NVIDIA drivers - taking a step backwards

[THUGSROOK]

Originally posted by: Azn
THe facts remain. Nvidia is ignoring their customers.

if in fact he HAS to use Dell modified drivers, then i think its Dell ignoring their customers.

 

[AzN]

Oh sure blame dell. Why aren't Nvidia releasing drivers for their biggest OEM partner? Should be released every quarter at least until the life of that product.

 

[Keysplayr]

Question: Does Dell need to take a driver from Nvidia/ATI/Intel, and modify it/add to it/detract from it, to make it work on their laptop/desktop platforms? Is there anything different about a straight up NVS 120M and the NVS 120M Dell uses in their laptops? And
the corresponding drivers?

Question: Could we take a Dell driver say for a Dimension 8200 that has a GeForce 8600GT, and install it on a homemade system that has an 8600GT? Or a Dell driver for an Inspiron 8000 that has a Mobile Radeon 2400, and install it in a Toshiba laptop that has the same Mobile Radeon 2400?

We are talking proprietary platforms here and each has it's own subtle differences. I don't think we can count on a one driver fits all for laptops. And some desktops.

Sunny, have you contacted Dell and asked them if you could use Nvidia's unified driver for your laptop's NVS120M? I would just give that a try, but I can probably guess that they will direct you to their latest driver on the Dell site.

 

[manko]

I have to say, I was very disappointed when I got a new laptop 2 years after my old one, both with Nvidia inside and the new card and drivers were missing multiple functions that I use every day. I returned the new machine and kept my old one.

 

[chizow]

It comes down to support folks. NV does not and never has iirc allowed laptops to use the unified drivers they release without modifying them. OEMs guarantee support for their products and most simply will not validate and support new drivers released as frequently as video card drivers. Its not just for video card drivers either, OEMs will typically delay release of other parts with drivers available externally from the part vendor but whether or not they work with your Dell is a crapshoot.

If you're looking for cutting edge gaming support for your laptop you shouldn't have bought a Dell. You'd probably have had better luck with Alienware or a DIY kit like the one OCZ is beginning to sell. Anyways, I've never had a problem with the few games I've tried to run on my Inspiron E1505, but then again I'm not expecting it to perform like a desktop with games.

 

[Tempered81]

personally I use laptopvideo2go's modded inf files with the newest xfastest betas for my laptops 8400M GS

so far the fastest for me are 175.80 XP 32. I've experienced glitches with certain versions of the newest betas between these and back to the 169's. If i goto nvidia, they recommend a 163 or 169.xx driver for me. LOL

DoomIII, cod4, and fear are like 40% faster with 2xAA with the newest drivers. Also a bit OT, anyone noticed how much these mobile NV chips can overclock!?

 

[JACKDRUID]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Coming from a moderator and an elite member... ohhhh wait, I forgot keys joined the green squad...

actually, your post lost all credibility right there... clearly showing yourself being a worthless ATI fanboy.

historically mobile display hardware are tailor made by its integrater, and supported by them as well due to these customization. in this case, DELL, but you'll likely encounter the same problem if it was a sony, hp, apple, etc

if the driver worked with xp, and not working with vista, then the problem is with vista.

uninstall vista, reinstall xp, wait for windows 7, problem solved.

 

[JACKDRUID]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

I go back to what LOUISSSSS posts - yes, people are indeed encouraged to update their drivers. You do realize that Dell isn't providing modified drivers right? They wait for NVIDIA to provide them

bolded part

1. story of 2 fanboys
2. Dell do their own customization, as they did with the original driver that came w. your laptop.

 

[golem]

Originally posted by: Azn
Oh sure blame dell. Why aren't Nvidia releasing drivers for their biggest OEM partner? Should be released every quarter at least until the life of that product.

Unless it was part of the original contract between Nvidia and Dell, why should they? And if it was, I'm pretty sure Dell would raise holy hell with Nvidia or switch their laptop video to ATI by now.

Again, if you have any problems with a laptop by Dell (or whoever), you go to manufacturer of the laptop not the manufacturer of the individual components. This is pretty much the case for all drivers.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Does AMD allow one to use their drivers (on their website) on laptops with their GPUs in them without modification? If so, nVidia should provide the same level of support (or better) to their customers as their main competitor for high end graphics.

I use modified INF drivers on my Toshiba P105 (Geforce 7900GS), I modify them myself by splicing out certain lines from the ini file in Toshiba's drivers into the latest nonbeta nvidia drivers. This works fine, other than a warning about it not being certified. But, I should not have to do this to get access to drivers that have better performance than the ones on Toshiba's website (be it nVidia's or Toshiba's "fault").

Nvidia's GPU driver support is actually far better than their nForce 3 driver support. The driver support has been so bad, that I will NEVER buy or recommend nVidia motherboard chipsets again. This coming from someone who (up until recently) has been nVidia exclusive on the desktop in both GPUs and chipsets since the demise of 3dfx. All computers (up until recently) that I have built or recommended for friends, family and myself featured both an nVidia chipset and an nVidia GPU. My nVidia exclusivity changed after a few years with my nForce3...

nForce3 XP drivers were last updated in 2004. I omitted the 5.11 drivers released in 2005 (the driver that nvidia's site defaults to) because installing them causes many computers to enter in a blue screen of death loop (including mine).

Nvidia could never quite get the firewall working correctly that is advertised on the box of the nforce3 and 4 motherboards.

There are also issues with newer SATA HDDs like the SamSung SpinPoint F1 series and nForce3 (4 as well I think) motherboards, basically one cannot use nVidia's IDE / SATA drivers, it is a common enough problem, Google it for more info. As far as I can tell, chipsets from nVidia's main competitors (at the time) work fine.

Let us also not forget about the abandoning of Windows Vista support for the nForce3. nVidia responded to their customers problems by removing the advertisement that the nForce3 is Vista capable from their website.

SiS and VIA had also problems with their chipset drivers (mainly agp.inf), but quickly released patches to correct these issues.

I asked one of the "nvidia focus group" members here to look into a possible Vista driver update that was discussed by an nVidia employee. He (the focus group member) was kind enough to email the nVidia employee who made the statement. nVidia responded by ignoring their "focus group" member.

I am currently using an AMD x1950 Pro and could not be happier with AMD's excellent driver support

But, I am just one geek, none of my boycotting or posting on an internet forum will ever do anything to nVidia