Couple issues regarding video card and sound

Whenever I try to play games on windows using bootcamp (macbook pro 2.4GHz from earlier this year, using win xp pro) I hear a crackling noise, and it will happen every 20 seconds or so. Also, some games work fine( such as aoe 3, aom, etc) but I tried to play Mass Effect and it ran horribly. Even with low settings and a low rez(1024x860 I think) it ran at less than 20fps most of the time. I want to know if I can install the latest drivers from the nvidia website? They recommend against it, but I couldnt find any new drivers at apples website.

Thanks in advance!

There should be no problem installing the latest Windows drivers for your card direct from the nVidia site. I've done that on numerous occasions with good results. Apple does not always have the latest drivers, however, for hardware that's proprietary to Apple you have no choice but to use Apple provided drivers.

Regards.

Thanks. I downloaded and installed the newest drivers from nvidias website, and it seems it didn't help. It still runs horribly.

Help anyone?

When multiple games are working fine and only 1 or 2 have issues, the issue almost always lies with the game and not your machine. There are currently many issues surrounding Mass Effect on their own forum with people not being able to play it at all or having massive frame rate drops, crashing and other issues. Six months ago they said they were working on a patch for it. None yet. It's got a lot of EA gamers very hot.

This bears repeating. As a computer gamer for over 25 years now, I can tell you the first place to look for gaming issues is the developer's site. Sometimes upgrading drivers will do it, but the developer's site is always the place to look. That's where the gamers are.