What drivers should i use for a Sapphire radeon x850xt?

illuminatirex

Distinguished
Jan 23, 2006
1,149
0
19,290
Hi, i just got a radeon x850xt (to wait over till the dx10 cards come out) hat drivers should i use for it? i read on newegg that the drivers on the cd shouldnt be used(obviously they are old) but can i use the official ati drivers? will it work with a Sapphire card? or there might be some problems? or should i get the drivers from sapphires page?

Thx for all replies.
 
Hi, i just got a radeon x850xt (to wait over till the dx10 cards come out) hat drivers should i use for it? i read on newegg that the drivers on the cd shouldnt be used(obviously they are old) but can i use the official ati drivers? will it work with a Sapphire card? or there might be some problems? or should i get the drivers from sapphires page?

Thx for all replies.

You can use the drivers on the CD. Or the latest 6.8 catalyst driver from the ATI site. You CD will have other programs like an overclocking utility you may want to use.

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=293
 

illuminatirex

Distinguished
Jan 23, 2006
1,149
0
19,290
thx for the info, thats good that i can use the "original" ati drivers for this card. I think i will not overclock the card, i heard that it does overheat quite a bit(and overheats easily) i was thinking of geting a arctic cooler for it, but on the other hand i bought the graphic card just to have something that i vould plug the monitor to, just for now till the dx10 cards come out. btw does nayone know how is the gaming on this card, i read some reviews, and some state that they can play fear with max visual options on in a relatively high resolution, others that they can play battelfield 2 with that 50 people online with max visuals.Is this card realy so good?

thx
 

prozac26

Distinguished
May 9, 2005
2,808
0
20,780
Video card is upgrade often. Why buy a good cooler for it, then have it go to waste when you get a new card? For CPUs it's different, because CPUs typically can last 3-5 years, so a good cooler is worth it.
 

ikaz

Distinguished
Yeah that card is good deal, you have to remember that it was the flag ship card of the last gen. Really only real draw back most people talk about in the 8xx Generation of cards is the fact that its only 2.0b SM but as a hold out until some good Dx10 cards come it work very well.

Oh take a look at this to see the relative performance:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

Also I would download the latest drivers from ATI website (Cat 6.8) if you want to OC the card then look for ATI tools on the google.
 

illuminatirex

Distinguished
Jan 23, 2006
1,149
0
19,290
thx for the info, i actualy checked that site because i was going to get teh x1600series card, but i decided to go with the x850xt it was "pawning" if i can say so any of the x1600 series cards, just that the 1600 has support for the sm3, and the x850xt does not :cry: , wil i notice much of a difference, that is using(if i would be able to )and not using the sm3? vs sm2? In regards to atitiools i have been using it for almost 2 months or more, i tried to oc my radeon 7500aiw, i got it up by 20 (something like that or so) but the difference is minimal at max 3 ftp's regular 1 or 2 , so i dialed it back down to stock, i didnt want to overheat the gpu considering it only has a heatsink, and that i have to be able to use my pc until i can build a new one most probably next week, if i can find the asus P5w dh deluxe mobo which i cant find anywhere in stock :cry: (im still waiting for my e6600 to arive on friday, and i have the sapphire x850xt, and the 2 gigs of corsair xms2 ddr2 800 ram, they came in today.
 

strpdgato

Distinguished
Mar 20, 2006
33
0
18,530
You might wanna try Omega drivers (omegadrivers.net) for Ati cards, a great alternative to catalyst. They have lotsa neat features (easy oc'ing, way more screen res options, and the like), plus they're basicly optimized for gaming/performance.

I hear many ppl complain about catalyst, I've been using Omega on my 9700pro for 2 yrs now with no issues, and i plan to use em w/ my new X1800xt

Just be sure to clear out any old drivers before installing any new/different ones, especialy with ati, gotta use some 3rd party driver clear software to get every last bit out.