nVidia Driver - Should I get the one from Windows Update or nVidia?


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I am installing a new Windows 7 build and I downloaded the newest nVidia driver from nVidia (Dated 5/6) but then I noticed one in the Windows Update feature dating 5/3. Are these drivers the same? Does it really matter which one I install?

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I'd use the one from Nvidia, that is unless you're having problems with the new driver... then try the old one.

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I installed the driver package from nVidia after I installed the Microsoft driver. The nVidia one was about 20 days newer then the one from Microsoft. I did not see a change in my WEI.

Thanks for the advice!

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I used the one from Windows Update, but after about 3 restarts, it gave me the BSOD, and I switched to the one from Nvidia, and have had no problems since!

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Be forewarned that the latest 185.xx drivers may cause desktop corruption on some cards. You might see this if you try hitting the Show Desktop button twice. (just tried it right now on my desktop with a 8800 GT and my taskbar's all glitched)

There are newer 186.xx drivers available (check the beta section on Nvidia's site); I haven't checked them yet. If they still cause that problem then fall back to the ones offered via Windows Update.

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Some people at guru3d forums have problems with the latest 185 drives. If you find any, try the earlier 182.50 WHQL which are working for me in RC Spanish build.

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Bewarned guys the 186.xx driver is good, but it installed the stereoscopic (spelling) driver also on my pc.

Some games were starting up in the 3d stereo mode, even with it turned off within the nvidia control panel.

Simple solution was to un-install the stereo driver, shows up seperatley in add/remove programs.

All working fine here since then, not seen an increase in performance. Win7 x64

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On the nvidia forums for the latest drivers, as well as the older 185.xx series...people have posted complaints like no other. There is an eleven page thread on the bugs/problems with the 185.85 series of drivers.

Seems that the last, most stable release across the broadest spectrum of users is the 182.50 release. I have tried the newer drivers and they either cause texture problems or BSOD's. Any release past that has been plagued with more problems than praise from the forums I've read thus far.

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Nvidia Forums - List of 185.xx issues

Nvidia forums - 186.08 Beta

Seems that while a very small % have no problems, the majority have had continuing issues. What baffles many people, including myself, is how the 185.xx series made it to WHQL status with a blatant set of bugs still present in the release. If people aren't changing settings or hardware, and new drivers cause game-crippling bugs or crashes, I would consider that NOT to be a final release.

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I haven't had any problem at all with the 185 drivers on my 9600gt. They've been out for a while and this is the first I've heard of these issues, I doubt the "majority" is having them.

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Yeah same here. Not noticing any problems here on my 8800GT apart from some minor gfx corruption in Far Cry 2 when in DX10 mode. Can't say if it was there in the previous drivers. No problems with the control panel, no noticable framerate drops and the driver has yet to crash, bsod or stop responding.

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I was running the Microsoft supplied ones for 8800GT after installing 7201. No problems at all. Although felt a bit 'laggy' for whatever reason.

But have since installed 185.85 (185.85_desktop_win7_64bit_english_whql.exe) and it is running great so far.

No Glitches too etc.

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Well then someone explain or hypothesis when I haven't changed any hardware or software in months and when I update these drivers, glitches start occurring? I completely uninstall the previous drivers and make sure there is no remnants before installing the new set...and still problems occur. Something is amiss if that is happening, wouldn't you say?

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Like everyone said, get the driver from nvidia's website. But I too had problems with the 185WHQL and had to use 182.

GTS 250

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When I installed Build 7201 it recognized my laptop's (Asus X83Vb-X2) Nvidia card - GeForce 9300M GS - So I pretty much left it alone since it's working fine. I believe in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

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