Widescreen Gaming Forum

If you have a working 5040 display, do not "upgrade" to the new Powerdesk software (2_05_00_020)

-Overwrites working resolutions without warning
-Fails to see 1680x1050x3 about half the time for no obvious reason
-Sets 57hz for 5040x1050 despite the fact no nvidia drivers for the past 3mths work at 57 any more
-Wizard fails to set the mode (as its 57hz not 55hz), which leaves you with a broken Matrox install, cannot properly use Bezel management, Window placement, the Wizard comes up every reboot just to fail again
-Even worse, when you manually set 5040 @ 55hz, the test works but for some reason when you apply the Resolution proper its appears as single 800x600 screen - did not do this before the new Powerdesk
-Introduces pointless moves to the layout of every option in Powerdesk.


I mean, seriously, how long is the product out? I dont think in the time I have had both our Triplehead2Go boxes Ive seen the Powerdesk working as intended. The only working solution for me from the get go was and is manually making the resolutions in nVidia's Control Panel and using the Matrox software solely for Bezel Management. I would prefer if they ended being so secretive on the working vs not working timings for their product and ditched the moronic non-functional "Wizard" and told us exactly what to set manually. A standalone Bezel and Window Management app is all they need to provide.

The Wizard is never going to work as nVidia are seemingly off doing their own thing on each and every driver version which is invalidating Matrox's ever-failing efforts. This is never going to get better unless they get real cozy with nVidia and the customer is paying the price.


PS: Yes, I could stick to old drivers that Matrox say are "ok", but that is not acceptable IMO. I would be loosing out on serious compatibility, performance fixes and new features. In some cases certain OS's or games simply require new drivers.
PPS: The working older version of PowerDesk is gone from their site. Kinda sucks since the new one is going to drive people mad, it simply doesnt work.

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[GTX1080 - 4.48GHz 4690k - planning projector mayhem]

If you have a working 5040 display, do not "upgrade" to the new Powerdesk software (2_05_00_020)

Yes, i tried it yesterday , back to the beta (working perfectly at 5040x1050 with 182.50 drivers).

The new version still works fine with me, with the 182.50 drivers. We still have the beta hosted if anyone needs it.

Mattsimis, the problem is in the nVidia drivers, not Powerdesk-SE. 182.50 is the answer. :wink:

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Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

Mmm, gonna try tonight the new powerdesk + 182.50. :P

Mattsimis, the problem is in the nVidia drivers, not Powerdesk-SE. 182.50 is the answer. :wink:

Problem is both Nvidia and Matrox not working together (software and product support)! 182.50 has woeful performance in certain games (Mirrors Edge for one IRC) and doesnt support Ambient Occlusion, thats hardly a solution.

Im currently running 186.24 with the old PowerDesk. The new one is hard coded to disable itself if it fails to insert the Custom Resolution, which it does each and every time because nVidia made it obsolete even before Matrox put it up on their site. What a waste of resources, all that QA, programming, web hosting, site editing!

Unlike the old Powerdesk, when the Wizard fails you have no Bezel, no Window management etc. Its a huge step backwards.

For the purposes of the resolution support, Matrox's Powerdesk is a glorified Macro. If they stopped condescending customers with these well intentioned though flawed automated processes, we would all be in a better position.

_________________
[GTX1080 - 4.48GHz 4690k - planning projector mayhem]

Mattsimis, the problem is in the nVidia drivers, not Powerdesk-SE. 182.50 is the answer. :wink:

I have to agree with mattsimis :
182.50 + "old" Beta PD = 5040x1050@57 right out of the Wizard in my Vista64.
182.50 + new PowerDesk = no-go. :?

182.50+New PD works for me. Once I complete my benchmarking (want to stay consistent on the driver), I'll try the old one with 186.24 (or whatever seems to work at that point).

i tried to install the new powerdesk and got this "Installation ended prematurely because of an error" which is weird, im running at 9800 gtx with 182.50 drivers at 4098x768, when i go up drivers i cant get that resolution anymore. from the latest patch it seems that ati is cooperating with matrox and are actually trying to help the ever growing community of multi monitor users. Nvidia on the other hand isn't? continuous crap drivers which is making me look to amd for graphic cards come next generation, maybe mark b can enlighten us on the cooperation between the companies if at all any, if they are or not and maybe if anything is being done for nvidia cards :(