I need a noobs guide to ATI drivers etc...

[no_1_dave]

Havent used ATI for 2 years but i'm getting a X1900 XT in a couple of days (with a new opti 170 setup)

What do I need in terms of best drivers? A way to make game profiles (AA, AF etc)? overclock as much as possible?

I'll also be getting one of the new Zalman GPU coolers, will this drop temps nicely? because I want my case (Akasa Eclipse) as cool as poss for overclocking my opti

 

[ajgoodfellow]

Hi

I'd personally avoid the Catalyst Control Centre as I find it to be rather slow and hog rescources. Thankfully you can get the drivers without it - see here (direct link here (22MB))

For overclocking I use ATI Tool. CCC (Catalyst Control Centre) does have an overclocking option though but it has limits set for memory and GPU speeds

The new ATI cards have seperate 2D and 3D speeds too

I've got the Zalman VF700Cu and it's a great cooler. It's very quiet on 5V and it dropped the temps of my card considerably over the stock cooler. The VF900 should only be better

 

[squiffy]

I got a extra 2000 3dmarks with CCC installed, even with OC option left alone. I would be careful with overclocking as it easily reaches >60'c!
Wouldn't changing the X1900 air cooling solution degrade air cooling? Being that the stock exhausts hot air outside the case, rather than just swirling it around like the Zalmann's.

btw how many instances of CLI.EXE should there be in memory? I had two, but couple of times three or even four of them!