ATI Catalyst Control Centre - is it worth it?

[McBainUK]

I'm working on a fresh build with the hardware in my sig. I'm wondering what are peoples thoughts on ATI graphics card drivers and the Catalyst Control Centre software.

* Is it enough to just install the drivers? Is CCC really needed? Seems more hassle then it's worth sometimes.
* If CCC is recommended, which version is best for Windows XP SP3?

[fuzzweed]

I never install CCC. waste of time and space and too tempting to tweak stuff that honestly should be left alone.
If you're using the PC for gaming I can maybe see an advantage with easy access to 3D settings, but then I'd probably want to go the whole hog and use the Omega alternative.
Drivers-wise, I've got an AGP card so the older drivers that match the age of the card are far better than the latest ones where it's treated as a 'legacy' device. It shipped with 6.x, 7.x is still ok, 8.x requires an AGP hotfix and 9.x has all sorts of problems.

[gEd]

you have a recent 4xxxx card so use the latest drivers.
you can install just the drivers and see how you get on and if you can;t live with ccc, add it in afterwards (re-install same driver version with ccc pack)

[pBS]

i install it then disable it from auto-start as it is a resource hog...
[disable both mom.exe and ccc.exe in msconfig.]

that way it's still there if you need it, but doesn't get inthe way..
basically all it does is set registry entries anyways, so wayyy too bloated to keep running all the time...

on XP if i were you i'd start with 8.11 and then try the newest one if not happy with that..
use the full install option on ati site, it is a more reliable install than separates..
and don't forget to install dotnet2 *before* installing ati drivers as it will bonk if dotnet2 isn't installed...