What driver are you using for ATi V3200 in Windows 7?

[ajkula66]

I've been running W7 Enterprise for about three months now on the T43p in my signature. Although I'm mostly favouring the experience altogether, I haven't been able to locate a graphics driver that performs the way it should IMO.

So, my question to fellow forum members running W7 on comparable graphics hardware (X300/X600/V3200) : what driver are you using? Links are welcomed, as are suggestions and first-hand experience on tweaks...

Thanks in advance.

[sarbin]

'evening!
when i loaded w7ult on my t43 (x300-equipped), as a test, i seem to recall that i let windows update install the ati driver. don't remember any issues with it to note, but i don't have it installed any longer. is wu offering anything? on my t60p, i let wu handle the ati driver also. so far no problems to note.

cheers!

[ajkula66]

Thanks for your input, old chap...

I'm not happy with "native" W7 driver since it lacks the snappiness of the XP one, and the GPU runs hotter. An ATi modding tool told me that it sees the GPU as being overclocked in W7 with a native driver, which would make sense given the heat I've been experiencing.

When I run the "video card stability test" I get a benchmark score of 11 in W7 as compared to 46 or 47 in XP...not good.

Tried the Vista driver, bluescreened on me when I tried to get the ATi Control Panel working which seems to be a "no-no" under W7...pretty much at my wit's end at this point in the game...ready to throw in the towel and re-install XP....unless someone points me to a solution that would work well for my needs...

[sarbin]

is there a version of notebook hardware control that is compatible with w7? if i recall correctly, it had the capability to modify the gpu clock. don't know if you could undo the 'overclock' you're seeing with the native w7 driver.

[ajkula66]

Yes, there's a beta that is compatible with W7, although I've ran the "old" NHC on some machines as well...that being said, using NHC will likely solve the clock/heat issue, but not the lousy performance of the driver itself...

At this point in the game, I might even go to Vista and check out the SP2...at least there's a proper graphics driver there, designed for V3200...

What is annoying me the most is the fact that the machine is stunningly snappy (for a 2005, Pentium M design) in W7 but the graphics - which are by far T43p's strongest point in XP - are not up to par...

[ajkula66]

A small update...

Finally lost the patience and wiped the drive. No W7 on this machine until someone comes up with a fully functional driver that performs at least close to the XP one...

Currently running an extremely slimmed-down XP and couldn't be happier. Will try Vista again on this T43p once my A31p comes back from its hospital stay...

[lukee]

Hi,
if the ThinkPad is connected to the Internet when installing Windows 7, basic driver will be applied from Windows Update automatically. However, if you disconnect the ThinkPad from internet BEFORE installation of Windows 7 and no default driver is loaded from WU after installation, then you can apply Vista drivers without problems. Switching from WU driver -> Vista driver is not possible, you have to start with Vista driver from scratch, at least it won't work for me. So - install W7 without connection and you'll be OK

Simplified:
1) before installation, disconnect the ThinkPad from network
2) prepare the V3200 Vista driver to USB stick or CD/DVD
3) install Windows 7
4) install the Vista driver & restart
5) connect ThinkPad to the Internet (original Vista driver will not be overwritten from WU)

Using this soltuion, I've ATI Control Panel with various settings (Direct3D quality/performance balance, PowerPlay etc...) available too, graphics is performing as fast as in Windows XP and with FireGL certified drivers.