problem with ati drivers.

[ALEXIS_DH]

hello fellow monkeys and specially binaryvisions.

i´ve got this problem. i have a radeon 9250.
i normally use the drivers 8.18 that came on the ati cd.

i saw the "new and improved xxxx% more speed" driver from the ati website, and dl and give it a try. i tried to launch grand prix legends, and it crashed. same thing with nascar racing 2003.

whats up with that? i went back to the drivers on the cd... but i dont get AAA on GPL, and in directx it doesnt look as good as opengl in NR2003. also the frame rate drops from 60fps, to 40fps when switching from dx to opengl..

anybody can give me some pointer about the drivers? i´ve heard they can make a lot of difference.

oh yeah, and i also got a serious looking error message everytime i booted the computer, "mcciXXXX.exe crash".

[binary visions]

Well, 99% of the time you should be using the latest drivers. The first thing I'd do is go to ATIs website and see if they have troubleshooting or information about these particular errors you're having in conjunction with the latest drivers.

[H8R]

You have to COMPLETELY un-install ATI drivers before you install new ones. They even make a utility do do this -

CATALYST Uninstaller:


https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=27

[Pau11y]

BV, you had mentioned that ATI has driver issues before. Is this what you were referring to?
I run a 9800 Pro on this system and the only drivers I use are the ones you get from MS during Windows Updates. I need this machine stable 'cause it's my homework machine. But if I was to game on this machine, I'd look at the gaming sites for hacked drivers. I've had some good luck w/ those from my gaming days.

[blue]

ATI has had so many driver issues its not even funny. Most of the time you've gotta rollback with the Catalyst uninstaller, find the old driver, install, and wait a month for them to come out with a "fix" (that happens to break everything but whatever it fixed).

Happy nVidia convert. :)

[binary visions]

Yeah, Pau11y, this is it. ATI can't write decent drivers to save their lives. It's unfortunate, since their cards perform pretty well.

[ALEXIS_DH]

You have to COMPLETELY un-install ATI drivers before you install new ones. They even make a utility do do this -

CATALYST Uninstaller:


https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=27

nice. i tried that, and installer the .net framework before... and now it runs on nascar racing 2003, marginally better than with the older drivers.
but the "new and improved" controllers take up a lot of ram. and my pc takes a bit more to start up, plus now i gotta log in, instead of booting up straight to the desktop.

ati sucks balls. i think i´ll get an nvidia now.
what nvidia is comparable (pricewise and performance wise) to the 9800pro, which i´ve seen online for 130bucks....????

[H8R]

nice. i tried that, and installer the .net framework before... and now it runs on nascar racing 2003, marginally better than with the older drivers.
but the "new and improved" controllers take up a lot of ram. and my pc takes a bit more to start up, plus now i gotta log in, instead of booting up straight to the desktop.

ati sucks balls. i think i´ll get an nvidia now.
what nvidia is comparable (pricewise and performance wise) to the 9800pro, which i´ve seen online for 130bucks....????

You didn't say, but I'll assume this is AGP, not PCIe.

Go for the nVidia 6600GT.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127150

or:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130214

[H8R]

Yeah, Pau11y, this is it. ATI can't write decent drivers to save their lives. It's unfortunate, since their cards perform pretty well.

They had an edge in speed and features a year or two ago, but nVidia is eating them for breakfast now.