Vista - advise on clean install of new graphicks card

Hi everyone,my complements on a great site,

i have found lots of usefull tips and tutorials here.I have tryd to look for a guide on what to do when changing graphicks card and the right order to do it,i am upgrading my system and im hoping for smooth sailing with drivers and software.


My system:Vista ultimate 64 sp1, Asus striker 2 extreem 790i ultra sli,Q6600@ 2,4Ghz ,Gainward 8600gt 256mb 2pice in sli ,OCZ ddr3 pc12800 2x2gb (7,7,7,7,20) , Nort-Q 1000w , Sb s-ata 2x160gb raid striped , sb 1x320gb s-ata storage disk, Asus 22" lcd 1680x1050

I am upgrading those 2 x 8600gt 256 with 2 x 9800gtx 512 and also canging monitor

My installation is relative fresch and clean one week old,full vista sp1 with all updates exept the S-ata drivers on ms update, i have choosen not to use those since the ones i have work just fine,drivers on mobo cd and updated bios to the latest official. latest WHQL drivers from Nvidia 8xxx series.and office xp pro with powerpoint sp3 full updated.

System running fine and stable, i have seen bsod one time during install of some Asus system monitoring software so i uninstalled it.And its stable again.

But what schould be the first thing for me to do now,Uninstall old graphicks drivers and switch cards, boot up and istall new drivers and finnish,is that all or ?

If one or moore of you out there could give me a few quick steps to follow from start to finnish i would be whery thank full.And also name komplete software drivers and utilitys i need for the 9800gtx,only WHQl pls no betas.

Thank you so much for your time
Henning

Yup.. uninstall old drivers.. download and run CCleaner to clean registry files and what not.. and get a Driversweeper.. something to make sure you've cleared the drivers off your computer.. some say this is important, I think it only is when going from ATI to Nvidia.. but stayin with Nvidia like you are.. I've never done the complete Driver sweeper thing.. but Might as well if you wanna do it right.. Just this morning I got my 8800GTS switched for a GTX260 and all I did was uninstalled old drivers.. Pulled card out.. Put new card in.. and installed new drivers.. Restart and Walla.. Up and gaming in no time. Many people will advise you to get a driver sweepers tho..

whatever you wanna do

Thnks xguntherc

Its good to heare you did it the "old" way just a simple uninstalling of old drivers and out with old hardware,in with new and load drivers,done!

I want to do it like that too,but iv read and heard many "ghost storys" about driverproblems and people being eaten alive by there zombie computer after failing driver install LOL
Just having a laughf,but seriously those removingtools you talk about ccleaner and driversweeper can probebly do some damage too in my unexperienced hands,my respeckt for the vista registry is big,i dont want to mess up there.

I still have a few days before my new hardware arrive and my pc is not full of personal tweaks and registry edits so if all fails its not a big job to reinstall everything al over again

Thanks again Xguntherc my confidense is back on top
Henning

Not a problem sir.. everything should be fine, if it's fairly new and you haven't done all sorts of things then I'm sure it will be ok. Don't take my word for it. but I've never had a problem my way. like I said I think those things are probably more necessary when switching from ATI to Nvidia or the other way around..

either way good luck. let us know how it goes.. enjoy ur new card.. I know I am!

hi henning.....in addition to xguntherc's post....

in theory due to them both being nvidia & the fact the 8600GT will run on the same driver as the 9800GTX there should be no problem...just remove the current driver...
power down
remove the 8600s
insert the 9800s
power up...(should come up at 800x600)
then install new WHQLs


there are horror stories about of driver traces preventing the new GPU running ....but its more myth than anything else....i personally have swapped ATI cards for nvidia with no issues just uninstall & reinstall..


i think the ''latest'' WHQL for the 9800GTX is 175.16

Hi and thanks again for following up on me mr Xgunterc.Just one last minute update on my projejct i changed my order from two 9800gtx 512mb to one gtx 260 as shown here.Order is placed and no regrets.

Henning

Hi Skunksmash,thanks for joining,as you can see i changed from two 9800gtx to one gtx 260 but it wont make to much of difference regarding uninstall/install i think.But i will stick to WHQL signed drivers. So i will do things in the order you suggested but install drivers for 200chip instead of 9xxx series.

Thanks
Henning

lol....i just ordered a 280 but im hearing horror stories .
im still in two minds whether to get a 260 instead but hey we will se how it goes

great choice BTW....

the latest GT200 (beta) driver i believe is 177.66 but they are crap.... stick with the WHQL..
177.39 & 41 are producing great results..

LOL, i just got back here from my previous post and seeing you also went for a new card,gtx 280 congrats! i am going a bit easy with gtx 260,i also orderd 4 more gig of ram and a new lcd 24" looking forward to this arriving

Henning

177,39 & 41 ok thanks.Il start with the earlyast driver.Its a whery producktiv forum here.Lots of help and tips in no time at all.

Thanks so far
Henning