GeForce 296.10 WHQL Driver Performance Analysis

Test Configuration & Driver Release Notes

Test Configuration

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i7 920 (reference 2.66 GHz and overclocked to 4,2GHz using the 21x multiplier); Turbo is off.
• 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 1200MHz; 2×2 GB supplied was by Kingston)
• Nvidia GTX 580 (1.5 GB, reference clocks), supplied by Nvidia
• Galaxy GTX 590 (3 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
• Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU Cooler
• Philips DVD SATA writer
• HP LP3065 2560×1600 thirty inch LCD

Test Configuration – Software

• NVIDIA GeForce WHQL 295.73 and WHQL 296.10 for 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 on the charts; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied if possible; 16xAF forced in control panel for Crysis.
• 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 noted on the performance summary charts. The performance changes result solely from upgrading each driver from the previous one.

• Vantage
• 3DMark 11
• Batman: Arkham City
• Serious Sam, Second Encounter HD (2010)
• Wolfenstein
• Left 4 Dead 2
• 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
• Heaven

New Features of GeForce 296.10

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 second WHQL-certified driver from the R295 family of drivers (versions 295.xx  to 299.xx).

This driver is a recommended upgrade  for all GeForce users, especially those playing the latest hot PC games like Battlefield 3, Blacklight: Retribution, Diablo  III, Mass Effect 3, or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and more. These  drivers come packed with GeForce-exclusive performance and quality enhancements  and are Microsoft WHQL-certified.

New in  Release 296.10

• Adds  3D Vision support for the following games:
• Dear Esther – Rated Good
• Deep Black: Reloaded – Rated 3D Vision  Ready
• Includes  numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release notes documentation for more details.

Highlight  Summary for the R295 Family of Drivers

New  features and performance since R285 WHQL-certified driver

• Game-changing  performance boost of up to 45% in The  Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, “the fastest selling title in Steam’s history”
• Up  to 2x performance Mass Effect 3 with SLI technology.
• GeForce-exclusive quality enhancements with ambient occlusion  support for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Diablo III, and The  Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
• New 3D Vision and SLI profiles for over 50 titles.
• New PhysX software for the best experience in top PhysX titles like Alice:  Madness Returns and Batman: Arkham City.
• Enables WHQL-certified support for NVIDIA Surround on Intel X79  SLI-certified motherboards.
• Updates  HD Audio to version 1.3.12.0.

Other  Details

• Supports  multiple languages and APIs for GPU computing: CUDA C, CUDA C++, CUDA Fortran,  OpenCL, DirectCompute, and Microsoft C++ AMP.
• 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  and AMD motherboards.

Let’s head to the performance charts.