NVIDIA GeForce Release 180 drivers give GPU a performance boost
Today I downloaded and installed NVIDIA's latest GeForce Release 180 drivers (180.48) for my GTX 260 and GTX 280 systems and I'm seeing a dramatic and noticeable performance difference.
NVIDIA aren't shy about boasting about these drivers. The release highlights make some bold claims:
- 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
In some quick tests I carried out on my GTX 260/QX9770/8GB RAM/Vista Ultimate 64-bit system I (which sees daily use and isn't optimized for gaming) I saw some impressive improvements:
- 3DMark Vantage up 7%
- Crysis Warhead up 7%
- Far Cry 2 up 18%
- World of Conflict up 11%
As well as an overall performance increase, I also feel that graphics are smoother and the odd hesitation that I used to feel in some parts of Crysis Warhead and Far Cry 2 (both running at highest graphics quality) is gone.
Not bad results for a driver update.
NVIDIA have also added some new features:
- Enables NVIDIA SLI technology on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards with the following GPUs: GeForce GTX 280, GeForce GTX 260, GeForce 9800 GX2, GeForce 9800 GTX+, and GeForce 9800 GTX.
- Enables NVIDIA SLI Multi-monitor support, giving you the ability to use two monitors with your GeForce graphics cards in SLI mode. Now you can easily switch between multi-monitor desktop mode and full screen 3D gaming mode.
- Enables NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on a dedicated GeForce graphics card. Use one card for graphics and dedicate a different card for PhysX processing for game-changing physical effects.
Grab the new drivers here.