NVidia driver 337.50 beta released!

[Gloomy]

http://www.bsimracing.com/nvidia-image-quality-lower-on-newer-cards/

Fixed in this driver?

 

[Despoiler]

I think you need to reread what triggered this conversation. One member said that BF4 was faster on NVidia than AMD despite Mantle, and another member disagreed.

So we're not discussing platforms here, only raw performance. And in that context, it becomes appropriate to compare cards in their best light. AMD with Mantle, and NVidia with DX11.1..

Anything else is disingenuous..

My reading comprehension is just fine. What I said stands to reason.

 

[Tristor]

FYI, I went from avg 28fps on Extreme preset in the Forest benchmark in Total War: Rome II to avg 131fps with a 57fps minimum (in one spot). I can now run Extreme and enable V-Sync. That's basically all I wanted, finally I can play this game like it was meant to be played. I've been running the benchmark with every game update and driver update since launch and have waited to play till now, it was totally worth the wait. Incredible game and a worthy successor to the original Rome: Total War.

 

[Whitestar127]

Well, so far these beta drivers have been a mixed experience for me. There was a slight performance boost in Skyrim, which was nice.

But in Assetto Corsa my minimum frame rate dropped by about 20fps using the exact same settings as before (this might have something to do with the game as well, which is still in "early access"). Granted, the fps overall seems a bit higher and probably the average as well. But that means nothing if the min framerate is lower.

And also there is the negative LOD bias issue: https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/529407/geforce-drivers/clamp-negative-lod-bias/2/

 

[Whitestar127]

http://www.bsimracing.com/nvidia-image-quality-lower-on-newer-cards/

Fixed in this driver?

Doesn't look like it unfortunately: https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/529407/geforce-drivers/clamp-negative-lod-bias/6/

 

[guskline]

I guess that's why they are "beta" drivers. I've had Nvidia cards for awhile now and usually use the beta driver without much trouble. I'm waiting for the official release on this driver.

 

[SirPauly]

One may add negative or positive lod without SGSSAA by using this AA_MODE_REPLAY_MODE_AA setting in nVInspector:

http://abload.de/img/lodbiaso9x1n.png

 

[Carfax83]

NVidia released a new hotfix driver (337.61) to fix some very specific issues:

Half display or no display on Dell UltraSharp UP3214Q/UP2414Q LCD monitor - [1453685]

Code 43 error message after installing driver 337.50 on a PC with Hyper-V enabled - [1495541]

Download and info.

 

[BFG10K]

I want these to be WHQL soon so I can try them. They have fixes for Deus Ex and frame-capping that I need.

 

[toyota]

I want these to be WHQL soon so I can try them. They have fixes for Deus Ex and frame-capping that I need.

what difference does WHQL make? you have been using Nvidia long enough to know that doesn't even matter. In fact their worst drivers ever were WHQL.

 

[Carfax83]

what difference does WHQL make?

Generally speaking, I agree. But NVidia have already said that the WHQL version would include even greater levels of optimization than the beta so I can see where he's coming from.

These beta drivers are still legit however, and worth downloading as seen by HardwareCanuck's review:

Source

I've noticed improvements in Batman Arkham Origins, Bioshock Infinite and AC IV on my rig.. Those are the only games that I'm playing at the moment..

 

[BFG10K]

what difference does WHQL make?

I can't tell if this sarcasm or a rhetorical question.

you have been using Nvidia long enough to know that doesn't even matter.

Thanks for telling me "what I know".

 

[toyota]

I can't tell if this sarcasm or a rhetorical question.

Thanks for telling me "what I know".

the point is that in general WHQL makes no difference for nvidia drivers and I thought you knew that. if you're waiting for something specific then I understand but if you are avoiding these only because they are beta then that is silly.

 

[3DVagabond]

Generally speaking, I agree. But NVidia have already said that the WHQL version would include even greater levels of optimization than the beta so I can see where he's coming from.

These beta drivers are still legit however, and worth downloading as seen by HardwareCanuck's review:

Source

I've noticed improvements in Batman Arkham Origins, Bioshock Infinite and AC IV on my rig.. Those are the only games that I'm playing at the moment..

I found it interesting that they didn't test any games on nVidia's list here to check the driver against their claims.

 

[AdamK47]

I can't tell if this sarcasm or a rhetorical question.

Thanks for telling me "what I know".

What is in Microsoft's WHQL testing process that you find beneficial? Do you have any specifics as to what and how they test, or does the name WHQL simply give you warm fuzzies?

 

[toyota]

What is in Microsoft's WHQL testing process that you find beneficial? Do you have any specifics as to what and how they test, or does the name WHQL simply give you warm fuzzies?

exactly. again the worst drivers nvidia ever released were WHQL which goes to show it literally means nothing.

 

[BFG10K]

the point is that in general WHQL makes no difference for nvidia drivers and I thought you knew that.

Your statement is false; it most certainly makes a difference given the catastrophic failures I've experienced with nVidia beta drivers in the past.

if you're waiting for something specific then I understand but if you are avoiding these only because they are beta then that is silly.

I am waiting for something specific: WHQL. There's much less chance of failure that way. Repeated historical testing on my part confirms this.

 

[BFG10K]

What is in Microsoft's WHQL testing process that you find beneficial? Do you have any specifics as to what and how they test,

The part where they test certain things to ensure it confirms to their operating system's requirements for a device driver.

or does the name WHQL simply give you warm fuzzies?

Just curious, do think WHQL is nothing more than a paid-for-digital-sticker?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/hh998416.aspx

Do you feel the tests above don't matter because it's okay if the driver can't run them?

 

[toyota]

Your statement is false; it most certainly makes a difference given the catastrophic failures I've experienced with nVidia beta drivers in the past.

I am waiting for something specific: WHQL. There's much less chance of failure that way. Repeated historical testing on my part confirms this.

again the worst drivers ever released from Nvidia were WHQL. there were two sets of drivers that were known to let cards overheat, one of them of course is the really infamous 196.75. no beta driver from Nvidia has ever come close to causing the issues those drivers did.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Can go with Toyota on this,i had nothing but issues with a gtx670 a while back cause i had major stuttering in BF3 no matter what recent driver i was using.Not to long later i have a gtx770 and no stuttering with recent drivers.

Besides that i can honestly say nvidia rarely screws things up.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Not sure what sort of black magic is involved with these drivers.Ran BF3 at 1080p ultra no motion blur or msaa which tends to be cpu bottlenecked quite often and here are the results.....

Operation Metro 64p

335.23

min 56 average 90+


337.50

min 59 average 105+


System has a i5 2500 non k, 8gb of ram and a gtx770 running stock clocks.


Biggest improvement was behind the bus at A where the burnt up hatchback also is,i used to hit mid 80s there and suddenly i hit 115+Also dropped the settings to all high as this is what i run and in the same area my fps sits in the 121-135 range while all low i run back into a cpu bottleneck sitting over 150 constant in that same area.Are the previous drivers just that bad or could someone else verify these results as well cause i think i am losing my mind here.

Edit:added high and low results

 

[Carfax83]

Are the previous drivers just that bad or could someone else verify these results as well cause i think i am losing my mind here.

Not sure what you were expecting. The drivers are doing exactly what they were designed to do, which is to reduce CPU bottlenecks...

As for the previous drivers, I wouldn't say they were bad. Just not as optimized..

 

[skipsneeky2]

Not sure what you were expecting. The drivers are doing exactly what they were designed to do, which is to reduce CPU bottlenecks...

As for the previous drivers, I wouldn't say they were bad. Just not as optimized..

Yeah, i was just shocked with the difference and to think i almost dodged the download.

 

[Ed1]

Any of latest Nvidia drivers are very good even with performance . For example BF4 when it came out wasn't the smoothest but each driver release <along with game patches has gotten a lot better .
I only have 660ti and its butter smooth with setting I run .

Have not even run latest ,still on 331.82's

 

[AdamK47]

The part where they test certain things to ensure it confirms to their operating system's requirements for a device driver.

Just curious, do think WHQL is nothing more than a paid-for-digital-sticker?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/hh998416.aspx

Do you feel the tests above don't matter because it's okay if the driver can't run them?

For the most part, I do think WHQL is a "paid-for-digital-sticker". What recent Nvidia drivers have failed Microsoft's WHQL testing? I don't know of any. I bet if Nvidia submitted the vast majority of their beta drivers for WHQL certification they would pass without problems. WHQL isn't going to check for the disastrous bugs that end users actually care about.