Problems with Windows 7 64-bit and nVidia drivers

hello,

Recently I had a HD failure, so I started fresh with a new setup of Windows 7 RC. I previously had been using XP SP3.

Anyhow when I loaded the most recent recommended drivers 185.85 I'm noticing that 3D games like Age of Conan look like crap compared to how they appeared in XP.

Also I'm noticing that even in a simple game like Plants VS Zombies that if I don't turn off 3D acceleration it looks terrible and pixelated. I would guess this is a driver issue of some sort, but I've been unable to resolve it. The 186.08 drivers don't seem to behave any differently.

Anyone run into this? Am I just missing something simple I should be changing?

It was a pretty general question that wasn't really tied to system specs, but I guess if we have to follow the script.

Its a Core 2 Q9450
Geeforce 8800 GT
4GB of DDR2
Windows 7 RC 64-bit (build 7100)

Now everything ran fine graphics wise that I'm currently considering (Age of Conan, Plants VS Zombies, Media player, Left 4 Dead, ect.), on this exact same system when Windows XP Pro SP3 (32-Bit) was installed a week ago. The HD drive and I took the opportunity to install Windows 7 on a brand new HD and give it a try.

I have tried driver builds 182.50, 185.85, and 186.08

I have not pushed all the games to death messing with the settings, but right off the bat I can tell you that 3D acceleration is failing in Plants vs Zombies, because if you have it set to "on" it looks like pixelated trash. Also rendering details look extremely poor for the few minutes I played Age of Conan.

One thing I don't know is if DirectX 9 and 10 both exist at the same time, and if so which one the programs are trying to use.

I think you are correct in the "Drivers are not ready" area. I haven't optimized the settings in the nVidia control panel yet, but I did look them over to make sure nothing was glaringly wrong. For the most part I'm using DirectX 9 in the games, as a couple don't support DirectX 10 yet (or don't do so well). But I'm making my comparisions based on how things looked in Win XP SP3 where directX 10 wasn't even an option, so I'd like to think its mostly an apples to apples comparison.

Really the question was posed in the off chance that someone had encountered the exact issue, and happened to know a tolerable work around. I am noticing that the newest beta drivers behave better in some of the games when you turn off 3D acceleration. Not an ideal solution but better appearance then before upgrading and turning it off.

I could look for some 3rd party drivers, but I'm not sure how far ahead of the curve they are going to be on Win 7 at this point.

If you are feeling really adventurous, you could try the 190.15 driver.