ATI CATALYST ver. 9.2

[punk_zappa]

Will not load on Windows 7 32-bit. I tried to re-install a couple of times and when I checked device manager Microsoft driver was still loaded. Reverted back to 9.1 and everything is happy.

[Exmortis]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

Hmm, I'll load up NWN2 and see if there's any difference here...

Please do, and confirm either I am right or nuts, I can never tell which these days. I own all expansions, but have not got past main game yet, damn ALTITIS, I thinkI am on my 15th char, but favored soul rocks.

[Exmortis]

Originally Posted by punk_zappa

Will not load on Windows 7 32-bit. I tried to re-install a couple of times and when I checked device manager Microsoft driver was still loaded. Reverted back to 9.1 and everything is happy.

How do you like Win 7? Aside from diver issues which are no big deal it isn't a released product. But do you think it will be worth a move from Vista x64 on release?

[Oversized Rooster]

Originally Posted by bojangles

Did you run a driver cleaning tool in safe mode before installing? Did you go through the registry to see any leftover keys were there? Just because the drivers offered no performance benefit to games doesn't mean they didn't do anything. They fixed a lot of issues that people had, like stability, incompatibilities and other errors not including gaming.

I think we're expecting too much from AMD on these driver releases. The engineers are working insanely hard when they have to release drivers every month. Nvidia, not so much. I could care less about more performance. Go out and buy another card or overclock the one you have if you don't see performance, because you won't get much more performance out of software.

This isn't directed at you Rooster. It's just a common grudge I have against people that expect each driver release to be the one they wanted each month. They can only do so much in a month. It's not just gaming that got hit also. Workstations also rely on these cards, which can affect productivity if the drivers keep crashing.

It's nice that their engineers are working insanely hard. It would be even more nice if they released WORKING drivers at the same time that new products were released. Remember the disaster when the 4850 was released last summer? We didn't have a "true" driver until 1.5 months later.

[punk_zappa]

Originally Posted by Exmortis

How do you like Win 7? Aside from diver issues which are no big deal it isn't a released product. But do you think it will be worth a move from Vista x64 on release?

I like it so far. I never did the jump to Vista but considering what everyone is saying about it, I don't think I missed that much.

I tried both Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit and all I can say is 64-bit is kickass. It runs smoother IMHO. If I had the 64 bit driver for my trusty LaserJet 1000 I would have stayed on it.

I can't really comment if it is better than Vista 64 since I can't do the comparison. Basing on the reviews of W7, I think it is better.

[cadaveca]

Originally Posted by Exmortis

Please do, and confirm either I am right or nuts, I can never tell which these days. I own all expansions, but have not got past main game yet, damn ALTITIS, I thinkI am on my 15th char, but favored soul rocks.

the same issues are not present...kinda weird, as 2560x1600 in Witcher plays fine, but with errors, NWN2 just simply plays poorly.

EDIT:

After playing a bit more, it seems that the Witcher is highly optimized in comparison to NWN2. I really had no idea that they use the same engine.

First and foremost, it seems that the optimizations they made may be what's cuasing my issues...or it could simply be lower-res textures...Witcher videos look like garbage, highly pixelated, while in-game, everything looks ok, besides some textures "popping" in and out of view...

NWN2, even things at a distace are still viewable, and this seems to make the framerate TANK. I've also noticed that my VGA seems ot be working MUCH harder in NWN2...the fan runs at a far higher speed...

So maybe my first thoughts are a bit mis-placed...maybe the issues are purely engine-related...gonna have to test further.

IF there are any other older apps anyone would like me to test out, let me know...I have most titles in retail format.

[Exmortis]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

the same issues are not present...kinda weird, as 2560x1600 in Witcher plays fine, but with errors, NWN2 just simply plays poorly.

EDIT:

After playing a bit more, it seems that the Witcher is highly optimized in comparison to NWN2. I really had no idea that they use the same engine.

First and foremost, it seems that the optimizations they made may be what's cuasing my issues...or it could simply be lower-res textures...Witcher videos look like garbage, highly pixelated, while in-game, everything looks ok, besides some textures "popping" in and out of view...

NWN2, even things at a distace are still viewable, and this seems to make the framerate TANK. I've also noticed that my VGA seems ot be working MUCH harder in NWN2...the fan runs at a far higher speed...

So maybe my first thoughts are a bit mis-placed...maybe the issues are purely engine-related...gonna have to test further.

IF there are any other older apps anyone would like me to test out, let me know...I have most titles in retail format.

NWN 2 say massive updates with the first expansion, even if you didnt own it it was updated by updater. I gained a very big perf increase with release of the MotB. Witcher is quite a different game but yeah all based on the Aurora 2 engine. Like Vanguard was based on a heavily modified unreal 2 engine, Witcher is the same.

NWN 2 tanks with AA, I leave it off and max almost everything else at 1920x1200. Shadows also can be hard on the frame rates, but if you leave a few settings on medium others at max its pretty good. Of course the upgrade from 6400+ x2 to PII also saw an improvement.

Still Vanguard is one of the hardest graphicial games i play, well kinda in hiatus right now, but when maxxed out, it is one amazing game with just truely unrivalled views and panoramic screenies.