Getting Better Windows 7/Vista Performance With Older nVidia Graphics Cards
I’m a great fan of Windows Vista, I’m not ashamed to say it. Even though I know there’s a a huge following of torch bearing geeks in anoraks, who burn people at the stake for saying “I like Vista”. I don’t really like Vista for the look and I can sure do without little features like Windows Aero. No, I like Vista for it’s stability, ease of access and most of all faster operation.
Aside from all the troubles with Creative Labs Vista drivers, only one other device has proved problematic; my beloved nVidia 6800.
I don’t play that many games, myself. I like to play Guild Wars and I enjoy playing Call of Duty 2. My son plays other games, but those are the only two I really get a chance to play. My PCI-E XFX 6800 is a great card, using this card in Windows XP still gives me good quality and good frame rates. Sadly it’s a different story in Windows Vista. Myself, and many other older card owners, are finding the recent nVidia drivers around 30% slower than Xp versions.
In my quest to find a better driver I discovered that some XP Forceware drivers actually work really well in Windows Vista! I began experimenting with various drivers. After about 10 driver installs, I discovered that Windows XP Forceware Version: 81.98 seems to be the last working “Vista compatible” XP driver.
Wow.. I was really amazed when I started benchmarking this driver. It even benchmarked better in Vista than it did in XP. It contained the classic control panel, overclocking and all the other extra features like TV-OUT and Digital Vibrance.
I fired up my games and sure enough, they were performing better than they used to in XP. Brilliant!
Sadly there are a couple of drawbacks with this driver.
- This is an XP driver, so no WDDM support and no Windows Aero
- No SLi support
- Limited support for older nVidia cards only
NVIDIA_NV11.DEV_0110.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400″
NVIDIA_NV11.DEV_0111.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 100/200″
NVIDIA_NV11.DEV_0113.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro2 MXR/EX”
NVIDIA_CR11.DEV_01A0.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce2 Integrated GPU”
NVIDIA_NV17.DEV_0170.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 460″
NVIDIA_NV17.DEV_0171.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440″
NVIDIA_NV17.DEV_0172.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420″
NVIDIA_NV17.DEV_0173.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440-SE”
NVIDIA_NV17.DEV_0178.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro4 550 XGL”
NVIDIA_NV17.DEV_017A.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro NVS”
NVIDIA_NV18.DEV_0181.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8X”
NVIDIA_NV18.DEV_0182.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440SE with AGP8X”
NVIDIA_NV18.DEV_0185.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 4000″
NVIDIA_NV18.DEV_0188.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro4 580 XGL”
NVIDIA_NV18.DEV_018A.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro NVS with AGP8X”
NVIDIA_NV18.DEV_018B.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro4 380 XGL”
NVIDIA_CR17.DEV_01F0.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 MX Integrated GPU”
NVIDIA_NV20.DEV_0200.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce3″
NVIDIA_NV20.DEV_0201.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200″
NVIDIA_NV20.DEV_0202.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 500″
NVIDIA_NV20.DEV_0203.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro DCC”
NVIDIA_NV25.DEV_0250.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600″
NVIDIA_NV25.DEV_0251.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400″
NVIDIA_NV25.DEV_0253.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200″
NVIDIA_NV25.DEV_0258.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro4 900 XGL”
NVIDIA_NV25.DEV_0259.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro4 750 XGL”
NVIDIA_NV25.DEV_025B.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro4 700 XGL”
NVIDIA_NV28.DEV_0280.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4800″
NVIDIA_NV28.DEV_0281.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP8X”
NVIDIA_NV28.DEV_0282.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4800 SE”
NVIDIA_NV28.DEV_0288.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro4 980 XGL”
NVIDIA_NV28.DEV_0289.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro4 780 XGL”
NVIDIA_NV30.DEV_0301.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 Ultra”
NVIDIA_NV30.DEV_0302.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800″
NVIDIA_NV30.DEV_0308.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 2000″
NVIDIA_NV30.DEV_0309.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 1000″
NVIDIA_NV31.DEV_0311.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 Ultra”
NVIDIA_NV31.DEV_0312.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600″
NVIDIA_NV31.DEV_0314.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600XT”
NVIDIA_NV34.DEV_0321.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra”
NVIDIA_NV34.DEV_0322.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200″
NVIDIA_NV34.DEV_0323.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200LE”
NVIDIA_NV34.DEV_0326.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500″
NVIDIA_NV34.DEV_0327.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100″
NVIDIA_NV34.DEV_032A.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro NVS 55/280 PCI”
NVIDIA_NV34.DEV_032B.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 500/FX 600″
NVIDIA_NV35.DEV_0330.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra”
NVIDIA_NV35.DEV_0331.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900″
NVIDIA_NV35.DEV_0332.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900XT”
NVIDIA_NV35.DEV_0333.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra”
NVIDIA_NV35.DEV_0334.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900ZT”
NVIDIA_NV35.DEV_0338.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 3000″
NVIDIA_NV35.DEV_033F.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 700″
NVIDIA_NV36.DEV_0341.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 Ultra”
NVIDIA_NV36.DEV_0342.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700″
NVIDIA_NV36.DEV_0343.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE”
NVIDIA_NV36.DEV_0344.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700VE”
NVIDIA_NV36.DEV_034E.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 1100″
NVIDIA_NV40.DEV_0040.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra”
NVIDIA_NV40.DEV_0041.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800″
NVIDIA_NV40.DEV_0042.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 LE”
NVIDIA_NV40.DEV_0043.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 XE”
NVIDIA_NV40.DEV_0045.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT”
NVIDIA_NV40.DEV_0048.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 XT”
NVIDIA_NV40.DEV_004E.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 4000″
NVIDIA_NV41.DEV_00C0.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GS”
NVIDIA_NV41.DEV_00C1.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 “
NVIDIA_NV41.DEV_00C2.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 LE “
NVIDIA_NV41.DEV_00C3.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 XT “
NVIDIA_NV41.DEV_00CD.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 3450/4000 SDI”
NVIDIA_NV41.DEV_00CE.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400″
NVIDIA_NV43.DEV_0140.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT”
NVIDIA_NV43.DEV_0141.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6600″
NVIDIA_NV43.DEV_0142.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE”
NVIDIA_NV43.DEV_0143.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6600 VE”
NVIDIA_NV43.DEV_0145.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6610 XL”
NVIDIA_NV43.DEV_014A.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro NVS 440″
NVIDIA_NV43.DEV_014E.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 540″
NVIDIA_NV43.DEV_014F.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6200″
NVIDIA_NV44.DEV_0160.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6500″
NVIDIA_NV44.DEV_0161.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache(TM)”
NVIDIA_NV44.DEV_0162.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6200SE TurboCache(TM)”
NVIDIA_NV44.DEV_0163.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6200 LE”
NVIDIA_NV44.DEV_0165.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro NVS 285″
NVIDIA_NV44.DEV_0221.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6200 “
NVIDIA_G70.DEV_0090.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX”
NVIDIA_G70.DEV_0091.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX “
NVIDIA_G70.DEV_0092.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT”
NVIDIA_G70.DEV_009D.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500″
NVIDIA_NV48.DEV_0211.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 “
NVIDIA_NV48.DEV_0212.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 LE “
NVIDIA_NV48.DEV_0215.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT “
NVIDIA_C51.DEV_0240.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6150″
NVIDIA_C51.DEV_0241.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE”
NVIDIA_C51.DEV_0242.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6100″
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00F1.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT “
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00F2.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6600 “
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00F3.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6200 “
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00F4.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE “
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00F5.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GS”
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00F8.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 3400/4400″
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00F9.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Series GPU”
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00FA.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5750″
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00FB.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5900″
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00FC.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5300″
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00FD.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro PCI-E Series”
NVIDIA_BR02.DEV_00FE.1 = “NVIDIA Quadro FX 1300″
NVIDIA_Win2KDualView = “NVIDIA Dualview”
NVIDIA_MultiView = “NVIDIA Multiview”
Before installing, don’t forget to clean your old driver files out with a driver cleaner of some sorts. I recommend Guru3D’s Driver Sweeper. It’s free and it sure gets the job done.
This driver installs fine for me with the installer, but some people have found they needed to manually intall through Windows Device Manager. Either way, your machine must be set to “Allow unsigned drivers”. You can enable this feature by holding down the F8 key before Windows Vista boots.
After experimenting, I suspected nVidia were deliberately sabotaging drivers to force older card owners to upgrade. However since then I have learnt a number of reasons why Vista Forceware is slower than XP Forceware. One example would be the thousands of extra lines of code in each Vista driver!
Either way, I’m sticking to Windows XP Forceware Version: 81.98. If you’re using a 7800 or under, I suggest you give it a try too.
Good Luck!
genuis why didnt i think of trying that
and im also a fan of vista and like u said u dont need windows areo
but other then that it seems to run faster then xp
like for example i installed it on my friends laptop
hes lap topis p42.6 1gb ram and it ran really slow with xp for some reason
so we installed vista and it worked betta then xp well anyway im off and thanks for the help
I removed nVidia drivers, downloaded the 81.98 driver and had no luck installing either with the installer – said I wan’t running windows – must not recognize Vista signature. Tried to update driver from device manager, and same thing. Anyone got any other ideas?
umm.. what graphic’s card are you using?
User account control must be OFF.
And allow unsigned drivers must be ON.
Unsigned drivers will display the “not Windows” error.
Hold F8 before Vista boots, to find the Windows Boot Manager and the option to use drivers of your choice.
Hope this helps
Okay guys, I don’t know about you, but I REALLY need this because I am desperate, now,
I am running Vista Ultimate
I have UAC turned off
I booted into Vista with unsigned drivers allowed
I ran the install as admin
and it STILL thinks that its not a windows system,
I also tried compatibility mode for Windows XP SP2, it installs, but when anything visual comes along, it freezes :S
PLEASE HELP
Email me Meszanto@tsz.com.au
Thanks
okay, so this is what happened NOW
I managed to install it using the Device Manager, however it Blue screens like when I installed it with compability mode to do with the nv4_mini.sys
someone wanna help out?
cause I really need it
Thanks
I tried this without success but then I did not go through all the options (installing from Control Panel, starting in Safe Mode, Press F8 when booting).
Anyway I am wondering if the driver that is linked below works for both the 32 bit and the 64 bit version of Vista?
Cheers
Harald
No, this is only suitable for 32bit Vista.
I understand there is a Windows XP 64bit of this driver though – but I am unable to test.
Holding down F8 (disabling driver enforcement) is essential for this to work.
Regards
Goat
Hm. I’m not having any luck with this either. Running Vista Ultimate 32-bit.
im having no luck with this at all. i have uac disabled and i booted up pressing f8 and i disabled driver enforcement.
The only thing I can stress is to run Guru3D driver sweeper before installing new drivers. In most cases it will solve all install issues. Then maybe try executing the “Setup.exe” in XP compatibility mode.
It may not work for everybody but it’s always worked for me on supported non-sli cards.
A big thank you to whoever created this web page my nvidia geforce 4 mx440 works perfect under vista with xp drivers tv output also working tried loads of other drivers with no luck.Meny people saying card not compatable what a load of bull works fine brill love the site added to favorites and bookmarked cheers mate great help to me
Justin
Glad to help you and your mx440 Justin. I used to own one, and 81.98 proves it’s still a good graphics card for many uses.
Regards
Goat
Glad that you created this quick fix solution…you have indeed created hope for many..however it wasnt able to solve the issue with my notebook which has a ge force 460 which has 32mb memory..could you suggest or provide support. It does say that it supports however could you assist..thank you….. And thank you once again on behalf of all my friends who have desktops and has helped them to a great deal!!!
Hey!
The Vista website says; “Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory” and the release notes say “support for NVIDIA_NV17.DEV_0170.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 460″.
I don’t think Geforce 460 Mobile is supported though, if I’m honest. The only way I can see it working is with modded driver files, but then you’ll need to research your device codes too. Everything you need is at Guru3D.
A good INF modding guide can be found here.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=171843
Hope this helps
Goat
Nvidia GeForce 4600Ti
It works! It works! It works!
Thanks!
Now If I can only make the Sound Blaster Live! PLatinum 5.1 with live drive, to work in Vista, to bypass SPDIF via TOSLINK to the A/V Receiver, in order for the receiver to decode the Dolby Digital / DTS signal when playing DVDs from the computer, I will be completely happy.
Hey Justin
I read you comment saying Geforce4 MX440 works. I am using the same AGP8x card on Dell Dimension 8300. Well, I am able to watch using that card on DVI connection to my TV – however I dont see the 720p resolution. The resolutions, colors etc are all messed up. Vista looks like tramsmitting standard VGS resolutions but over DVI connection too. Could you please confirm – what all resolutions you could change to? can you open up the nvidia control panel and change things there like what we used to on XP?
Hey Mr.Web Author
When I first installed the Vista, I was able to see lot of resolution support on the same card – using DVI connection. However the device manager – shows errors on NVidia GeForce4 MX440 AGP8x. But still I could select the 720p resoltuon. But later after several updates from Microsoft – that went off. Or may be after I was tring to install some other versions like 96.33 forceware. Something screwed it up and I dont see the 720p resolution to set any more.
I will try this 81.98 using the F8 and UserAccount option changes. So i have to do that F8, then UserAccounts then install the driver or go to devce manager and click Update driver and pick the Exploded directory for this 81.98. Which way do you suggest?
1. uninstall NVidia – if its already there and not working.
2. Restarted Vista Ultimate with “Safe Mode” and ran the Driver Sweeper. It removed the registry keys related to NVidia
3. Restart Vista – but now with F8 and then Disable windows check for driver (Last Option)
4. I tried to install from the Executable – i was having previous install – so alerted me for replace of some files – I said “Yes to all” and after some time – it failed.
5. Open the device manager and do manual update driver – but select the folder. c:\NVIDIA\Win2XP..\81.98. Windows will install successfully.
Nice one….my GeForce4 MX 4000 workssss fine now..im using vista home premium and enabled aero..thanks for the help man…
I dunno what my prob is, but I still cannot get this to work. Ive got a ti 4800, no matter what I do, I get the not windows errror on install. I found a modded forceware driver on guru3d, tried that and device manager reports errors from device and shuts the driver down. All I want is widescreen support, I dont even care about Aero
hi everybody, anyone can help me.. I have problem with my Graphic card NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE, the driver is already installer, but still not work properly, and still have 1 devices i cannt find the driver, is UNKNOWN DEVICE the value ACPI\PNPB006 *PNPB00, what is this? is it i need to install this device than my graphic card can work properly?? I’m using windows vista ultimate.. Pls help….
I have just upgraded to vista basic and my monitor keeps blinking I have a nvidia geforce4 mx 4000 series and can’t locate a driver for it can anyone help
Hello TY TY FOR this forums thingy im about to try it but idk how to turn on usnsigned drivers because idk when to press f8 when vista boots but idk when exacly that is and also how will i no when its off and also the guru thingy doesnt work for me says it has a problem idk but could u add me to msn messenger and help me out like that TY TY TY.
acces violation at address 004fe489 in module drive sweep exe read of address 00000000.
thats what i get when ever i try to clean my nvidia with drive sweep
yeah um when ever i uninstall it reinstall when ever i restart and i think the guru thingy doesnt deleat all of them and also when ever i go to device manager to update it it says i have the latest update for my software so idk
but now with F8 and then Disable windows check for driver (Last Option)
i dont get dat part sunli
im back lol but yeah i got to deleating files with guru but then it reinstalls(the nvidia that came with vista) when i restart the comp and says “not windows” thingy so then i tried task manager and browsed the folder but still no this is in safe mode and uac off so whats next?
Ik heb windows vista 64 bit en heb de audigi2 zs
maar gaat niet digital
hebben jullie daar een nieuwe cd voor stuurprograma ,s
zo ja wil ikdie graag van jullie hebben wand zo is het geluid niet mooi
you have to turn off automatic driver install in system, advance system settings, hardware, windows update driver settings, choose never check for drivers…, then do the process above, but do it in device manager and manually install the driver, restart and works great
Hey, I´ve been using this quick fix for months, thanks! Funny how the nvidia driver recognizes the system as Longhorn (Service Pack 1). I guess it was really made with compatibility with vista in mind.
the config is Vista 32bits with all updates and Geforce4 Ti 4200 agp 8x.
and I also have a creative live! dell board under vista as well, with Danielk drivers, but thats another history…
This driver also works with Windows Seven and GF 4 MX 440. Now I have max resolution that my lcd support.
Using Windows 7 RC build 7100 genuine and I have this old GeForce4 MX4000 card and it wouldn’t take any Vista drivers, no way….
Looked around and tried a few even the fixed ones no go until I found your directions— it’s great!!!
I had to use Compatibilty wiz and it installed great. Before that it was telling me :You are not using Windows!” Had to laugh….
It works with Geforce 4 mx 400 Go, on a HP Pavillion 5430us. Windows 7.
thank you VERY much. now i see in the correct aspect ratio!!