Got a Gripe With 5.21? PLEASE READ then post it to this thread

[KvHagedorn]

Alright, boys and girls, we all know there are problems with the 5.21 ICD. So stop running Quake demos already!

EXPLANATION:
Matrox apparently erred and put the wrong ICD on their download site. I don't know if this is true, but it's what most of us surmise. They should have it fixed by tomorrow or the next day. Please wait til then and download them again. It's a mistake, OK? Now just PLEASE calm down and stop starting a million new threads about it! Enough already!

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Kind Regards,

KvH

[paulcs]

I have to agree with the person who said one of the purposes of a forum like this is to report the results of a new driver install. If there are problems, they should be reported as well. If the problem is happening to a lot of people, and with a wide variety of systems, well, then there's a problem.

Personally, and my experience is limited with these new drivers, I find them to be a bit more stable than 5.13/5.15. I've also noticed an 18-20 fps drop in my Q2 scores. My Q3test scores remain about the same, as do my 3DMark99 Max marks.

I suspect excessive complaining and sullying Matrox's good name at this point would be a bit premature, particularly considering what many of us have gone through in the past with the ICD. I would hope this is a Vsync issue or something else with an easy fix.

Posting the wrong ICD would be pretty darn goofy, and would only serve to further enhance Matrox's reputation in this particular area. (I bet some TNT2 owners are sharpening there knives over this one. Have you noticed they have gotten sick of bashing 3dfx lately and have turned their attention to Matrox--and occasionally Ant!?!)

On a lighter note, is Haig still on vacation? I think he's been gone long enough. I bet Kruzin or ROM have the phone number of the Club Med he's staying at.

Hey guys! Could you post it here. We promise not to call about this issue. We're just concerned about him. Is he taking good care of himself? Is he getting too much sun? What kind of sun screen is he using? Is he eating right? Is he drinking too much? Why am I getting 43.8 fps in Q2 when I was getting 62.9 previoiusly? After eating, does he wait an hour before going in the water? Has he been taking his vitamins? Has he called his mother? Stuff like that.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Kruzin]

Haig got back Monday, and has been searching for his desk ever since

[The Rev]

I have a hard time believing Matrox posted the wrong OpenGL driver. As far as I know, this is just your speculation. Unless there is some strong facts behind this wrong driver statement, please let people know this is just your guess at things. I just read peoples little conspierecy (sp?) about Sven and how he works for Matrox and is doing the world a favor about telling everyone the OpenGL is the wrong version. Then Sven replies saying he doesn't even work for Matrox and just wants a fast OpenGL driver.

So unless we know some facts that 5.21 contains an old OpenGL ICD, let's consider what is out now is final. If people have problems with the new driver I would hope they post their problem in a detailed descriptive manner and get the help they need. Otherwise go back to 5.13 and wait for an even newer driver.

If the Beta Testers for Matrox's drivers are no longer under their NDA and are able to elaborate on the problems with 5.21 it would be much appreciated.

Thank you,
-The-Rev-

[KvHagedorn]

You're right.. it's only a guess. But from what the beta testers have said here before, this ICD was supposed to be much faster. I would like to know what some of them think.. are these the same drivers you tested?

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Kind Regards,

KvH

[The Rev]

Sorry if I came off strong KvH, just reread what I posted and it sounded kinda nasty.

I wonder if 5.21 contains the same OpenGL ICD as what hte beta testers have been using. I kept hearing how much faster they would be from some of them, but I haven't heard a word about it from them now. Hope they can spread some light on these 5.21 drivers. I really dont even know what these 5.21 drivers fix/improve.

Thanks,
-The-Rev-

[tish beta2]

Indeed. If they were so good, why do people have so much difficulties getting them right.

Smiff proclames he get a "big boost" by disabling v-sync. Another one got +5 fps in Quake3. And one more got a little more fps in Unreal. But that's all...

Now at Ants news page it says "This released contains the improved OpenGL ICD I previewed a couple of weeks ago."

So whassup Ant? how do we get those nice performance boosts like you did? re-format our harddrives? Upgrade our G400 bioses?

Please tell us, we will listen carefully and do whatever you say

Ragardily,
Fish.

[Ant]

Whatever is in 5.21 it is not the OpenGL ICD that was expected. I've tested it against the "5.2x" beta ICD I have patched into 5.13.

Pentium III 500, Quake 2, I only ran these at 16-bit, didn't need to go any further.

beta vs 5.21

640...82.4 67.7
800...78.5 66.3
1024..64.5 44.0

If I then patch the 5.21 drivers with the beta ICD I get:

640...83.5
800...78.6
1024..65.1



[This message has been edited by Ant (edited 09-02-1999).]

[Micko]

STRANGE!!!

[SteveC]

Ant - which build was that one?

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Cheers,
Steve

[Meek]

Hee, this brings memories... I once owned a VoodooRush... how difficult it was to get drivers to that one... The best drivers had to be self-assembled from various manufacturer's components. It is a pity we have only one provider for Matrox cards...

Also, software configuration control is a difficult job, and the last minute changes sometimes bring surprises. I once worked for a company that produced a well tested software version on CD... only the install program of the final version would always crash.

I suppose they at Matrox have been fiddling around with compiler switches and last minute changes... or maybe they lost their whole optimised source code tree because of a disk crash...

M.

[The PIT]

Ant can you post the beta icd you used into the download area.

[tish beta2]

Just tested the g400icd.dl_, still 25. august 1999, 09:55:32

If the wrong driver where there they should have replased/intrigured it by now. They have not and we can assume the following:

Meek is right and a HD crash destroyed the good ICD
Meek is further right and last minute changes has rendered the icd/hole driver bunch a little "sloppy" if I may humbly call it that

Result:
They have good training now on programming a ICD so we will get a new in no-time,
or,
they hide themselves away for another two months and give drivers thats a little more stable with little fewer bugs with a little better performance.

Me think the last option.

And what about SMP and windows 2000? sure it's a beta, but it's already being sold... And Nvidia got perfect SMP in windows2000. I WANT SMP IN WINDOWS 2000! DO YOU READ ME MATROX?

I'm sorry. fell out there for a moment...

*sigh*

[This message has been edited by tish beta2 (edited 09-02-1999).]

[KvHagedorn]

Thanks, Ant. Any word on if/when the drivers will be reposted with the correct ICD? Matrox should be able to do this without a problem. I'm sure most of us don't care if they made a mistake. We just want them to fix it.

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Kind Regards,

KvH

[tish beta2]

Aaahhh thank you Ant That was just what I was wanting to hear!

Now, you Meek speak words of visdom. It's a sad visdom, but alas it could be so likely. Let's just hope Big M can sorten it out quickly enough for me to enjoy my G400 tomorrow.

My prediction was right eh? muhahahaaa!

¦ ) Alright I know Am being an ass