ATI Driver Question

[Leighlon Esla]

Hi Fozzik,

I just purchased a new computer at the begining of the month and this is my first full fledged gaming computer. I noticed on the Catalyst Control Center that I'm running an older version and that one was just released on ATI's driver update page.

Should I update as at the moment I'm not experiencing any problems?

And

Is this process hard to do? I have downloaded everything into folder and just afraid that I'll screw something up.

system stats:
· Asus P5GD1 Intel 915P Motherboard
· Intel Pentium 4® 3.2Ghz (P4 – 640)
· 2GB DDR2-533 Ram Dual Channel (2x1GB module)
· ATI X850XT PCIE
· 36GB 10000 RPM 8MB Cache Hard Drive
· 80 gb 7200 rpm 8mb cache SATA hd

Thanks for the help in advance,

Esla

[Liin]

Well usually they release new drivers for more stability and to give the cards better performance also.

It is not hard to do really. Just make sure you remove the old drivers and then your computer should ask for a restart. After you restart you install the new drivers and should be good to go.

[Fozzik]

Video drivers can be really easy, and other times they can be a serious pain in the butt. During restart, Windows will often try to install some form of driver automatically...so when you remove the old driver it's good to make sure it's really gone. There's a program...I think it's called drivercleaner or something, that is a free download and should help make things easier.

Updating video drivers actually very rarely improves performance. They say it does, but you can't believe everything you read. ;)

Stability is often improved, and sometimes newer games will really only be optimized or tested with the latest video drivers, so it is a good idea to stay up to date.

Give a shout if you run into anything weird. =)

[Leighlon Esla]

Ok 1 more question before I attempt the installation:

Will the video card still work with no drivers installed as I'm running a DVI cable from it to the monitor?

I would hate to uninstall everything and then see no picture on the monitor.:eek:

Esla

[akherat]

What happens when there is no driver installed is that Windows will use a very basic default driver in order to provide a display - you'll generally only get 800x600 and either 16 or 256 colors until you install the new drivers. Once you get the new drivers in place, you'll restart again and when it comes back, you should be able to adjust the screen to your tastes.

Generally the only reason to update drivers is to fix a problem with a particular game or games. It is also a very good idea after installing new drivers to walk through a complete direct x diagnostic. To do that, click start, then run, and type in dxdiag and click ok. That will bring up a window with lots of tabs. check each one to make sure nothing reports as an error, and on each tab that has a test or diagnostic button, click it and follow the instructions. As long as everything reports back as expected, you should be okay.

[Traldan]

Well personally I recommend Omega Drivers. Personall preferernce I guess. I saw a 7,000ish improvement from an older set of Omegas to the new Omegas based on Cat 5.12's. People on OCForums and other such places have said they've seen a nice performance jump from Cat 5.12's, whether they be modified or the original ATI drivers.