Tag: nvidia
Whenever you play computer games that utilizes 3D graphics, a decent frame rate of about 25-30 frames per second is a prerequisite to make the games run smoothly and be at all enjoyable. If you play on a desktop PC, you always have the option to put in a more powerful graphics card, but that’s not an option with laptop computers. Another problem with laptops – but one that can be avoided – is the lack of updated graphics card drivers. Using updated drivers can provide better performance in new games thanks to game-specific fixes and improvements.
The Problem with OEM Drivers
Although both of the leading graphics card manufacturers (ATI/AMD and Nvidia) provide generic driver updates regularly that are designed to work with all of the respective manufacturer’s chips – even the laptop versions – most OEMs (laptop manufacturers) do not allow these to be installed on your laptop, since they prefer to use proprietary solutions for all their driver updates. As a result, you may be forced to use drivers that are as old as your laptop if the OEM doesn’t update their drivers on a regular basis, which is unfortunately often the case. Read More»
Posted in Hardware | 1 Comment »
1. DirectX 10. Without a doubt, Vista’s support for DirectX 10 is the primary reason why gaming in the Windows environment will transcend gamers’ wildest dreams and far exceed the visual quality of even the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. “When DX10 games come out, the end result will be a significant increase in visual fidelity,” said Microsoft’s Donahue.
This means a marked increase in the number of objects and/or characters on the screen at a time, as well as dramatic impact on the level of background detail trees, water, stars in outdoor and indoor environments. It also means, for example, that characters’ clothing and fur will flap in the wind. Based on the early gameplay screenshots released for DX10 games such as Crysis, the impact of this new version of DirectX is quite clear even at a glance. (See the comparative scenes from Age of Conan: The Hyborian Adventures below.)
This increase in graphical quality is the result of a number of enhancements in DirectX 10 code, operations and resulting capabilities. As an example, a brand-new shader model (Version 4.0) in DX10 allows for more detailed and nuanced 3-D graphics. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
Microsoft has already indicated through the voice of Anantha Kancherla, manager of Windows desktop and graphics technologies, that DirectX 11 would be at the vanguard of the upcoming general purpose graphics processing (GPGPU) revolution. However, the real details have only been shared with developers and not the general public. From the recent Microsoft GameFest 2008 conference, details related to the evolution of DirectX 11 managed to slip through, but of course not through the company’s official channels, which are keeping mum in relation to the next generation of its graphics technology. Ignacio Castaño, NVIDIA Technology Developer, indicated that end users are in for a treat via the Tessellation of Displaced Subdivision Surfaces in DX11 presentation.
The Tessellation enhancements cooking for DirectX 11 will enable developers to offer what Castaño referred to as “unprecedented visuals”, namely “highly detailed characters and realistic animation”. But of course there is more to it, in the line of performing “expensive computations at lower frequency: realistic animation: blend shapes, morph targets, etc. and physics, collision detection, soft body dynamics, etc.”. DirectX 11 will ensure that the users will benefit from an increased level of detail while fewer resources will be consumed because of compression features. Read More»
Posted in Computer | No Comments »
An update is available that will help improve the performance and reliability of Windows Vista SP1.
This update includes the following improvements on a Windows Vista SP1-based computer:
1. The stability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by addressing some crashes that may occur when you try to check e-mail by using a POP3 e-mail client such as Windows Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird.
2. The reliability of the Windows Vista SP1 based-computers by addressing some problems that occur when you delete user accounts by using the User Accounts item in Control Panel. When this problem occurs, the system may stop responding (hang). Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
December 31, 2007 by
Jason
Nvidia Linux Display Driver version 169.07 was released yesterday. If you own a GeForce 8800 GT, GeForce 8800 GTS 512 or 8800M graphics card, you should know that this driver offers support for them.
The highlists of this release are:
• Added CUDA driver to .run file.
• Improved modesetting support on Quadro/GeForce 8 series GPUs.
• Fixed several X rendering issues.
• Fixed problems scrolling ARGB X drawables in Qt.
• Improved support for interlaced DVI, HDMI, and HDTV modesetting. Read More»
Posted in Linux, Software | No Comments »
Dell Inc. has recently started gaining some popularity as a company very fond of the Linux operating systems. The story started with Dell’s nice initiative of answering the users who demanded some Linux-based products on IdeaStorm forum. At that time, Dell announced the four Ubuntu-based systems which addressed the open source fans.
Soon after that, Dell was to add two other systems to this catchy offer and then announced they’re trying to develop a strategy for distributing them outside the United Stated too. After such offer, Read More»
Posted in Computer, Linux | No Comments »
Ed Bott has recently put together a small, but growing list of links for some driver download pages for the Windows Vista Operating System. The list is far from complete, but it covers quite a few of the main ones.
Although Windows Update might solve most of your problems, by visiting the manufacturer’s website you can be assured that the version you’re getting is the most recent one. And with Windows Vista drivers, Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | 2 Comments »
The parties involved would never admit whether this Inquirer story is true, but it’s entertaining enough that we just had to link to it. Grain of salt and all that (the article lists no sources, for example) but the theory as reported says that Microsoft started off with sound technical reasons for making DirectX 10 exclusive to Windows Vista. Due to alleged driver troubles from Nvidia, Microsoft is supposed to have loosened the requirements, and now it’s supposedly very possible to port DirectX 10 back to Windows XP. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP | No Comments »
The Vista era has officially begun. The question is, has the world changed? Not yet, although I think it’s inevitable that it will.
I’ve been using the shipping version of Vista for about three months, and although I’m impressed overall, it’s still full of nagging annoyances. The wireless networking, for example, seems to work haphazardly, and driver support is still inadequate. Take 3D graphics drivers, for example. nVidia can’t seem to get its act together with a stable driver release, and AMD’s ATI division isn’t doing much better.
I downloaded ATI’s Vista update, called Catalyst 7.1, and it gave my sleek, new 22-inch View-Sonic widescreen LCD monitor a case of iridescent chicken pox. Dialing the driver down to 16-bit color solved the problem but produced a less-than-breathtaking image. So I reverted all the way back to Microsoft’s Vista driver for my ATI card. My image isn’t speedy, but at least it’s clean. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware, Software, Windows Vista | No Comments »
February 13, 2007 by
Jason
Windows Vista’s powerful new graphics engine may be one of its hallmark features, but it’s engendering complaints from hardcore gamers…
Windows Vista’s powerful new graphics engine may be one of its hallmark features, but it’s engendering complaints from a key segment of potential early adopters: hardcore gamers.
A small but significant number of games written for Windows XP either crash or creep along slowly on Vista, according to numerous complaints by game enthusiasts in online forums.
Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
