NGO Optimized ATI 1.6.6. (Based on Catalyst 6.6)

Dyre Straits · Jul 5, 2006, 05:25 AM

The drivers are up and ready for download. Check 'em out here:

http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=ati

NOTES:

The NGO ATI Optimized Driver is a tweaked version of the ATI Catalyst driver. The main purpose is to satisfy the users with better performance and image quality. The Driver has support for all Radeon cards.

Changes
* Based on ATI Catalyst 6.6
* Added support for X1800GTO/X1900GT
* Added support for RV530 (Some X1600s)
* Added WDM drivers to the package
* Fixed installation issues
* Some general fixes (typos)

PCI Latency Tool
We decided to include this handy tool so you could adjust the PCI latency in order to avoid PCI bus choking. It helps optimize performance and resolve stuttering and sound issues. It's recommended to set latency values to 64 for all your PCI/AGP Devices. This tool doesnt support PCI Express cards.

Installation
Please, uninstall your previous driver before proceeding with this Installation. Please use the ATI Catalyst Uninstall Utility in order to Uninstall your current driver.

Ultra Edition
The Ultra Edition is optimized for cards with 256Mb or more. It uses the ram in a more effective way in order to produce higher performance. It also may be used with 128Mb cards but don't expect the same level of performance gain.

Standard Edition
The Standard Edition is recommended for All Radeon cards. This edition is especially recommended for those users that can't use the Ultra Edition.

Rawr · Jul 5, 2006, 06:21 AM

Sweet can't wait to try these out..to bad I gotta go to work in a bit!!

higgledyhiggles · Jul 5, 2006, 09:58 AM

are these CCC ?

Chaos · Jul 5, 2006, 10:17 AM

probably not as Regeneration tends to offer the old control panel but if in doubt drop over to NGOHQ and have a look

higgledyhiggles · Jul 5, 2006, 10:25 AM

cant see anything, even in the thread. i`ll give em a whack and if my computer goes bang then i`ll know not to use them again. 8)

Ib Al-Musaheb · Jul 5, 2006, 11:18 AM

Great drivers, Dyre! I just installed them ...

But I'm asking myself what this PCI Latency Tool is. Well, I didn't install it because I wasn't sure if this will really help me boost some performance in games, programs etc.
And concerning the sound, I'm not suffering from sound problems. Nevertheless does it make a sense to install them? (btw: where can I install that tool after the event?

)

creidiki · Jul 5, 2006, 02:06 PM

Sorry if this is a noobish question, but do these include the chuck patch?

Dyre Straits · Jul 5, 2006, 02:08 PM

If you did not select to install the PCI Latency Tool initially, you can do so by double clicking the exe file found here:

C:\Program Files\NGO ATI Optimized Driver v1.6.6\PCI Latency Tool

(Or if you selected a different install location, you'll find it there.)

Many systems default the PCI Latency to 32. I found that 62 or 80 is better for my system.

And, no, there is no CCC in these.

Dyre Straits · Jul 5, 2006, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creidiki

Sorry if this is a noobish question, but do these include the chuck patch?

Not to my knowledge. They are based on the official released CAT 6.6s.

creidiki · Jul 5, 2006, 02:49 PM

Ah darn, the "normal" chucky patch 6.6 dont wanna play nice with RivaTuner + ATT...

Ib Al-Musaheb · Jul 5, 2006, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

Many systems default the PCI Latency to 32. I found that 62 or 80 is better for my system.

Better in which regard? Sorry to keep bothering you but could something bad happen if I set the PCI latency from 32 to 64 on my system?

(and can I restore it to default state?)

And does this tool also affect the AGP interface?

And btw: there isn't any PCI Latency.exe for me in that place.

Arikel · Jul 5, 2006, 03:29 PM

I just spent a little time playing City of Villains with these drivers, the performance is definitely improved over the Cat 6.6 set and the last Omega set (based on the Cat 6.5 set). The Cat 6.6 doesn't seem to have the fixes I've been waiting for for CoV, but at least performance in general seems to be noticably improved.

riles9262 · Jul 5, 2006, 03:46 PM

Damn, I was thinking of giving these a go with my new card...but no chuck patch, no download. I'll stick with dhzp 6.5.

creidiki · Jul 5, 2006, 04:17 PM

Well I gave them a quick go anyway, theyre very, very good from what I can see

Still stick to DH0.6.5 for Oblivion purdyness, but eh.

Dyre Straits · Jul 5, 2006, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ib Al-Musaheb

Better in which regard? Sorry to keep bothering you but could something bad happen if I set the PCI latency from 32 to 64 on my system?

(and can I restore it to default state?)

And does this tool also affect the AGP interface?

And btw: there isn't any PCI Latency.exe for me in that place.

You won't hurt anything ... and possibly even improve things... by upping PCI Latency to either 62 or 80. It simply determines the number of cycles. I've seen a much better performance in Oblivion, for example, by upping it to 80. And, you can set it back without any trouble.

I'm not sure what you mean by AGP interface.

Ib Al-Musaheb · Jul 6, 2006, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

I'm not sure what you mean by AGP interface.

Simply the accelerated graphics port ...

Hey, thanks for your help, Dyre, but I really can't figure out where that exe is hidden. What should I do? Reinstall the whole driver?

EDIT: Okay, I just ran the NGO...exe and only installed the PCI latency tool. I also know how to use it but after every reboot I'll have to reset the settings. The tool won't keep the latency changes I did. What should I do?

X1800XTTOP · Jul 6, 2006, 05:35 AM

There is an save on restart setiting (or something like that). Look under the buttons on top of all the devices.

Dyre Straits · Jul 6, 2006, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ib Al-Musaheb

Simply the accelerated graphics port ...

Hey, thanks for your help, Dyre, but I really can't figure out where that exe is hidden. What should I do? Reinstall the whole driver?

EDIT: Okay, I just ran the NGO...exe and only installed the PCI latency tool. I also know how to use it but after every reboot I'll have to reset the settings. The tool won't keep the latency changes I did. What should I do?

I believe this is what you're looking for:

As for 'AGP interface' I guess you're refering to the AGP BUS....right?

PCI Latency simply controls the frequency of the cycle where calls are made for the data.

We're not talking about the 33/66 TIMINGS for the PCI/AGP ports.

mongkut · Jul 6, 2006, 12:14 PM

This is unrelated to everything posted before, but would NGO drivers be good on an Inspiron e1505/6400 with mobility radeon x1400? Or should I just stick with the Omega Cats?

km52 · Jul 6, 2006, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ib Al-Musaheb

Great drivers, Dyre! I just installed them ...

But I'm asking myself what this PCI Latency Tool is. Well, I didn't install it because I wasn't sure if this will really help me boost some performance in games, programs etc.
And concerning the sound, I'm not suffering from sound problems. Nevertheless does it make a sense to install them? (btw: where can I install that tool after the event?

)

Most video cards have a default latency of 248 (highest value possible), so the device gets top prioity over any other device, which sometimes (in the case of creative soundcardds) results in sound anomalities. So by lowering the latency the vga card can use the bus, other cards are getting more 'room' on the pci bus and the cracks disappear.
My system works fine with both the graphic card and sound card latency set to 64 and the other stuff at the default of 32.

>GSXR<mrbusa · Jul 6, 2006, 12:44 PM

if you installed ati tray tools with the drivers then you dont need the standalone pci latency tool because att has one built in.go to general settings context menu under hardware.set it to what you want and tick to load at boot.

EvaUnitXIV · Jul 6, 2006, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ib Al-Musaheb

Simply the accelerated graphics port ...

Hey, thanks for your help, Dyre, but I really can't figure out where that exe is hidden. What should I do? Reinstall the whole driver?

EDIT: Okay, I just ran the NGO...exe and only installed the PCI latency tool. I also know how to use it but after every reboot I'll have to reset the settings. The tool won't keep the latency changes I did. What should I do?

i dunno bout you but there's a setting in bios for pci latency. is that the same thing?

Ib Al-Musaheb · Jul 6, 2006, 02:35 PM

Wouw, thanks for all that replies, mates.

But now the matter-of-fact news: Firstly, I tried to use 64 cycles with my card - no change (played Bf2) - and with 80 cycles also no change at all.

I thought this would give me a little boost in games but I was wrong. Well, thanks for all the help anyway, guys.

btw: I didn't touch my sound card's latency. I wouldn't forgive myself if I had smashed my sound (is most important for me in my rig).

(even why? the sound playback is just fine)

Redstone · Jul 6, 2006, 03:23 PM

Loaded the ultra version last night. The ram optimization must be behind the scenes becuase I didnt see any control panel regarding it. First time anything besides omega in, 3-4 years maybe? Picture quality was on par with omega. All PCI latencies were at 64 when I brought up the tool so I'm just going to leave them alone. WoW ran smooth. But I was not expecting for fastwrites to be enabled. I didnt think it was useful on any cards newer than a 9600. Is there something I'm not aware of? Is fastwrites good to have enabled on a newer card?