Detonator 52.10/52.14 review

[baraka]

Not sure if this was posted or not but here is an IQ review of the Detonator 52.10 and 52.14 drivers

http://www.3dcenter.org/artikel/detonator_52.14/index_e.php

 

[Pete]

Nice, they finally translated it. Everyone should check it to see that nV has totally removed trilinear filtering from AF in D3D (the API of choice for most new games). I'd like to see future reviews concentrate on whether reviewers notice a difference in IQ with the new drivers. The optimizations (read: IQ degradations) seem particularly useless in that they provide, at most, a 5-7% increase in benchmark numbers for what looks like a large decrease in IQ (max 2xAF on everything but the first texture stage, and no trilinear at all!). As the article noted, you won't notice the reduced MIP-map transitions of nV's brilinear filter in static screenshots, but it is noticable in motion. This really throws out the previously-found conclusion that ATi is better in AA and nV is better in AF. With these new drivers, it would appear ATi is better in both.

On the plus side, nV appears to have improved shader performance by 25-30% in ShaderMark 2.0. This may be the reason Anand's latest rumored HL2 numbers jumped in performance.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Surprising... I wish it would stop ...That idea about an optimization-free mode is a good one, though...