Graphics cards

[nick_pan]

My final informative post for the time being.

Graphics cards in Sony Vaios..

The question, 'can i upgrade my gfx card?' from what I can see is one of the most popular question on this forum..
The short answer, as many of you know is NO. Graphics cards are integrated onto the motherboard and therefore cannot be changed until we start seeing PCI Express slots in laptops in a year or two..

'Are there newer drivers for my gfx card? because i can't see any listed on the sony website..'
Currently NO..as Sony seem to be quite sluggish releasing new drivers for their laptop components. As far as i know, there are a few alternatives which ARE NOT SUPPORTED BY SONY.
For example, Omega have released their ATI Catalyst drivers which support a majority of ATI's mobility range.
You can get them here; http://downloads.driverheaven.net/index4.htm

A few things to mention about these,
a) They have reportedly messed up some peoples laptops so use them at your own risk
b) dont think updated drivers = better gfx
c) this set of drivers has overclocking utilities which is extremely unwise in a laptop due to overheating issues..
If you burn out of gfx card because you've overclocked it, its highly unlikely that Sony will fix it.


The drivers that come with most sony laptops are sufficient enough, and you should stick with them until there is an official driver update for their gfx cards..

Furthermore, rather than updating the gfx cards drivers, make sure u look out official game patches, for the game u wish to play, as in my experience, these often improve game play due to glitches which the game devs have now fixed.

Also make sure that your laptop is in good order before you try play any demanding game. See this post http://www.club-vaio.sony-europe.com/clubvaio/mvnforum/viewthread?thread=11565 , which shows u how to ensure your vaio is running at peak performance..

Finally, a laptop is a laptop. In this day and age, they will never be as powerful as a desktop so dont expect superb graphics in any game that you play. Laptop graphics cards are cut down versions of desktop graphics cards. A radeon 9600 for example, is alot more powerful than the ATI Radeion Mobility edition seen in laptops..

For this reason, dont be too hopeful. I would like to add, that as long as your willing to play with your gfx options set to MEDIUM or LOW, a ATI Radeon Mobility 9200, should still allow you play some of todays most demanding games; Farcry for example..

Happy gaming!

[nick_pan]

hey guys,

dont be too bothered about the omega drivers and not installing them. you're not missing out on anything trust me. I think an official driver release from sony will make the difference..

These omega drivers basically just give u the option to overclock which yes would bring performance increases for desktops, but an arrangement for a vaio pick up for us

[kee-lo_]

In other words it's not worth the hassle as it can damage the GPU

[Qarinx]

Hi again,

Something strange is going on! Today I tried to play the Sims 2 again and for some reason I was able to play it for a couple of hours without crashing. Unfortunately the fun is over, and I'm having the same problem as I had before....

[nick_pan]

explain what was happening before..
what you changed to make the sims2 work...

and also what have u done within the last day that could have affected your vaio in such a way.

did u install the omega drivers?

[Qarinx]

Well, the strange part is that I didn't change anything on my Vaio! I didn't install any drivers other than the ones mentioned on the Sony site (which I already installed a couple of days ago). I did change the settings of the game, no screen scrolling and minimized screen on...

My Vaio was probably just in a good mood these few hours, because now every 5 minutes it crashes again, while the settings are still on minimum..

[nick_pan]

Well, the strange part is that I didn't change anything on my Vaio! I didn't install any drivers other than the ones mentioned on the Sony site (which I already installed a couple of days ago). I did change the settings of the game, no screen scrolling and minimized screen on... 

My Vaio was probably just in a good mood these few hours, because now every 5 minutes it crashes again, while the settings are still on minimum..

Between when it was working and now (when its not working..) did u install any new software?

Also make sure uve followed all the guide lines of 'keeping you vaio in good shape'

Furthermore have u tried reinstalling the game?

[TygerTyger]

Increase your virtual memory settings to something huge....1500mb at least. It's an intensely resource hungry game.

[Qarinx]

Increase your virtual memory settings to something huge....1500mb at least. It's an intensely resource hungry game.

My virtual memory settings are 1024 - 2048. Is this alright?

[Qarinx]

Between when it was working and now (when its not working..) did u install any new software?

Also make sure uve followed all the guide lines of 'keeping you vaio in good shape'

Furthermore have u tried reinstalling the game?

I didn't install anything really... The only thing I can think of is that the size of the house in the game is too big. I moved my Sims into a bigger house and that's when the trouble started again..

[Qarinx]

Are they trying to be funny at Sony?

This is the email I received today:

Dear Mrs. ..,

There is an ATI updated driver available in the downloads section of our website www.vaio-link.com

Kind regards,

The VAIO-Link support team

I don't consider a driver from last year an updated driver....