ATI 4.3's out

by **Rocky Dennis** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:18 pm

http://ati.com/support/drivers/winxp/radeonwdm-xp.html?type=xp&prodType=graphic&prod=productsXPdriver&submit.x=9&submit.y=8

among fixes:
Texture corruption is no longer seen when playing the game Battlefield 1942

by **Lt. Mass** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:17 pm

Perhaps someone can clear things up for me. I recently bought the 9800 pro and it's been working great for me. I only have the original drivers that came with the purchase installed. I'm hesitant to install any of the updated stuff, since it seems people that do sometimes end up with problems and have to go back. If everything is working fine, should I update? Will the difference be noticeable? I don't have the slightest complaint with my video right now (no skips, and barely any lag even on the FH mod), and hope to keep it that way!

System specs if that makes a difference:
P4T533-C Asus mobo
512 mb 1066 Rambus
SB Audigy2
Windows XP
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb

Thx for any advise.

by **Rocky Dennis** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:44 pm

When I got my 9700 pro back in January I used the drivers off the disk. In game I had problems reading the text and making out the nametags. I figured it was because I had AA and AF going but the eyecandy was worth keeping it. Some drivers came out at about that time so I installed them for the hell of it and presto text problem solved. I always update and if gameplay is worse you can always go back to the ones you were using

by **yaDad** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:45 pm

always install the newest drivers....ati drivers only get better...i have never had a problem with new ati driver installs

by **Buliwyf** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:12 pm

wonder if the bf resolution is the aa/asf smear

by **Buliwyf** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:39 pm

nope, still smeared look. DICE has to fix it anyway.

by **shockwave203** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:43 pm

you only really need to update if the newest drivers fix a bug that you are having. If you're not having any bugs, there isn't a need to update, because there are no speed increases with newer releases. I'm still using the 3.5 release

if you have an Nvidia card though, you should update, because they usually come with speed increases

*edit* - nevermind, I'm an idiot. the 4.3's offer 3-7% speed increases with DX9 games

by **Bullhead** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 11:30 pm

Originally posted by shockwave203
*edit* - nevermind, I'm an idiot.

that's ok, we forgive you

I usually run the newest drivers, since they've presumably fixed bugs from prior ones (although they may introduce new ones). If I have issues, I just uninstall the new ones and install last good ones I had. The key is to uninstall, reboot, and use drivercleaner to get rid of leftovers before doing new install.

by **RCinator** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 5:09 pm

This release sucks, actulally - it removes support for Overdrive, Custom Game Profiles, and disabling the alternate DVI operation mode from the control panel.

If you've got the 9800Pro or XT, I'd stay away.

by **Jeffro** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 5:16 pm

Originally posted by RCinator
This release sucks, actulally - it removes support for Overdrive, Custom Game Profiles, and disabling the alternate DVI operation mode from the control panel.

If you've got the 9800Pro or XT, I'd stay away.

Never have used alternate dvi operation...what does it do?

by **RCinator** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 5:20 pm

Originally posted by Jeffro
Never have used alternate dvi operation...what does it do?

If you have an LCD (like me), it changes the refresh method just slightly to make it"more compatible" with all LCDs. I disable it - it's enabled by default.

by **Lt. Mass** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 7:10 pm

Doh! So last night I download the drivers. I read the section where it tells you that you have to uninstall ATI control panel and then ATI display driver. I start with the control panel and receive a "blah blah blah, can't find call procedure something or other, blah blah blah". So basically it won't uninstall. :wall:

I do some reading on the internet and discover that you could run into this problem if you installed a new ATI vid card without uninstalling the software for an old ATI (I went from 9000 pro to 9800 pro). Finally got rid of everthing so that there is nothing ATI in my add/remove programs or registry, and do the install. Got it working now, but what a pain in the a$$. Only took me about 2 hours for all this. Was there a faster way? Something I should have done different maybe? Just a novice still trying to learn....

by **AnimalCracka** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 7:19 pm

Mass, if you were using 3.8 or higher, it comes with an uninstall utility thats takes out the control panel and the display drivers for you.

by **Lt. Mass** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 9:34 pm

Not sure what the old version was. Just whatever came with the purchase. I never ran into going to control panel: add/remove programs, click on what I want to remove, and then have it look like it is starting, but comes up with that error I mentioned above. Was as if I was missing an uninstall component or something. But everything looks fine now, and I now know that I need to uninstall old stuff before adding new stuff from now on. Lesson learned (but I don't expect to switch vid cards for a while!). Thx.

by **Evan** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 9:44 pm

Originally posted by Lt. Mass
Not sure what the old version was. Just whatever came with the purchase. I never ran into going to control panel: add/remove programs, click on what I want to remove, and then have it look like it is starting, but comes up with that error I mentioned above. Was as if I was missing an uninstall component or something. But everything looks fine now, and I now know that I need to uninstall old stuff before adding new stuff from now on. Lesson learned (but I don't expect to switch vid cards for a while!). Thx.

Most likely 3.7 on the disk.

ATI 4.3's out

ATI 4.3's out

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