NVIDIA Fall Driver Update (rel 180) and Other Treats
by Derek Wilson on November 20, 2008 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Driver Performance Improvements
UPDATE: After speaking more with NVIDIA about where the performance enhancements come in to play, we were able to confirm that they are definitely there. We ran a few more tests at 2560x1600 with 4xAA and saw some good 10%+ performance improvements. The changes to the driver that make this possible come in handling high memory usage situations better. This means that in cases where memory pressure is a major cause for performance loss, we'll see the promised performance improvements. In older games like Oblivion, even pushing 2560x1600 with 4xAA won't be enough. Newer games will benefit more from this. Of course, the other issue is that some times the performance improvement may not be enough. We tested Far Cry 2 with the GTX 260 and went from 23.4 fps with the 178 driver to 25.8 fps. While this is more than 10% improvement, it's still not playable. Other playable cases like GRID at 2560x1600 with 4xAA did improve as well.
On cards with lower memory we'll see improvement at lower resolutions, but the take away is that the improvement will still come when you are pressing up against memory limitations.
NVIDIA promised between some pretty significant performance gains with this driver, but the caveat is that the performance gains are only with certain hardware on certain games with certain settings. Obviously we didn't have the time or energy to test every permutation of everything. In fact, we just did a brief run down of a few games using the GTX 260 so that we could get a taste of what to expect in the general case.
The picture we see is a little bit dimmer than the best case scenario painted on the driver download page noting performance increases. Here's how performance looked at 1920x1200 under a handful of games we have been (or will be) testing with for a while.
Rel 178 Driver
Rel 180 Driver
Percent Increase
Crysis
29.7
29.6
-0.34
Far Cry 2
38.2
37.1
-2.88
Race Driver GRID
55.8
56.8
1.79
Oblivion
43.8
40.5
-7.53
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
85.1
84.5
-0.71
For the most part, performance we are seeing stayed stable. Oblivion saw a decrease in performance which is certainly worth noting. We could spend our time looking for where the performance gains come from, but looking at our highest quality tests at a decent resolution with a card targeted at gamers across 5 games and seeing nothing really doesn't impress us.
Of course, the performance gains are there somewhere. They just might be with corner cases rather than average cases. These are still important, and driver performance consistency has likely improved because of this release. But it would be best not to expect a performance gain but to appreciate it if its there.
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chizow - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link
When are we going to see an updated, comprehensive review? You mentioned something about a huge review with the new Core i7 test bed over a month ago and the NDA on i7 was lifted over two weeks ago. Still no update or comprehensive GPU review.
You guys have been making a lot of half-assertions and assumptions promising follow-ups but have consistently failed to follow through on them.
CPUGuy - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link
I find it odd that someone can admit that both camps have their driver problem yet so asphyxiated on camp's problems more so then the other. When both camps are examined in a petri dish under a microscope it becomes apparent that both camps have their share of problems that effects everyone. Not just the consumers from one camp vs another.In all that's why we love to read articles & reviews that are fair and equitable. Which seeks the truth in a unbiased fashion that provides not only truth from just one side but from "both sides" of the coin. Not to be vague:
-if a driver improves performance, provide picks to show IQ
-if one card is faster then another, let it do so from it's original standard clock rate.
-if one card is faster then another overclocked, let both opposing cards show the same percentage of overclock
-etc
CPUGuy - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link
...so asphyxiated on one camp's problems more so then the other...-if a driver improves performance, provide photos to show IQ
GaryJohnson - Saturday, November 22, 2008 - link
...asphyxiated ...I think the word you were looking for is fixated.
poohbear - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link
you guys looked at crysis and oblivion and other games that were'nt even mentioned by Nvidia when downloading the drivers. The games nvidia mentions are:Up to 10% performance increase in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset)
Up to 13% performance increase in Assassin's Creed
Up to 13% performance increase in BioShock
Up to 15% performance increase in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
Up to 10% performance increase in Crysis Warhead
Up to 25% performance increase in Devil May Cry 4
Up to 38% performance increase in Far Cry 2
Up to 18% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID
Up to 80% performance increase in Lost Planet: Colonies
Up to 18% performance increase in World of Conflict
I personally noticed a smoother framerate in World in Conflict & Crysis warhead on my 8800gt. Company of Heroes opposing fronts didnt seem to play any different, but the others were definetly smoother. Just my 2 cents.
Spacecomber - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link
Download and install a new video driver? If the games you are playing are supported, as well as any extra features that you need, I don't see any advantage to jumping on-board with every new driver release.I usually wait until I've picked up a new game that reveals some limitation in the driver or until I've upgraded to a new graphics card. Driver releases primarily seem to focus on better supporting the latest games and providing drivers for the latest generation GPUs. Occasionally, you'll see new features introduced, like better support for running two video cards while using one for PhysX acceleration, as in this driver release. However, that seems to be the exception, rather than the rule, which perhaps justifies Anandtech's write-up on this particular driver release.
The0ne - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link
For what you're saying people should then head over to guru3d.com or use omega drivers that other users have tested on specific games. I'm running 174/175 on mine right now simply because it doesn't choke on the dual display output to my TV, doesn't lag it and is pretty stable with general tasks. I can't say much in terms of games because the only one I play is FFXI and it really on suffers under Vista.However, not a single driver package is perfect as their will always be some issue waiting to surface. Just take that to heart when trying different versions.
StillPimpin - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link
I am very interested to know if dual monitor SLI support is/will be enabled on the next round of Quadro drivers or is this only related to the Geforce line?pmonti80 - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link
A little bit off topic, but:In what kind of motherboards will you be able to use PhysX SLI? Will there be the same limitations than with normal SLI? (only half of Nvidia chipsets support it; on x58 boards SLI only is available on 9800 GTX or more)
Which card is the minimum for Physx SLI?
chizow - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link
PhysX SLI can be enabled on any chipset with multiple PCIE x16 slots, even ones that don't support native GPU SLI. I believe all cards beginning with the 8800 series supports GPU-accelerated PhysX.