Problem with Nvidia driver 196.75 - Do not update

[WrathOfDeadguy]

You are suggesting that Nvidia has the same people working for them still they did when ATI was a challenger and not a partner.

 

No, I am not.

 

...but they've had about three decades' worth of crack-slippage in the past three years.

 

Note the use of italics. I was attempting to place emphasis on the sorry state of the company's recent affairs. The jab there is that many companies go several decades without the sort of issues that have plagued nVidia within a much shorter time frame.

 

Do you really think those same human beings still work for them?

 

That's more or less exactly what I'm saying about an event that occurred less than three years ago. I rather doubt that the company has thrown out and replaced all of its management within that time. I am not dumb enough to believe that the software and hardware aspects are handled by the same part of the company... however, upper management should bloody well have set the bar a tad higher all around in the aftermath of what I would not hesitate to call one of the worst quality control screwups in recent computer-related history. No other issue has affected so many units at once without the company responsible issuing a widespread, publicly-announced recall. That another mishap (albeit a far less damaging one) should occur so soon on the heels of that episode leads me to believe that quality control is poor across the entire company- not just in the department which was directly responsible for the first event- since hardware and software are handled by different people, and there has been a failure in each area.

 

Yes, it is probable that it's a coincidence and some poor dope put a 0 where there ought to have been a 1 without anyone noticing, but what I'm getting at here is that the larger corporate entity is still responsible for it getting through. Common sense would suggest that the most prudent move after a major quality control failure would be to step up the amount of testing done on any product before it is released to consumers. Just because the original issue was a hardware issue doesn't mean that not having enough man-hours spent on QC might not have been the root of the problem... and nVidia should have examined that possible fault across all of their operations.

 

We aren't talking about a problem that takes a long time to manifest here; the moment the defective software patch was tested, given a sufficient number of test systems (at least one each of a laptop and desktop from every major manufacturer using an nVidia card- certainly within their means), somebody should have noticed that some of them were overheating. It is a software issue, but it is one that produces a physical effect that anybody with a thermometer could observe and record. I could understand if the issue were with the software degrading the card's processing power, or causing crashes with some applications since there are way too many to reliably test every one... but overheating is a very, very easy thing to notice, especially if one other symptoms can include one of the card's components (in this case the fan) not running. If a human being were physically present at the testing station and paying attention to their work, there is no reason I can imagine why they wouldn't have caught this.

 

I'm just not finding much room for sympathy for nVidia here.

[Deleted54170User]

I can see you are tired of the equipment they provide and tired of all the promotion's, product hype, and simply tired all around. Me too!

 

Nvidia's people are probably just as tired of pushing themselves to get up and go to work another day in the present day economics crisis.

While the market's have simmered down about pushing the expensive hype on the major crowds, they are still alive and well for those of us who seek any new innovation to the process.

 

I expect those of us who hang on to the dream of exploring new world's, in outer space, will continue to look for the next ride on a the Star Ship Enterprise when its crew returns from its five year mission and it is turned into a carnival ride for millionaire's until it is decommissioned permanently and put it in moth balls.

 

Yes! I am still dreaming.

 

Am I tired of that dream, "No!" Am I tired of complaint's, and fashionable ones I might add, not entirely. I am just tired and need to rest so I can dream sleep about another journey in the inner space which I hope will turn and get on course in outer space before I am too old to ever enjoy that ride.

 

I hope you can forgive me for taking my mind off course and going where this thread does not focus, "Humanities dream's for a better tomorrow".

[evilneko]

I did not know about the laptop 8600M issues. Glad my current laptop seems to be ok with its 9600.

 

I don't think I've ever updated its graphics drivers though. And why should I? It's working fine. I've always had bad luck with graphics drivers causing problems, so once I get them working the way I want em, I leave em the hell alone. A quick glance at the drivers I downloaded before upgrading it from Vista to XP shows the laptop's nvidia drivers are version 179.28, downloaded 1/22/2009. ;D

[evilkoal]

found your problem! -----NVIDIA-----

i had it happen to me a few times, then i dropped my sli'ed 9800gtxs and bought 5770. it performs faster, cooler, and uses less power!

[CommanderCrazy]

Seriously guys, Lets just drop the whole the ATi is better, NVidia sucks etc.

Its personal preference orright?

 

Last time I went to my Supplier:

-----------------------------

ATi 5770: $450

Nothing else

Total: $450

-----------------------------

NVidia GTX260 SO: $300

Gigabyte SuperB 720 watt PSU: $150

Total: $450.

-----------------------------

I like, Will always like & will never not like NVidia, So guess which package I got?

(The PSU was an upgrade aswell)

[Dark0ne]

Well no, it's not really personal preference for most of us. Most of us have had both ATi and nvidia cards in our life-times and 4 years ago we'd have all been singing nvidia's praises and lambasting ATi. That's no longer the case and ATi have swiped the crown from right under nvidia's noses. For some of us it's not about fan-boyism, it's about getting the best cards at the time and the best cards are definately in ATi's ballpark. And you'll get dicked around a lot less too.

 

Did a quick price check of the 5770 against the GTX260; the most expensive 5770 is a couple of dollars more expensive than the cheapest GTX 260. The 260's are about £30 ($50) more expensive than the 5770's on average while getting a few extra FPS (except in Half-Life 2 engine games...ATi + Valve partnership). 5770's are more future proof with DX11 support if you're hoping to hold on to the card for a few years.

[CommanderCrazy]

Apologies Dark0ne, but price checks wont get you very far in my case.

This guy supplies only a certain group of people, sort of a grey-market if you will.

[Dark0ne]

This guy is ripping you off, then. The 5770 is cheaper everywhere I've looked.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

It's more about not having my graphics card fry my computer. I've yet to have an ATi product do that. I also have several older nVidia cards that work perfectly after many years of use- it's their newer crap, and I do mean crap, that I take issue with. When they get their act together, then I'll start actually caring which company offers the best performance for the best price. That's exactly what I used to do. Right now, however, and for the forseeable future, I'm boycotting nVidia because they shipped defective components that were installed in millions of systems, including mine, and have yet to make it right. Not to mention apparent ongoing QC issues.

 

If the day comes when nVidia sends out checks to all the consumers they screwed, and if after that day comes I'm still ragging on them, then you can call it fanboyism. They've got to make good before they are worthy of their market share... until they do, I'm perfectly okay with going around telling everyone I possibly can not to do business with 'em. "Forgive and forget" only applies when dealing with friends, family, and free giveaways- not expensive consumer electronics.

[CommanderCrazy]

Maybe so Dark0ne, but I had a practically melting old 400 watt PSU before.

Now I have a 720.....