The Beast and SLI with LV2Go's 185.66 driver

One thing has always bothered me about 'The Beast' since I first received it... When running in SLI mode, the GPU clocks stayed locked at 500Mhz/799Mhz. They would NEVER downclock based on load. I tried so many different drivers. Starting way back with the NVIDIA 175.19 driver, every driver released failed to activate NVIDIA's PowerMizer technology. I eventually gave up and since I am not a heavy gamer, I was resigned to keeping SLI disabled. With SLI disabled, PowerMizer worked. It was nice to see the GPU downclock based on load and the lower temps as a result.

Well, after almost a year and half, I am pleased to say I finally came across a driver where PowerMizer functioned correctly with SLI enabled. This was a surprise to say the least. Amazing to think I could actually keep my laptop in SLI mode and still reap the rewarding lower thermals.

The driver I am talking about is the 185.66 release which laptopvideo2go.com posted on April 3rd. This driver is the cream of the crop. Thanks to Pieter and his v3.291 modded .inf - it installs correctly and is nothing but a dream come true.

So here it is - performance:

Temps are amazing. Even with SLI enabled, HWMonitor is reporting a low of 44c and a current of 45c with a max of 60c for the GPUs. CPU temps are a low of 26c, current of 29c and a max of 45c.

GPU-Z is reporting current GPU clocks @ 200Mhz on the core and 100Mhz on the memory. Prior to this driver they were always locked at 500Mhz Core / 799Mhz Memory while in SLI.

Image Quality is EXCELLENT. I have done a few test runs in Left 4 Dead and TF2. No problems found.

With that being said, I have to give this driver thumbs up! Pieter over @ laptopvideo2go is a genius. Granted, this might be a fix NVIDIA finally rolled out - or its in the way Pieter set up the .inf file. I don't know - and quite frankly I don't care. All I know is this driver is the one you should be using if you own 'The Beast' and are running 8800M GTX SLI.

You can grab the necessary files from LV2go (Be sure to download the driver AND the modded .inf file)...

Vista 32

Vista 64

To install, use the following process:

1. Extract driver to the desktop
2. Copy the modded .inf file to the extracted driver folder on desktop. You will be prompted to overwrite – select yes.
3. Uninstall current driver via control panel.
4. Reboot into safe mode
5. Run DriverSweeper and CCleaner (Registry Cleaner), reboot
6. Run 185.66 setup file

Enjoy everyone!

Additional Notes:
Ambient Occlusion is enabled with this driver - for more info on Ambient Occlusion, see this LINK

Apparently this driver has major issues with Counterstrike: Source. So those of you who are CSS fans - you will not be happy with this. From what I've read, you get a complete black screen and thats it... ouch. Wait until the WHQL is released.

Updating your Video Driver - The Right Way (VISTA)

Properly Removing the NVIDIA Driver

NOTE: This is for Vista ONLY.

So you want to update your NVIDIA driver? In order to facilitate a clean install you will want to remove all traces of your old driver prior to installing the new one. This includes registry keys (Don't worry, you won't be manually editing the registry). So let's go over this simple but effective 2 step procedure.

Prerequisites
We want to completely remove all traces of the old driver install. To do this, we will be using two freeware applications. If you don't already use these, download them and install.

Download CCleaner
Download DriverSweeper

In addition to the two programs, we also need to disable Vista's automatic driver install which is enabled by default. It's rather annoying and I actually prefer having control over the OS ;). By disabling this function, Vista will no longer automatically install a driver for a newly installed device it detects. Instead, it will prompt you to take action. A dialog box will appear asking you if you want Vista to search online for a driver, search its driver store or insert a disk. This is much better and essential to properly installing a device driver.

So, let's get started:

1. Open the 'System' control panel
2. On the left side of the System control panel window, select 'Advanced System Settings'
3. Click on the 'Hardware Tab'
4. Click the 'Windows Update Driver Settings' button
5. Choose the middle option, 'Ask me each time I connect a new device before checking for drivers'. Select OK and close the System Properties window and then close the System control panel. That's it.

Step 1 - Uninstalling the Current Driver

Open the Programs and Features Control Panel (Windows Vista) or Add/Remove Programs Control Panel (Windows XP).

Find the entry titled NVIDIA Drivers **NOTE: DO NOT uninstall your PhysX Driver. If you do, you will have to reinstall PhysX completely. Starting with the 8.09 release. PhysX updates are meant to be applied OVER the existing version installed.

Highlight it (NVIDIA DRIVERS) and select Uninstall.

Windows will ask you to confirm the uninstall, select Yes.

Windows will then prompt you to restart your system.

Reboot Windows into Safe Mode. To boot into Safe Mode: As the system is rebooting and after the BIOS screen is visible, repeatedly press the F8 key. This will bring you to the Windows boot options. Choose the option to boot into Safe Mode.

Step 2 - Removing All Traces

Now that you are in Safe Mode, launch DriverSweeper. Check the NVIDIA Display checkbox ONLY (DO NOT UNINSTALL THE PHYSX DRIVERS). Select Analyze. Select Clean. This will remove most, if not all of the traces of the NVIDIA driver left over from uninstalling via the control panel. You can now exit out of DriverSweeper.

Launch CCleaner and then Select the Registry button on the left side of the CCleaner main window. Select Scan for Issues. If any issues are detected, Select Fix Issues. You will be prompted to backup the changes CCleaner is about to make. If you feel the need, do so. Once the process completes, close CCleaner and REBOOT your system.

After rebooting, proceed with your new Driver Install.

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HAVE DISK Install Method (Can be used to install NVIDIA Desktop drivers, LV2Go drivers that do not have a modded .inf file or other devices you need to manually update)

1. Run the installer for your driver and let it extract the necessary files. If you are prompted for a location, I suggest saving them to a new folder on the desktop so you can locate them easier - you can always move them later. After the installer has extracted the driver files it may attempt to install them automatically. That's ok since it will not be able to install due to a missing entry in the driver .inf file. This is where the 'Have Disk' method comes into play.

2. Next, open up Device Manager (you can open the Run command via the Start Menu and type in 'mmc devmgmt.msc' - this will launch the Device Manager window.

3. Under 'Display Adapters' you will see an entry for 'Standard VGA Adapter'. Double Click on this to open the Properties window.

4. Go to Driver tab and select Update Driver.

5. Select 'Browse my computer for driver software'.

6. Select 'Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer'.

7. Select 'Have Disk'

8. Select 'Browse' and navigate to the extracted driver files. Double click on the .inf file.

9. You should now see the name of your device in the list. Highlight it and Click Next to continue.

10. Windows may ask for your approval to install the driver. Select 'Install this driver software anyway'.

11. Once installed, you will be prompted to reboot. If you have an SLI system, DO NOT REBOOT yet. You will need to repeat steps 1-9 for your second GPU. Look in the main Device Manager window and there should be an entry for 'UNKNOWN DEVICE' in the Other Devices category. Repeat steps 1-9 for the UNKNOWN DEVICE. Once done, Reboot and enjoy!