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Switch from nVidia to ATI successful

T

TourGuide

Golden Member
For those of you considering a change from nV to ATI - it can be done succesfully.

This WinXP Pro install has been in place for coming up on a year, so it is an established install. System specs:

ASUS A7N8X (rev. 1.04)
Barton 3000+
1 gig Corsair
WD120JB - OS install
WD80JB - slave (for vid capture)
Sony DVD bruner
Plextor CD/RW
SB Audigy2

Before I made the switch I had Ti4600 installed on this box using probably three different varieties of Dets - 52.16 being the latest. I was concerned about the ability to make the switch hassle free given the fact that this install had so many flavors of Dets and had always been an nV box. Here is how I did it:

1. I downloaded Driver Cleaner 2.6 and installed.
2. I opened up the readme file and read it top to bottom.
3. I followed the directions of the readme to the letter to remove the nVidia drivers.
4. Installed the ASUS 9800XT and boot.
5. Install Cat 3.9.
6. Tried installing Smart Doctor2, but the latest release is not installing.
7. Tested using games, etc.

So far, so good. I'll keep everyone posted, but it has been trouble free so far. Everything is working I have tried without exception, including COD demo. It was a bit of a trip to be able to take out UT2003 and fire it up at 1600x1200. Good experience so far.

I just thought this might be helpful to anyone considering the switch.
 
i also have done the same thing and have had zero problems. i followed all the same steps but i did not try installing smartdoctor.
 
Huh. I just unistalled the Det drivers, removed old, inserted new, and installed the Catalyst drivers. But I guess that doesn't work for everybody. Went from Ti4200 -> 9800 Pro.
 
Originally posted by: cdub
Huh. I just unistalled the Det drivers, removed old, inserted new, and installed the Catalyst drivers. But I guess that doesn't work for everybody. Went from Ti4200 -> 9800 Pro.
Click to expand...

I didn't want to take a chance, so I did it this way. It is probably the best bet for trouble free installation. I am sure there are others like you who have good luck doing it your way.

try playing a few opengl games and see how well it runs
Click to expand...

Nice.
 
I am having problems installing an ASUS Nv based FX onto my A7N8X mb; thinking maybe the drivers did not completely uninstall. Uninstalling LEadtek Nv drivers. MAy give this a try...thoughts?

r/B2
 
Originally posted by: Blaizer2
I am having problems installing an ASUS Nv based FX onto my A7N8X mb; thinking maybe the drivers did not completely uninstall. Uninstalling LEadtek Nv drivers. MAy give this a try...thoughts?

r/B2
Click to expand...

Driver Cleaner does a pretty good job scouring your system of traces of old nV installs. I used to use it when changing from one release of Dets to another and it kept my system running clean. Make sure you follow directions and do run cab cleaner too. Also be sure to unplug your broadband connection if you have one.
 
Also did the switch. Had no problems. Opengl and D3d.

Using Driver cleaner with a Nv card.

Make sure you use the Nv fix as well which come with the latest version. It helps you to detect the card again. Bug in old version made you format your hardrive to get your system to detect you card after you used Driver Cleaner.
 
Originally posted by: Jack4KickAss
Also did the switch. Had no problems. Opengl and D3d.

Using Driver cleaner with a Nv card.

Make sure you use the Nv fix as well which come with the latest version. It helps you to detect the card again. Bug in old version made you format your hardrive to get your system to detect you card after you used Driver Cleaner.
Click to expand...

I also made the switch from GF2 GTS -> 9800 PRO 128MB on an nforce2 board. its possible to do it without any problems ppl.....have no fear! 🙂
 
Originally posted by: chilled
Originally posted by: Jack4KickAss
Also did the switch. Had no problems. Opengl and D3d.

Using Driver cleaner with a Nv card.

Make sure you use the Nv fix as well which come with the latest version. It helps you to detect the card again. Bug in old version made you format your hardrive to get your system to detect you card after you used Driver Cleaner.
Click to expand...

I also made the switch from GF2 GTS -> 9800 PRO 128MB on an nforce2 board. its possible to do it without any problems ppl.....have no fear! 🙂
Click to expand...

I switched from a GF2 Pro -> 9700 PRO on the Nforce2 mobo as well.
intially there were some issues as I only scored like 9K points from 3dMark 01

after a fresh reinstall of winXP and new drivers... things turned out just fine.
i believe overlap of drivers caused the problem.. from VIA -> NVidia

 
It's sad that you have to boast about being successful at changing video cards, while peopl ewho change from ATI to NVidia, say little to nothing, why? It works 99% of the time 🙂
 
My sisters computer has nvidia and ati drivers installed. Had a Geforce 2 then got an 8500. Forgot to uninstall the nvidia drivers. Haven't bothered to uninstall them yet. No
errors so why bother.
 
Shamrock, it's also possible that most people are moving from nV to ATi nowadays, not the other way around.
 
Got a 9800NP over the weekend and followed the original post and DC readme step-for-step. No problems switching from a Ti4200.....so far... 🙂
 
I used Driver Cleaner and had no problems going from a 4600 to a 9800Pro. I thought I was having a performance problem, but it turned out I was just running 3DMark with 4xAA and 16xAF forced in the drivers. 😛

Originally posted by: Shamrock
It's sad that you have to boast about being successful at changing video cards, while peopl ewho change from ATI to NVidia, say little to nothing, why? It works 99% of the time 🙂
Click to expand...

What I've heard is that basically NVIDIA's drivers stomp all over the registry and leave lots of files lying around within your Windows directories that don't get cleanly removed when changing drivers. Thus the need for something like Driver Cleaner to make it work. It works fine (usually) going *to* NVIDIA drivers, since ATI's drivers uninstall themselves cleanly. That at least seems to be the general consensus.

 
I had a successful switch a few months ago too.

GF4200, to a 9700 Pro on an NForce2 board... no problems with drivers or crashing or anything.. sweet
 
Originally posted by: virtualgames0
try playing a few opengl games and see how well it runs
Click to expand...

Or he could, you know, just play games he wants to play. Either way I'm sure the 9800 will be faster than the 4600.

Yes, the FX5900 is a bit faster than the 9800 in OpenGL, but guess what? The 9800 smokes the FX5900 in DX9, so it's a tradeoff I'd take any day.

I had a Radeon 9800 (sold it because I'm gaming much less on my PC now) that ran Jedi Knight 3 (or whatever you want to call it) better than my Ti4800 (4600 w/ AGP 8X) does now.

And guess what? In 99% of games (ie DirectX games) the 9800 destroys the 4800, and bests the FX5900 too.
 
Welcome to the world of ATi, a world where anisotropic filtering is considered a standard feature, not an extra one like other vendors treat it.

I did the same upgrade as you about a year ago and I was totally blown away. So crank up your settings and resolution and enjoy your new card. 🙂
 
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