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Laptopvideo2go?

D

dlb253

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 13, 2010
70
0
Arizona
Just installed bootcamp for the first time on my 2010 MBP 13" (nVidia 320m). I was hoping that bootcamp would yield better performance for games (D3 and SC2) than OSX...but I haven't found that to be the case. If anything, D3 seems to run a little worse.

I have the stock drivers installed from Bootcamp Assistant (v4.0.3). I've seen several threads about Laptopvideo2go - and that better/updated drivers can be found there. However, the threads I've seen are all pretty old.

My questions are:
  1. Is this still the best option for squeezing performance out of the 320m (w/o over clocking)?
  2. Who even is Laptopvideo2go? How is it that they have better drivers than the OEM?

Thanks all!
 
OEM drivers are not always the latest driver available from NVIDIA as the manufacturer (in this case, Apple) does not always update the GPU driver every time a new driver is released.

You can't just install the drivers directly from NVIDIA as the installer will detect that you're using an Apple part which locks you to the Apple updates.

What laptopvideo2go does is modify the INF file which comes with the NVIDIA drivers to remove the restriction so you can install it onto any computer with that GPU, like your MacBook.

Your only option about improving graphical performance is either to overclock or install the more updated drivers from laptopvideo2go. Unlike with the newer Intel HD3000/4000 Graphics, adding more RAM will not increase the amount of shared VRAM so you're stuck with 256MB.
 
Why not just install the drivers straight off nvidia's website? The ones released in may work perfectly fine on my 2010 15"
 
See if you can get the stock Nvidia 320m ones working first if you don't have any luck give the drivers/inf's from laptopvideo2go.com a try.
 
TheMacBookPro said:
You can't just install the drivers directly from NVIDIA as the installer will detect that you're using an Apple part which locks you to the Apple updates.
Click to expand...

riptideMBP said:
Why not just install the drivers straight off nvidia's website? The ones released in may work perfectly fine on my 2010 15"
Click to expand...

Ok - getting conflicting answers here. I'd also read (over a yr ago) that you can't download straight from nVidia. Are you saying that there are drivers from May that do work? Also, you've got a 15" = discrete gfx. Might that have something to do with it?
 
dlb253 said:
Ok - getting conflicting answers here. I'd also read (over a yr ago) that you can't download straight from nVidia. Are you saying that there are drivers from May that do work? Also, you've got a 15" = discrete gfx. Might that have something to do with it?
Click to expand...

I've never been able to install the NVIDIA drivers without modification onto my MacBooks. YMMV.
 
Ok - sounds like laptopvideo2go might be my best option. The only questions left then are:

  1. Is it safe to do this (not going to screw up anything)?
  2. Is it even worth it - will any improvement be noticeable?

If anyone's done this RECENTLY, I'd sure appreciate the input.
 
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