ATI 5.10A drivers... ATI takes crown over nVidia in D3/Q4

[Bdw3]

Right

Bit paranoid arn't we?

[crapfest]

This new hotfix helped my performance quite a bit (I've got a P4 3.6 ghz with 2 GB RAM and an X800 XT):

With Omega 5.9 Drivers - 68.4 FPS in GGL timedemo
With ATI 5.10a Drivers - 78.9 FPS in GGL timedemo

I recommend you give these a shot... it can't hurt to try

[corpse]

Becuase this is just a "fix" you dont have to uninstall current drivers do you? Just run the .exe

[shiznit]

These are different drivers, you need to uninstall your previous ones.

[f00dl3]

These are different drivers, you need to uninstall your previous ones.

Funny you should mention this. I just realized this (about an hour ago) and used cat-uninstaller.exe, then installed the HotFix, and it works fine now.

Man, do I feel stupid.

Now I'm burning an updated Drivers & Stuff CD.

(Includes drivers - and software that lets me compress all the installation files into a .zip file without "copy protection" getting in the way of legitly backing it up to .zip files.)

[odds]

This is awesome... I was talking to a friend over in mIRC, and he predicts that once the new ATi cards are out, Geforce6800 GTs will be running around $150 RETAIL. What do you guys think? How will Nvidia fight back with low prices?

[MidnightQ4]

I'd like to see some 7800GTs for around $250

[Psyche911]

6800GTs will never sell that cheaply. They'll be discontinued before the MSRP drops under $200, I say.

[corpse]

For the cat uninstaller, do you get it at ATI site. I googled it, but didnt see it.

[Oeloe]

@foodl3: DRM sucks, but XP without SP2 sucks even more (unless you like to get 1000's of trojans on ur pc in the 2 minutes before you have your virus scanner and firewall installed.

[shiznit]

For the cat uninstaller, do you get it at ATI site. I googled it, but didnt see it.

When you extract the drivers, go to C:\ATI and I think you should see it there. cat-uninstaller.exe or something like that.

[f00dl3]

@foodl3: DRM sucks, but XP without SP2 sucks even more (unless you like to get 1000's of trojans on ur pc in the 2 minutes before you have your virus scanner and firewall installed.

1st Rule: NEVER have your computer connected directly to your Cable or DSL modem. BUY A ROUTER / GATEWAY. They provide NAT firewall capabilities and can protect you more than you think if you know how to edit the config files. If you know how to modify the firmware (or where to get custom firmware) to provide enhanced IP filtering and port filtering, go for it.

2nd Rule: It's generally a good idea to be completely disconnected from the outside world (Internet) until you install a Firewall (Zone Alarm Standard works great for Windows, and ShoreWall works great for Linux) and AV scanner (AVG Professional is cheep and IMO is better than Norton or McAfee products) - even with SP2 - and even Mac OS or Linux (although Linux does not have as many viri). If you have a good firewall, and know which Windows XP Services are exploitable to the most extent (such as RPC DCOM) the most, you can disable those services or registry strings (which you most likely don't have a need for anyhow) - and never have a single problem. I have not had a virus on my computer for more than 1 minute since 1997 (When I was 12, I installed this program called Windows Blinds on Windows 95 and Best Buy said it was a virus) - and that is something that I am proud of.

Other than Optix Pro... which is a nice feature-rich Trojan Horse that has great administrative capabilities when used properly.... but that was in my experimenting years in my H.S. Votec program where that kind of "discovery" behavior was encouraged.

(Note: If you own a Compaq Presairo (or atleast, from my experience, the 2570 US Notebook PC) and use this technique [not connecting to the Internet when you do a facotry install] and run AVG AntiVirus and/or any anti-spyware program such as Spybot S&D, you will find a virus and some spyware that is "bundled" in with the OEM install. I guess Compaq wanted a way to remotely monitor their purchasers.)

3rd Rule: Make complex passwords at points of connectivity (such as ROUTERS, your computer). It's generally good to have passwords of 20+ characters with alphanumeric sequences. Use a password generator if you have to - or even run MD5Sum on programs and use the first 20 or so chars as your password.

4th Rule: Scan yourself. Do a portscan on your own machine to see how good your security is. A good free program to do this with is NetTools.

[f00dl3]

For the cat uninstaller, do you get it at ATI site. I googled it, but didnt see it.

It's on the ATI site. Just go to Windows XP Driver downloads and it should be there.

[eviscuno]

f00dl3 is one paranoid fucker...

[f00dl3]

f00dl3 is one paranoid fucker...

In some fields (i.e. Network Management), it's better to be paranoid than to be "laid back" about trends in technology.

Meanwhile, I found a bug in those "hotfix" drivers. Seems that it does not like some media players (Media Player Classic) and displays the video in messed up colors, as well as places an empty text file called dxva_sig.txt in the directory the file is located. WinAmp works fine with these videos, however...

[AmIdYfReAk]

you need to disable WMV Accell in the ATI's control pannel to get rid of the videoplayback, this has been apparent from Cat 5.4's.

[Oeloe]

Omega just released the 2.6.75 version of his drivers, based on the 5.10a Catalysts, BUT he used the old version of the hotfix that doesn't have the OpenGL optimizations. So we'll have to wait a bit for the release of (2.6.75a probably) the Omega's based on the faster drivers. Quote from Omega:

Sigh, there where 2 releases???

OK, before these spread further, let me block the downloads and issue a quick update using the "a" ones. Thanks for the info.

Sigh, knew it will not be that easy!
ATI changed TONS of stuff from the "027483" set to the "027483a" one, that means LOTS of work.

Well, after 4 hours of work, I'm nearing finishing the new INF (btw, there are only 3 updated files in the "a" version, but the INF changed a LOT, and not only for x1k cards, but for a LOT of cards); I just need to add a few new cards that will be supported and then I can re-release.

[corpse]

What version of the Cat drivers is this 'fix'


I did find the uninstaller at ATI, thanks

[shiznit]

5.10a

[Oeloe]

No link in the startpost :icon8: but this thread has only two pages.

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/DLRe ... deptID=894

[Tormentius]

Personally, I find SP2 rather "insecure" as it exposes you to a technology called Digital Restrictions Management, which allows money-hungry corporations to have remote access to home user's computers to do what they wish. This technology will eventually lead to Microsoft being able to charge annual subscription fees to their software product users.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. SP2 only supports a DRM framework (as does Office 2003) and it isn't forced on you but rather enables you more control over your own data if you choose to use it.

Interestingly enough I installed XP SP1 on my gf's new PC last weekend and enabled the firewall then hooked it up to the 'Net to download SP2 and other updates. In under five minutes it was exploited with a trojan and spyware and it took an hour to get the damned thing running correctly. Since SP2 was installed and security was tweaked there hasn't been another issue. The moral of the story is that anything pre-SP2 can't begin to compare in terms of stability or security.

Edit: If you're in network management as you said in a later post then you know damnwell that the best way to ensure the security of a network is to keep your software up to date.

[equivo]

That's not really the point though MKJ. This is the first time ATI have taken the OpenGL crown, and although it's on slightly newer hardware I still think that's quite a big achievement.

[Deathshroud]

The 7800GT still beats out their comparable card, that makes me happy. =)

[f00dl3]

Personally, I find SP2 rather "insecure" as it exposes you to a technology called Digital Restrictions Management, which allows money-hungry corporations to have remote access to home user's computers to do what they wish. This technology will eventually lead to Microsoft being able to charge annual subscription fees to their software product users.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. SP2 only supports a DRM framework (as does Office 2003) and it isn't forced on you but rather enables you more control over your own data if you choose to use it.

Interestingly enough I installed XP SP1 on my gf's new PC last weekend and enabled the firewall then hooked it up to the 'Net to download SP2 and other updates. In under five minutes it was exploited with a trojan and spyware and it took an hour to get the damned thing running correctly. Since SP2 was installed and security was tweaked there hasn't been another issue. The moral of the story is that anything pre-SP2 can't begin to compare in terms of stability or security.

Edit: If you're in network management as you said in a later post then you know damnwell that the best way to ensure the security of a network is to keep your software up to date.

Then why have I never had a virus on Windows XP? Perhaps it's your firewall. Maby you chose a bad firewall. (Like the Built In XP Firewall - it's known to be flawed - even on SP2). Either that, or you used Internet Exploiter. It's better to use Mozilla or Firefox for a web browser.

Listen, I don't want to start a flame war. All I'm saying is that security is in the way you implement it. I never had a problem with my XP SP1 security, so there is no reason to switch to SP2.

In the mean time, check out http://www.lafkon.net/tc/TC_HIGH.html

[Foo]

It's Digital Rights Management, for a start.

As for the rest, you can be perfectly secure with a direct internet connection and a software firewall, nothing else (no patches, NAT, Hardware firewall, Antivirus). Like you said, it's just about knowing what you're doing and how the kit you do use works.