Are there any decent Vista drivers yet? 8800GTX.

testa12 · 3 Jan 2007 at 13:24

Agreed, I'm certainly not into running dual boot configurations. Vista has been released now, ATI already have a decent set of beta drivers out.

NVIDIA should by now have SOMETHING out there for Vista users. I mean heck, even my Checkpoint SecuRemote VPN client has a beta version out now.

For a card =promising DX10 support, that support is pretty lax and its not a matter of impatience, Vista has been out now since the 30th November.

Thankfully for me, I'm running an ATI card

LoadsaMoney · 3 Jan 2007 at 13:25

I apologise if my tone seems offensive, i just do not see why the big fuss over drivers that even if were out would not be much cop, its going to be a few driver revisions before they are any good as said above, thats why im not jumping onto the Vista bandwaggon yet, im waiting till the drivers are up to scratch, and probably a service pack or two, i remember when XP first came out it was atrocious, same is probably going to happen with Vista, everyone will have to do a Dual Boot, so they can boot to XP as they have a load of games/programs etc... that run appaling in Vista, or won't run in it at all, i certianly won't be buying it till all these problems have been sorted, why spend all that on Vista, and then have to keep booting your old XP as you have stuff that doesn't work/run well in it, theres no point.

Theres probably going to be a big list doing the rounds of what doesn't run/does run in it, so you will know that for certain things your going to have boot your XP.

SimonMaltby · 3 Jan 2007 at 13:31

LoadsaMoney said:
I apologise if my tone seems offensive, i just do not see why the big fuss over drivers that even if were out would not be much cop, its going to be a few driver revisions before they are any good as said above, thats why im not jumping onto the Vista bandwaggon yet, im waiting till the drivers are up to scratch, and probably a service pack or two, i remember when XP first came out it was atrocious, same is probably going to happen with Vista, everyone will have to do a Dual Boot, so they can boot to XP as they have a load of games/programs etc... that run appaling in Vista, or won't run in it at all, i certianly won't be buying it till all these problems have been sorted, why spend all that on Vista, and then have to keep booting your old XP as you have stuff that doesn't work/run well in it, theres no point.

Theres probably going to be a big list doing the rounds of what doesn't run/does run in it, so you will know that for certain things your going to have boot your XP.

You miss the real point. The card is marketed as Vista - Vista Ready, DX10, Essential Vista.

Your argument saying that Vista is not available is wrong... once you accept that, you realise that the marketing is misleading people. I only posted in this thread to ensure people know that and dont suffer as i did.

It is not about the rights and wrongs of Vista or if it can or cant be used, its all about the fact that the 8800 is stood on a 'Vista' Pedestal and that is wrong. Its an excellent XP card but a 'no go zone for Vista' atm.

Thank you for the appology... very much aprechiated

lay-z-boy · 3 Jan 2007 at 13:50

SimonMaltby said:
No Vista drivers at all still... Card is a complete no go zone for Vista

take a look Here

Thats why i sent mine back for a full refund after 42 days of waiting.

You sent your 8800 back because there were no public beta drivers for an unreleased operating system?

Wow.

Enjoy forceware X when it comes out, i know i certainly am enjoying it now.

8800 is the fastest card currently for xp, when vista becomes available to joe public im sure it will remain one of the fastest cards for vista too.

LoadsaMoney · 3 Jan 2007 at 15:02

Yeah it is confusing, as really all Dx9 cards will work with Vista, so the G80 will definately work with it as it runs Dx9 as well, its just the the G80 has also got Dx10, and Vista is essentially Dx10, so i suppose thats where all the confusion is as no one has seen Dx10 running, and no one has seen the G80 running Dx10, all it is running at the moment is Dx9, so wonder if thats how they can say the G80 is Vista ready. :confused:

[ui]ICEMAN · 3 Jan 2007 at 15:28

Trust me I agree in principle but I feel its just being made into far more than it needs to be. Mountain out of a molehill :/

ATI do have drivers yes, so do NV, both are absolutely shocking for gaming since ATI's don't even support one of the only 2 API's used for games and NV's are just slow slow slow. Neither have SLI/X-fire support either which makes it worthless for me as it stands.

If there had been another top end card to change to then I'm sure Nvidia's reaction would have been far quicker but since there's nothing to touch the 8800's they really aren't in a hurry. The card should be good in Vista, just bide your time, enjoy the card for what its meant for, not running games at half its capability because of a poor beta that could have been released with the card.

LoadsaMoney · 3 Jan 2007 at 15:33

Im sure there is some Vista ATi drivers that support Crossfire now, but yeah they are shocking as they don't even do OpenGL still.

EDIT: These are supposed be the Crossfire ones, but theres still no OpenGL, and Vista is supposed to be shipping next week, so driver support is still atrocious, your not going to be able to run owt in Vista, certainly not any OpenGL games as ATi have got no OpenGL support in them yet, fat lot of use that is aint it, so as i said you want play the likes of your Doom 3's Quake 4's etc.... your going to have to use XP still, so what use is Vista going to be when it ships next week, theres just no point getting it yet, im stocking up on the popcorn as i can't wait.

m3lv1n · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:35

SimonMaltby said:
No Vista drivers at all still... Card is a complete no go zone for Vista

take a look Here

Thats why i sent mine back for a full refund after 42 days of waiting.

Can't really understood why you bought it if you wanted it for vista. Or why you running pre-release software for gaming on anyway. Why didn't you just dual boot and game on XP.

SimonMaltby · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:40

m3lv1n said:
Can't really understood why you bought it if you wanted it for vista. Or why you running pre-release software for gaming on anyway. Why didn't you just dual boot and game on XP.

Its not pre release been out since 30th Nov 2006.
Who says i want to Game on it. Just to run Vista Aero and Video would do me.
I brought it cos it implied it was for Vista

Oh and i use it because I really like it and XP feels like a step backwards. I run a top spec PC so i run a top spec OS - because i can. Vista is the perfect medium for my high spec rig and as i use the PC all day every day, eye candy and nice features are something i value highly... vista has all that.

m3lv1n · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:53

Well pre release for the vast majority of users.

I guess you have MSDN or Technet.

Agreed it is a much nicer OS been running a copy at work for a while now.

Out of curiosity you using 64bit or 32bit and have you tried the Ready boost function.

Kinda thinking of 64bit Ultimate another 2GB of RAM and 4GB (ready boost compatible) flash drive would be nice gonna be totally skint again though.

SimonMaltby · 3 Jan 2007 at 17:04

m3lv1n said:
Out of curiosity you using 64bit or 32bit and have you tried the Ready boost function.

Kinda thinking of 64bit Ultimate another 2GB of RAM and 4GB (ready boost compatible) flash drive would be nice gonna be totally skint again though.

I'm using the 32bit as there are far fewer compatability issues.

I do use ready boost although i can not say i have noticed a spped improvement myself. Take care with this, the Flash memory must be fast enough right through the device. I have brought several 'fast' SD and USB sticks that do not work as Vista says they are too slow. Wait for flash cards to be sold as Vista ready Boost compatable.

m3lv1n · 4 Jan 2007 at 06:11

Yeah i say some early reviews some expensive sticks that you would expect to work don't and some suprising so called "cheaper" sticks are fine. Corsair voyager expensive don't work.

Mekrel · 4 Jan 2007 at 08:19

I was going to post and ask, why do you want Vista?

You want Vista for Videos and the desktop... right.

Whats top end about vista, nothing as of yet untill content is released that will only work on it, such as DX10 games.

If anything it's not up to XP in terms of speed, and it's not even been fully tested yet. A full test is when it's been released and it's running on a million different types of hardware configurations.

Will take some patches and later on service packs, to fix some bugs that any new released software has.

If you want a nice looking desktop, then use XP with Windows blinds.

Expecting to be able to use Vista off the bat and have it nice sailing like XP is expecting far too much. I bet even if 8800GTX drivers do come out, there will be other potential problems facing you.

Just wait, like me

KWJay · 4 Jan 2007 at 08:34

I heard that Vista is actually going to be slower than XP when running DX9 games as it has some sort of DX9 compatible mode and not true DX9 support. Surely then people will start to complain about its game performance until DX10 games/patches start to appear.

Don't get me wrong tho, i'm all for Vista. Used RC1 for a bit and found it really nice to use, very pretty, but i think i'm gonna wait for a while before i make the switch. Also, i just know that my audio recording software won't work with it as it only works with .Net Framework 1.1 installed on xp and not with 2.0! lol!

I think Vista will be great once it's had a chance to mature, just like everything else pc wise!

tomanders91 · 4 Jan 2007 at 09:16

yeah vista is actually apprently going to benifit from having 4gb of ram.

SimonMaltby · 4 Jan 2007 at 09:21

Its strange reading your comments about 'Why Vista'.

here in the OCUK forum we are always trying to get the absolute most from our components by overclocking them. many, like me, enjoy the thrill of getting the latest equipment... often getting the lesser, cheaper, version and making it run as fast, or faster, than the more expensive option. Every time you stress your system in this way there is pottential for some unreliability. Most of us that overclock suffer from the odd blue screen or system lockup from time to time. So why is Vista different? If you get the odd error or the odd bit slows down unxepectedly, is that not a challenge, like finding the optimum overclock?

I thought that most people here were enjoying the forum because they rise to a challenge and saving money through overclcoking... personally i see Vista in the same way... exciting

I have now been using Vista as my main OS for work and play (i work for myself as a web developer, database engineer and business consultant). I have XP as a dual boot but use it less and less these days. I also enjoy LAN parties and have used Vista as my only game OS at a couple of these.

I started with RC2 5700 and now run the MSDN released version.

Personally, I have found Vista very, very reliable.

Personal Pros...
1. Love Aero, it looks nice and is actually usefukl to see thumbnails of open windows in the taskbar.
2. The search facility is excellent and i use it all the time.
3. Built in Media Centre (in Ultimate) is excellent (i use this because i have an HTPC case with remote control)
4. There is more protection. Many files are harder to change which although frustrating from time to time is a very good thing.
5. USB devices that constantly failed on XP work flawlessly in Vista (for me). I use an o2 PDA phone, which XP hates. The case IR controller again works perfecrtly in Vista, but XP hates. - these are just a couple of examples.
6. The gadets are very useful when working. I use various linked gadgets to outlook.
7. Personally I have not had any issues with getting games to work. I use the following... UT2003, UT2004, Q3, Q4, COD2, Oblivion, F.E.A.R., Far Cry, Flight Simulator X, Toca Race driver 2, NFS Most Wanted, NFS Carbon, GTR2, Half Life, Serious Sam 2, Battlefield 1942.

Cons..
1. 3d mark scores (and by deduction game speed) are a littkle slower in a like for like case. for example 3d2006 looses about 200 points.
2. Uses lots of Hard Drive space... I would say double XP

These are just a quick run through my thoughts. My games / LAN experience was while using a single Connect 3D 1950XTX with beta Vista Drivers.

gotheb1ues · 4 Jan 2007 at 10:29

tomanders91 said:
yeah vista is actually apprently going to benifit from having 4gb of ram.

But not on the 32bit version as it won't reconize 4GB.

m3lv1n · 5 Jan 2007 at 04:15

Anyone tried Vista 32Bit with any more than 3GB or RAM if so how much does it report?

I have tried several WinXP machines with 4GB of RAM windows has reported anything from 2288MB to 3460MB depending on the system. Good old linux with the bigmem kernel seemed fine on them 4GB reported. These were Boxx, HP and IBM systems BTW.

Dual Opty's reporting the most @ 3460 and the few Netburst Xeons I have tried seemed to report 3072MB.

darkblade · 5 Jan 2007 at 14:10

SimonMaltby said:
Its strange reading your comments about 'Why Vista'.

I think he was getting at why you specifically want to use Vista at this time. Your response pointed out that many people on here like to be on the leading edge of technology with their PCs and have the latest hardware. Which is cool. Most of these people accept that there are often some teething issues with the first releases, but have learnt to accept this.

What is confusing though - is that despite your points above, you sent back an 8800GTX because it doesn't have native drivers for Vista and DX10. So depsite the fact that it is currently the fastest card available for DX9 games at the moment, you weren't happy because the Vista drivers are not ready before the official Vista retail release.

I think the question most people are asking is why you bought an 8800 card in the first place. I do agree that Nvidia could speed up their DX10 driver release so that people can test the drivers before the official release of Vista. In order for NVidia to live up to their marketing promise, they need to provide the drivers in time for the official Vista release.

However, the fact that you have an MSDN subscription and are presumably fairly technical savy, makes it all the more surprising that you have returned a card because it does not have DX10 drivers for DX10 games that don't exist. If you knew that you couldn't currently play DX10 games on it, what did you buy the card for? This is why you got some harsh responses.

You clearly don't think it's worth the performance gain in DX9 games, or you would have kept it. Did you buy it just to run desktop applications under DX10 in Vista? Seems a lot of money just for that. Hence why we are all confused!

Having sent the card back, you should make a cost saving when the drivers are officially launched, as hopefully by then, the 8800 prices will come down a bit.

SimonMaltby · 5 Jan 2007 at 14:36

darkblade said:
I think he was getting at why you specifically want to use Vista at this time. Your response pointed out that many people on here like to be on the leading edge of technology with their PCs and have the latest hardware. Which is cool. Most of these people accept that there are often some teething issues with the first releases, but have learnt to accept this.

What is confusing though - is that despite your points above, you sent back an 8800GTX because it doesn't have native drivers for Vista and DX10. So depsite the fact that it is currently the fastest card available for DX9 games at the moment, you weren't happy because the Vista drivers are not ready before the official Vista retail release.

I think the question most people are asking is why you bought an 8800 card in the first place. I do agree that Nvidia could speed up their DX10 driver release so that people can test the drivers before the official release of Vista. In order for NVidia to live up to their marketing promise, they need to provide the drivers in time for the official Vista release.

However, the fact that you have an MSDN subscription and are presumably fairly technical savy, makes it all the more surprising that you have returned a card because it does not have DX10 drivers for DX10 games that don't exist. If you knew that you couldn't currently play DX10 games on it, what did you buy the card for? This is why you got some harsh responses.

You clearly don't think it's worth the performance gain in DX9 games, or you would have kept it. Did you buy it just to run desktop applications under DX10 in Vista? Seems a lot of money just for that. Hence why we are all confused!

Having sent the card back, you should make a cost saving when the drivers are officially launched, as hopefully by then, the 8800 prices will come down a bit.

All good stuff. I brought the 8800GTX believeing it would have Vista drivers because the marketing makes you think that. remember i brought it back in November. I would have been happy playing games in XP and having basic 3d support in Vista - as a temp messure, but you cant even do the basics with the card.

Now its gone back i'm in the good possition of waiting to see what happens and watching prices fall. I'm quite happy. I am just doing all i can to ensure anyone buying the 8800's knows its not for Vista yet as the marketing is still misleading. In XP the 8800 beats anything else by miles and is to be highly recommended.