Just out of curiousity, is anyone beta-testing win2k drivers?

[jediphoenix]

well no offense but man May is a long time away

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[Galvin]

I hope not May that would be a long wait. I'd rather see an openGL update.

[Dilitante1]

Bixler, so in the wonderful world of Matrox, does: now(March) until May(sometime?) = soon?



-Dil

[Bixler]

Hey all, I didn't mean to screw up the speculation engine here. IMHO Haig was just standing this guy off with the longest possible estimate.

Just guessing anyway, since there's nothing else to do but wait...

[Nuno]

Just one theoretical question: is there any reason for a video card always perform slower under the NT kernel (no direct acess to hardware??) than immature drivers? I mean, is there any hope of win9x/win2k equal game performance (and I don´t want to hear any of microsoft crap about win2k not being a gaming os )

Considering that when the G400 was launched the drivers for win9x were at 5.11 version, win win2k at 5.03 we still have a long way to go...

My urge for new win2k drivers is not really gaming performance (well maybe a bit ) It´s the monitor tweaking I miss the most.

[This message has been edited by Nuno (edited 29 March 2000).]

[glarec]

PaulS: can your version of the w2k driver work in 3D games on dual processors w/bus mastering on? if that's true.. it would be a great step up already. would be great so i don't have to keep switching it on and off and reboot to use certain problems (ie: BM on to use media player on tv output, Q3A(i think i uninstalled that already.. no flames please), and any OGL games. BM off for anything else).

thanx in advance



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Glarec
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bp6-(2)433(oc488) celerons, g400max, ibm ultra scsi 9.1g, sb-live value, hitachi ss-753 19", plextor 32x, etc, etc, etc...

[PaulS]

glarec,

Well, it depends what you mean "work". Even the release version would work, it would just lockup after 10 minutes or so, unless I was playing Q3 with r_smp 1 - then it would crash immediately.

From the look of these drivers I would say they are working on the problem, but they certainly don't have it licked yet.

Paul

[glarec]

PaulS: when i mean 'work', that means i can actually play Q3A in smp0 or any D3D games without locking up. heh, i don't even hope for smp1 on Q3A anymore. if i can play any games or use any program that wouldn't lock up(and i don't mean lock up as in badly written programs) without either disabling bus mastering or reboot into single processor mode. at the moment, if i do wanna play Q3A, i have to reboot into single processor mode since i need bus mastering in order to play OGL games. i don't even remember if this is stable enough to play.. but i for sure know that it's alot more stable than dualing.

anyway, thanx for the reply



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Glarec
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bp6-(2)433(oc488) celerons, g400max, ibm ultra scsi 9.1g, sb-live value, hitachi ss-753 19", plextor 32x, etc, etc, etc...

[PaulS]

Yes, it does seem to work for extended periods in Q3 (for me that is), but the frame rate is way down over the release version. FS2000 is the only D3D game I have, and it has worked pretty well so far - though it is not demanding in a 3D sense.

From a reply I got this morning, it appears that these drivers are doing something different with bus mastering on Intel systems. Maybe they are switching BM off at certain times to avoid synchronisation problems on dual processor machines? That could explain the slowdown.

Anyway, it's a pity we are not privy to the technical explanations of what they think is happening, it seems very interesting.

Paul

[PaulS]

Nuno,

Under NT 4 and W2k, video drivers are kernel mode, so they do not need to cross the HAL. Provided the system has enough memory, there is no technical reason why W2k should be slower - in fact it should be faster because it is far more efficient.

Paul

[Alegria]

We all do Beta-Testing once in a while...
W3.X, 95, 98, 2K, Linux, BeOS,...
and all the drivers written for all of those OS's.
There is no final truth, only the truth known so far which can easily be overcome by another interim truth and so forth.
Alegria, quite philosophical

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The pump don't work, 'cause the vandals took the handle...
Bob Dylan

[Nuno]

I see. Thanks Paul.
Let´s wait then

[SCompRacer]

If the new drivers would be a medicine

Hope for Viagra, just make sure your system can handle it.

[Nuno]

Eheh, SCompRacer got it
Like Viagra, the new drivers could unleash all the power of G400 that isn´t being used to its fullest potential