Going from 1900XT to 8800GT tonight, what preparations to make?

[BrokenVisage]

I doubt the fact that I'm going from ATi to nVidia makes a big difference to the PC, but I never did it before and am wondering if there are any extra cleaning steps that I should take. What would be the proper procedure for cleaning out old ATi drivers to make room for NV? I was never very diligent with cleaning up when going from one Omega drive to the next with my 1900XT, so don't be afraid to explain it to me like I'm a 5-year-old, or link me to a tutorial that does so. Thanks.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Boot up in safe mode. Just run driver cleaner pro and do a search for ati in your computer. Clean every last trace out when you're done using CCleaner. Then install your Nvidia card and then the drivers.

 

[shabby]

I just uninstalled the drivers when i did the switch, didnt use driver cleaner at all. I mean really, is an nvidia video card going to use ati drivers accidently?

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
Boot up in safe mode. Just run driver cleaner pro and do a search for ati in your computer. Clean every last trace out when you're done using CCleaner. Then install your Nvidia card and then the drivers.

Sounds good.. so leave the 1900XT in until I clean out the drivers, then install the 8800GT after removal using DCPro and CC. Any firmware/driver suggestions for this card? And is RivaTuner still the OC'ing program of choice for NV cards? Thanks.

 

[Narse]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
Boot up in safe mode. Just run driver cleaner pro and do a search for ati in your computer. Clean every last trace out when you're done using CCleaner. Then install your Nvidia card and then the drivers.

Sounds good.. so leave the 1900XT in until I clean out the drivers, then install the 8800GT after removal using DCPro and CC. Any firmware/driver suggestions for this card? And is RivaTuner still the OC'ing program of choice for NV cards? Thanks.

RivaTuner is my favorite.

 

[Tempered81]

have crysis & cod4 installed with the latest updates. I second rivatuner for the OC.

 

[ayabe]

Originally posted by: shabby
I just uninstalled the drivers when i did the switch, didnt use driver cleaner at all. I mean really, is an nvidia video card going to use ati drivers accidently?

Me too, same exact upgrade, zero issues on a 3 year old XP install that had been running ATI drivers that entire time.

 

[CrystalBay]

Originally posted by: shabby
I just uninstalled the drivers when i did the switch, didnt use driver cleaner at all. I mean really, is an nvidia video card going to use ati drivers accidently?

ROFL...

 

[Drayvn]

Get some tissues ready before playing Crysis...

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: Drayvn
Get some tissues ready before playing Crysis...

I'll be sitting on a beach towel just in case.

 

[Termie]

Did the same upgrade - my only hitch was that I wasn't able to get 3dMark to run after installing the 8800gt in my old system - but then again, I didn't take all the steps suggested above (safe mode, driver cleaner, search for the ATI directory and delete, then install nVidia drivers). Once I installed the 8800gt in a new system, 3dMark ran fine, so clearly it wasn't the card. I also recommend RivaTuner.

 

[sisq0kidd]

Did the same upgrade. Just uninstall the ATI drivers through control panel and install the Nvidia ones.

 

[BrokenVisage]

All went well, installation was easy and thankfully the card wasn't any longer than my 1900XT. However, when I first went to turn on my PC with the 8800GT in.. the fan wouldn't spin! It was clicking every 5 seconds like it was stuck and was trying to get unstick. Luckily every time thereafter the fan wouldn't get stuck, butttttt... there is a very noticeable clicking sound that can only be from the fan coming into contact with something, but I can't see anything it's hitting against! The fan is recessing into the HS, but none of the fins seem to be hitting against the fan, I even moved it with my finger a couple times and it seems unopposed.. any suggestions? All else is fine, temps are great, picture super, looks like a winner if i can solve the clicking sound.

 

[Magusigne]

How's the gaming?

 

[bryanW1995]

most likely, the fan is hitting something when it ramps up to speed you should double check your case and make sure than nothing is bumping up against it, but I think that you might be in for a trip to rma-land.

 

[Blacklash]

Please don't put it on a 1280x monitor and then use something like WoW as a measuring stick for its performance. Folks that only play games like that and at said res, really ought to stick with their old cards.

 

[BrokenVisage]

OK, now I'm getting worried/aggravated.. RivaTuner was displaying my core and memory temps fine at first, but now I can't even find them being available to graph in the hardware monitoring window! It's like they disappeared after a reboot or something, I don't get it. I only came across 1 or 2 people with the same issue and they never found a solution which makes me worried if mine disappeared after less than a day! Can't do much playing around with it now since I'm at work, but can remote to my PC and have been trying to solve this problem all day to no avail. Not looking good, RMA is sounding kinda nice right about now.

 

[BrokenVisage]

ATiTool doesn't even recognize a card being installed.. WTF! It shouldn't matter if I'm remoting through RDP right?