Stiitch
09-21-2011, 06:43 PM
I have taken the last week on and off to log multiple installs of ATI drivers for the G73jh and the length of play, and what features seems to work with each set. I am posting this for those gamers, specifically Asus G73jh users, and extending to ATI mobility users.
For those who think TLTR I put the conclusion here at the top (at least so far)
Lessons learned, the Asus G73jh is NOT SUPPORTED by AMD. Every AMD driver for the mobility chipset tested resulted in a HARD crash where the computer became unresponsive with either grey bars, frozen screen, or BSOD.
My specs
System Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
System Model G73Jh
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz, 1600 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. G73Jh.206, 2/26/2010
SMBIOS Version 2.6
Display Adapter ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
Adapter RAM 1.00 GB (1,073,741,824 bytes)
Running Win7x64
Best drivers (so far)
Driver Version 8.683.0.0
from VGA_WIN7_64_868300 downloaded here http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/Drivers/VGA/VGA_WIN7_64_868300.zip
If you do not feel safe with the direct link, use the page I included below to search for the drivers. :)
All the testing...
I first went to Asus and downloaded the latest here http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=G73Jh&p=3&s=252. I also searched AMD to get the many different releases. I went here for most of them http://support.amd.com/US/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx. With some searching and google help I discovered 4 sets to test.
From AMD:
10-7_mobility_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc.exe
11-8_mobility_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc_ocl.exe
For the AMD drivers when running with or without DX11 the results were the same. A HARD crash would occur approx 5-30 seconds into the game. One occurrence of the game crashing at the menu screen. Needless to say with these drivers it was difficult to get a clear idea of what options made a good or bad experience.
From ASUS:
The original Asus drivers that came with the computer.
VGA_WIN7_64_868300
The original drivers were the first for the round of testing, as they were the start of this whole mess. I would see laggy response, poor frame rates, and intermittent crashes (5min - 30min). The settings were all defaults. I turned off every item, one by one tess, shadows, AA, etc. and noticed no discernible change in response. Once I turned off DX11 I turned all the non-DX11 options back on and started over 1 by 1. The frame rate was worse than DX11 with all options on, but by the time I got down to the minimums (everything but lowering the resolution) the game was playable without crashes at all. Sadly, in firefights, or more populated areas the game seemed to stutter right when I was lining up for the quick head shot, etc.
The update from ASUS was sadly the last ones I tried because I could not find official evidence that AMD was not supporting this laptop. After trying these (released early 2010) the stuttering and crashing fell to a minimum. Now, its not perfect, but DX11 is far better than non as the frame rate seems to take a nose dive. These drivers provided the better balance of great performance, frame rate + options, the only issue is a crash every once in a while (1- 4 hours). I hope this helps other people form spending too many hours knocking there head against a wall, and please, if you have any other drivers that you feel better than I have alluded to (I know I didn't include frame rate charts), let me know.
And to Eidos, great game, sorry to see so many issues with the graphics crashes and drivers issues. I would recommend this game to anyone, regardless of the technical difficulties.
Stiitch
For those who think TLTR I put the conclusion here at the top (at least so far)
Lessons learned, the Asus G73jh is NOT SUPPORTED by AMD. Every AMD driver for the mobility chipset tested resulted in a HARD crash where the computer became unresponsive with either grey bars, frozen screen, or BSOD.
My specs
System Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
System Model G73Jh
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz, 1600 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. G73Jh.206, 2/26/2010
SMBIOS Version 2.6
Display Adapter ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
Adapter RAM 1.00 GB (1,073,741,824 bytes)
Running Win7x64
Best drivers (so far)
Driver Version 8.683.0.0
from VGA_WIN7_64_868300 downloaded here http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/Drivers/VGA/VGA_WIN7_64_868300.zip
If you do not feel safe with the direct link, use the page I included below to search for the drivers. :)
All the testing...
I first went to Asus and downloaded the latest here http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=G73Jh&p=3&s=252. I also searched AMD to get the many different releases. I went here for most of them http://support.amd.com/US/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx. With some searching and google help I discovered 4 sets to test.
From AMD:
10-7_mobility_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc.exe
11-8_mobility_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc_ocl.exe
For the AMD drivers when running with or without DX11 the results were the same. A HARD crash would occur approx 5-30 seconds into the game. One occurrence of the game crashing at the menu screen. Needless to say with these drivers it was difficult to get a clear idea of what options made a good or bad experience.
From ASUS:
The original Asus drivers that came with the computer.
VGA_WIN7_64_868300
The original drivers were the first for the round of testing, as they were the start of this whole mess. I would see laggy response, poor frame rates, and intermittent crashes (5min - 30min). The settings were all defaults. I turned off every item, one by one tess, shadows, AA, etc. and noticed no discernible change in response. Once I turned off DX11 I turned all the non-DX11 options back on and started over 1 by 1. The frame rate was worse than DX11 with all options on, but by the time I got down to the minimums (everything but lowering the resolution) the game was playable without crashes at all. Sadly, in firefights, or more populated areas the game seemed to stutter right when I was lining up for the quick head shot, etc.
The update from ASUS was sadly the last ones I tried because I could not find official evidence that AMD was not supporting this laptop. After trying these (released early 2010) the stuttering and crashing fell to a minimum. Now, its not perfect, but DX11 is far better than non as the frame rate seems to take a nose dive. These drivers provided the better balance of great performance, frame rate + options, the only issue is a crash every once in a while (1- 4 hours). I hope this helps other people form spending too many hours knocking there head against a wall, and please, if you have any other drivers that you feel better than I have alluded to (I know I didn't include frame rate charts), let me know.
And to Eidos, great game, sorry to see so many issues with the graphics crashes and drivers issues. I would recommend this game to anyone, regardless of the technical difficulties.
Stiitch