T43 Driver Update X300

[ex0dus]

I just did a system Rescue & Recovery on my T43 (type 2668). The driver for the X300 card that is currently installed is from 2005 (version 6.14.10.6546).

I noticed on the Lenovo driver update page that there is a newer driver available (2 years newer in fact). Is it worth upgrading the driver if I have no issues with the X300 currently (ie faster performance, cooler running)? The new file is 90mb and I'm just afraid it'll unleash a whole host of issues possibly.

Thanks!

[Temetka]

Always keep your systems up to date. It's a good security philosophy.

Newer drivers tend to fix small and large bugs. Since your current driver is 2 years out of date I would run, not walk, to the downloads and get it.

[Harryc]

I run the Omega drivers on my T43 X300. They work great!

[sarbin]

@Harryc...
what advantages do they offer?
tia.

[Harryc]

Copied from a google search in the interest of time - "Omega's Drivers are tweaked drivers based on catalyst ones. For each Cat release, there's an equivalent Omega driver.

"The advantages of the Omega's are the quality of the tweaks concerning the IQ (Image quality) you'll see in games mainly. Some time you'll get better frame rates. They are known to "correct" issues with some games. Omega is an official beta tester for ATI and he has access to information which helps him create these special drivers. He includes many tools in his drivers which help you to "softmod", "Overclock" and tweak some aspects of your ATI card."

The bottom line for a Thinkpad user is better frame rates and many more tweaking tools over Catalyst drivers.

[USSS]

^^^
Thanks, Harryc, for that bit of information.

I use a graphics-intensive NEXRAD radar application (GR2Analyst) that sometimes stretches the capabilities of my X300 card. This is particularly true with a feature called the "volume renderer", which allows you to view a cross-section of a storm in 3D. It is the same software that is used on The Weather Channel and CNN during severe weather outbreaks. (See: http://www.grlevelx.com/gr2analyst/volume_renderer.htm)

I may give the Omega drivers a try on my T43 2687-D3U. It's certainly cheaper than buying a new ThinkPad or upgrading my desktop system.

[SteveS]

Ed0dus wrote:

I noticed on the Lenovo driver update page that there is a newer driver available (2 years newer in fact). Is it worth upgrading the driver if I have no issues with the X300 currently (ie faster performance, cooler running)? The new file is 90mb and I'm just afraid it'll unleash a whole host of issues possibly.

For each update, Lenovo keeps a history log of what fixes were made with each version. In some cases, they are non relevant – such as adding support for other series of ThinkPads, fixing Vista induced bugs when you are running XP, etc.
Use this as a guidance to determine if you should update the driver. I used to always update everything, but I have learned that this is not always a good approach. Some updates introduce bugs. For example, the extremely useful auto location selector feature in Access Connections broke sometime after version 3.82. They are currently on version 4.42, and it is still broken! One thing I have not found with Lenovo is a method to report bugs in their drivers and machine utility software.
In your case, the driver updates are probably from ATI, and have had some minimal testing by Lenovo. Again, be careful. One video driver update a few months ago eliminated the 1050 x 1400 resolution for SXGA+ from the available resolution list. It took months for ATI/Lenovo to finally fix that one! After ruining the native resolution in a few of my T43s, I was fortunate to still have a copy of an older version video driver around.

[gunston]

X300 isn't a decent graphic for gaming, must remember