GTX470 Performance Test Part 3: Driver 258.96
Introduction
It’s no secret that I’m not particularly satisfied with the GTX470’s level of performance compared to my previous GTX285. Sure, the GTX470 is a lot faster in a handful of games, but it’s also horrifically slower in a few others. But for the most part it’s about the same speed as the GTX285, and thus cannot be considered a convincing performance upgrade.
I base this opinion on two of my previous articles which used an extensive selection of games. Part 1 tested Windows XP, while part 2 tested Windows 7 (64 bit). Overall the GTX470 performed a bit better on Windows 7, but it was still quite close to the GTX285 in most games.
With the release of the 256 drivers from nVidia, it’s time to run some more tests. These drivers specifically mention performance improvements with transparency anti-aliasing; the scheme is now implemented at the hardware level as opposed to the previous software implementation. Given I use TrAA in every Direct3D game I play, the previous slow TrAA performance could account for the poor performance I was seeing before.
Where possible, archived driver results from the GTX285 running on XP (32 bit) using driver version 197.13 will be used as a baseline. After all, performance gains on the GTX470 don’t mean much if the card still can’t significantly beat the GTX285.
Thanks! There appears to be substantial increases in performance for some games with the newer drivers, which are very nice..
So what bothers me is that every site out there has the stock 470 beating the 5850 and sometimes even catching the 5870 in terms of performance…
And then this site says that the performance is on par with the 285… :/
Just the performance seems really, really low
Phanbuey:
Most websites stick to half a dozen or so games, often with synthetics thrown in for good measure. Additionally, almost no reviewer uses TrAA or super-sampling, and most generally stick to 4xAA. I benchmark far more games and use far more diverse settings.
I saw the same thing during the G80 launch days where almost every website was heaping glowing praise on the 8xxx series, but my own benchmarks showed something quite different behind that facade. A quick trip to the open forums back then also revealed other gamers having a plethora of issues in games not benchmarked in standard reviews.
The fact is, the GTX470 currently isn’t that great for DX9 and OpenGL performance compared to the GTX285.
Oh, and driver 258.96 consistently BSODs my system when I attempt regular Bluray playback. When I roll back to 197.41, everything works perfectly.
I really appreciate the feedback.
I really like the work you guys do on this site (especially the IQ comparisons between camps). In any case its good to know that the settings have such an impact on the performance of the card. Hopefully the drivers will be squared away soon.
Phanbuey, I hope to write an in-depth IQ article about the GF100 soon.
I really like the care and attention paid to the reviews here. This was news to me regarding the low DX9 performance of the 470, I assume the 400 series, relative to it’s performance numbers in DX10/11.
Benching with TrSS is nice to see too, that’s why a gamer like buys these cards, to run the settings that really make games look the best.