How many of you think that WHQL certification is worthless?

[StormRider]

I do. I don't think it really means anything. All it means is that MS ran those drivers on their test system and noticed no problems and therefore it passed certification. In the real world, I've noticed no difference between WHQL certified drivers and non-WHQL certified drivers.

For example, I'm trying out ATI's new WHQL certified drivers for the Radeon and I'm encountering problems with it. It dropped 1000 points off my 3D Mark 2001 SE scores. The first scene now crawls at only 5 fps. Also, menus in IE 6.0 seem sluggish compared to the last set of official drivers.

 

[bsobel]

> I do. I don't think it really means anything. All it means is that MS ran those drivers on their test system and noticed no problems

You'd be very suprised at the number of bugs that come up during the stress testing that is part of the WHQL certification. As for the latest non certified vs latest certified for the same product, the difference is probably not big as the last rev (which presumably hasn't changed THAT much) did go thru the tests already.

But for new products with brand new driver sets, it's definately something worth looking for.

My 2 cents,
Bill

 

[joohang]

Definitely worth it.

For gamers, 1000 points in 3DMark is a big deal, but not for businesses or those who care little about benchmarks.

WHQL is not perfect and could definitely be improved, but at least they pick out bugs and I can definitely trust it better than non-certified drivers. I want a driver that "works".

 

[eplebnista]

<< Definitely worth it. >>



I agree.

My $.02,
eplebnista

 

[corkyg]

I find that it is worthwhile with XP Pro and many apps and peripherals attached. One unsigned driver can cause any and all problems. I just got through with that trying to get USB 2.0 installed. It initially resulted in an unsigned driver. That created occasional BSODs and I lost my automatic shutdown. Finally replaced them with signed drivers (hard to find) and we are back to a happy smiling computer.

It also helped with initial upgrade on three systems to XP. I used the certification list to download new drivers and "prep" each system before running Setup. That paid off.