More ATi, nVidia "optimizations".

[olefarte]

According to this long article at Digit-Life, even after all the talk about optimizing drivers for 3D Mark 03, both ATi, and nVidia, are both still using these methods, even on there new driver releases. After using the "AntiDetector" program, (blocks optimizations), in this article, nVidia lost over 1200 points and ATi lost almost 400, in 3D Mark 01.

Will the Direct3D application detection mechanisms disappear in the Detonator and Catalyst drivers? Unlikely. Judging by the test results of the drivers released after the scandal around 3DMark2003 none of the companies is going to step back. Thus, the new NVIDIA's Detonator FX 44.6x is able to detect all changes in the shader code made by Futuremark in the patch 330 and even increases performance as compared to what was before the patch. Obviously, NVIDIA decided to keep to the tactics of aggressive optimizations irrespective of the negative attitude of most users towards such things. Nevertheless, the NVAntiDetector script still makes the GeForceFX 5900Ultra work much slower in this benchmark. ATI also released a new build of the Catalyst drivers where they really removed two optimizations for the 3DMark2003 revealed by Futuremark. They proudly announced it in the following press-release, but the optimizations for the previous benchmark are still there. The company seems to follow the principle "innocent until proven guilty", and the fine guesture of locking undesirable optimizations will touch only those cheats which the company was thrusted under its nose. It's very convenient to be partially honest. Everyone is satisfied.

 

[olefarte]

This article at The Inquirer is not really about cheating, at least so far as can be proven now. I just thought I'd put it here rather than start a new thread. The jist of the story is nVidia has there newest "leaked" drivers out and they give a huge increase in 3DMark scores, but none whatsoever in real world games. The Extreme Tech article is here.

IN A MOVE that could easily re-ignite the still-simmering 3DMark 2003 controversy, the latest leaked Detonator drivers (44.67) dramatically boost performance over 44.03, but without containing any of the same "features" that boosted performance in that particular Detonator series.

In fact, according to ExtremeTech, the result boost is impressive, with a full 26% performance jump overall and a nearly 100% leap in Game 4. Since no evidence of driver tampering has been found you'd think it was all milk and honey for Nvidia — but unfortunately that's not the case.

 

[MrGaribaldi]

Well, some of the otimizations from 44.03 are still there...
According to B3D, there's still a clip plane in GT 2 (or was that 3 I don't remember)...

And another thing about those drivers... They're encrypted to make it harder/impossbile for people to do what Unwinder did with his AntiDetect script...

Way to go Nvidia...

 

[Nic]

Nvidia will likely go on cheating, and that most likely explains why they don't like the 'Omega' versions of their drivers, and put their foot down to get them removed.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Why don't they optimize drivers for games that are used in benchmarks, like UT2003? I don't think players would complain.

 

[Tarkus]

I think the new Nvidia 44.67 drivers improve the code for DirectX9 stuff that isn't used in any of the games we currently play so you won't see a corresponding increase in game performance. I haven't yet run the DX9 GunMetal Demo or GunMetal Benchmark to test my theory though.

Edit: Just ran the game and it was smoother and more responsive. It seems to show an increase in framerates. The Benchmark shows about a 20-50% increase over the 44.65 drivers. Certainly looks less jerky on a FX5600.