Switching fom NVIDIA to ATI.

[McLovin]

I really do consider myself a huge NVIDIA fan, but I came across a deal I just couldn't refuse for an XFX 4870 1 GB!

I will be going from a 7900 GTX to the 4870 and its been a while I've had to worry about this, but what is the best procedure for clearing out the NVIDIA Drivers before I install the ATI?

Wasn't their a program called Driver Cleaner out or at least something similar that works with 64-bit vista?

 

[error8]

This is how I do it.

1) Uninstall Nvidia drivers from control panel.
2) Reboot in safe mode
3) Use driver sweeper from here http://downloads.guru3d.com/Dr...-beta-2.0.0_d2186.html and remove what's left from Nvidia
4) Shut down computer
5) Remove Nvidia card and install Ati card
6) Turn computer on, install catalyst and enjoy.

 

[McLovin]

Excellent!

I've heard nasty things about Catalyst. Are they still recommended or are the, correct me if I'm wrong here, Omega drivers still the best?

 

[error8]

Never used omega drivers. Just use Cat 9.2 from the official ATi site and you're good to game.

 

[Leyawiin]

Some people say doing a safe mode cleaning is unnecessary, but I've always done that and never had the issues (driver related) that many complain about. And even if I did have problems at least I know its NOT the way I installed the drivers. Driversweeper is an excellent tool.

 

[thilanliyan]

I use ATI Tray Tools with JUST the driver instead of CCC since there was a problem with 2d/3D clocks continuously switching and causing a flickering screen. Also, Tray Tools lets you undervolt the card for your 2D clocks.

 

[McLovin]

Thilan I had a question for you because I saw your sig in another post.


Do you really have an nvidia and ati card in your system? If so, are you having any issues with stability? Are you using the 8800 for physx?

Sorry for the nub questions, Ijust reminded myself of those questions lol.

 

[thilanliyan]

Yeah I was using the 8800GT for PhysX just to test it out (and it worked in Mirror's Edge when I tried it), but honestly there isn't anything I want to play where PhysX is integral to the game so I've taken it out for now since it's just wasting electricity. Even Cryostasis, which is sort of a PhysX poster isn't any good from what I've read. Oh and no stability issues...everything ran fine in Win 7 64-bit.

 

[McLovin]

Hmm, I'm impressed that the combination of the NVIDIA and ATI display drivers didn't freak out the system.


Thanks for all the help folks!

 

[SSChevy2001]

Originally posted by: BillyAZ1983
Hmm, I'm impressed that the combination of the NVIDIA and ATI display drivers didn't freak out the system.


Thanks for all the help folks!

I've also used both like Thilan, but just to see if PhysX would work. Well it was a pain to make PhysX work on UT3 and Cryostasis, but I had no stability problems with both cards being in the machine.

The biggest problem most ATi users seem to have is related to CCC. So I would suggest not using CCC and just use ATi Tray Tools instead ( not ATi Tools ).

 

[Binky]

Don't use driver cleaners. They arent needed, and there's a chance they can actually cause problems.

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: SSChevy2001
The biggest problem most ATi users seem to have is related to CCC. So I would suggest not using CCC and just use ATi Tray Tools instead ( not ATi Tools ).

Just out of curiosity, what problems are you talking about? I've been using CCC for a few years now, and haven't had any issues with it for the last several versions (it was pretty slow to launch back when I had my X1900, but they fixed that).

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: Binky
Don't use driver cleaners. They arent needed, and there's a chance they can actually cause problems.

There aren't any problems that driver cleaners can cause. Why would they?

Driver Sweeper is used to delete files that otherwise will be left untouched by simply uninstalling your old drivers. Sometimes those files can create problems if they're left there, especially when you're going from one producer to another, where drivers are totally different.

 

[SSChevy2001]

Originally posted by: vj8usa
Just out of curiosity, what problems are you talking about? I've been using CCC for a few years now, and haven't had any issues with it for the last several versions (it was pretty slow to launch back when I had my X1900, but they fixed that).

These are the 2 recent problems I've seen here.

Someone here had random BSOD with CCC in WoW.
Another person had was getting some Windows message regarding .net. when shutting down his PC.

I'm sure there's more issues out there if you google for them, but personally never had any issues when I did use it. IMO CCC is too bulky and lacks a lot of the function that ATi Tray Tools offers. Why would anyone prefer CCC over ATi Tray Tools?

 

[theAnimal]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: Binky
Don't use driver cleaners. They arent needed, and there's a chance they can actually cause problems.

There aren't any problems that driver cleaners can cause. Why would they?

Driver Sweeper is used to delete files that otherwise will be left untouched by simply uninstalling your old drivers. Sometimes those files can create problems if they're left there, especially when you're going from one producer to another, where drivers are totally different.

My one and only format & reinstall of XP was because of a driver cleaner.

Having a few leftover files will not matter in the least, since the totally different driver will never use them.

 

[BFG10K]

I stick to add/remove programs.

 

[nemesismk2]

I remove the drivers for the old video card using the control panel, add/remove drivers, select the driver and remove. Then I use Driver Cleaner which removes every trace of the old driver. Then I install the new video card and install new drivers!

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: theAnimal

My one and only format & reinstall of XP was because of a driver cleaner.

It never happened to me and I'm using that for some time now, on both Vista and XP.

Originally posted by: theAnimal
Having a few leftover files will not matter in the least, since the totally different driver will never use them.

Who knows, maybe you're right, but I feel better knowing that every trace from my last card has been erased. It's a new, clean beginning. :laugh:

 

[McLovin]

So I installed the video card last night and pretty followed the original advice given. I uninstalled the nvidia drivers first, rebooted into safe mode and used driver sweeper.

I then installed the 4870 and then put CCC in and ran Left 4 Dead for about an hour and even on my older S939 system, I saw a noticeable difference in performance. I had all the details turned up to high with 4x MSAA and 4x AAF (I think I can't remember the second optin TBH) and never once did my machine stutter. Even though I didn't pay for the video card, I'd still say it was/will be a worthwhile invest for anyone wanting to breath new life into a machine.

 

[error8]

Now you need to up that X2 frequency, to reduce the bottleneck somehow.

 

[1ManArmY]

SAME HEAR

 

[McLovin]

Originally posted by: error8
Now you need to up that X2 frequency, to reduce the bottleneck somehow.

As much as I would love to, I've never grasped the whole overclocking thing and I'm afraid to hose my only good system lol.

If you have any suggestions on a good tutorial on how to get started, that would be helpful I'm guessing that O/C'ing the video card at this point wouldn't really make a difference would it?

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: BillyAZ1983

As much as I would love to, I've never grasped the whole overclocking thing and I'm afraid to hose my only good system lol.If you have any suggestions on a good tutorial on how to get started, that would be helpful

Done right, overclocking will never harm or kill your system.

You might want to take a look at this guide, very nicely done:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=1497607&enterthread=y

Originally posted by: BillyAZ1983

I'm guessing that O/C'ing the video card at this point wouldn't really make a difference would it?

No, there is no sense in overclocking the card. You're now in a situation where the GPU move data faster then the cpu, so you're falling into the "bottleneck" issue. You have to increase the cpu processing power to increase your frame rates. It's pretty clear that even if you overclock that X2 to its maximum , which I would guess is somewhere around 2.7 ghz, your card will still be "limited" by it. But, by upping its frequency, you'll reduce this problem and you'll manage to survive until you'll be able to change your old 939 platform.

 

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: BillyAZ1983

Originally posted by: error8
Now you need to up that X2 frequency, to reduce the bottleneck somehow.

As much as I would love to, I've never grasped the whole overclocking thing and I'm afraid to hose my only good system lol.

If you have any suggestions on a good tutorial on how to get started, that would be helpful I'm guessing that O/C'ing the video card at this point wouldn't really make a difference would it?

Here is the guide that I used to Overclock my X2 (also S939). X2 Overclock Guide
Average overclock is around 240-270 MHz on the HTT frequency for these chips.