K7S5A R1.1 - SIS AGP driver with Win XP?

Hello,

With Win XP what are the pros and cons of installing the SIS AGP driver from
the ECS website, as opposed to leaving the standard XP driver active. I see
from the ECS website that the SIS AGP driver is meant for all Win OS
versions, including XP, but I've not installed it on my machine and the
standard XP driver seems to be fine (with a Geforce 2 MX 32MB).

The reason I'm thinking about this again is that I'm about to do an upgrade
on my son's K7S5A-based machine, to allow him to play Doom 3. I'll be
replacing his Geforce 2 MX with a Geforce FX 5500, adding another 256MB DDR
RAM, and installing Win XP SP2.

So, what's the concensus folks: in a more game-intensive context, should I
install the SIS AGP driver, or leave the standard Win XP one running.

Thanks.

--
Phil
Remove spam from around blueyonder to reply.

Ellwood wrote:

> Hello,
>
> With Win XP what are the pros and cons of installing the SIS AGP driver
> from
> the ECS website, as opposed to leaving the standard XP driver active. I
> see from the ECS website that the SIS AGP driver is meant for all Win OS
> versions, including XP, but I've not installed it on my machine and the
> standard XP driver seems to be fine (with a Geforce 2 MX 32MB).
>
> The reason I'm thinking about this again is that I'm about to do an
> upgrade
> on my son's K7S5A-based machine, to allow him to play Doom 3. I'll be
> replacing his Geforce 2 MX with a Geforce FX 5500, adding another 256MB
> DDR RAM, and installing Win XP SP2.
>
> So, what's the concensus folks: in a more game-intensive context, should I
> install the SIS AGP driver, or leave the standard Win XP one running.
>
> Thanks.
>

My Experience with Motherboards in general, is to use the Mobo Drivers,
instead of the Microsoft drivers. It also helps if the drivers are WHQL
certified, but don't always have to be. This goes especially for drivers
for chipsets. I always use the Mobo drivers for nVidia for their nForce
chipsets, and for SiS as well. The drivers from the chipset mfg.s don't
necessarily take into account everything else on the board.

I also noticed, after reading your post, that there are drivers on the
Taiwan website www.ecs.tw.com site that are more current than the
www.ecsusa.com site. I'm downloading as I type...
--
Kirbalo...

K7S5A Pro, Athlon XP 1600+
1 Gig DDR, 120 GB, nVidia GeForce 4 MX 440
SuSE Linux 9.2 Pro & XP Pro Dual Boot
Linux 2.6.8-24.5-default
6:55pm up 1 day 23:55, 3 users, load average: 1.00, 1.23, 1.22

Loaded question.
As your current setup is running fine with the default driver, why take a
chance.
I'm using WinXP home with latest updates, a ATI 9600 PRO AIW on my K7S5A
PRO, with latest Honey X bios.
I've updated to latest SIS AGP driver, workes just fine.
This website is a good place for help with K7S5A boards.
http://p199.ezboard.com/bk7s5amotherboardforum

"Ellwood" <> wrote in message
news:Zgnyd.5391$ k...
> Hello,
>
> With Win XP what are the pros and cons of installing the SIS AGP driver
> from the ECS website, as opposed to leaving the standard XP driver active.
> I see from the ECS website that the SIS AGP driver is meant for all Win OS
> versions, including XP, but I've not installed it on my machine and the
> standard XP driver seems to be fine (with a Geforce 2 MX 32MB).
>
> The reason I'm thinking about this again is that I'm about to do an
> upgrade on my son's K7S5A-based machine, to allow him to play Doom 3.
> I'll be replacing his Geforce 2 MX with a Geforce FX 5500, adding another
> 256MB DDR RAM, and installing Win XP SP2.
>
> So, what's the concensus folks: in a more game-intensive context, should I
> install the SIS AGP driver, or leave the standard Win XP one running.
>
> Thanks.
>
> --
> Phil
> Remove spam from around blueyonder to reply.
>
>

"kirbalo" <> wrote in message
news:rvWdnSh9LoQd91bcRVn-...
> My Experience with Motherboards in general, is to use the Mobo Drivers,
> instead of the Microsoft drivers. It also helps if the drivers are WHQL
> certified, but don't always have to be. This goes especially for drivers
> for chipsets. I always use the Mobo drivers for nVidia for their nForce
> chipsets, and for SiS as well. The drivers from the chipset mfg.s don't
> necessarily take into account everything else on the board.

Thanks for the info.

Phil

"Tod" <> wrote in message
news:6sKyd.552129$wV.133288@attbi_s54...
> Loaded question.
> As your current setup is running fine with the default driver, why take a
> chance.
> I'm using WinXP home with latest updates, a ATI 9600 PRO AIW on my K7S5A
> PRO, with latest Honey X bios.
> I've updated to latest SIS AGP driver, workes just fine.
> This website is a good place for help with K7S5A boards.
> http://p199.ezboard.com/bk7s5amotherboardforum

Thanks for your response. The current set up on my machine is fine, so I
won't take a chance with that, as you suggest. However my dilemma is around
another machine (my son's) - because after its upgrade he will be running a
higher-spec graphics card and giving it a hammering with Doom 3. I wonder
of having the 'right' AGP driver might be more important in that context.

Phil
--
Remove spam from around blueyonder to reply.

bout upgrading

Ellwood wrote:

> "Tod" <> wrote in message
> news:6sKyd.552129$wV.133288@attbi_s54...
>> Loaded question.
>> As your current setup is running fine with the default driver, why take a
>> chance.
>> I'm using WinXP home with latest updates, a ATI 9600 PRO AIW on my K7S5A
>> PRO, with latest Honey X bios.
>> I've updated to latest SIS AGP driver, workes just fine.
>> This website is a good place for help with K7S5A boards.
>> http://p199.ezboard.com/bk7s5amotherboardforum
>
> Thanks for your response. The current set up on my machine is fine, so I
> won't take a chance with that, as you suggest. However my dilemma is
> around another machine (my son's) - because after its upgrade he will be
> running a
> higher-spec graphics card and giving it a hammering with Doom 3. I wonder
> of having the 'right' AGP driver might be more important in that context.
>
> Phil

Set a restore point, then try the new AGP driver. If there is any problems,
you can go back to your current version...

--
Kirbalo...

K7S5A Pro, Athlon XP 1600+
1 Gig DDR, 120 GB, nVidia GeForce 4 MX 440
SuSE Linux 9.2 Pro & XP Pro Dual Boot
Linux 2.6.8-24.10-default
8:31am up 13:16, 3 users, load average: 2.08, 1.79, 1.64

"Ellwood" <> wrote in message
news:Zgnyd.5391$ k...

<snipped>

> So, what's the concensus folks: in a more game-intensive context, should I
> install the SIS AGP driver, or leave the standard Win XP one running.

Thanks for the replies, Kerbalo and Tod. Upgrade done (Geforce FX5500 +
extra 256MB RAM); Win XP SP2 installed; SIS AGP driver installed; system
running sweet; Doom 3 running very nicely at 640x480 and medium detail, on
15 in. monitor. Son happy for Christmas. <Phew!>

--
Ellwood
Remove spam from around blueyonder to reply.