games not running at native speeds?

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So I am running Windows Vista Home Basic on my MBP specs 17" 1920x1200, 4 gigs ram, and nVidia Gefore 8600GT M. Now I recently loaded Left 4 dead and Fallout 3 and I can't understand why when I try to set the resolution to my screens native 1920x1200 the game is verrry chopppy. I find that when I set the resolution to 1920x1080 game runs fine...anyone have any idea's on why I can't seem to run games properly at the native resolution?
 

vansmith

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Have you installed the Windows drivers successfully? Does device manager recognize the video card?
 

chscag

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You need to go to the nVidia site and download the latest Windows Vista driver for your card. I had a similar problem with my MacBook, updated video driver from the chipset maker's web site fixed it.

Regards.
 
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Those are both fairly new games though and that's quite a demanding resolution - you may just be expecting too much of your graphics card.
 

cwa107


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Those are both fairly new games though and that's quite a demanding resolution - you may just be expecting too much of your graphics card.

I agree. The 8600M is a decent enough mobile chip, but nowhere near robust enough to play high-end games at that kind of resolution.

Knock the resolution down to 1440x900, 1280x800 or less and it should be fine - and you'll still be able to take advantage of the widescreen aspect ratio.
 
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Yes my device manager has the correct drivers installed (via Leapord disk) and has the proper graphics card listed.

When going to the nVidia site, It is said that I am currently running driver 167.63 and that a more current 179.48 is available however, it would seem that this version is in it's beta stage (wish me luck)...about to go through the upgrade now, be back with feedback...
 
OP
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WOW!, I can't believe the results! the upgrade worked!...I am now able to run both Left 4 Dead and Fallout 3 (with medium detail selected) at my full native 1920x1200 resolution smoothly. Thanks chscag!
 
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I can run Left 4 Dead in 1080P with everything maxed out except for AA, which I set to 4x with my MacBook Pro, which has an 8600M GT.
 

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