I need a solid driver

  • Thread starter Thread starter Philburg2
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Philburg2

I have a 9700 Pro AIW. I don't use the TV capabilities though. Anyways,
here is my issue. I play Rome: Total War and Battle for middle earth
frequently. Using Cat 5.1s I get optimal performance out of Rome it seems,
but BFME crashes. With 5.2 and 5.3, BFME doesn't crash but Rome easily gets
slowed down.

I'm about to test 5.4, but odds are that Rome will still perform poorly. So
what drivers can I use? Omega didn't make a 5.1, only 4.12 and 5.2. I
though about DNA drivers, although I don't know the install routine for
them. I need some advice here cause it seems like im totally screwed.
-Phil
 
Philburg2 said:
I have a 9700 Pro AIW. I don't use the TV capabilities though. Anyways,
here is my issue. I play Rome: Total War and Battle for middle earth
frequently. Using Cat 5.1s I get optimal performance out of Rome it seems,
but BFME crashes. With 5.2 and 5.3, BFME doesn't crash but Rome easily gets
slowed down.

I'm about to test 5.4, but odds are that Rome will still perform poorly. So
what drivers can I use? Omega didn't make a 5.1, only 4.12 and 5.2. I
though about DNA drivers, although I don't know the install routine for
them. I need some advice here cause it seems like im totally screwed.
-Phil
Click to expand...

Omega did make a 5.1. It's still posted on at least one of
the mirror sites: http://koti.mbnet.fi/makere-b/omega.html

Best long-term solution: switch to an Nvidia card.
 
Thanks, I didn't see it on his site, I figured it fell during when he
considered quitting. And I am thinking of switching to NVIDIA for the
foreseeable future, I can't take all this driver BS.
 
abc said:
grolschie said:
Must just be me then, I've never had problems with ATI drivers.
Click to expand...

I just got off the long trail with ATI and their drivers. I don't care
what anybody says. And was very pleased with NVidia and their GeForce
5500 card.

That's just my humble observation.

BB
Click to expand...
 
Philburg2 said:
I have a 9700 Pro AIW. I don't use the TV capabilities though. Anyways,
here is my issue. I play Rome: Total War and Battle for middle earth
frequently. Using Cat 5.1s I get optimal performance out of Rome it seems,
but BFME crashes. With 5.2 and 5.3, BFME doesn't crash but Rome easily
gets slowed down.

I'm about to test 5.4, but odds are that Rome will still perform poorly.
So what drivers can I use? Omega didn't make a 5.1, only 4.12 and 5.2. I
though about DNA drivers, although I don't know the install routine for
them. I need some advice here cause it seems like im totally screwed.
-Phil
Click to expand...
try the 4.12s - Im using the Omega version and they work well with
everything on my 9700.
 
Nothing like the garbage ATI call drivers and software. Pity, because
ATI hardware is nice though.
Click to expand...

Go buy SHIII and you will find that ATI cards play it flawlessly while
Nvidia cards have a problem with the particle effects, choppy frame
rates. Get your facts straight. Both cards have their issues with
various games. Stop the FUD.
 
grolschie said:
Aldwyn Edain said:
Nothing like the garbage ATI call drivers and software. Pity, because
ATI hardware is nice though.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure about the hardware either. I had to return my first 9800 to
ATI because of heat-related video artifacts in Doom 3 and now after a few
months, the second card is doing the same thing.
Click to expand...
 
Must just be me then, I've never had problems with ATI drivers.
Click to expand...

Me neither--my X800XL works flawlessly. I can guarantee for every 50
people bitching about ATI on this NG there'll be 50 people bitching
about nVidia on the nVidia NG.

Brent
 
I see every day folks complaining about ATI drivers well I have a 9700 pro
combined with 2500 Barton system with 1 gig of ram and I have never had any
problems with my graphics.

I run the following game with no issues

Doom3
HL2
MS century of flight
NFSUnderground
FarCry
BattleFeild 1942
and so on

so I don't know why there are so many out there that have problems

maybe they should not upgrade there drivers just to upgrade drivers
I am still using 4.11

You should only upgrade your drivers if you have issues that have been
corrected in the new drivers release else stick with what you have..

and don't forget to follow the directions to install the new ones....

ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
2500 Barton
1gig PC3200
120 gig SATA
ATI 9700 pro
 
I see every day folks complaining about ATI drivers well I have a 9700 pro
combined with 2500 Barton system with 1 gig of ram and I have never had any
problems with my graphics.

I run the following game with no issues

Doom3
HL2
MS century of flight
NFSUnderground
FarCry
BattleFeild 1942
and so on

so I don't know why there are so many out there that have problems

maybe they should not upgrade there drivers just to upgrade drivers
I am still using 4.11

You should only upgrade your drivers if you have issues that have been
corrected in the new drivers release else stick with what you have..

and don't forget to follow the directions to install the new ones....

ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
2500 Barton
1gig PC3200
120 gig SATA
ATI 9700 pro
Click to expand...

i run all the mentioned first person shooters and rome.
i currently use cat5.2 from ati. the 5.2s did not kill my hl2
framerate as some tech-site review claimed it would i previously used
ati's cat5.1 as well as omega's 5.1 [omegas claim is my monitor as a
plug & play monitor with max res of 1600x1200 but as its a 1280x1024
flat panel i binned them for ati's that recognise my monitor
correctly] - i've had zero gfx problems.
i had zero gfx problems with the 4series cats before that - i only
tried 5.1 because they were current when i did my 6monthly reinstall;
i used the 5.2s which were current when the hdd failed a month later -
otherwise i'd still be on 4.something which worked fine & were stable.
my card is a 'built by ati' 9700pro therefore the ati drivers are
specifically suited to my card. on the other hand, those using ati
chipset cards manufactured by other companies should use drivers from
their particular manufacturer as the design may deviate from ati's
reference.
barton 3000/333
abit nf7 s2g
512mb [2x256] pc3200
that said, from all the posts in ngs & forums i've seen over the
years, all-in-wonder cards can be problematic for many
implementations, i've not seen many posts indicating fixes, though.
i also remember reading somewhere that all-in-wonder cards do not give
anywhere close to the game performance of corresponding non wonders,
ie - your 9700pro a-i-w will not provide the same game performance my
9700pro will.
as you don't use the a-i-w functionality, why didn't you just buy a
9700pro?

dr ratt
 
Because I got what I got and I don't have the damn money to get anything
else. Otherwise I would be going NVIDIA. The Omega 5.1s work great so far,
but in the end this card has issues. Rome still has graphical anomalies in
regards to smoke, I can't remember when it didn't for some reason. But at
least the system doesn't die when I launch flaming onager shots like 5.2 -
5.4 does.

To go off topic for a sec, I owned a Geforce 2 - 4 and I have to say that
outside of one instance with a bad release that messed up Desert Combat, I
never had issues like this. I mean we can all claim to never have had
issues, and it may be true. But I have definitely noticed patterns where
ATI drivers just seem to have more issues, and usually more serious.

As for the AIW vs non AIW, I couldn't tell you. I honestly don't think its
that big of an issue, and I could always overclock to regain lost FPS if I
needed it.
-phil

dr ratt said:
I see every day folks complaining about ATI drivers well I have a 9700 pro
combined with 2500 Barton system with 1 gig of ram and I have never had
any
problems with my graphics.

I run the following game with no issues

Doom3
HL2
MS century of flight
NFSUnderground
FarCry
BattleFeild 1942
and so on

so I don't know why there are so many out there that have problems

maybe they should not upgrade there drivers just to upgrade drivers
I am still using 4.11

You should only upgrade your drivers if you have issues that have been
corrected in the new drivers release else stick with what you have..

and don't forget to follow the directions to install the new ones....

ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
2500 Barton
1gig PC3200
120 gig SATA
ATI 9700 pro
Click to expand...

i run all the mentioned first person shooters and rome.
i currently use cat5.2 from ati. the 5.2s did not kill my hl2
framerate as some tech-site review claimed it would i previously used
ati's cat5.1 as well as omega's 5.1 [omegas claim is my monitor as a
plug & play monitor with max res of 1600x1200 but as its a 1280x1024
flat panel i binned them for ati's that recognise my monitor
correctly] - i've had zero gfx problems.
i had zero gfx problems with the 4series cats before that - i only
tried 5.1 because they were current when i did my 6monthly reinstall;
i used the 5.2s which were current when the hdd failed a month later -
otherwise i'd still be on 4.something which worked fine & were stable.
my card is a 'built by ati' 9700pro therefore the ati drivers are
specifically suited to my card. on the other hand, those using ati
chipset cards manufactured by other companies should use drivers from
their particular manufacturer as the design may deviate from ati's
reference.
barton 3000/333
abit nf7 s2g
512mb [2x256] pc3200
that said, from all the posts in ngs & forums i've seen over the
years, all-in-wonder cards can be problematic for many
implementations, i've not seen many posts indicating fixes, though.
i also remember reading somewhere that all-in-wonder cards do not give
anywhere close to the game performance of corresponding non wonders,
ie - your 9700pro a-i-w will not provide the same game performance my
9700pro will.
as you don't use the a-i-w functionality, why didn't you just buy a
9700pro?

dr ratt
Click to expand...
 
QV said:
I'm not so sure about the hardware either. I had to return my first 9800
to
ATI because of heat-related video artifacts in Doom 3 and now after a few
months, the second card is doing the same thing.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's not the video cards. Could your case could use some more air
flow from a fan?

DaveL
 
HAHAHA more fans, wow, I got more fans than any computer should. Trust me
its not an overheating issue, its the drivers. I would say that the 5.1
make a 10+ fps difference at times of stress.
 
BlackBird said:
I just got off the long trail with ATI and their drivers. I don't care
what anybody says. And was very pleased with NVidia and their GeForce
5500 card.

That's just my humble observation.

BB
Click to expand...

I think you will find both cards have their problems, I didn't have any
outstanding problems with my nVidia when I had that either.
It's more a matter of what the problems prevent someone from doing at the
time that upsets people.

It would probably help also if software developers did more to alleviate
incompatabilites as well.
 
abc said:
I think you will find both cards have their problems, I didn't have any
outstanding problems with my nVidia when I had that either.
It's more a matter of what the problems prevent someone from doing at the
time that upsets people.

It would probably help also if software developers did more to alleviate
incompatabilites as well.
Click to expand...

It's not about incompatibilities. It's about atrocious QA.

ATI's had the same problem for the last 15 years. If you read
revision histories for their drivers, many of the problems that
are fixed from version to version should have been caught
before the drivers were even released. Very basic stuff.
 
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