Reference Drivers

Video and 3D Cards are a combination of a core chipset, and additional electronics added by the card manufacturer to implement special features outside of the capabilities of the core chipset (i.e. Diamond uses the Voodoo 2 chipset by 3Dfx as the core of their Diamond Monster 2).

Reference drivers are drivers made for the core chipset by the chipset manufacturer. They tend to only support features that are supported by the core chipset itself. The card manufacturer uses these drivers as the starting point to create the manufacturer's drivers for their card. Manufacturer's drivers typically are more fully featured, and support all features built into the card.

It is not always a safe assumption that the reference drivers are the best drivers for your card, since some of the features added by the manufacturer of the card may require a substantial change in the reference drivers before they will work on the card.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 does not support video or 3D card reference drivers. It is suggested that code released DirectX 7.0a compliant drivers be used. We will however note where we have seen improved stability and performance in the reference drivers as an indication of what should be available when that version of the reference drivers is integrated into your manufacturer's drivers.