Chipset Drivers

[weewegs2543]

I have a Gigabyte Nvidia Nforce 3 motherboard, AGP 8x, socket 939.
Right now I have the original chipset drivers installed, but they're getting old, so I downloaded the most recent drivers. My question is, should I try and remove the old driver before installing the new driver, or is it okay to just install the new driver on top of the old one?

 

[montag451]

if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If you are having problems, then what are they?

 

[weewegs2543]

Problems with:
some games. Halo has problems running (and I'm pretty sure it's not the video card since I have tried many different video drivers, all with the same result, and I have the latest Halo patch). Also, I think it runs better when I force my computer to run in single channel memory mode.

I tried the Counterstrike: Source Stress Test, got 116.31 FPS (average of 5 trials), and according to article on this site, with my 6600 GT, I should get around 130 FPS.

Also: sometimes, when opening or closing windows, the desktop icons will refresh. first, they'll all go blank, then be redrawn slowly.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: weewegs2543
is it okay to just install the new driver on top of the old one?

Yup

 

[weewegs2543]

Thanks.

 

[birdpup]

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: weewegs2543
is it okay to just install the new driver on top of the old one?

Yup

I have never tried this, since I am more conservative and will usually uninstall the old drivers/software before installing the new drivers/software. This topic is large and almost philosophical in its nature, with much discussion available to either possibility. Fern's reply is certainly valid though.

 

[cubby1223]

The nVidia driver package recognizes that there is a previous driver installation and takes that into account when installing the new drivers. So go ahead if you want and just install the new drivers.

 

[weewegs2543]

Originally posted by: birdpup

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: weewegs2543
is it okay to just install the new driver on top of the old one?

Yup

I have never tried this, since I am more conservative and will usually uninstall the old drivers/software before installing the new drivers/software. This topic is large and almost philosophical in its nature, with much discussion available to either possibility. Fern's reply is certainly valid though.

?

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Yes, nForce drivers are aware of the old drivers and there is no problem installing new ones over old ones.

 

[imported_nocturne]

Nevermind everything else, just remember this... NEVER REMOVE NVIDIA CHIPSET DRIVERS AND THEN REBOOT. It'll just cause you to be unable to boot into any mode of windows, and you'll have a hell of a fun time trying to replace one crucial driver that windows won't boot without : nvatabus.sys

Just install over originals. I would recommend you download the new ones (5.10?) and Mwarhead's 3.31a Remix Rebirth (google it). Take the audio folder from the 5.10 version and put it in the mwarhead install folder, and you'll have a great driver set with perfect sound.

 

[imported_nocturne]

I don't know if the nf3 uses it's own IDE driver, but I'd test both it's and MS's performance on your comp. The NV SW IDE driver was choking my games, and switching back to the MS one fixed everything.

 

[weewegs2543]

Where do I get the Microsoft drivers for the NF3 chipset?

 

[mountcarlmore]

not the whole chipset, just ide. go to device manager and find the ide controller. click on rollback driver, and it will return to the windows driver. in general, never uninstall the chipset driver for nvidia. i had to reactivate windows cause it thought i put in a new mobo, just all types of headaches happen.

 

[Schadenfroh]

The latest networking drivers (nov 2005) screwed up a machine (refused to boot after that, went thru and tested each part of the nvidia unified driver to identify the specific driver causing the problem, reinstalled windows 3 times on that machine that night) i had in xp32 with the latest reference nvidia nforce3 drivers. This was on a Gigabyte K8NS Ultra 939 (nforce3 ultra). The ones on gigabyte's site worked, however.

 

[weewegs2543]

So should I use the Microsoft of the Gigabyte driver for the NF3?

 

[montag451]

Gigabyte

 

[BadThad]

Originally posted by: nocturne
Nevermind everything else, just remember this... NEVER REMOVE NVIDIA CHIPSET DRIVERS AND THEN REBOOT. It'll just cause you to be unable to boot into any mode of windows, and you'll have a hell of a fun time trying to replace one crucial driver that windows won't boot without : nvatabus.sys

Just install over originals. I would recommend you download the new ones (5.10?) and Mwarhead's 3.31a Remix Rebirth (google it). Take the audio folder from the 5.10 version and put it in the mwarhead install folder, and you'll have a great driver set with perfect sound.

Fact. ALL mfg chipset drivers are designed to be installed "over the top"....a very rare thing in the world of drivers.

 

[weewegs2543]

So if I install new (gigabyte) drivers on top of the old (nvidia) ones, will the performance be the same as if I had installed the gigabyte drivers initially, at the time I loaded the operating system?

 

[weewegs2543]

Because I just installed the new Gigabyte drivers on top of the old Nvidia ones, and it made no difference. Halo still runs like crap, even though it shouldn't.