64-bit)?

Cheers,

-Sam

Edited December 21, 2009 by Sam G

[Major_Tom]

Try Dox's 182.05, it's his last driver that supports Quadro cards. Also try new 195.81, so far the only driver that reached the same performance as Dox's versions (at least for my NVS 320M).

[Sam G]

Try Dox's 182.05, it's his last driver that supports Quadro cards. Also try new 195.81, so far the only driver that reached the same performance as Dox's versions (at least for my NVS 320M).

Driver #: 195.81 is incompatible with my 350M card. Two problems:

1. The card listed says "[DEV_01DE] NVIDIA Quadro FX 350"; My device ID = DEV_01DC and is the mobile version.

2. I downloaded the driver, extracted files and ran setup. I got the following error pop up.

Dox's Driver #: 182.05 is now running on my system, but Final Fantasy 11 still experiences the stutter in the same intervals.

Thanks for the suggestions. Anyone else have ideas on how to remedy my graphical stutter problem? :)

[Sam G]

Just an updated on my end:

I was using driver 190.73 for the longest time now, and still experienced the game stutter. I decided to quit Final Fantasy 11 (partly because I couldn't find a workable driver) and was saying good bye to in-game friends, when my video card crapped out. I was only sitting in my home (Mog House) chatting, which is the least intensive activity the game offers.

Luckily this is a work laptop and there were stacks of alternate Dell M65's around the office. I would say for this particular computer & video card model, try not to use anything higher than 179.xx driver. Otherwise you may run the risk of damaging your hardware from stress.

Granted this laptop is @ 3-4 years old, so one could say the card was fatigued and the driver may have had little/no cause to the hardware failure. I can't say for sure, but this was the latest update on my end. So far no viable driver is available to play the game effectively on Win7 Pro 64-bit as of March 1st, 2010.

Cheers.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Sam G