*GTX 260/280 Unofficial TPU! Thread*

[ZenZimZaliben]

Yes it supports dual monitors.

 

[shawnizzzle]

i just noticed that 178.24 was released im going to get it and test it right now. hope its better then the 178.13. That driver sucked

 

[shawnizzzle]

how exactly do you guys install new drivers. just curious. I go to control panel nvidia drivers uninstall video drivers restart to safe mode and do a driver cleaner then restart again to install new drivers. Is this how you do it or should i do it a different way.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

I usually don't do the safemode step unless switching cards. Like from ATI to Nvidia. Although what you are doing is fine and probably better then just uninstalling, rebooting and loading drivers.

 

[shawnizzzle]

Well the driver seems to be okay i didnt get any driver stopped and has recovered but i also didnt notice any performace improvemnts eigther. Mabee its just me. Im curious to see what other people experience though

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

Bummer so Nibitor says I already have max voltage through bios at 1.18...Now things get tricky. Need to decide whether I remove the IHS....'

 

[Tatty_Two]

Bummer so Nibitor says I already have max voltage through bios at 1.18...Now things get tricky. Need to decide whether I remove the IHS....'

Personally, I never play (including harware mods) until I have had the card a while, I only do BIOS mods etc in the early days, just so if anything goes wrong and it's not RMAable I dont feel quite as bad as I have had a little value out of the card!

 

[shawnizzzle]

yeah i tend to send my cards back for rma's alot so i never hard mod them. The evga customer support has saved me so much money. Thats all i will buy is evga although when you call them if your having a problem the people there are complete idiots and give me no help. I called once about the famouse nvkdlmm driver has stopped and has recovered and they told me to get the latest drivers like im an idiot. Then i was told to downclock them. I asked him why would i buy a new graphics card if i got to downclock them and make them slower than like a 8800gt. I got so mad at them i contacted the president of evga about this and he was a big help

 

[johnspack]

Well, tried the 178.24 drivers on my 2nd install, 79c for warhead, although stable. What is with this game? Now I'm starting to wonder about aftermarket cooling for my 280gtx, almost seems that water cooling is the best solution, but that'll kill my intel upgrade. Most of my games run in the 40s or 50s, only crysis original hits like 74c max. I've got huge airflow, just don't get it....

 

[chickenworm]

Taking advice from Johnspack and Kursah, I updated to SP3 and installed 178.24. So far the 178.24 seems to run stable for me at 728/1566 with 3dm06 score of 17500 (max temp at 52c @ 100% fan) ~ the performance and the temp is about the same than when I bench it with 177.92.

Haven't tried warhead yet, but will do so and see if it runs stable/cool. Was busy earlier today taking apart my rig to clean out the dust accumulated on my fan/filter. Btw, a silly question: is it advisable to aim the vacuum cleaner at the back of my 260 (the exhaust vent) to suck out the dust?? I lived in a real dusty area, so, saving up to put my rig underwater sometime at the end of the year.

What do you guys think of the eVGA 280 HC16 Hydro Copper? I hope the price drops in a couple months time as thinking of getting one for x'mas.

 

[johnspack]

I'm going to put my 2nd install back to 178.15, the .24 increased temps, and once again digital vibrance is broken, maybe a small point, but when you pay 500 bucks for a video card, you want all features!

 

[Kursah]

What do you guys think of the eVGA 280 HC16 Hydro Copper? I hope the price drops in a couple months time as thinking of getting one for x'mas.

I would say just do what dadi_oh did:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73494

That looks awesome and seems better than a larger waterblock/sink. But if the HC16 is massively cheaper, it may be worth it to just get the card with the goodies installed...maybe dadi_oh might sell that thing in the future...who knows!

 

[johnspack]

Testing out the 180.10 driver under vista64, haven't benched yet, but so far have noticed that pysx configuration is now in 3d settings, multi monitor setup is much more advanced, but still kinda tricky.. also more video and tv settings:

and no 180 drivers yet for any other os than vista64.. I want an xp64 one baaaad!

 

[johnspack]

Well my internet is acting wiggy as usual, and I can't upload images right now, but I have a 600 point increase in vantage at all same settings using the 180 driver.
got a hoster to work.. my new vantage score:

by the way, that's 600 marks more than I've been able to do so far! Identical clock settings, actually on accident at bit lower mem settings... I really want the xp64 ones!!!

 

[SplitBURST]

I usually don't do the safemode step unless switching cards. Like from ATI to Nvidia. Although what you are doing is fine and probably better then just uninstalling, rebooting and loading drivers.

I don't see why that's needed? letting Nvidia driver setup uninstall old and install the new works without any problems always has for me at least

 

[johnspack]

Just use add/remove programs, uninstall old driver, reboot, install new one. Always works! Unless you switch to an ati card....

 

[johnspack]

Still safest to just uninstall the old one, I have had trouble before when I didn't, not on all drivers, just some....

 

[Kursah]

Even that is not needed, just run the setup let it work. Reboot and ur done

Well that depends on who you are and what you're after...if you want max results out of the newest drivers, then in reality doing what john recommended is in fact the way to go, whether ATI or NV. But if you're more casual or ASSume that it's good enough, then the simple download the new stuff and run the install is good enough. I generally do the latter anymore, but if I want to know for sure I'm only using the most recent and getting the most from it I will take the trouble to do what john stated earlier for insurance to the fact of integrity. If not, then as I stated before I take the more casual and I suppose noob route and just run the install from the new driver download without doing anything else.

Remember, what you state is opinion, not fact...there are many that go to much trouble in gaming and benching to prove what you just stated is wrong, even if it garnishes no extra performance, and when it does that's just a cherry on the icing.

 

[Cold Storm]

Cherry on the icing.. lol.. Love that Kursah!
Spit is right on the fact that all you have to do is update drivers and go... but, when it comes to drivers that are tied with the device manager it is better to do what John says.. This way the old stuff is never there to mess with the new. Also go with a reg. cleaner to make sure whatever is missing a folder is fixed and not going to bug you also.
Sometimes, when a graphic's card has a issue due to performance problems, it's due to how the drivers are in it. So, if a person was to ask how to install drivers on to a card here... We'd tell them to unistall everything that had to do with that driver, run a reg cleaner to clean up anything that uninstall leaves behind (and it does leave things behind some times), restart, then install..
Nothing better then having a clean fresh start to video drivers!

 

[Cold Storm]

If you would do a reg. clean right after uninstalling drivers, you will see that there is still files among those that was left behind. If you look at the right spots, there you will also see that files from the old drivers are in. You never know "when" or "if" by any chance when they are being used, that those "old" files will want to try and work, instead of the new...
It's just all ways better to do every single driver that requires a hardware use to be uninstalled, then reinstalled with the new one. Wouldn't you want to clean out your desk, throw away all the junk in order to put in your new one?

 

[shawnizzzle]

actually i have had some problems with the "nvdklmm driver has stopped and has recovered." These errors only happened when i would install a new driver without running a driver cleaner . Once i do that and install on a clean slate they all seem to work better with no errors. So yes i would recommend it and if you go to the C: system32 and in the search type in nv*.sys you will be able to see all the old drivers that are still there. My opinion is that they conflict with eachother beacuse if you take ownership of the files with command promp and delete them the driver shuting off also tends to stop.

 

[Kursah]

I don't believe there would be any difference in performers doing it the "long way" a couple of years ago maybe but not now. =)

You don't have to believe, there are 100's if not 1000's of others that do...that's all I'm saying, whether or not it's truly worth it has really been less and less of an issue with myself and my rigs, but some still want to be "hardcore" about it. To each their own.

 

[Kursah]

C'mon guys, keep it low-key, keep it at least somewhat on topic...this isn't a personal's thread...it's a GTX 200 series thread...keep it that way please.

 

[Kursah]

At least I've read up on the subject and not like you think u know it all.

:shadedshu

TAKE IT TO PM or get REPORTED...I asked nice once...not doing it again!

At least talk about the damn cards, is that asking too much? .I have my own opinions of you guys, which matters not to this thread...this is a place to help others not boost yourself and knock down others, either post something useful or not at all please...or take it to general nonesense. If I knew things were going to continue on this path I would've requested this a few posts ago...I appreciate your cooperation in this issue and look forward to no more trashing this thread. Thank you.

 

[SplitBURST]

You don't have to believe, there are 100's if not 1000's of others that do...that's all I'm saying, whether or not it's truly worth it has really been less and less of an issue with myself and my rigs, but some still want to be "hardcore" about it. To each their own.

Sure ofc, am not saying DON'T DO IT! am saying it's not needed totally different and to add, this is what I believe. Like you and Mr Cold Storm I have a right to my opinion.

actually i have had some problems with the "nvdklmm driver has stopped and has recovered." These errors only happened when i would install a new driver without running a driver cleaner . Once i do that and install on a clean slate they all seem to work better with no errors. So yes i would recommend it and if you go to the C: system32 and in the search type in nv*.sys you will be able to see all the old drivers that are still there. My opinion is that they conflict with eachother beacuse if you take ownership of the files with command promp and delete them the driver shuting off also tends to stop.

Well as i said, it should be used if problem exist