Nvidia releases 257.21 WHQL driver for laptops, desktops

Status
Not open for further replies.

Jos

Posts: 3,073   +97
Staff

Roughly three weeks after offering a public beta, Nvidia has announced the first WHQL certified release for their new 256 driver series. Highlighted features include support for OpenGL 4.0 on GeForce GTX 400 series GPUs, support for CUDA Toolkit 3.1, support for new extreme Antialiasing modes on 3-way SLI, including the up to SLI48x AA on Geforce 200 series and SLI96x for the GTX 400 series, support for a new "Quality" mode for Ambient Occlusion, Blu-ray 3D support, and new sections in the Control Panel for SLI, PhysX, and CUDA controls.

Besides the extra functionality, the 257.21 release includes numerous bug fixes as well as significant performance improvements on a number of game titles. You can find out more about these in the official release notes, which are available separately for Windows 7 or Vista and Windows XP (in PDF format).

The new 257.21 drivers are also available for laptop users running either Windows 7 or Vista -- in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors -- but not Windows XP. Highlights are pretty much the same as in the desktop but also include support for Nvidia Optimus graphics switching. You can download the latest WHQL release by choosing the appropriate version on this page.

Permalink to story.

 
Lurker101 said:
Anyone care to warn us on how buggy this release is?

I'm using it and so far it's quite good. No more frame drops in games after long periods of playing.
 
Guess that's a good sign princeton. The last non-buggy drivers they released were 190.62 and I'm sick of having to roll back to it after being pissed off with a buggy new driver.
 
Not a helluva lot of difference from the beta on my 280SLI so far performance wise. (1920x1080, STALKER:CoP and GTA IV quick save game load)

EDIT: There is also a DirectX update out
 
Tried a 'clean' install and got a blue screen. After fussing with installs/installs I've decided to use 197.45 for now (which for me was an upgrade anyway).
 
I'm running them on one of my boxes and their very stable. No bluescreens or freezes during installation or afterward. I did have to reboot my PC after it finished installing but it was all good after that.
 
Nvidia releases 257.21 WHQL driver is bad crash my computer even a reinstall of the OS did'nt fix it. replace video card MB HD.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back