NVIDIA har længe favoriseret Intel og deres CPU’er, mens AMD der nu også ejer ATI, ikke altid har fået den kærlig man har kunnet ønske sig. Bestemt ikke hvis man ønskede at bygge et NVIDIA SLI system med en AMD processor.

nVidia er klar med den seneste WHQL candidate driver version 197.13. Denne driver er afløser for den meget berygtede 196.75, der åbenbart fik blæserne på et par grafikkort til ikke at virke.

Den seneste nVidia geforce/ion driver der byder på en del performance boosts i diverse spil.

• Up to 13% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with a single GPU
• Up to 30% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with SLI technology
• Up to 13% performance increase in H.A.W.X with single GPU
• Up to 15% performance increase in H.A.W.X with SLI technology
• Up to 30% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with single GPU
• Up to 28% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with SLI technology

Download:
196.75_desktop_win7_winvista_32bit_english_whql.exe (Windows 7/Vista 32bit)
196.75_desktop_win7_winvista_64bit_english_whql.exe (Windows 7/Vista 64bit)
196.75_desktop_winxp_32bit_english_whql.exe (Windows XP)
196.75_desktop_winxp_64bit_english_whql.exe (Windows XP 64bit)

Tegra platformen kender vi bedst fra Microsofts Zune HD, men i løbet af 2010 vil den næste generation af Tegra platformen bl.a. lande i netbooks, Tablet PC’ere og Boxee Box.

T20 modellen som nVidia Tegra 2 platformen hedder er baseret omkring en dual-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU og en GeForce GPU.

Platformen æder Full HD, Flash 10.1 videoer både HD og standard, mens stadig at have en strømforbrug der ligger i den lave ende.

Kilde:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/nvidia-tegra-2-powered-mobinnova-beam-hands-on/

Bemærk denne driver er WHQL.

Ændringer:

• Adds GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta. Learn more here.
• Adds support for GeForce GT 240.
• Adds support for OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language) for all GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
• Adds support for CUDA Toolkit 3.0 features and performance enhancements. See CUDA Zone for more details.
• Adds SLI and multi-GPU support for many top new gaming titles including Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA Soccer 10, and more.
• Includes numerous bug fixes including improved performance for Need for Speed: Shift. Refer to the release notes on the documentation tab for information about the key bug fixes in this release.

Download:
195.62_desktop_winxp_32bit_english_whql.exe (32bit Windows XP)
195.62_desktop_winxp_64bit_english_whql.exe (64bit Windows XP)
195.62_desktop_win7_winvista_32bit_english_whql.exe (32bit Vista/Windows 7)
195.62_desktop_win7_winvista_64bit_english_whql.exe (64bit Vista/Windows 7)

Så kom nVidia med deres seneste driver der understøtter den nye Flash Player 10.1.

Ændringer:

• Adds GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta. Applies to GeForce 8‐series and later GPUs.
• Adds support for GeForce GT 240.
• Adds support for OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language) for all GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
• Adds support for CUDA 3.0 features and performance enhancements. See CUDA Zone for more details.
• Adds SLI and multi-GPU support for many top new gaming titles including Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA Soccer 10, and more.
• Includes numerous bug fixes including improved performance for Need for Speed: Shift. Refer to the release notes on the documentation tab for information about the key bug fixes in this release.

Download:
195.55_desktop_win7_winvista_32bit_english.exe (32bit Vista/Windows 7)
195.55_desktop_win7_winvista_64bit_english.exe (64bit Vista/Windows 7)
195.55_desktop_winxp_32bit_english.exe (32bit Windows XP)
195.55_desktop_winxp_64bit_english.exe (64bit Windows XP)

I har sikkert læst at Flash 10.1 vil være tilgængelig, på et hav af mobile enheder samt GPU acceleration til mange enheder der benytter nVidia chips. Bl.a. de nye netbooks med ION vil i realiteten kunne afspille 720p samt 1080p HD materiale.

En spiller der har valgt ikke at være med i denne flash mobile verden er Apple, ingen ved med sikkerhed hvorfor de har takket nej i første omgang, men rygterne går på at de vil komme til at miste salg i deres App Store, hvis folk i stedet vælger at spille en flash baseret version af et bestemt spil, frem for at købe dette.

Det kan dog hurtigt give hovedpine for Apple, nu når Android, Palm og Nokia vil tilbyde flash på deres enheder i starten og i løbet af 2010.

Kilde:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/05/flash-10-1-announced-for-just-about-anything-with-a-screen-webo/

Seneste Beta driver til nVidia grafikkort.

Ændringer:

• Adds support for OpenGL 3.2 for GeForce 8, 9, 100, and 200-series GPUs and ION GPUs.
• Accelerates performance in several gaming applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with version 191.03 drivers vs. version 190.62 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
  • Up to 12% performance increase in ARMA 2
  • Up to 8% performance increase in Batman: Arkham Asylum with GPU PhysX enabled
  • Up to 50% performance increase in Call of Juarez: Blood in Bound with SLI enabled
  • Up to 14% performance increase in Fallout 3 (indoor scenes) with antialiasing enabled
  • Up to 10% performance increase in Far Cry 2 (DX9 version) with antialiasing enabled
  • Up to 34% performance increase in Prototype with antialiasing enabled
• Adds SLI support for Darkfall, Dawn of Magic 2: Time of Shadows, Dreamkiller, Fuel, Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, Need for Speed: Shift and more.
• Includes numerous bug fixes, including the following key fix (additional bug fixes can be found in the release notes on the documentation tab): For graphics cards supporting multiple clock states, 3D clocks correctly return to 2D clocks after exiting a 3D application.
• Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.

Download:
191.03_desktop_win7_winvista_32bit_english_beta.exe (32bit Vista/Windows 7)
191.03_desktop_win7_winvista_64bit_english_beta.exe (64bit Vista/Windows 7)
191.03_desktop_winxp_32bit_english_beta.exe (32bit Windows XP)
191.03_desktop_winxp_64bit_english_beta.exe (64bit Windows XP)

Seneste WHQL godkendt nVidia Driver.

Ændringer:

New in Release 186.18

• Numerous bug fixes. More information can be found in the release documentation.
• Installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0428.
• Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.

New in Release 185/186 drivers:

• Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDAfor more details.
• Expands GPU hardware acceleration for the NVIDIA Video Encoding library to GPUs with less than 32 cores. Applications using this library include CyberLink PowerDirector 7, Nero Move it 1.5, Loilo SuperLoiloScope MARS, and CyberLink MediaShow Espresso.
• Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 185/186 drivers vs. Release 182 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
  • Up to 25% performance increase in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
  • Up to 22% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled
  • Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled
  • Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2
  • Up to 30% performance increase in Half-Life 2 engine games with 3-way and 4-way SLI
  • Up to 45% performance increase in Mirror’s Edge with antialiasing enabled
• Supports GeForce Plus Power Pack #3. Download these FREE PhysX and CUDA applications now!

Existing Support:

• Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology* on DirectX 9 and OpenGL, including SLI support on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards.
• Includes full support for OpenGL 3.0.
• Supports NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on a dedicated GeForce graphics card. Use one card for graphics and dedicate a different card for PhysX processing for game-changing physical effects. Learn more here.
• Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.

Zune HD er de seneste dage blevet banket rundt på diverse hjemmesider med nyt info og billeder der får andre konkurrenter til at tisse i bukserne.

Afspilleren bliver en af de første der vil benytte NVIDIA’s Tegra platform. Denne platform åbner op for helt nye muligheder hvad angår underholdning på fartet, da den tillader HD playback i 720p, HDMI udgang, OpenGL ES 2.0, optage i 720p og tage billeder i 12MegaPixel.

Mange frygter og håber Zune vil tillade stort set alle de funktioner Tegra platformen byder på, da det lille vidunder får hestekræfter som en Ferrari samtidigt med at bruge meget lidt strøm. Enheden vil kunne få lov at slås med bl.a. Apples iPods, Sony’s PSP, da den burde kunne understøtte både HD video, musik og spil.

Denne driver er nu ikke helt 0-day ny, men derfor skal i nu stadig have glæde af den

Driveren understøtter NVIDIA PhysX acceleration på alle GeForce 8-serie, 9-serie and 200-serie GPU’er med minimum 256mb Ram.

PhysX skulle gøre fysikken i spil mere realistisk og give mulighed for at ødelægge flere ting (I udvalgte spil)

nvidia har også formået at hive lidt flere fps ud af et par spil:

• Single GPU increases up to 11% in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset)
• Single GPU increases up to 11% in Assassin’s Creed DX10
• Single GPU increases up to 15% in Bioshock DX10
• Single GPU increases up to 15% in Call of Duty 4
• Single GPU increases up to 8% in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
• 2-way SLI increases up to 7% in Bioshock DX10
• 2-way SLI increases up to 10% in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts DX10
• 2-way SLI increases up to 12% in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
• 2-way SLI increases up to 10% in World in Conflict DX10

Personligt synes jeg også andre spil virker noget mere flydende med mit Geforce 8600 GT

Husk på dette er stadig kun Beta drivere…

Download:
Vista 32Bit | Vista 64Bit | Windows XP 32Bit | Windows XP 64Bit