**THE NVIDIA DRIVERS THREAD**

[Boomstick777]

Quick blast on 3DMark 11.

Drivers seem good.





http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/8092402

 

[Boomstick777]

NVIDIA Talks DX12, DX11 Efficiency Improvements

DX11 could rival Mantle

The big story at GDC last week was Microsoft’s reveal of DirectX 12 and the future of the dominant API for PC gaming. There was plenty of build up to the announcement with Microsoft’s DirectX team posting teasers and starting up a Twitter account of the occasion. I hosted a live blog from the event which included pictures of the slides. It was our most successful of these types of events with literally thousands of people joining in the conversation. Along with the debates over the similarities of AMD’s Mantle API and the timeline for DX12 release, there are plenty of stories to be told.

 

[Boomstick777]

You suck Broomstick.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18588701

Ha, different thread title. Thought it wasn't posted. Interesting stuff this though. Huge performance gain in DX11 for Nvidia. On a 780Ti as well. Happy days

This thread can be deleted.

 

[Boomstick777]

Looks at performance gain in new driver on 780Ti.

Smiles at GTX 780Ti's

 

[Boomstick777]

Looking forward to the new drivers..

 

[Boomstick777]

NVIDIA doesn’t deny that a lower level API is beneficial or needed for PC gaming. It does, however, think that the methodology of AMD’s Mantle is the wrong way to go. Fragmenting the market into additional segments with a proprietary API does not maintain the benefits of hardware abstractions or “cross vendor support”. I realize that many readers will see some irony in this statement considering many in the industry would point to CUDA, PhysX, 3D Vision and others as NVIDIA’s own proprietary feature sets.

Oh the irony !!

Will welcome some extra performance in DX11 though. AMD get major props for generating this much competition. Mantle def stirred up the beehive

 

[Boomstick777]

Though it doesn’t want to admit it, NVIDIA is clearly feeling some pressure from gamers and media due to AMD’s homemade Mantle API. The company’s stance is to wait for DirectX 12 to be released and level the playing field with an industry standard rather than proceed down the pathway of another custom option. In the next 18 months, though, there will be quite a few games released with Mantle support, using the Frostbite engine or CryEngine. How well those games are built, and how much of an advantage the Mantle code path offers, will determine if gamers will respond positively to Radeon cards. NVIDIA, on the other hand, will be focusing its reticule on improving the efficiency and performance of DirectX 11 in its own driver stack in an attempt to maximize CPU efficiency (and thus overall performance) levels to rival Mantle.

During a handful of conversations with NVIDIA on DirectX and Mantle, there was a tone from some that leaned towards anger, but hints at annoyance. It’s possible, according to NVIDIA’s performance improvements in DX11 efficiency shown here, that AMD could have accomplished the same thing without pushing a new API ahead of DirectX 12. Questions about the division of internal resources on the AMD software team between Mantle and DirectX development are often murmured as is the motives of the developers continuing to adopt Mantle today. Finding the answers to such questions is a fruitless endeavor though and to speculate seems useless – for now.

AMD has done good with Mantle. Whether or not the company intended for the new API to become a new standard, or merely force Microsoft's hand with DirectX 12, it is thanks to AMD that we are even talking about efficiency with such passion. Obviously AMD hopes they can get some financial benefits from the time and money spent on the project, with improved marketshare and better mindshare with gamers on the PC. The number and quality of games that are released in 2014 (and some of 2015) will be the determining factor for that.

Over the next year and half, NVIDIA will need to prove its case that DirectX 11 can be just as efficient as what AMD has done with Mantle. Or at the very least, the performance deltas between the two options are small enough to not base purchasing decisions on. I do believe that upon the release of DX12, the playing field will level once again and development on Mantle will come to a close; that is, at least if Microsoft keeps its promises.

We all have AMD to thank for the push for better use of current hardware and Nvidia's focus of reducing CPU overhead and maximizing performance in DX11. Imho for Microsoft's Direct X12 focus on 'closer to the metal' as well.

 

[Boomstick777]

When they say "780 Ti New" do they mean a new driver/DX or yet another card refresh ?

That's referring to the 780Ti running on a new driver, supposed to be revealed in next 2 weeks..

 

[Boomstick777]

Nvidia would have to improve their Driver overhead by about 300% or more just to match Mantle.

I think what will happen is Nvidia will spend the next year saying how brilliant their drivers are with no or limited actual tangible improvements outside of marketing slides.

Its PR, Mantle is getting all the attention so Nvidia are setting out on an attention seeking campaign.

Um 300%?

Nvidia in Direct X does pretty well VS Mantle already. Not sure where you plucked that 300% figure from, but yeah isn't there still a washed out bug in BF4 with Mantle as well? Not sure that's the greatest example tbh.. With FXAA on low an extra 4fps and washed out graphics. Not something people should about about tbh. Nvidia ahead with 2X AA.. All this fanboism is getting very cringe. Just enjoy the fact there is so much focus on PC gaming no matter what brand your hardware belongs to.. AMD did a great job sparking off the competition in this area imho. Roll on improved Direct X11 and Mantle and upcoming DirectX 12.

'hardocp.com on Mantle in BF4'
when looking at the benefits provided through the lens of improving upon the best playable gaming experience on current high end hardware, there's simply not a tangible benefit provided to gamers at this time on high-end cards

 

[Boomstick777]

Nvidia havent said the NEXT driver will be these magic ones, have they?

Rumor is next 2 weeks for the miracle driver..

i'm just glad the green boys are finally getting the performance they paid for

I've been getting the performance I paid for since installing my 780Ti's . The miracle driver is just an added bonus for me. A cherry on top.. Very much like AMD launching that driver about 10 months after the 7XXX series that really boosted performance. All good stuff.

 

[Boomstick777]

NVIDIA’s GeForce 337.50 ‘Wonder Driver’ to be released on April 7th

As you know, normally we don’t make posts about the drivers. However sometimes there are drivers that provide significant improvement over previous version, for instance, first AMD driver to support Mantle.

NVIDIA will release its GeForce 337.50 driver, which introduces some major changes, on April 7th.

GeForce GTX 700 Series (Single GPU):

Up to 64% in Total War: Rome II
Up to 25% in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Up to 23% in Sleeping Dogs
Up to 21% in Star Swarm
Up to 15% in Batman: Arkham Origins
Up to 10% in Metro: Last Light
Up to 8% in Hitman Absolution
Up to 7% in Sniper Elite V2
Up to 6% in Tomb Raider
Up to 6% in F1 2013

GeForce GTX 700 Series (SLI):

Up to 71% in Total War: Rome II
Up to 53% in Sniper Elite V2
Up to 45% in Aliens vs. Predator
Up to 31% in Sleeping Dogs
Up to 20% in CoD: Black Ops 2
Up to 10% in Hitman Absolution
Up to 9% in F1 2013
Up to 7% in Far Cry 3
Up to 6% in Metro: Last Light
Up to 6% in Batman: Arkham Origins

http://videocardz.com/50176/nvidias-geforce-337-50-wonder-driver-released-april-7th
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=388074
http://www.game-debate.com/blog/ind...maleficarus&blog=NVIDIA 337.50 driver details!

 

[Boomstick777]

DL Link: http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/74732

 

[Boomstick777]

Nvidia 337.50 beta drivers 64bit Win 64bit 7/8/8.1 Date Monday, 04/07/2014
Nvidia 337.50 beta drivers 32bit Win 32bit 7/8/8.1 Date Monday, 04/07/2014

 

[Boomstick777]

any bf4 improvements?

BF4 is mentioned here - http://videocardz.com/50183/nvidias-geforce-337-50-driver-launches-today-expect

Gamers who own COH Black Ops 2, Sleeping Dogs, Aliens vs Predator, Sniper Elite and even Thief and Battlefield 4 will surely like the new driver. We are looking at average 10-20% improvement in those games

 

[Boomstick777]

Performance is def up for me. Seems across the board. I was already getting crazy high fps but now even higher

Ran some benches using old drivers last night and new drivers today.

An extra 300 points in 3DMark 11. very nice for a free boost.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/8199372 Driver version (335.23) 9.18.13.3523 Score - P19374

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/8199396 Driver version (335.23) 9.18.13.3523 Score - P19381

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/8203923 Driver version (337.50) 9.18.13.3750 Score - P19670

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/8203974 Driver version (337.50) 9.18.13.3750 Score - P19672

 

[Boomstick777]

Basically this driver is GOLDEN for high-end SLI setups like the GeForce GTX 780 Ti

My 780 Ti's are very happy on these..

http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/geforce_337_50_beta_sli_performance_benchmarks.html

 

[Boomstick777]

So I'm guessing these aren't the "wonder" drivers with sick performance gains then ?

This setup with GTX 780 Ti in SLI is PERFECT for this driver. If you'd measure with a single GTX 760, the results would be minimal.

Some great gains on SLI. It's as if these drivers were tailor made for my 780 Ti's

 

[Boomstick777]

 

[Boomstick777]

All hail the mighty 337 GOLDEN Driver

These Drivers are the BOMB! butter smooth, runs like gravy AND frankly the best Nv drivers I have ever used. Tested several games last night and got gains in every single one ++ every game feels so much smoother in every aspect & every area when compared to life before 337... all this with the 1st beta release is pretty amazing too - Nvidia has just picked DX up by the scruff of the neck and put it back on top of the performance charts across several titles. Not just the one title that Mantle shouts about.

I would just like to say as an Nvidia user on a Nvidia topic/thread

Well done Nvidia – The Way It's Meant to be Played

 

[Boomstick777]

Ti's dominating the R9 295X2 in 1440P. Happy as this is the res I use