NVidia driver 337.50 beta released!

[Gloomy]

I guess they didn't change anything. We did some benchmarking when Hawaii was released here, and all the 780s showed the same poor behavior in the graph. I pointed it out but they said it wasn't a problem so I just dropped it. I've seen other Nvidia cards exhibit the same behavior, in fact I've never seen an Nvidia card NOT behave like that.

It should be pretty clear, when you compare you graphs to this (R9 290 @ stock, 1080p max + SSAA, no PhysX) that there is something wrong with Nvidia's framerate. It's schizophrenic. Those vertical lines are not normal.

 

[Deders]

I see what you mean but you don't notice it in game so I guess that is why they don't see it as an issue

 

[blackened23]

Their marketing called it the 'super driver'. Over-promised and under-delivered big time. Should of been called the 'Rome 2 SLI enabled super driver' :whiste:

No need to be sensitive over it. It was hyped big time. Ended up being nothing more than an SLI profile for Rome 2 and some standard driver update increases.

I like driver updates too. But the hype this was given was empty PR. This is nowhere near being a 'super driver'.

You sure do have an odd anti-nvidia sentiment lately. Why? Is this common among Toronto residents? What is it with those Toronto'ans. Kidding aside, like I said, most of the over-hyping was fan and website based. The claims made in their charts highlight increases in specific games. In the end. It's a driver, and it's free. Some games DO have large increases whether you call it hype or not. . I'll take it. It's all good.

Also, it should be mentioned. Many mantle titles - nvidia does and already did have the lead, so they have been doing decent work on the MT aspect of the driver. Did nv increase BF4 performance by a large amount since launch with MT enhancements? Yes. (Granted, AMD performs super well in BF4 specifically) Does NV have the lead in Thief? Yes. Does NV have the lead presumably in the Nitrous demo now? Yes. These claims highlighted their work on MT and DX11, while not claiming to do the same thing that Mantle does. But they did make some large gains, Again. I'll take it, free performance. That isn't diminishing Mantle of course. The direction Mantle is taking with CPU efficiency needs to happen. Bravo on AMD for helping make that happen, they did good work there. It will happen for everyone with DX12, hopefully we can get a beta form this winter. We'll see though.

Now DX11 MT features (and NV's newest driver) may not bring the same benefits to lower CPUs; Nvidia also never made such a claim. Tamasi in his presentation has stated that DX11 still has limitations compared to Mantle. Was his statement overhype there? He flat out said that DX11 still has limitations, even if they're hard at work on MT aspects of their driver. Then again as I mentioned earlier if it was a Mantle situation you would get benefits in one game. Well here we have the common API with increases in many games. Common API. Many games. Versus Mantle and one game or two games. This is the benefit of a common API - we have a driver, which, for SOME users, gave a sizable increases in multiple games instead of just one game which some people may or may not even like. Nobody got 20% in every game, clearly anyone expecting that was misguided expectations. But sizable games in several games are to be had for many users. DX12 isn't quite here yet, but I do look forward to the continued progression of MT efficiency enhancements in DX12. Because common API, common adoption for everything. Not just one game.

 

[Gloomy]

I see what you mean but you don't notice it in game so I guess that is why they don't see it as an issue

Just buy a GSync monitor and you will never notice it. Not a problem spending more money on Nvidia products can't fix amirite

 

[Grooveriding]

Pointing out how the driver was hyped as a super-driver and turned out to be just a driver is not anti-nvidia, or odd, just stating the facts on what was hyped vs delivered. Ignoring that and delivering unrelated walls of texts incessantly is though...

Us Torontonians are always accused of thinking we're the center of the universe though, that is certainly true of course

 

[Phynaz]

I don't know, I really prefer stability over performance and the very old drivers I'm running have been pretty stable as long as I keep GPU clock at stock.

 

[blackened23]

Is it. Overhype? Personally I saw huge gains in Hitman absolution and Skyrim (which is odd as Skyrim isn't DX11). Smaller gains in crysis 3, but gains. Now this was for my own personal curiosity, but it isn't hype if it does increase performance in several games. Apparently for you it didn't. It did for others. Not every game gets a performance boost, but quite a few do in my limited and brief curiosity based testing. That testing reminded me of what a missed opportunity Hitman absolution was by trying to gain mass acceptance instead of trying to do what prior Hitman games did. But i'm headed into tangent territory there. Now i'm not a huge benchmark nut, I didn't run 3dmark or unigine or any of that crap. I'm a PC gamer who enjoys gaming, and I got some decent increases. Not amazing increases across the board, but i'll take it. I am pleased.

Anyway, I just see it as free performance. If some think that's hype, well, I dunno. On my end it delivered some framerate increases. Now always mind blowing, some games with big gains, others with little gains, others not so much. But nonetheless, gains, present. That makes me pleased, hopefully DX12 will have good things for many many games being that it is a common API.

 

[3DVagabond]

Why didn't sites test the games listed in the release notes? :\

 

[wand3r3r]

You sure do have an odd anti-nvidia sentiment lately. Why? Is this common among Toronto residents? What is it with those Toronto'ans.

Wth?

Not only insulting an outstanding member, but a city as well.

It's a driver, it had a small update (seen many times on both sides) and some people don't find that to live up the hype train that NV and a few posters have been attempting to make.

 

[3DVagabond]

Wth?

Not only insulting an outstanding member, but a city as well.

It's a driver, it had a small update (seen many times on both sides) and most people don't find that to live up the hype train that NV and a few posters have been attempting to make.

He did say he was kidding.

To be fair though, Groove's been called worse.

Edit: Since He's bought 2x Titans + 2x 780's + 2x 780 ti's this gen alone, I'd say he has a right to stating his opinion and not have it be considered bias. He's disappointed.

 

[wand3r3r]

He did say he was kidding.

To be fair though, Groove's been called worse.

I have a few thoughts about a couple of posters, can I say them and then just say "jk"?

Covering with jk is preposterous since the slander has already been done, casting doubt on a very neutral poster who isn't caught up in the whole "brand" mentality is bs.

About the driver, nice they got some performance updates. Clearly the attempt was to downplay mantle, and it doesn't appear to do anything more then a usual driver update.

What is the consensus, is it any different or does it even match the updates a year ago around the memory rewrite (there were some big gains on both sides).

 

[Deders]

Ran a quick benchmark of Arkham City which maxed out with 32xAA and high PhysX got an 8% increase in performance.

Not only that but the transitions between camera angles and scenes felt much smoother.

Flying around the map also seems smoother, no hitching between areas. Only 2.5 years late!

 

[Kallogan]

my answer to nvidia numbers : ya ya ya only the naive believes

 

[WebwalkerCZ]

We tested heavy cpu scenarios in StarSwarm and BF4 with this new driver 337.50. The results were very good. Variability of frame rate and stuttering show great improvement as well.

Star Swarm:

Battlefield 4:

 

[blackened23]

Wth?

Not only insulting an outstanding member, but a city as well.

It's a driver, it had a small update (seen many times on both sides) and some people don't find that to live up the hype train that NV and a few posters have been attempting to make.

Hah. You're going to incredible lengths there to put words in my mouth. So saying someone is from Toronto is an insult. If you say so.

I didn't mean anything by it. But that won't stop some from grasping for things which are not there. Whatever. I visited Toronto once as a senior trip many years ago and thought the city was beautiful, but the people were strange. At least I thought so. That's what the comment was about. Maybe they thought we were strange people, the Americans. If you think that saying someone is from Toronto is an insult, maybe that's all in your head and you have a bias against Canadians? I didn't say Toronto'ans in a negative connotation.

Whatever though. I have no desire or interest to argue this except to say, perhaps you should trying to pull things out of thin air and what you think is happening in terms of insults isn't happening. That's the last i'll say on it. The driver does what it says it does, while some click bait websites made claims which were never made by nvidia. I see multiple increases in multiple games. Call it hype if you wish, but I think it's free performance and a free driver which benefits some users. Not all, but quite a few. IF you want to call that a bad thing, feel free. I'd assume that AMD is working on DX11 enhancements? Or just Mantle enhancements? OR aren't they? Shall we poo poo on that thread when it happens? Or is that just this thread which gets poo poo'ed on by opposing fans? I really don't know.

Anyway, like I said. Free performance. Nothing to not like here, IMO. Some people had over reaching expectations possibly based on fans putting words in NV's mouth so to speak. NV never said this was a Mantle replacement. Tamasi stated that DX11 still has limitations compared to Mantle, in fact. However it does give increases in DX11 mode of some Mantle games and other games. NV does have the lead in the Nitrous demo and Thief from what I've read. But the benefits are with multiple games. Not for everyone, but for quite a few. There is literally no way to cover 100% of every game out there, but it's a good start IMO. Nothing to dislike about free gains from my perspective. That's the key benefit with DX11 and soon to be DX12 here. MANY GAMES. Clearly Mantle has benefits for AMD users and I think the direction AMD is taking is cool. Mantle is a great proprietary value add for AMD users, and clearly their fans like it. Kudos to AMD for highlighting CPU and MT efficiency enhancement, that needs to happen for everyone. But Mantle is and always be limited in terms of games, period, depending on which developer AMD decides to take under their AMD GE wing with funds or whatever. I don't plan on playing 1 game for the rest of 2014. I play a lot of games. DX, being for multiple games and all games, is right up my alley. And if NV is working on making multiple games even slightly faster, that's cool with me.

 

[3DVagabond]

I'd like to see the up to 64% improvement in TW Rome II that nVidia claimed for single card. Now I realize up to leaves wiggle room, but it should at least be somewhere in the same zip code.

 

[Deders]

Just buy a GSync monitor and you will never notice it. Not a problem spending more money on Nvidia products can't fix amirite

I don't think I'll ever need a gsync monitor when I have triple buffering :whiste:

 

[Leadbox]

I'd like to see the up to 64% improvement in TW Rome II that nVidia claimed for single card. Now I realize up to leaves wiggle room, but it should at least be somewhere in the same zip code.

Well, if you go from 10fps to 16fps....BAM! There's your 64% :awe:

 

[ginfest]

I remember years ago (early 2000s I think) when Nvidia got caught "optimizing" its drivers for some benchmarks because its current line of cards were poo. I think it was the FX line? End result was that they were cheating and not rendering "everything" on the screen correctly.

Correct me if I'm wrong here. AMD had serious issues with frame pacing. Ignores it till it gets investigated by a few sites, then admits to it and has to rewrite drivers to fix it which took months to do and many driver revisions.

AMD launches new hardware shortly after, and some 1337 new "API" that only works on their new hardware and at its start 1 whole game..... Seems to me, this could be considered cheating and somehow isn't. Masterful slight of had work by AMD I have to say. Look here, not there!

Well said and exactly right!

 

[wand3r3r]

Well said and exactly right!

Maybe I'm missing the connection between the dots with that strange analysis since it seems so random (and biased).

1. NV purposely didn't render stuff to "improve" benchmarks.
2. AMD had frame pacing issues (ironically so did NV with Fermi, and which is now mostly fixed and even superior in some cases, required sites to get results).
3. AMD creates low level API similar to all the consoles that they are in. (Never mind NV Physx proprietary stuff).

Somehow these are all related and deceived everyone? :awe:

It's a conspiracy! Get the pitchforks.

 

[96Firebird]

Edit: Since He's bought 2x Titans + 2x 780's + 2x 780 ti's this gen alone, I'd say he has a right to stating his opinion and not have it be considered bias. He's disappointed.

I know, its almost a self-loathing thing. I always wonder why he doesn't just sell them if he is unhappy and switch. Maybe he likes it?

My testing is coming, if I ever find time. Between helping friends move, going out with other friends as they ship off to Boston in a week, and work, free time is sparse. :\

Warning issued for member callout.
-- stahlhart

 

[desprado]

I know, its almost a self-loathing thing. I always wonder why he doesn't just sell them if he is unhappy and switch. Maybe he likes it?

My testing is coming, if I ever find time. Between helping friends move, going out with other friends as they ship off to Boston in a week, and work, free time is sparse. :\

He wont sell and if he does it than consider it a downgrade.

Well i tasted Mantle and Nvidia new Driver with Single card at 1080p here are the results
337.50 at Max out
Avg-76 Fps

Mantle
Avg 73 fps

Reason i did not Cf and SLI because my 1 R9 290 is gone for warranty.

Warning issued for member callout.
-- stahlhart

 

[SirPauly]

Personally I saw huge gains in Hitman absolution and Skyrim (which is odd as Skyrim isn't DX11).

CPU overhead reductions apply globally, benefitting the majority of DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and DirectX 11 games the instant they go on sale.

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/nvidia-geforce-337-50-beta-performance-driver

 

[PinchedNerve]

3. AMD creates low level API similar to all the consoles that they are in. (Never mind NV Physx proprietary stuff).

Ridiculous. Should we start including benchmarks from consoles now since AMD created an API similar to consoles?

Physx doesn't increase FPS it usually decreases them nor was is built to specifically increase FPS like Mantle was. Physx can be forced to run on CPU through the Nvidia control Panel or I believe it can be turned off entirely through most if not all games.

Next time just try the tried and true method "These are not the droids you're looking for!" It works every time.

 

[Silverforce11]

nVidia is now faster in BF4 - the best case of Mantle.

No clue why certain people try to say otherwise.

Lies.

Windows 8.1, latest drivers. i7 3770K @ 4.8ghz (extreme OC to reduce CPU bottleneck too).
http://hardocp.com/article/2014/04/08/amd_radeon_r9_295x2_video_card_review/2

Multiplayer is where Mantle dominates.