Whose nVidia driver to use?

[Evenkeel]

This is the card I'm putting in my new system: XFX

I'll be running Vista Ultimate 64-bit in my new build, and I'm getting all the latest drivers together while I'm waiting for the components to ship. I went to XFX's site to get the latest driver for this card, which came as a ZIP file at 72 MB. I've never bought an XFX product before, so I thought maybe I also should check nVidia's site, and I downloaded their driver file. It came as an InstallShield .EXE, and is 45 MB.

The XFX driver version is listed as "Forceware v. 169.32", while the nVidia version--which I downloaded several days after the XFX version, is listed as "Forceware v. 169.25".

Now I'm confused. How can XFX have a newer version of the driver than nVidia? Why is it larger? And whose version should I use?

 

[Ika]

NVidia's driver website is not always up-to-date (and I'm pretty sure it's quite often they're not). I usually just get my NVidia drivers from Guru3D and call it a day.

 

[ja1484]

Use the NV supplied forceware. A lot of times manufacturers have newer beta drivers or put their own twist (such as their own control panels, etc.) on drivers which add some crapware you don't want.

Just get the NV stuff.

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: ja1484

Use the NV supplied forceware. A lot of times manufacturers have newer beta drivers or put their own twist (such as their own control panels, etc.) on drivers which add some crapware you don't want.

Just get the NV stuff.

:thumbsup:

 

[nitromullet]

The 169.25 driver is the current WHQL NVIDIA 8-series driver, while the 169.32 driver adds support for the 8800GS (released after the 169.25 driver). If you select 8800GS as your card on nvidia.com you'll get the 169.32 driver also. They are most likely the same driver, the 169.32 just adds the 8800GS to the .ini file. Either driver would be fine for your card.

 

[chizow]

A few things of note is that the 169.25s or the 169.28s or both have complaints about blurry/muddy textures and broken control panel profiles. 169.32 fix game profiles with less complaints about textures. There's also some 171 and 173s floating around from add-in board partners that supposedly improve Crysis performance significantly. You can find the 171s on Guru3D, the 173s are harder to find but are rumored to be the 9600 WHQL candidate. I typically shy away from Guru3D's hacked .ini drivers due to some uninstall problems in the past, plus their custom splash logo is annoying.

 

[taltamir]

nvidia.com is the ONLY source you should use for an nvidia card. never use a manufacturer's website as they are out of date.
ATI.com for any ATI based cards.

 

[xp0c]

I use omega drivers.