Hit Deity on 12/8/2007 at 23:20
Not yet...these are the supported FXs from those 45.23 drivers...
[INDENT]
GeForce FX 5900
GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
Quadro FX 3000 NV35
GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
GeForce FX 5200
Quadro FX 500 NV34
GeForce FX 5600 Ultra
GeForce FX 5600
GeForce FX 5600 SE
NV31
GeForce FX 5800 Ultra
GeForce FX 5800
Quadro FX 2000
Quadro FX 1000[/INDENT]
How in the world...? The FX 5500 must have been one of those "Hey, we'll go back and release another FX series graphics card and just stick in there somewhere... FX 5500 sounds good!!" :grr:
I'll keep looking. :( (I just LOVE how some of the drivers descriptions on some sites -Guru3d- say "All NVIDIA cards are supported". What a joke. :nono: )
Something that would be very handy: Does anyone know of a way to find out what drivers were released with what card? I know that's a little vague, and it's such a dynamic thing, but it would be nice to know when a card was manufactured (approximately) without having to pull one and read the S/N off it, then search a website's help section to see what they all mean. It would be nice to find out when, say, an FX 5500 was "released" so the appropriate driver for that release would be easy to find. Just a thought.
Or, what drivers were released with your card...like if you could find the CD with the drivers on it, which I can't. I need to get organized..with a Capital 'O'!!
At the moment, I'm all the way up to v53.04 and NO FX5500 support...still looking.
Allright, I got my FX 5500 working with 56.64 drivers and it looks pretty good. We needs us some comparison screenies. Something easy to get to, or those places in Lord Alan's Fortress? You decide. (Just in case you don't see this, I'm going to go poking around in Lord Alan's Fortress. I can't wait.
Hit Deity on 13/8/2007 at 03:01
Well, there is a definite improvement in the sky's appearance with the 56.64 version drivers for my FX 5500. The clouds actually look like clouds!! :)
As for textures, I took several outside screenshots of the detailed architecture and lights, and I can't see any difference there. I am going to try the views on a different monitor. Theoretically I should just be able to compare these screenshots on a better monitor for a preliminary comparison, but the real test will be at higher resolutions, with a "better" monitor, and then compare those.
More to come...ok.
If you think this is relevant to this thread: Can I email you some carefully labeled screenshots of the various differences once we get all the testing done? Or point me in the direction of a good free website. My Angelfire account is still there, but inaccessible at the moment.
Alright, I did some "preliminary" testing by converting the exact same screenshots (loaded up several saved game positions and immediately took a screenshot) made on my FX 5500 (v.56.64 drivers) and my 7950GT (v.162.18 drivers) and there is a noticeable difference when viewed on a "good" CRT monitor: namely, the sky looks a lot better on the FX 5500, and the rest of the textures show slight improvement in bright conditions and more moderate improvements in low light conditions with the FX 5500.
So, progress, but at a price. (Namely: I have to jump through several freakin' hoops just to get my vid cards "swapped" out. I can leave it on the FX 5500, but without a decent monitor, it's not much of an improvement.)
smithpd on 13/8/2007 at 04:55
Glad to hear you are making progress. So long as you are in Lord Alan's Fortress with your FX 5500, please take a screen shot in that dark bedroom on the second floor above the kitchen so we can compare it with the screen shots I posted above.
I think the clouds in the Fortress look pretty decent anyway. The issue with the dark texture problem is the reduced range of color palette caused by lack of dithering. The reduced color palette for dark colors makes smooth color variation appear to be banded, and the hues look wrong -- generally too green or muddy in a dark room. See the bed above.
smithpd on 14/8/2007 at 03:08
Quote Posted by Hit Deity
Alrighty dighty, here be the promised screenshots...
Not much difference between the lit ones (as expected), but it's amazing the clarity difference between the 56.64 driver-driven FX5500 and the 7950GT. Such a shame that a "new" card performs so poorly.
Guess I should post some 84.56 version drivers for my 7950GT.
Excellent.:) It is great that 56.64 driver works.
I doubt you will see any difference with 84.56. No need to post if you don't.
I am interested to know if you can have the FX 5500 / 56.54 running concurrently with the 7950GT / newer drivers on the same machine. It seems you should be able to do that, but I sensed some doubt before. That seems to be the prerequisite to making the dual card configuration practical.
And how are you swapping video cards output to one monitor? I imagine a KVM switch without the mouse and keyboard connected would work.
Hit Deity on 14/8/2007 at 03:20
Yes, both are installed in the same machine. Sometimes (and I emphasize sometimes) I can switch them on the fly. Usually from the 7950GT to the FX5500 it goes OK. But, sometimes when I switch the other way around, I have to reset my machine. Something about the monitor's priority (selecting 1 or 2 in the GeForce control panel).
Right now I'm just telling Windows which monitor to use, then I switch the DVI cable to the desired card. I might try a special switch setup eventually (KVM?), but at the present time, it's not too much hassle to switch them.
And, NOPE, no difference with the 84.56 drivers on the 7950GT. Other than NOT having to use safe_texture_manager, there's a minimal amount of difference: ones that I can only see when I view screenshots rapidly switching between the two. It's really hard to tell if it weren't for that.
smithpd on 14/8/2007 at 06:14
Quote Posted by Hit Deity
Yes, both are installed in the same machine.
Yes, but can you run different drivers with the different video cards?
Hit Deity on 14/8/2007 at 16:41
Sorry, the answer is: Yes. (Thought I had posted that; must've been in a hurry.)
That is with both cards each using their "optimum" drivers:
the 7950GT using 161.18
and FX5500 using 56.64
Thanks for all your help.
dealasteal on 16/8/2007 at 12:29
I almost wish I never saw this thread...How dissapointing to find out the problem like this. I mean, the dithering and UGLY green and Bland sky issues are plagued in all my FM's unless there is plenty of light in the areas. I just installed the latest Nvidia driver version for the 8800GTX and nothing has changed. Let me know what I can do to help petitioning for better driver support. Its like playing on a monochrome CRT in the DARK.:mad: Its funny how ive seen the issue and never figured out what was going on until reading this most informative section.
Thanks for the highlight of attention to the issue. I tried to make Control Panel adjustments, but nothing is working to make it better.
