GeForce 285.62 3D Vision 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
- 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 285.62 and WHQL 280.26 for the GTX 580. 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 (although 3D Vision drivers override this).
- Varying AA enabled as noted in games); all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied if possible
- All results show average frame rates.
- 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 also noted on the performance summary charts. The performance changes result solely from upgrading each driver from the previous one. They are also compared at identical settings to the each game’s 2D performance.
- Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Left 4 Dead
- Mafia II
- Just Cause 2
- Resident Evil 5
- Metro 2033
- Lost Planet 2
- H.A.W.X. 2
- DiRT 3
3D Vision Features of GeForce 280.26
These are highlights only. For example, the .pdf gives assistance on how to resize your big screen TV’s resolution with sliders in the new drivers for for gaming. 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 which includes the 3D Vision drivers:
NVIDIA 3D Vision
- The 3D Vision Controller (USB) driver is included in this driver package. Users are no longer required to install the 3D Vision CD driver or a separate 3D Vision Controller driver. For more information, please view this knowledgebase article.
- 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.
- Window mode is now the default viewing option for the 3D Vision Photo Viewer.
- Added the following 3D Vision game profiles:
- Aion
- Diablo 3
- Dead Rising 2: Off The Record
- Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) 2
- From Dust
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2
- Last Remnant Benchmark
- Men of War Assault Squad
- Stock Car
- Update the following 3D Vision game profiles:
- Dirt 3 – updated rating to Excellent
Let’s head to the charts and see if the promised performance improvements that Nvidia has made are realistic. We are testing some of the very games that they show improvements in!
We are very excited to see the changes in DiRT 3as previously most of the effects that made DX11 worthwhile had to be switched off for 3D Vision in the previous drivers.
Thanks for this article! I will definitely be upgrading to 285.62, along with a GTX 580 (if I win the lottery)!! About the 60fps limit, I wonder if it’s possible for NV to do a sequential alternating with different frames for the left and right eyes rather than splitting the same frame for both eyes at 60Hz down from a 120Hz display — i.e., just skip the “split” frame for the right eye once it has been shown for the left eye, and go to the next frame for the right eye, so that we’ll be seeing 120 distinct frames per second (and the FPS counter will be showing 120 rather than 60)? I guess this point is rather moot since only two games here could hover around 60 sustained fps anyways.
You are welcome. We believe that 3D is the future of gaming and we will also cover HD3D next month at ABT.
The games that do not strain the HW will be dropped from the main 3D Vision driver evaluation with the GTX 580. But we will expand our coverage to the mobile S3D platforms (and lesser GTXes)that will be challenged by these games.
L4D is getting replaced by L4D 2 and as soon as there is a 3D profile for Battlefield 3, we will add it to our benching suite. We are just getting started!
