i can see that
readily evident from the cookie cutter response i was given in return --
must work in tech support to just ignore my problem and post a completely unusable solution like that. hmh
i said ati doesn't make me install ANYTHING BUT THE DISPLAY DRIVER, unlike NVIDIA
it didn't work either, the dvi port is still unrecognized by NVIDIA'S "DRIVERS". playing gta is even more choppy. thanks for nothing... :( i should have known better than to ask for help in here
if it wasn't clear in the article, the old version can still be used, but is not by default.
if nv follows ati, we won't have to worry about them ditching the old cp for a good while... but it still going to be a pain to switch back after every install.
does anyone knows the performance of the new series of drivers? i still cannot find a good driver that could beat my 77.77, btw i'm running 6600gt. i have tried some 80th series drivers, but they all gave me lower 3d05 and 06 scores. someone want to recommend a best driver for my 6600gt?
A lot of the driver updates address specific issues in specific games, so often there's not much point in upgrading. Of course, basing your decision on whether or not the drivers are better off of 3DMark is not generally a good way to go, unless you play 3DMark on a regular basis. You might want to look at our http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2754">NVIDIA Regression Testing article for some more information on which drivers to use. Basically, if you haven't encountered problems with any games using the 77.77 drivers (lucky number seven?), you might as well stick with them until you do.
today i just bought a stupid bfg fuzion 6200 pci card and am having trouble just getting the bloatware that is nvidia installed!!! i don't need a stupid 21 mb ui running in the tray to play a game!!!
i bought some x1600 pros from sapphire - windows xp asks for drivers - insert disc - boom! drivers installed... done
windows xp found drivers for pny 5200/5500 pci AUTOMATICALLY, with NO need for a disc. done
but now, eveyrtime i try to install the drivers that were downloaded from their buggy site -- or off of the disc, it wants to connect to the internet for "updated version" or some baloney
blah nvidia... 3dfx must be turning over in their grave...
I have no idea what difficulties you're having, but it's pretty simple on NVIDIA cards: skip the Windows "new hardware" dialog, run the NVIDIA install, reboot and you're done. If that's not working, then most likely it's due to driver conflicts with whatever card you were using before. Try Driver Cleaner to fix that sort of thing.
According to a couple test systems I have in front of me:
-----------------------
NVIDIA 6800 GS SLI config:
Athlon 64 3800+ 939
2x512MB RAM
nvsvc32.exe: 3300KB
(Yes, I'm sure there is more memory used elsewhere that doesn't show up in task manager.)
Right-click on desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel, and it takes 3 seconds for the CP to appear.
ATI X1600 Pro:
Opteron 146 @ 2.8 GHz
2x512MB RAM
ati2evxx.exe: 2132KB
ati2evxx.exe: 2860KB
CLI.exe: 5088KB
CLI.exe: 8512KB
(The above comment also applies here: there is more memory used by the ATI drivers than is indicated in task manager. If not, what's happening that takes so long in the following test?)
Right-click desktop and select ATI Catalyst Control Center; wait 11 seconds for it to appear, watch the screen flicker, and then once loaded the various pages still take a lot longer to display.
Bottom line is that I find the ATI drivers to be far less responsive, they use more memory (hello .NET!), and of course the older NVIDIA control panel is still my preferred solution.
This incarnation of NVIDIA's control panel places a cartoonish mask over a clunky and hard to use interface.
If they were going for vista, they need to actually make it work like vista and not stop short at oversized icons. It's like they took the least useful part of vista and decided to grab on for dear life.
This UI can be saved, but they need to go back to having fewer menus within menus (or at least bring some frequently used options closer to the top level). There are just too many clicks involved to get to the real options. And saving recent tasks is good, but its just not good enough.
It's not even about saving time for those of us who need to navigate these settings all day every day (though that's a factor as well) -- its all about ease of use and intuitive design. This new control panel has neither.
Exactly. Microsoft did the same thing to the Win2K interface when they cranked out XP. I think I lucked out by sticking with Windows 2000. Just installed a 7800GS and 90-series drivers in my machine and it appears to have the older-style control panel like the 80-series drivers.
heh ... ironically, this is exactly the way their old control panel works -- embedded into the display properties -> settings -> advanced panel just like any other windows driver settings.
I looked all over for it and couldn't find it (though that could just be due to the lousy new UI). I just ended up going back to the classic interface, where it's in the same place as always. Maybe it's hiding in a menu item somewhere... I guess I didn't thoroughly check out the menu options. That's a major oversight, though: hiding some options in menus while others are only in the main view panel doesn't make much sense.
The user's locale is not determined by the current input locale. nVidia should use the GetUserDefaultUILanguage() function instead. (I have English Windows 2003 and a Norwegian keyboard and the driver UI shows up translated :( )
The way the new control panel is presented seems very Vista-esque to me. Me thinks this new control panel is the beginning of NVidia getting Vista-ready.
Well, its true -- nvidia releases a huge number of internal and partner specific betas. They do release public betas on their nzone.com site, thus making the occasional release in their long string of betas "official" ... though not in a whql way :-)
I liked the old forceware and catalyst interfaces better, I felt the options were better customizable. These new ones are simply too dumbed down and simplified for me and that hampers my ability to get the most out of my hardware.
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unclebud - Monday, June 26, 2006 - link
i can see thatreadily evident from the cookie cutter response i was given in return --
must work in tech support to just ignore my problem and post a completely unusable solution like that. hmh
i said ati doesn't make me install ANYTHING BUT THE DISPLAY DRIVER, unlike NVIDIA
it didn't work either, the dvi port is still unrecognized by NVIDIA'S "DRIVERS". playing gta is even more choppy. thanks for nothing... :( i should have known better than to ask for help in here
mindless1 - Saturday, June 10, 2006 - link
I prefer the current/old CP UI too. Let's hope someone hacks it so the old CP can be used with the new drivers.DerekWilson - Sunday, June 11, 2006 - link
if it wasn't clear in the article, the old version can still be used, but is not by default.if nv follows ati, we won't have to worry about them ditching the old cp for a good while... but it still going to be a pain to switch back after every install.
amdwilliam1985 - Saturday, June 10, 2006 - link
does anyone knows the performance of the new series of drivers? i still cannot find a good driver that could beat my 77.77, btw i'm running 6600gt. i have tried some 80th series drivers, but they all gave me lower 3d05 and 06 scores. someone want to recommend a best driver for my 6600gt?JarredWalton - Saturday, June 10, 2006 - link
A lot of the driver updates address specific issues in specific games, so often there's not much point in upgrading. Of course, basing your decision on whether or not the drivers are better off of 3DMark is not generally a good way to go, unless you play 3DMark on a regular basis. You might want to look at our http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2754">NVIDIA Regression Testing article for some more information on which drivers to use. Basically, if you haven't encountered problems with any games using the 77.77 drivers (lucky number seven?), you might as well stick with them until you do.unclebud - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
today i just bought a stupid bfg fuzion 6200 pci card and am having trouble just getting the bloatware that is nvidia installed!!! i don't need a stupid 21 mb ui running in the tray to play a game!!!i bought some x1600 pros from sapphire - windows xp asks for drivers - insert disc - boom! drivers installed... done
windows xp found drivers for pny 5200/5500 pci AUTOMATICALLY, with NO need for a disc. done
but now, eveyrtime i try to install the drivers that were downloaded from their buggy site -- or off of the disc, it wants to connect to the internet for "updated version" or some baloney
blah nvidia... 3dfx must be turning over in their grave...
JarredWalton - Saturday, June 10, 2006 - link
I have no idea what difficulties you're having, but it's pretty simple on NVIDIA cards: skip the Windows "new hardware" dialog, run the NVIDIA install, reboot and you're done. If that's not working, then most likely it's due to driver conflicts with whatever card you were using before. Try Driver Cleaner to fix that sort of thing.According to a couple test systems I have in front of me:
-----------------------
NVIDIA 6800 GS SLI config:
Athlon 64 3800+ 939
2x512MB RAM
nvsvc32.exe: 3300KB
(Yes, I'm sure there is more memory used elsewhere that doesn't show up in task manager.)
Right-click on desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel, and it takes 3 seconds for the CP to appear.
ATI X1600 Pro:
Opteron 146 @ 2.8 GHz
2x512MB RAM
ati2evxx.exe: 2132KB
ati2evxx.exe: 2860KB
CLI.exe: 5088KB
CLI.exe: 8512KB
(The above comment also applies here: there is more memory used by the ATI drivers than is indicated in task manager. If not, what's happening that takes so long in the following test?)
Right-click desktop and select ATI Catalyst Control Center; wait 11 seconds for it to appear, watch the screen flicker, and then once loaded the various pages still take a lot longer to display.
Bottom line is that I find the ATI drivers to be far less responsive, they use more memory (hello .NET!), and of course the older NVIDIA control panel is still my preferred solution.
DerekWilson - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
This incarnation of NVIDIA's control panel places a cartoonish mask over a clunky and hard to use interface.If they were going for vista, they need to actually make it work like vista and not stop short at oversized icons. It's like they took the least useful part of vista and decided to grab on for dear life.
This UI can be saved, but they need to go back to having fewer menus within menus (or at least bring some frequently used options closer to the top level). There are just too many clicks involved to get to the real options. And saving recent tasks is good, but its just not good enough.
It's not even about saving time for those of us who need to navigate these settings all day every day (though that's a factor as well) -- its all about ease of use and intuitive design. This new control panel has neither.
of course, that's all in my opinion :-)
Athlex - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
Exactly. Microsoft did the same thing to the Win2K interface when they cranked out XP. I think I lucked out by sticking with Windows 2000. Just installed a 7800GS and 90-series drivers in my machine and it appears to have the older-style control panel like the 80-series drivers.One43637 - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
looks tacky to me. doesn't it seem like they just embedded the control panel into a MS window?/shrugs
DerekWilson - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
heh ... ironically, this is exactly the way their old control panel works -- embedded into the display properties -> settings -> advanced panel just like any other windows driver settings.drewintheav - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
From what I understand also... the new nTune and the new network and raid driver applets show up in this new nvidia control panel as well...DigitalFreak - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
It's there in the 91.27 drivers, but I don't recall exactly where ATM. I used it to fix the overscan on my HTPC connected to my Sony GWIV.JarredWalton - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
I looked all over for it and couldn't find it (though that could just be due to the lousy new UI). I just ended up going back to the classic interface, where it's in the same place as always. Maybe it's hiding in a menu item somewhere... I guess I didn't thoroughly check out the menu options. That's a major oversight, though: hiding some options in menus while others are only in the main view panel doesn't make much sense.BikeDude - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
The user's locale is not determined by the current input locale. nVidia should use the GetUserDefaultUILanguage() function instead. (I have English Windows 2003 and a Norwegian keyboard and the driver UI shows up translated :( )See http://blogs.msdn.com/michkap/archive/2006/05/22/6...">http://blogs.msdn.com/michkap/archive/2006/05/22/6... for more.
johnsonx - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
The way the new control panel is presented seems very Vista-esque to me. Me thinks this new control panel is the beginning of NVidia getting Vista-ready.johnsonx - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
Ok, I guess if I had read the entire article, I would have seen the authors came to the same conclusion.
BikeDude - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
Let me guess: The temperature readings cannot be read from Performance Monitor (part of Windows since NT 3.1)? Why re-invent the wheel?--
Rune
Jeff7181 - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
I found that amusing... an official beta release. :D
Shazam - Saturday, June 10, 2006 - link
I absolutely hate the nVidia CP, so this might be better. Mind you, it could be just as bad :)DerekWilson - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
Well, its true -- nvidia releases a huge number of internal and partner specific betas. They do release public betas on their nzone.com site, thus making the occasional release in their long string of betas "official" ... though not in a whql way :-)Griswold - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
Boooo-eta.poohbear - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
lol so true. hey anyone know when the next whql certified "official" official drivers are out?Googer - Friday, June 9, 2006 - link
I liked the old forceware and catalyst interfaces better, I felt the options were better customizable. These new ones are simply too dumbed down and simplified for me and that hampers my ability to get the most out of my hardware.