If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Possible cure for the old Nvidia driver blues
Ahhhhh!I see some old hands still doing their thing in RAS! I like to
pop in every once and awhile especially if there is some sim related news! Anyway, to business: Nvidia drivers. Noooo, not a 'side' issue in re Nvidia vs ATI since I have both cards on various machines but the Nvidia DRIVER matter or situation if you will, as some Nvidia owners know, can be frustrating at times! The old familiar story.. it's a great flight [no matter the FS series sim from '98 to '04] for perhaps 10 minutes or so and then, 'wham', a machine freeze --or-- the sim loads up and the ###@# panel is suddenly missing! Or both...or, worse, the sim simply doesn't load at all! 9 times out of 10, I'll wager it's the Nvidia video 'driver' and VERY fussy they can be too .... depending also on the model of Nvidia card you're running! So too, I've seen horror stories on the various boards where folks speak of returning their high-end Nvidia [or ATI!] card and sometimes getting back a reply that the card tested to be 'fine' yet it just doesn't work in their system! Again, suspect the video driver as the culprit! Case in point: I got [the latest] a FX5900 Ultra w/256MB DDR on-board video [and those 2 enclosed blue LED muffin fans to boot!] and the old classic driver probs began ...just like I had with a former FX5700 series...only now with the latest FX5900 series [and a great sale price] with the latest Nvidia driver 56.64 [released March 2004] and that tweaked 56.82 version [*check at at Guru3d.com although the 56.82 is not 'certified'...but it works], chronic machine freezes after no more than 15 minutes, 'tops', of sim use, or, put another way, CPU load and 'its' effect on the driver! Each and every time! And no matter what FS sim from '98 through the latest FS9. I rolled back to 53.03 Nvidia driver [2003 vintage] which was the first Nvidia driver to support Direct X 9 series ['9B' is now the thing]and that stopped the freezes entirely BUT, I say BUT, with 53.03 loading OK for FS98, 2K and FS2K2 and performing decently, well, the moment I went to the new FS9, 'ALL' the panels disappeared! Just a black space where the panel should be! Soooo, and noting that one can use various Nvidia FX series drivers for virtually all the FX series cards, I load again the latest 56.64 [March, 2004 issue] on top of 53.03 [do 'NOT' take out 53.03] which when apparently MIXED with bits and pieces of 53.03 or whatever else got churned up in the process, dunno, as I thought they were separate and distinct files, but everything worked like a charm! Why? Dunno! I only know the results! Perhaps some of the pieces of the driver code [note that most of these drivers can exceed 10 megs of code!] went to Windows itself for all I know! But hey, no more machine freezes during extended sim use no matter how long the flight and 'all' panels in 'all' FS series sims now show up perfectly and overall excellent graphics plus decent speed and frame rates! Seems to me that the key to getting Nvidia cards [and results therein] to perform and perform 'well' without hassles turns 'entirely' on the Nvidia driver! Or mixtures therein of Nvidia driver code therein. There you have it! Doc Tony One tip too: IF you begin to spot especially near the EDGES of your screen, viz., the GUI itself, what looks like a flutter or ripples that you know is NOT related to or caused by any changes in monitor refresh issues --and-- overall loading of webpages seems sluggish and the colors decent but having a washed-out look requiring color and hue adjustments via the Nvidia driver software for an otherwise fast machine, suspect, inter alia, the video card 'driver' as the culprit! When I did the video card tinkering, and th cure of the sim usage problems, the screen dance ripple went away also and loading speed 'decidedly' increased for graphic-heavy webpages! Overall pi quality also increased without adjustment 'help' from the Nvidia software! |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
New Nvidia driver | Anthony Acri | Simulators | 1 | March 16th 04 07:13 PM |
as a training tool, MS Flt Sim is a farce!!! | mike popken | Simulators | 33 | November 25th 03 09:11 PM |
Tom's Hardware NVidia 45.23 driver test | Keeks | Simulators | 3 | August 21st 03 12:24 AM |
Real World Specs for FS 2004 | Paul H. | Simulators | 16 | August 18th 03 09:25 AM |