NVIDIA GTS 250 Driver Update Advice Needed

[Verilyn]

Hope I'm in the right forum.  Please advise me.  This may be a simple question, but I just don't know enough to figure it out.  Thanks.

I already have the latest video driver available at the HP website (8.17.11.9732  released 3/25/10 - although there is one released 4/19/10).  Yeah, both drivers are old.  I have a HP Pavilion e9110t desktop and an NVIDIA GTS 250 video card.  Every time I enable shadows in the SL viewer 3, my PC makes grinding noises that make me disable shadows out of fear of ruining my system.

Yet, the card works fine without noise for shadows in games like The Sims 3.  I always thought that I have to use the HP-provided drivers because they are 'tweaked' for my system.  Is it OK to use the 8/9/11 driver from the NVIDIA site? 

Updated to add a snippet of info about my computer:

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 10/10/2011, 18:39:37
       Machine name: SYLVIA-PC
   Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
       System Model: NY809AV-ABA e9110t
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 07/21/09 13:13:50 Ver: 5.08
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU    Q8300  @ 2.50GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.5GHz
             Memory: 6144MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 6144MB RAM
          Page File: 2095MB used, 10189MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250
       Manufacturer: NVIDIA
          Chip type: GeForce GTS 250
           DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0615&SUBSYS_90381B0A&REV_A2
     Display Memory: 3821 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 1005 MB
      Shared Memory: 2815 MB
       Current Mode: 1600 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
       Monitor Name: HP 2009 Series Wide LCD Monitor
      Monitor Model: HP 2009
         Monitor Id: HWP2828
        Native Mode: 1600 x 900(p) (60.000Hz)
        Output Type: DVI
        Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
Driver File Version: 8.17.0011.9732 (English)
     Driver Version: 8.17.11.9732
        DDI Version: 10
       Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
  Driver Attributes: Final Retail
   Driver Date/Size: 3/25/2010 03:09:32, 11779176 bytes
        WHQL Logo'd: Yes
    WHQL Date Stamp: 

[Chelsea Malibu]

Shadows require a very advanced computer.  WoW and other games don't have these issues as they are built different and most is client side software.  SL loads each scene as you enter it.

you will need a PC capable of high level gaming and graphics.  You need a lot of RAM as well as a powerful graphics card and even then, most have stability issues when using shadows.

[Verilyn]

Thanks for your answer.  That explains why there is a grinding sound.

Just  for general and future knowledge, I'm still interested in knowing about the video driver update issue.  Is it a ploy a manufacturer uses or is there a good reason to stick with the manufacturer drivers?

[Peggy Paperdoll]

The GTS 250 card isn't really powerful enough to run shadows without some issues.  Thats the card I run in my computer and, though I can run shadows, my system suffers terrific texture lag plus some chat lag (though not that bad really).  I don't get any hard drive grinding though...........but I also have 8 gigs of fast DDR3 system ram.  The card has a gig and I don't run background programs (there really isn't much virtual RAM activity with anything I do on my computer).  The short of it is that the GTS 250 isn't a good card to run shadows with.

 

On the drivers.  There is no reason you cannot use the nVidia drivers from the nVidia driver download site.  Most laptops require the customized drivers but not desktops.........and your machine is a desktop from the specs you posted.  However, I don't believe a driver update is necessary at this time.  I doubt it's going to help you with shadows and that grinding noise is your system swapping virtual memory around trying to get shadows running.  Over time it could damage your hard drive so I would not run shadows until I got a graphics card capable or running shadows.  I also have a general rule of thumb I use for driver updates.  If your system is doing everything you want or need it to do then don't update your driver.  Most driver updates are released to add some obscure feature that very few people will need or want.  If there's bugs in a driver release then that's a good reason to update.  If there's a feature added to (say) SL that you want and a driver has that additional feature, then that's a good reason to update.  If there's simple a new driver and it has nothing you need or want then leave it alone.  Updating drivers, if done improperly, cause more problems that they ever solve.  And that goes for all drivers (not just video drivers).

[Verilyn]

Thanks.  I like the advice about leaving well enough alone.  You must know I have a habit of getting myself into trouble with these things.  LOL.

 

Glad I posted my question and glad to have two answers fairly quickly.  Now I see why some objects I buy in SL come with shadow prims. 

[Hadet Sonnenkern]

You should only be using Drivers provided by your graphics card manufacturer, if you're using others it could potentially void your waranty, or make your card non-operational. Always use Nvidia's drivers only.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

It's always best to get your drivers from the manufacturer of the device you are updating.  The exception is laptops.  In most cases the drivers for laptops are unique to the make and model of the laptop and the manufacturer's drivers will not work properly (if at all).  Its because to the design of the particular laptop, power saving/management, and heat issues.  For laptops you are more or less forced to use the computer manufacturers drivers........and in their defense, those drivers are usually pretty much up to date.  For desktops..........go to the card manufacturer's driver download site for the most current and best drivers for the card.