Changeing drivers w/o fresh install decrease preformance?

[GlowStick]

Test system.

Windows XP SP1
Nvidia Geforce3 Ti200 42.45 Installed (many other nvidia drivers installed previously)
This instlation ran for aproximtly 5 months.

Then i received my Radeon 9800 Pro, so i uninstalled my drivers, put in the Radeon 9800 Pro and installed the 3.2 Cats.

My Best 3dMark03 score with that setup was 5307 useing the default 3dmark03 settings.

So, i reinstalled windows XP, patched to SP1 the installed the cat 3.2, then installed DirectX9a.

After a few reboots i installed 3dmark03, rebooted again and ran it useing the same default settings.

Score: 5270

I kind of suspected this, and ran the test again. I got a higher score of 5290.

So basicly, the results are, it dosent really seem to matter, a Fresh install in not required unless you are getting unusually low scores when you compare your system to silimar systems.

[The Baron]

Did you run exactly the same driver version for EVERYTHING, same services running, etc. etc. etc.? ;)

[GlowStick]

Originally posted by The Baron
Did you run exactly the same driver version for EVERYTHING, same services running, etc. etc. etc.? ;)

In all honestly, with the windows fresh install i was running less services.

I usually use my machine as a webserver, but i didnt set it up yet.

The drivers were the same, and i did not change my hardware.

And on another note, is Unreal II OpenGL? heh?

[Mike89]

There are way too many people that seem to think a clean install is necessary if the wind changes direction.

I always marvel when I see someone who's first comment to a problem is, "clean install". That's the very last thing one should do and certainly not the first.

I also just installed my 9800 Pro, coming from a Ti4600. No problems whatsoever if you know what you are doing and the OS was fine at the beginning.

[GlowStick]

Originally posted by Mike89
There are way too many people that seem to think a clean install is necessary if the wind changes direction.

I always marvel when I see someone who's first comment to a problem is, "clean install". That's the very last thing one should do and certainly not the first.

I also just installed my 9800 Pro, coming from a Ti4600. No problems whatsoever if you know what you are doing and the OS was fine at the beginning.

Well a clean install is a good fix for alot of things.

For somereason after around a month or too, in windows i cannot burn a CD that works for the love of god. But it works fine when i boot linux.

I reinstalled my aspi layer, and did about everything i could think of. Then when i reinstalled windows for my Pro it worked again, and still workes in linux.

[Rogozhin]

I've had in game problems ranging from major slowdowns when switching from 3rd to 1st person views when I DIDN'T do clean installs.

I set up my system with one drive with only the OS on it and the other drive with everthing else so it takes me only 25 minutes to reformat and get back up and running.

Rogo

[Mike89]

I don't know why you are assuming it was the OS that was the problem. That's the problem, too many do just that. I can only imagine how many times people have clean or re-installed the OS when it just was not necessary.

25 minutes? I very seriously doubt that. Takes longer than that just to do the format/install, not counting remembering how you had it set up and then doing it again. Then you still have to re-install all those other programs (and all the patches) even though they are already there. I also have two HDDs. I don't just have the OS on one hard drive by itself and I doubt many others do either. I have like 20 games on my HDDs. After a clean install I still have to re-install every one of them on that 2nd HDD to either get them back into the registry or just to get them to work. Some will work without having to re-install it after the clean OS install, but you would have to manually create the shortcuts. Some just plain won't work without re-installing them.

Then you still have to remember to save stuff like Favorites for IE, passwords, settings, mail setups, internet connections, installing the Service Pack again and any other updates, etc.

25 minutes? I think not.

In most all cases, it's far easier to just find the problem and correct it than to have to clean install and do all the stuff that goes with it.

Sometimes finding the problem takes some time and research. Lord knows how much time I have spent in that area. But at least that way you have a chance to find out the problem and learn something along the way, instead of the 'clean install' approach that will never lead you to finding out what the problem was in the first place and thus not learning much more than you knew before, except of course getting better at clean installing an OS.

The problem with the 'clean install' mentality is it never gets to the root of the problem. You have all the hardware components trying to work together and all the software. Well you clean install (without really knowing what the problem was in the first place) then use all the same conponents and all the software again. Then after awhile you start having the same problems again (or similar problems relating to the same issue). So it turns into this endless loop of clean installing every so often like an oil change. This process will never end until the true problem is found and corrected. Then guess what? No more need to clean install. I'm simplifying things here but am trying to just make the point.

[Rogozhin]

We are power users here who keeps their machines relatively clean. This is simply not representative of joe sixpack and his machine that gets totally fubared from multiple users downloading and installing dozens of programs.

When I work on families and friends computers I see all this crap that they download and install multiple times over. So my trick is to bring another harddrive along with me and copy all important files to that drive and wipe the other drive.

I've only had a few games where I've had to reinstall after deleting the registry, most of them (like you said) can work after manually creating a shortcut.

I do agree that a format isn't the first thing one should do when trouble-shooting, infact it should be near the end of your troubleshooting list, but when all else fails it is simply easier to just wipe the drive.

For example on my machine MSN 8 was continually loosing files and even their tec support couldn't figure it out, it wasn't until I realized that running regclean was erasing the msn 8 regestry keys! I didn't just wipe the drive and start over-so don't assume that's what we are proposing from our two line comments on this board.

You're right it takes about 25 minutes to do a quick format and load the OS and then another 20 minutes to dl and install the service packs and critical updates. Sorry for that misinformation, i appologize.

rogo

[Mike89]

You made some valid points and so did I. I never said a clean install could not be necessary at times. I'm just saying I see way too many comments of people telling others to clean install like that's the end all fix all remedy to whatever ails. I'm not talking about this forum in particular either. Like changing out a vid card for example (either changing to same brand or another). Absolutely no need to clean install in all but the most critical situations when something was already amiss but a lot of people will tell other people it's a given that one do that, like, "dude, make sure you clean install". Some people have one glitch, they clean install when there could be much less drastic remedies to pursue. I change out motherboards and don't clean install (just a boot from CD and repair (which wipes out Device Manager and installs everything from scratch) takes care of it). Done it about 5 times already, no problems if one knows the way to do it. Drivers, I can't even count the times I have changed drivers of all types, just changed from Nvidia to ATI, no clean install needed for any of it. Of course this is all with XP Pro, best OS of all time. I have clean installed myself a few times over time. And you know what I found out through the course of all of it? It was not necessary any of the times I did it. For the reasons I had clean installed the times I did, I ended up finding the problem and it turned out never to be the OS (in my case). Most of the time it turned out to be something my stupid ass had just not picked up on at the time. Needless to say I am quite a bit more patient not to jump the gun (going the clean install route) when a problem arises. I HATE to clean install. Heh heh. I'd much rather be doing something else.

I still have a little problem with your 25 and 20. Last time I built a friend's computer, installing (windows xp pro) it went something like this:
I did a full format - about 20 minutes or more.
Did the OS install - about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Installed Service Pack 1 from CD - took about 20 minutes to install.
Then there was the process of setting up and installing everything. Another hour and a half or so. Then there are the little things like tweaking/patching programs, setting up personal stuff, miscellaneous stuff that might have been forgotten along the way, etc. I'm not even taking into account here that all this is assuming there are no problems/glitches along the way. All that stuff is not done in 45 minutes.

[Rogozhin]

Mike

I don't usually do a full format, i usually do a quick and that only takes about 4 minutes instead of 20-25.

Plus

40minutes to load the OS is not correct. It takes my machine maybe 20 minutes at the most (inlcuding restarts).

I understand your POV but I don't agree completely. I do agree that it should be taken seriously and not recomended at the drop of a hat, but I do believe in formatting between motherboard installs, tried it with the method you listed above and had boot problems.

So, let's agree to disagree!

That's actually what the socratic method teaches-molding your set of beliefs from discussions, but not reinstalling (HEHE) new a new belief paradigm from the experience of others.

Rogo

[GlowStick]

It takes me about 30 min to Install Windows XP(slipstreamed) then do some patches, then install my usual Drivers AIM etc.


but i do it ALOT and have gotten really fast at it. i run multiple installers etc. heh.