Sapphire Radeon hd 7770 ADVICE

[p3rsianator]

So i just ordered a Sapphire Radeon hd 7770 for my new dell xps (because the stock gpu in the xps is crap). I ordered the xps on sale which is an i7, 8 gb ram, windows 8, 1 TB hard drive all for $699 cause its black friday ( i know, "you should of built your computer", but my dad wont let me (im 16) because he says it is too risky (even though its not)) anyways, i've been reading reviews of people saying that installing the drivers off the disk can cause problems... So i am wondering if i should install the drivers off the disk THEN go to amd website and get the latest drivers OR just go straight to the amd website and install the drivers. Which one will guarantee success because i really don't want to have to uninstall/reinstall/worry about it.

Thanks in advance

Also~~ i got a dell 23" led the other day and it came with a disk labeled "drivers and documentation" and i was wondering if i should even bother putting it in...

 

[dscudella]

Go to the AMD Catalyst website (found here) and download Catalyst 12.11 and install. Don't even bother with the installation CD unless you need a coaster for soda / coffee.

Congrats on your new PC & Video Card.

Edit: as far as the drivers go for the monitor, same thing. Installing them's not a must, but if you do install them, download the newest drivers from Dell and install them. Always download before using the CD.

 

[p3rsianator]

Go to the AMD Catalyst website (found here) and download Catalyst 12.11 and install. Don't even bother with the installation CD unless you need a coaster for soda / coffee.

Congrats on your new PC & Video Card.

Edit: as far as the drivers go for the monitor, same thing. Installing them's not a must, but if you do install them, download the newest drivers from Dell and install them. Always download before using the CD.

Thanks for the help! and could you explain what the difference between a catalyst driver and a graphics driver is. Ive used nvidia all my life so im not sure... I think the catalyst driver just fixes issues right?

 

[dscudella]

Catalyst is the video card driver, it's just what AMD named it. Catalyst Control Center is the drivers and utility to tweak your card all in one. Nvidia numbers theirs (310.xx) where as Catalyst is the year and month they were released (Catalyst 12.11 = Driver released in year 2012 month November).

In a nutshell, click on the link I provided, download either 32-bit or 64-bit depending on which version of Win 7 came with your PC and install. It does the rest. If you're interested in Overclocking come back to the forums, there are a lot of people that know their stuff.

 

[p3rsianator]

oh i get it now i was getting the catalyst control center mixed up with the catalyst driver. THANKYOU!

 

[dscudella]

They're the same thing, Catalyst, Catalyst Control Center, CCC...different title but the same book...so to speak.

You're welcome. Again, congrats on the new PC and feel free to ask any questions.