Anyone with Win 7 have the Nvidia video card control center (or whatever Nvidia calls it) loaded. In XP this control center had some controls for multiple monitors.
If so what exactly is it called and is it a version for W7?
The Win 7 control center seems lacking in this area, IMO.
Bill
Yes, I have that. Called the nVidia control center, available by right clicking on the desktop once the nVidia driver is installed.
It's under display, set up multiple monitorsl.
If I remember right the control panel was installed the first time when the driver was updated using windows update, but I then updated to the current version from nVidia, so don't remember for sure.
Thanks Pat. I will give it a try.
Bill
This morning I installed the Nividia driver and control center then ran a Performance Update from the control panel.
Performance rating with the MS native Nvidia driver was 4.4.
Performance with the latest driver is 4.2!
The Nvidia control center is helpful but I didn't make any changes that were worthwhile. I think I'm going back to the MS version unless someone has a compelling reason not to.
Any thoughts?
Bill
In this case, the major update for this driver was the inclusion of 3D for 9600 series cards and up. Unfortunately I have a 9500, not relevant to me. Actually this version of the driver seems a tad slower than the previous one although I don't know how to test that, and I'm not sure the difference is really significant. I do know there is now some extra clutter in the driver that I will not/can't ever use! A New video card will come with it's own driver. The reason I was interested in the update was the Nvidia control center. I have had an earlier version that had a lot more options for dual monitors i.e. controlling which programs ran on which monitor. The current version doesn't allow that, unless of course I missed it. I will recheck.
Bill
I'm not exactly sure if this is the feature set you're looking for as I never did dual monitors with XP, only Vista and W7.
But, if this is the feature it may not be supported any more, check this page from nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com/object/nview_display_us.html) and look at the small line of text at the bottom.
(quote)
Note: NVIEW for XP will continue to be supported on both Quadro and GeForce, whereas the new NVIEW for Vista (and I'm guessing W7) is a Quadro-only feature.
Thanks Pat. That was the feature. I was on that page and missed the 'fine print.' Sneaky devils.
Do you think the Win 7 'Performance Experience' or whatever MS calls it, is legit.?
Bill
The "Performance Experience" in Windows 7 (AKA: Windows Experience Index) does not replace real-world bench testing, so much as it gives you a general overview of how your current hardware/drivers will likely perform in Windows 7 for specific areas. The maximum score is 7.9, even if the equipment performs much higher.
Since 7.9 is maximum score, the actual difference between your two scores is 2.53%. If every percentage point makes a difference to you, that might be enough reason for you to go back. But consider that Vista's maximum score is 5.9. My understanding is that you will get the same number in Vista for a particular component/driver as you would in Windows 7. In Vista the difference between the two numbers would be 3.39%, so percentage differences may not mean much.
Depending on how you use your computer it may not make enough of a difference in the end. After all, they're just ballpark numbers.
As an FYI, I'm using version 191.07 on my nVidia 7600GT card and I am getting a score of 5.5. A recent build for a customer received a score of 4.9 using a pair of 9500GT cards.
Hmmm.
Update:
I uninstalled ver 191.07 and allowed Windows 7 to use the default driver. After a reboot I ran Windows Experience Index (WEI). No difference in scores.
I then downloaded and installed the latest driver from nVidia.com (ver 195.62). After another reboot I reran WEI. Again, no difference in scores.
On a Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R mobo, I receive the following scores running Win7 64-bit:
6.7 Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz)
6.9 Memory (8GB PC6400 G-Skill RAM)
5.9 Graphics (eVGA 7600GT 256MB PCI-E)
5.5 Gaming Graphics
5.8 Primary Hard Disk (74GB WD Raptor SATA 8MB)
Thanks Scuzzy.
Here are mine:
6.3 Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHZ Gigabyte EP45-UD3R
6.3 Memory: 4 GB
4.2 Graphics: eVGA Nvidia GeForce 9500GT ver. 195.62 driver
6.3 Gaming Graphics memory
7.7 Primary hard drive
Interesting that your graphics score benefited from the updated driver.
Since I don't do any heavy duty gaming, and the displays are clear and sharp. it probably doesn't make a difference.
And while you seem to change drivers with ease, I struggled a bit to get the Nvidia driver installed so I think I will leave it alone. Maybe just a case of TMI.
Bill
My scores remained the same throughout. The 5.5 score that I initially quoted was my lowest score (gaming graphics), not my graphics score.
I'm sorry for not clarifying.
On my signature system my ratings are;
Processor 6.1
Memory 7.1
Graphics 5.7
Gaming graphics 6.5
Primary hard disk 5.9
On media pc
Athlon2 dual core 3.0ghz , 2x1 gig crucial ballistix, nvidia 9600GT, WD 320 gb
Processor 6.5
Memory 5.5
Graphics 6.7
Gaming graphics 6.7
Hard drive 5.6
Not sure why there is such a big difference in the ram numbers as the ram is the same except for the module size, one is 2x1gb and the other is 2x2gb.
That is a fast hard drive you have there Bill.
The following is from my HP DV3510NR laptop, which has a clean installation of Win7 64-bit:
5.5 Processor (Intel Centrino 2 P7350 2GHz)
5.8 Memory (4GB)
3.4 Graphics (nVidia GeForce 9300M)
5.3 Gaming Graphics
5.2 Primary Hard Disk (Hitachi 320GB)
I believe Bill's hard drive is his new Intel SSD.
Bill, you should put your system stats in your signature.
As you suggested.......
Bill