Driver Advice

Hey,
Just ordered a new Sapphire HD 5770 Vapor Card to replace my 9600 GT. I wanted to stick with Nvidia, seeing as installing the new card would be easier and (I'm 90% sure) my chipset is an Nvidia make. As well as that, I've read of less issues with Nvidia cards, and the 5770 is IMO the best value for money. Anyway, I'll be getting a Windows 7 64 which I'll be putting on one of my 3 partitions, the others being an XP and one for storing games. I read that at the start the 5xxx series had some issues with Win 7 and that ATI cards in general can have issues with the latest TW games. So what I would like to know is which are the best drivers for XP and 7 64 with regard to Napoleon and Empire TW?

I have a radeon HD 5770 with Windows 7 64 and 10.5 are the drivers which gave me the best performances.

I've had to revert to 10.5 drivers: in my experience, drivers after that do not work with NTW.

apoll

good to see you back around here, T.C

I'm using a Sapphire 5970 2gig. windows 7 64bit

I use the 10.12 drivers for NTW...I find that I get the best performance out of the latest drivers IF I use them in combo with CCC and RadeonPro. However, it is tricky getting a working setup, and required a few tests to get it right for my machine.

But for ETW, the 10.5 drivers are what works best for me...the 10.12 drivers work for ETW but for one thing: the campaign map and diplomacy graphic glitches when in full screen (windowed mode fixes this)...that's a pretty big thing.

Originally Posted by Nanny de Bodemloze

good to see you back around here, T.C

I'm using a Sapphire 5970 2gig. windows 7 64bit

I use the 10.12 drivers for NTW...I find that I get the best performance out of the latest drivers IF I use them in combo with CCC and RadeonPro. However, it is tricky getting a working setup, and required a few tests to get it right for my machine.

But for ETW, the 10.5 drivers are what works best for me...the 10.12 drivers work for ETW but for one thing: the campaign map and diplomacy graphic glitches when in full screen (windowed mode fixes this)...that's a pretty big thing.

It's only temporary, but thanks anyway
I'll take it all under advice, I spent a good week when I first built this rig getting drivers set up. I know they can be touchy to the smallest of things, but it's good to know the genera direction to start

P.S. 5970 2gig Must have a pretty good rig not to bottleneck that?

Hey Nanny de Bodemloze, you use 10.12 with NTW?? You got them working? Better than I coul do. I have two 5970s, win 7 64 bit and had nothing but problems with them. 10.5, hoever, works fine with NTW. T^he mystery deepens...

apoll

Originally Posted by apoll

Hey Nanny de Bodemloze, you use 10.12 with NTW?? You got them working? Better than I coul do. I have two 5970s, win 7 64 bit and had nothing but problems with them. 10.5, hoever, works fine with NTW. T^he mystery deepens...

apoll

Well, I needed to run the CCC to get the crossfire working (as you know the 5970 is just 2 cards in one, but previously I had troubles getting the 2nd inner-card to fire for NTW). I do get the occasional glitch, but that's only when I try to get too cute with the RadeonPro program.

LOL Topcat I only have ONE of those cards, this apoll guy has TWO He must bought a second case to hold the thing...its a monster and weighs a tonne.

Well Nanny, you know what they say about a fool and his money.... Yea, the case is pretty big. I reckon I was probably foolish to go for two of them in hindsight: half the games can't use two in crossfire and I'm not sure NTW takes anything like the potentional of two 5970s. Probably a waste of money, but there you go. I might wait and try the new drivers when they come out...and see if that works with NTW. The CCC? You mean the catylst control panel thingy with the 'chck box' for cross fire? Is that what you mean by having to use the CCC? (I thought there was no option: you need the CCC to get the card preferences. There is a choice??) And what's this 'Radeon Pro' thingy you're talking about? What have I missed?

Thanks. Apoll

PS: what mod are you using with NTW? I LOVE realism and am using the latest NOW version.

Originally Posted by apoll

Well Nanny, you know what they say about a fool and his money.... Yea, the case is pretty big. I reckon I was probably foolish to go for two of them in hindsight: half the games can't use two in crossfire and I'm not sure NTW takes anything like the potentional of two 5970s. Probably a waste of money, but there you go. I might wait and try the new drivers when they come out...and see if that works with NTW. The CCC? You mean the catylst control panel thingy with the 'chck box' for cross fire? Is that what you mean by having to use the CCC? (I thought there was no option: you need the CCC to get the card preferences. There is a choice??) And what's this 'Radeon Pro' thingy you're talking about? What have I missed?

Thanks. Apoll

PS: what mod are you using with NTW? I LOVE realism and am using the latest NOW version.

I've had wet dreams about getting another 5970, but my wife's patience can only be tested so much

You don't need to run the CCC to run one card. However, the crossfire, you do. But realize that in-game settings work better than the CCC AF or AA (I've run dozens of fps test to validate this). RadeonPro is a neat add-on program that run while you have CCC running...it can do even more, like manage multiple driver versions for different games. I use it primarily to force AA in ETW for my vids...ETW on its own won't fire both cards within my 5970, I need CCC on to get both going - but CCC on for some reason won't allow me to use AA in ETW, so I run RadeonPro to force it and it works. Essentially, it is a useful tool for those having trouble with their CCC.

As for what mod I use, it depends on whether I'm playing or filming. I find NOW more stable to play a campaign, but for alot of the filming I use All In One for the unit varieties and compatibility with other mini mods that I might like to tack on.

Yes, keeping GOC Home Command happy IS important! The price of 5070s is coming down for sure with the release of the newer cards: perhaps your dream is closer than you think??

Thanks for explanation of RadeonPro: I shall get it and play around with it. Do I understand you correctly re the multiple driver versions for different games? Are you saying I can have 10.5 loaded for use with NTW, but also have 10.12 loaded for use with other simulations, such as Rise of Flight? I can have TWO sets of drivers loaded on the same computer at the same time?? And this little RadeonPro beastie will allow me to do this? Have I got it right? (I had NO idea you could have two different sets of drivers loaded at the same time; I thought it was one or the other - if I have understood correctly.)

Re the use of AF and AA. I have in my CCC AF and AA et to 'application controlled', as I understand NTW (and ETW) do not like it set within CCC; it conflicts and causes graphical glitches I think from memory. And of course, I have it set maxed out in NTW. Are you saying that to get both GPUs being used by NTW, you have to have AF and AA set to 'on' in the CCC, and that you use this RadeonPro thingy to force it within the game as well? I'm just wondering if I should turn them back on in the CCC (to get both cards going...you mean both GPUs working and being used by NTW?) AND force them on with the RadeonPro as well? Do I have all this right? (or hopelessly confusing myself...)

Thanks. apoll

Originally Posted by apoll

Yes, keeping GOC Home Command happy IS important! The price of 5070s is coming down for sure with the release of the newer cards: perhaps your dream is closer than you think??

Thanks for explanation of RadeonPro: I shall get it and play around with it. Do I understand you correctly re the multiple driver versions for different games? Are you saying I can have 10.5 loaded for use with NTW, but also have 10.12 loaded for use with other simulations, such as Rise of Flight? I can have TWO sets of drivers loaded on the same computer at the same time?? And this little RadeonPro beastie will allow me to do this? Have I got it right? (I had NO idea you could have two different sets of drivers loaded at the same time; I thought it was one or the other - if I have understood correctly.)

Re the use of AF and AA. I have in my CCC AF and AA et to 'application controlled', as I understand NTW (and ETW) do not like it set within CCC; it conflicts and causes graphical glitches I think from memory. And of course, I have it set maxed out in NTW. Are you saying that to get both GPUs being used by NTW, you have to have AF and AA set to 'on' in the CCC, and that you use this RadeonPro thingy to force it within the game as well? I'm just wondering if I should turn them back on in the CCC (to get both cards going...you mean both GPUs working and being used by NTW?) AND force them on with the RadeonPro as well? Do I have all this right? (or hopelessly confusing myself...)

Thanks. apoll

RadeonPro has an option for a profile for a specific game where you can access/download the necessary files to run as a previous version, yes. You don't install them on your computer like you normally would new drivers...it is all done within RadeonPro (you select the version # from a list, and the program finds the files on the RadeonPro server). The previous driver version is game specific, so yes you can use 10.5 for one game, and 10.12 for another.

As for both GPUs, I was only talking about ETW, not NTW...NTW is able to run both GPUs using CCC without needing RadeonPro (you can see your GPUs in action using something like Afterburner, a gpu OCer superior to CCC, IMHO).

Your experience is the same as mine with regards to forcing AA and AF in CCC rather than in-game...its hit and miss and very glitchy. Complaints about this to both Radeon and CA have been rather fruitless

cheers mate!


btw Apol - are you making videos? 2x5970 is a hell of a lot of gpu power just to play NTW, and is the kind of setup I usually only see when someone is doing more than just playing the game

Ok...well, I live and learn. Thanks very much. I will download and play with it. Re complaints to CA and AMD...I have filled out the driver feedback to AMD re the drivers for NTW/ETW...to absolutely no avail it seems. One can only hope one day they will fix their drivers re NTW/ETW. Re the two XfX Black Edition 5970s...well, I just wanted to get the best computer I could at the time....wanted to 'future proof' it as much as possible (Ha!) and had the means to do it. I don't make videos...I wouldn't know where even to begin (you seem to be a bit of a guru in this department!). I just want to be able to play my simulations to the max: I'm also into flight sims in a big way and you need as much grunt as you can with those beasties. And I reckon the imminent Shogun 2 is also going to push the boundaries, in any case. I'l be wanting to crank that up to the max as well. I just hope the drivers are optimised and they also optimise Crossfire for it!