Omega Drivers

[Bravo 1]

Well, having recieved a Dell Inspiron Laptop, I was restriceted to using Dell's drivers for my ATI Radeon 9700 Mobility and had to wait for Dell to update every time ATI updated. Well, it turns out Dell's done a not too good job keeping up with all this...

...well, I was talking to Regan about some issues I was experiencing with games and he recommended Omega Drivers. So I downloaded it and installed...woohooo! Improvements im performance, extra options and extra resolutions (hard to find for a widescreen panel).

I highly recommend these to anyone to try!

The purpose of the Omega Drivers is to provide gamers with an alternate set of drivers, ones that have more options and features than the original sets. The drivers contain optimizations, extra features (like OC capabilities), more resolutions and internal tweaks that can give them the edge in a gaming environment over the normal drivers, which are often tailored for synthetic benchmarks. All Omega driver sets are tested (unless noted) by myself in my own PC or in an alternate PC (in the case of the Nvidia drivers) to ensure maximum compatibility and reliability.

...make sure to remove your old drivers before installing these though! (and not only is this pretty simple to install one driver fits all! ...no annoying 'well, I don't have one for ATI 9500, only for 9600'...etc).

[Calislahn]

Downloaded this earlier and have spent most of the evening playing MW, now i wont say it was exceptionaly better as MW and my comp have never quite got on but i was running through Balmora at a slightly faster stuttering crawl than usual

[Regan]

I'm pleased it worked so well for you, Bravo

when I finally get XP I'll use them as well.

[Bravo 1]

You don't use them already? ...you need XP to use them?? ...odd...

...I forgot to ask, but how come a tech savvy person such as yourself does not already have XP? ...I heard Me was horrible...

[Regan]

It's a bit expensive for me, in my current financial situation

Woe is me etc. ;D

[Mebyon]

I think you really need a person like me to ask the obvious questions!

GForce FX5200 works well. Do I need to do this? Delete existing drivers? Ooo Errr, a spasm of fear crossed the heart!

[Bravo 1]

Make sure your download the right drivers (click on NVIDIA, then choose your operating system (probably xp, right?)). After downloading, go to add/remove programs, find your current driver and hit the remove button (for me, I have an ATI Control panel, an uninstaller and the driver listed in the add/remove area). Make sure anyhting like that is gone (or post a screenie of your list if you're not sure). After that, reboot your computer so changes can take effect and double click on what you downloaded. Follow the instructions and voila! ...again, reboot when done (and make sure then to configure your resolution and reset your desktop to 32bit instead of the default 16bit it sets it at after you install...just right click anywhere on your background on your desktop and select properties).

...whew, that was a long paragraph...;D

...did I miss anything Regan?

[Regan]

Nope ;D



don't worry, the novelty will wear off soon

[Mebyon]

Thanks fellers.

Now, the original question. Why am I doing this, will it make a huge difference? ;D

[Bravo 1]

Regan reported a 15-20% increase in performance with Morrowind; I have yet to try it as the benchmarks I remember for mine were with some specific mods and I have yet to gear my MW for mods and not mod testing...;D

...and I can vouch that it improves compatibility with old games and is a good replacement to cr@ppy Dell drivers (and the bit of time I had to try it, things did run more smoothly and I think this driver might be a TAD more effiecient, but certainly more customizable to get the most out of your vid card).

;D

[Mebyon]

Thanks for the explanation Brav. I think, as my machine is working 'to my satisfaction' I'll leave it for a bit! I will, however, dl the Omega stuff as I'm bound to forget where I heard about it so I'll have it on board just in case.

I think the phrase is "If it ain't f*ck*d don't fix it!"

[Regan]

Wow

Have yet to try MW but with NFS:UG2 the framerate increase over the stock ATI drivers is unbelievable. Up from 25 to 40 with almost all 'knobs' and 'whistles' switched on. (Sorry if I'm getting too technical ;D)

It only takes a couple of minutes and a reboot or two, Mebyon, and the results are well worth it

[Mebyon]

Huge sigh.

OK I'll give it a whirl. But not just yet! I'm off to the UK next week and I've got masses to do before I go, a wrecked computer would put me firmly in with the dog!

[Calislahn]

Again so soon? i thought last time you said it would do you for another five years ;D

Make sure you pack loads of woolies it's bloody cold right now