GeForce 280.26 Performance analysis
Test Configuration & Driver Release Notes
Test Configuration
Test Configuration – Hardware
- Intel Core i7 920 (reference 2.66 GHz and overclocked to 3.8 GHz); Turbo is on.
- Gigabyte EX58-UD3R (Intel X58 chipset, latest BIOS, PCIe 2.0 specification; CrossFire/SLI 16x+16x).
- 6 GB OCZ DDR3 PC 18000 Kingston RAM (3×2 GB, tri-channel at PC 1600 speeds; 2×2 GB supplied by Kingston)
- Nvidia GTX 580 (1.5 GB, reference clocks), supplied by Nvidia
- Galaxy GTX 590 (3 GB, reference clocks) supplied by Nvidia
- EVGA GTX 550 Ti (1GB factory overclocked to 951/2178MHz), supplied by EVGA
- Onboard Realtek Audio
- 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 hard drive
- Thermaltake ToughPower 775 W power supply unit supplied by Thermaltake
- Thermaltake Element G Case supplied by Thermaltake
- Noctua UD CPU cooler, supplied by Noctua
- Philips DVD SATA writer
- HP LP3065 2560×1600 thirty inch LCD
Test Configuration – Software
- NVIDIA GeForce WHQL 280.26 and WHQL 275.33 for the GTX 550 Ti, the GTX 580 and the GTX 590. High Quality
- Windows 7 64-bit; very latest updates
- DirectX July/November 2010
- All games are patched to their latest versions.
- vsync is forced off in the control panel.
- Varying AA enabled as noted in games and “forced” for UT3 (please note that the 8xQ option is not available in the 275.33 series; 8xAA was used for 1920×1200 resolution); all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied; 16xAF forced in control panel for Crysis and Warhead.
- All results show average, minimum and maximum frame rates except as noted.
- Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.
- Windows 7 64, all DX9 titles were run under DX9 render paths, DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths and DX11 titles under DX11 render paths.
The Benchmarks
As with all of our other games, in-game settings are maxed except where noted and levels of AA are noted on the performance summary charts. The performance changes result solely from upgrading each driver from the previous one.
- Vantage
- 3DMark 11
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Serious Sam, Second Encounter HD (2010)
- Wolfenstein
- Left 4 Dead
- Mafia II
- Crysis
- World in Conflict
- Far Cry 2
- Just Cause 2
- Resident Evil 5
- Alien vs. Predator
- Battleforge
- STALKER, Call of Pripyat
- F1 2010
- Metro 2033
- Lost Planet 2
- H.A.W.X. 2
- Civilization 5
- Total War: Shogun II
- DiRT 3
- Crysis 2
- Heaven 2
New Features of GeForce 280.26
These are highlights only. The .pdf is 60 pages and can be downloaded from here. From Nvidia’s site here are the release note highlights and the link to download the Windows 7 64-bit driver:
This is the first WHQL-certified from the Release 280 family of drivers. You can read more about this family of drivers on GeForce.com.
This driver package supports GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500-series desktop GPUs as well as ION desktop GPUs. This driver package also includes the 3D Vision Controller driver.
New in Release 280.26
NVIDIA SLI
- Enables SLI technology on SLI-certified motherboards with AMD chipsets: 990FX, 990X, and 970.
NVIDIA 3D Vision
- With Release 280 drivers, the 3D Vision Controller driver is now included with all GPU driver installations. Users are no longer required to install a separate 3D Vision Controller driver or CD driver. This driver includes the 280.19 3D Vision Controller driver. For more information, please view this knowledgebase article for more information.
- Adds support for viewing 3DVisionLive.com and YouTube 3D with NVIDIA SLI PCs. Please view this knowledgebase article for more information on 3D Vision Window Mode.
- Adds support for Window mode for 3D Vision Video Player. This requires v1.7.2 or higher of the player.
- Adds support for new 3D Vision monitors: ViewSonic V3D245
- Adds support for new 3D Vision projectors: Acer X1111, BenQ W710ST, and NEC NP-V300W
- Added the following 3D Vision game profiles:
- Alice Madness Returns
- Back to the Future (Episodes 1-5)
- Call of Juarez: The Cartel
- Chuang Shi Xi You
- Dao Jian 2
- The Darkness 2
- Dead Island
- Deep Black
- Dou Zhan Shen
- Dragon Ball Online
- Dungeons and Dragons: Online
- Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
- L.A. Noire
- League of Legends
- LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean
- Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
- The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
- Mars
- Might & Magic Heroes VI
- Mount & Blade: Warband
- Mount & Blade: With Fire and Blade
- PROUN
- RAGE
- Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
- Rise of the Immortals
- Rusty Hearts
- Serious Sam 3: BFE
- Virtua Tennis 4
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
- Update the following 3D Vision game profiles
- Crysis 2 – rating changed to Excellent. NVIDIA recommends using the v1.9 game patch.
- Deep Black – rating change to 3D Vision Ready
- Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition – convergence changes and rating changed to 3D Vision Ready
Other
- Installs HD Audio driver version 1.2.23.3
- Installs PhysX System Software to version 9.10.0514
- Supports playing back Blu-ray 3D discs when connecting your GPU to an HDMI 1.4 3D TV. Playback requires compatible software application from CyberLink, ArcSoft, Roxio, or Corel. For GPU and system requirements, visit the NVIDIA Blu-ray 3D website.
- Supports the new GPU-accelerated features in Adobe Creative Suite 5 including Photoshop CS5.
- Supports GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with Adobe Flash.
- Supports OpenGL 3.3 for GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
- Supports OpenGL 4.1 on GeForce 400 series and later GPUs.
- Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, and OpenGL, including 3-way SLI, Quad SLI, and SLI support on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards.
- Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.
- Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.
Let’s head to the charts and see if the promised performance improvements that Nvidia has made are realistic.
The on/off switch and depth wheel stopped working on the IR emitter for 3DVision when I upgraded to these drivers
Had to revert to 275.33