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Late 2012 iMac with 680MX: anyone had problem upgrading Nvidia Windows drivers

V

vannibombonato

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 14, 2007
406
279
Hi,
after a very lenghty process i finally managed to install Windows 7 on an external SSD.
I'm encountering an extremely strange problem: i can't install the latest official Nvidia drivers (i'm currently stuck with the version that is provided with Bootcamp), as when i try to do it the Nvidia installation program says it does not find any compatible hardware.

I didn't have this problem when i had previously installed Win7 on the fusion drive.

The Win install is completely fresh, tried to remove the driver, use a standard VGA one and then install the newest one, always no luck. Tried all sorts of possible combinations.

I'm puzzled.

Anyone has any clue or experienced something similar?

I'm very happy with the performance, but obviously i'm not getting the most and it will get worse as time and new drivers goes by.

Thanks,

Vanni
 
hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
Where did you find 680MX drivers? When I searched the NVIDIA website, I did not find any upgrade drivers for the 680MX, the more generic "600M-series (Notebooks)" upgrade listed the specific models it supported, and the 680MX wasn't listed. When I tried installing that driver, I too received the "no compatible hardware found" message. When I used their auto-detect process, it indicated that I already had the latest drivers for the 680MX which would have been the BootCamp driver.

If you have a link for the specific update file, please post it... :)
 
Last edited:
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
Fried Chicken said:
What advantage do you hope to gain by installing the Nvidia drivers?
Click to expand...

The newer Nvidia drivers are way better than the old ones that Apple uses, which are also Nvidia drivers by the way - just older versions.

I'm using these. Better than the original version installed on Boot Camp (whatever it was - can't remember now). In any case, yes I tested with FRAPS and got 2-4fps more in Far Cry 3, for example.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-win8-win7-winvista-64bit-310.90-whql-driver.html
 
V

vannibombonato

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 14, 2007
406
279
hfg said:
Where did you find 680MX drivers? When I searched the NVIDIA website, I did not find any upgrade drivers for the 680MX, the more generic "600M-series (Notebooks)" upgrade listed the specific models it supported, and the 680MX wasn't listed. When I tried installing that driver, I too received the "no compatible hardware found" message. When I used their auto-detect process, it indicated that I already had the latest drivers for the 680MX which would have been the BootCamp driver.

If you have a link for the specific update file, please post it... :)
Click to expand...

Drivers are the same, just look on the Nvidia driver page for latest drivers for the 600M (notebook series) and your operating system.

The newer the drivers the better the performance, as stated by another poster.
In some games performance increase goes up to 20/30% more vs. the standard Nvidia Bootcamp drivers (which are the October Nvidia drivers by the way, not something Apple custom made).
Latest Nvidia drivers are dated late Jan if i'm not mistaken, the Apple ones are 2-3 generations old.
 
T

trevpb101

macrumors newbie
Jul 16, 2008
3
0
WilliamG said:
I'm using these. Better than the original version installed on Boot Camp (whatever it was - can't remember now). In any case, yes I tested with FRAPS and got 2-4fps more in Far Cry 3, for example.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-win8-win7-winvista-64bit-310.90-whql-driver.html
Click to expand...

Can I ask what kind of FPS you are getting in FC3 and with what settings? I have a Win 7 i5 2500K with GTX 660Ti currently but have a 27" iMac with i7 3.4 and 680MX on its way. I was wondering whether I can replace my windows pc with the mac bootcamped and hand it on to one of my kids or will I see a marked drop in gaming performance? The 660Ti (recent purchase currently RMA'd) is new, replacing a 460 so I haven't fully gotten used to it yet. So I guess if I look at it as replacing the 460 then I will see a decent jump?
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
trevpb101 said:
Can I ask what kind of FPS you are getting in FC3 and with what settings? I have a Win 7 i5 2500K with GTX 660Ti currently but have a 27" iMac with i7 3.4 and 680MX on its way. I was wondering whether I can replace my windows pc with the mac bootcamped and hand it on to one of my kids or will I see a marked drop in gaming performance? The 660Ti (recent purchase currently RMA'd) is new, replacing a 460 so I haven't fully gotten used to it yet. So I guess if I look at it as replacing the 460 then I will see a decent jump?
Click to expand...

I don't remember the exact settings, but most everything on high at 1920x1080 gives 45-60 fps with vsync on (can't go over 60 fps), depending on the action going on. Shadows were on medium, no AA. Interestingly I can get similar-ish results at 2560x1440 with an overclock, but I'd prefer not to do that for the time being. From what I gather, I think you'll see similar gaming results without overclocking as your i5/660ti. Overclocking, you can get pretty close to a 670-680 desktop card.
 
T

trevpb101

macrumors newbie
Jul 16, 2008
3
0
WilliamG said:
From what I gather, I think you'll see similar gaming results without overclocking as your i5/660ti. Overclocking, you can get pretty close to a 670-680 desktop card.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. Have you noticed it running hot at all in BootCamp? Anecdotal evidence seems to be that high temperatures are common in BootCamp mode. That would probably discourage me from overclocking as well
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
trevpb101 said:
Thanks for the feedback. Have you noticed it running hot at all in BootCamp? Anecdotal evidence seems to be that high temperatures are common in BootCamp mode. That would probably discourage me from overclocking as well
Click to expand...

Nope. The system gets warm, absolutely - as it would be expected to do, but the fans kick up and there's no issues at all. The 2009-2011 iMacs were some of the hottest-running systems I've ever used, so it's really refreshing with the 2012 to have it run so comparatively cool.
 
hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
WilliamG said:
But no 680MX GTX "official" support. Not that it matters, of course.
Click to expand...

Hi WilliamG,

Have you found anywhere on the NVIDIA site where it shows drivers for the 680MX? I would have thought that the MX version would have been out long enough for them to update the driver support lists by now.

I am using the one (310.90) you pointed me to recently and it does seem to be working fine for what I have done with it (don't spend a lot of time in Windows :) ). I haven't tried this apparently newer one as of yet.


-howard

That 32 bit one linked above and posted Today does actually list the 680MX, so maybe they are catching up with the inclusion of the 680MX and will show an official 64bit driver soon.
 
Last edited:
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
hfg said:
Hi WilliamG,

Have you found anywhere on the NVIDIA site where it shows drivers for the 680MX? I would have thought that the MX version would have been out long enough for them to update the driver support lists by now.

I am using the one (310.90) you pointed me to recently and it does seem to be working fine for what I have done with it (don't spend a lot of time in Windows :) ). I haven't tried this apparently newer one as of yet.


-howard

That 32 bit one linked above and posted Today does actually list the 680MX, so maybe they are catching up with the inclusion of the 680MX and will show an official 64bit driver soon.
Click to expand...

Nope not looked for a newer version. I doubt there's any real point in officially including the 680MX. The 675MX is included, so... - it's all the same architecture.
 
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