ATI newbie (coming from NVidia) question !

[Cole Turner]

ok, obviously first I uninstall the nvidia drivers, then shut down PC,
install ati card, then ...

.... install the omega drivers?

(Sapphire x800 Pro)

I prefer stability to a few % performance !

thanks guys!

Cole ***

 

[Pluvious]

ok, obviously first I uninstall the nvidia drivers, then shut down PC,
install ati card, then ...

... install the omega drivers?

(Sapphire x800 Pro)

I prefer stability to a few % performance !

thanks guys!

Cole ***

yes.. uninstall the nvidia drivers, but before you shut down, you
should run this program, http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/ then
reboot. Personally, I then switch the video drivers to basic standard
vga in windows. THEN .. reboot one more time, and then double click
omegas .exe file.

Pluvious

 

[First of One]

Don't use the Omega drivers unless you have a problem with the standard
Catalysts.

 

[Sleepy]

standard add/remove has always worked fine for me.
the omega and official 4.4s are both good drivers -
the omega's felt a little smoother. Im currently using the
4.8 betas from www.guru3d and theyre very good and work glitch free with
Thief 3, Far Cry, Ground Control 2, UT2004 ...

 

[Pluvious]

Don't use the Omega drivers unless you have a problem with the standard
Catalysts.

Why would you say this? The Omega drivers are better then the official
ones IMHO.

Pluvious

 

[Gonzo]

Why would you say this? The Omega drivers are better then the official
ones IMHO.

Pluvious

Ever hear of the expression "If it aint brock, don't fix it!"??

Not all Omega users have had zero problems. Omegas aren't made from
scratch, they are simply hacked together drivers made of a mix and mash of
newer and older files.

Do a google search for "omega drivers" and see what I mean.

Once you install them you may or may not have a hard time getting rid of
them if they cause problems. My suggestion is to do either a complete
back,up before trying them or at least do a system restore point backup
before you install them. Any problems with them may not be apparent at
first. They may show up at a later time with a newer game.

 

[patrickp]

yes.. uninstall the nvidia drivers, but before you shut down, you
should run this program, http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/ then
reboot. Personally, I then switch the video drivers to basic standard
vga in windows. THEN .. reboot one more time, and then double click
omegas .exe file.

Pluvious

A couple of quibbles, Cole - Pluvious' is generally a good
recommendation, although I would be inclined to run Driver Cleaner
after uninstalling and rebooting, although it's less convenient
(you'll be on the VGA drivers and not have such a good display). If
you have an NVidia chipset, you may have trouble distinguishing
between chipset and card drivers: probably a good idea to install the
chipset drivers too, clean everything, then reinstall the chipset
drivers.

I'd also recommend starting off with the latest Catalyst drivers (4.7,
soon to be 4.8 - apparently with OGL finally fixed!) rather than
Omega, to start with, as several people later in this thread have also
suggested. You can always change to the Omega drivers if you want to
try them; probably best to go with the standard ones to start off.
The basic purpose of Omega's drivers is game (_not_ benchmark)
performance; despite what some people here say, they are not
inherently more stable than Catalyst drivers. I have tried them on
more than one occasion and, and as a non-latest-and-greatest games
player, have found no advantages - and as many problems, probably, as
I've had with Catalysts i.e. very few, but not none.

And don't forget to install DX9 if you don't have it - DX 9.0c has
just come out: I'm running it now on W2K and 98SE boxes: no problems,
stable.

patrickp

(e-mail address removed) - take five to email me

 

[Cole Turner]

thanks Patrick and other fellows!!!!

 

[Pluvious]

Ever hear of the expression "If it aint brock, don't fix it!"??

Not all Omega users have had zero problems. Omegas aren't made from
scratch, they are simply hacked together drivers made of a mix and mash of
newer and older files.

Do a google search for "omega drivers" and see what I mean.

Once you install them you may or may not have a hard time getting rid of
them if they cause problems. My suggestion is to do either a complete
back,up before trying them or at least do a system restore point backup
before you install them. Any problems with them may not be apparent at
first. They may show up at a later time with a newer game.

You are completely mistaken. Any "problems" are from people not
following instuctions or having a badly tuned rig. Might I suggest you
read up on his site http://www.omegadrivers.net/ and note this
paragraph:

}The Omega Drivers have been recognized by ATI as the best moddeed
drivers in the internet!

Here is a quote from Terry Makedon when he was interviewed by a German
Magazine:

"ATI supports the enthusiast community wholly. Omega Drivers are in
fact a good example of ATI’s user community at its best. What they are
in principle are CATALYST drivers with different settings enabled via
registry keys and other such methods. This provides users an
alternative to ATI’s CATALYST default settings. While there are a few
different modification drivers out in the community our relationship
with the creator of the Omega Drivers is of the highest working
standard. The author of these drivers is part of the CATALYST beta
driver testing team, and also in direct contact with ATI. In fact we
would go so far as to say that if a user chooses to go the mod driver
route, they go with the Omega Drivers." {


Pluvious

 

[patrickp]

Why would you say this? The Omega drivers are better then the official
ones IMHO.

Pluvious

No, they're better for you, Pluvious, and also for many gamers -
that's what Omegadriver is basically optimising his drivers for. If
someone is not a latest-and-greatest gamer - I'm not, and you have no
reason for believing the OP is - there's no real advantage. I've
tried them on more than one occasion, sometimes keeping them on my
system for a while, but found no improvement over the standard
Catalyst drivers.

I would agree if you were to say they're probably better for gamers,
and I wouldn't deny Omegadriver makes a good product. However,
someone starting off using an Ati card is probably better off using
the standard Catalyst drivers and then trying Omega's ones if and when
ready.

patrickp

(e-mail address removed) - take five to email me

 

[Gonzo]

You are completely mistaken. Any "problems" are from people not
following instuctions or having a badly tuned rig. Might I suggest you
read up on his site http://www.omegadrivers.net/ and note this
paragraph:

}The Omega Drivers have been recognized by ATI as the best moddeed
drivers in the internet!

Here is a quote from Terry Makedon when he was interviewed by a German
Magazine:

"ATI supports the enthusiast community wholly. Omega Drivers are in
fact a good example of ATI's user community at its best. What they are
in principle are CATALYST drivers with different settings enabled via
registry keys and other such methods. This provides users an
alternative to ATI's CATALYST default settings. While there are a few
different modification drivers out in the community our relationship
with the creator of the Omega Drivers is of the highest working
standard. The author of these drivers is part of the CATALYST beta
driver testing team, and also in direct contact with ATI. In fact we
would go so far as to say that if a user chooses to go the mod driver
route, they go with the Omega Drivers." {

Do a search for "uninstalling omega drivers" and see what you find.

I personally do not use them so could care less but I am interested in what
your or Omega's defenition of "modded" means exactly. Since you seem to be
knowledgable in this area, could you elaborate?

I still say, if it's not broke then why risk breaking it with the Omegas?

If you are having problems then by all means, knock yourself out but do a
backup first. Just my advice.

Im glad that there are people here who are excited about the Omega drivers
but surely you do not have a problem with people voicing an opposing view or
opinion right?

 

[Pluvious]

Do a search for "uninstalling omega drivers" and see what you find.

I personally do not use them so could care less but I am interested in what
your or Omega's defenition of "modded" means exactly. Since you seem to be
knowledgable in this area, could you elaborate?

I still say, if it's not broke then why risk breaking it with the Omegas?

If you are having problems then by all means, knock yourself out but do a
backup first. Just my advice.

Im glad that there are people here who are excited about the Omega drivers
but surely you do not have a problem with people voicing an opposing view or
opinion right?

I have no problem with people voicing an opposing view at all. I just
wonder how someone who doesn't use them can proclaim them to be
dangerous or 'unsafe'.

Pluvious

 

[Gonzo]

I have no problem with people voicing an opposing view at all. I just
wonder how someone who doesn't use them can proclaim them to be
dangerous or 'unsafe'.

Very Simple...I can read. I presume you can also right?

And I have been in this newsgroup for a very...very long time. Long enough
to know that the Omegas drivers are not as fantastic as some would like to
hype them up to be. YMMV.

I have been in the PC biz a long time. CGA, EGA, VGA, Tseng ET4000,
Rendition, 3Dfx, Rage3D, S3 Etc Etc. Been there and done that. I have been
a strong supporter of ATi even when it was crap.

As far as the Omega's are concerned, You don't have to be in a train crash
to know you do not want to be in one. It all goes back to what I said
before. If it ain't broke, why fix it? If you use them anyway, at least
backup.

BTW, are you going to answer my question or not? What is your defenition
of "modded" drivers? If your not sure then why not just say so?

 

[Pluvious]

Very Simple...I can read. I presume you can also right?

No need to be a smart ass. You trying to start something..?

And I have been in this newsgroup for a very...very long time. Long enough
to know that the Omegas drivers are not as fantastic as some would like to
hype them up to be. YMMV.

And I've stated before.. IMHO, many times.

I have been in the PC biz a long time. CGA, EGA, VGA, Tseng ET4000,
Rendition, 3Dfx, Rage3D, S3 Etc Etc. Been there and done that. I have been
a strong supporter of ATi even when it was crap.

...isn't that special.

As far as the Omega's are concerned, You don't have to be in a train crash
to know you do not want to be in one. It all goes back to what I said
before. If it ain't broke, why fix it? If you use them anyway, at least
backup.

That's the point.. they are an improvement over the generic ATI CAT's.
If they wheren't why would I bother using them? Omega has taken GAMERS
point of view and tweaked the drivers for that type of user. The basic
drivers are just that.. basic.

BTW, are you going to answer my question or not? What is your defenition
of "modded" drivers? If your not sure then why not just say so?

I'm not interested in getting in an argument with you. I've based my
view of Omegas drivers by how well they work on my systems. I've
noticed an improvement in image quality and in some cases smoother
game play. For me they are a lot easier to install and update as well.


Pluvious

 

[Gonzo]

No need to be a smart ass. You trying to start something..?


And I've stated before.. IMHO, many times.


..isn't that special.


That's the point.. they are an improvement over the generic ATI CAT's.
If they wheren't why would I bother using them? Omega has taken GAMERS
point of view and tweaked the drivers for that type of user. The basic
drivers are just that.. basic.


I'm not interested in getting in an argument with you. I've based my
view of Omegas drivers by how well they work on my systems. I've
noticed an improvement in image quality and in some cases smoother
game play. For me they are a lot easier to install and update as well.

For the record, YOU are the one that started with the smart ass comments so
don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining.

And I see that you have sideskirted my question for a second time.

You remind me that opinions are worth exactly what you pay for them.

Good day.

 

[patrickp]

No need to be a smart ass. You trying to start something..?


And I've stated before.. IMHO, many times.


..isn't that special.


That's the point.. they are an improvement over the generic ATI CAT's.
If they wheren't why would I bother using them? Omega has taken GAMERS
point of view and tweaked the drivers for that type of user. The basic
drivers are just that.. basic.

You're not usually an obtuse poster, Pluvious, but you keep coming up
with this. The fact that Omegadriver's modded drivers probably are
better for high end gamers does _not_ make them better for all users.
Can you not understand that not everyone has it as their mission in
life to play the latest-and-greatest games with everything maxed out
and slick as you-know-what? For the average user, Omegadriver's are
_not_ the optimum they can use. And, although Ati's standard Catalyst
drivers are not exactly basic, they _are _ more appropriate (and
hence, better) for non-high end gamers.

I'm not interested in getting in an argument with you. I've based my
view of Omegas drivers by how well they work on my systems. I've
noticed an improvement in image quality and in some cases smoother
game play. For me they are a lot easier to install and update as well.


Pluvious

patrickp

(e-mail address removed) - take five to email me