Newbie Q re.: Catalyst 5.10

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul Wake
  • Start date Start date
P

Paul Wake

I don't know diddly about PCs, but recently got a PC for my kids. It has an
Athlon 64, ATI Radeon Xpress 200, and 1 GB RAM (after adding 512). We have one
decent game, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, and the computer had some display
difficulty if a park had very many attractions (which is why I added RAM,
although after adding the RAM the computer now won't even open a park I built
that used to run for a few minutes before crashing the machine, but that's
another story). The RCT3 game documentation suggests updating to the latest
driver. I gather that would be Catalyst 5.10. However, ATI's web site says not
to update the driver unless I'm having problems with the existing driver, and
generally the computer works OK as is. I'm leery of fouling up my computer by
upgrading if I shouldn't. Does anyone have a take on the risks and benefits to
upgrading a driver on what is a decent home PC, but not a hardcore gaming
machine?
 
I upgrade my drivers every time the new one comes out and have had no
problems whatsover. I'd say give it a try.

Mick
 
Paul Wake said:
I don't know diddly about PCs, but recently got a PC for my kids. It has
an
Athlon 64, ATI Radeon Xpress 200, and 1 GB RAM (after adding 512). We
have one
decent game, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, and the computer had some display
difficulty if a park had very many attractions (which is why I added RAM,
although after adding the RAM the computer now won't even open a park I
built
that used to run for a few minutes before crashing the machine, but that's
another story). The RCT3 game documentation suggests updating to the
latest
driver. I gather that would be Catalyst 5.10. However, ATI's web site
says not
to update the driver unless I'm having problems with the existing driver,
and
generally the computer works OK as is. I'm leery of fouling up my
computer by
upgrading if I shouldn't. Does anyone have a take on the risks and
benefits to
upgrading a driver on what is a decent home PC, but not a hardcore gaming
machine?
Click to expand...

The thing to do is read the release notes for the new drivers and see if its
designed to fix a problem you're experiencing. I never install drivers over
old ones. I use the add/remove option in Control Panel to remove current ATI
drivers and reboot and then install the new drivers and reboot again. This
procedure has always worked flawlessly for me. The graphics card you have
whilst new is right in the budget section and hence a bit slow for modern 3D
games though I would have thought RCT3 would be alright.
 
I don't know diddly about PCs, but recently got a PC for my kids. It has an
Athlon 64, ATI Radeon Xpress 200,
Click to expand...


I don't think it's a driver problem, they only improve as they are released. What I
do think is the card itself is too minor, too old a technology to cover the needs of
game playing in this day and age. Game technology advances, and card technology
right along with them. I can't even find that card on the ATI website. You'd need
at least an ATI 9800 pro or an nVidia Ti5600, which are always at a reasonable
prices.
 
AAvK said:
I don't think it's a driver problem, they only improve as they are
released. What I
do think is the card itself is too minor, too old a technology to cover
the needs of
game playing in this day and age. Game technology advances, and card
technology
right along with them. I can't even find that card on the ATI website.
You'd need
at least an ATI 9800 pro or an nVidia Ti5600, which are always at a
reasonable
prices.
Click to expand...

It's not an old card; it's new onboard video.

http://www.ati.com/products/integrated.html
 
I'm going to stop doing exactly what you mentioned, especially with the
Catalyst updates. MOH Spearhead totally stopped working after 5.8.
Luckily ATI is aware of the problem and they're looking at it (well,
that's what the readme in 5.10 said). So, upgrading a driver just to be
upgrading it isn't always the best thing to do.
 
Back
Top