I need graphical driver update advice

[Drazzil]

I tried to update my graphical drivers on my sapphire 9800 pro (due to graphical problems with Star Wars Galaxies) and my frame rate shat itself, the frame rate absolutely went into the toliet. I used system restore and the problem corrected itself. But I still need to update my detonator drivers so my games will play correctly. Can someone give me a step by step guide to making this work right?

Thanks!

[Turtle]

Normally, the process is pretty simple.  Go into safe mode if you can (I don't think there is such a mode for WinXP).

Uninstall your video card.  Make sure you go through the whole uninstall routine instead of just removing it from the hardware list.  This removes any extra driver files that may interfere with the new drivers.

Reboot your computer (usually it will force you to).

When it comes back up, verify that your video card is now a generic card driver.  Then install the new drivers.

However, some newer drivers, for some reason or other, will kill your framerate simply because of changes they made in the drivers.

[Daehawk]

uh dude you do not use Detonator drivers on a ATI card. theres your problem right there.

[Turtle]

Heh, I think he meant catalyst.

Anyway, in case you did install detonator drivers, and already uninstalled your previous drivers, it means you're running on Windows XP default drivers for the card, meaning no optimizations whatsoever.

[Drazzil]

Ya I meant catalyst, heh

[Drazzil]

Okay, I tried all of that, and installing from scratch, and it did the exact same thing. When I install the new drivers I get like a frame by frame rate on EVERYTHING and Im at the end of my rope here.

[Turtle]

That's just really, really odd.

Have you tried the omega drivers for your card?  They're not supported, but they're basically pieced/hacked together by some very experienced hardware gurus out of the best of each driver release.  Not sure where to find them these days.

[Destructor]

That's just really, really odd.

Have you tried the omega drivers for your card?  They're not supported, but they're basically pieced/hacked together by some very experienced hardware gurus out of the best of each driver release.  Not sure where to find them these days.

That's a simple answer:

http://www.omegadrivers.net/

Just pulled them yesterday, to tell you the truth. Wanted to exploit my X800 XT to its fullest, so off to overclocking land I go.

In all honesty though, while you really should uninstall your older drivers before installing the new ones, that's something I never do. Yes, it's technically wrong, but I've never had any issues yet.

The only thing I can suggest is to try to download older drivers. I'm just not sure where to get them from.

[stiffler]

You might want to give Driver Cleaner a try.  Uninstall the drivers then run the utility.  Then install the latest drivers.  Make sure to look at the different sliders in the display preferences.  Also, go type "dxdiag (from the Start->Run box) and make sure DirectX is working properly.

Good luck.  Hopefully we can work this out.

[Clanwolfer]

I wish I could give those Omega drivers a try, but last time I checked they didn't support ATI's TV-in on AIW cards.  Until they have that, no way am I giving up my TV for better performance.