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Making up for March's relatively dull update, Nvidia has announced what it deems an "essential upgrade for all GeForce users." Released yesterday, the 301.24 beta drivers carry many of the goodies introduced with the GTX 680 a few weeks ago, as well as new performance improvements, bug fixes and SLI/3D Vision profiles.
Among the new features is FXAA, an anti-aliasing technology that is supposedly up to 60% faster than 4xMSAA and offers similar, if not superior results to such "ageing" solutions. Nvidia offered a detailed comparison in Batman: Arkham City last December, showing how FXAA fares against varying degrees of MSAA and CSAA.
This week's beta drivers also pack Adaptive VSync, which automatically adjusts vertical sync depending on your game's frame rate to prevent screen-tearing and other hiccups. Vertical sync is enabled if your game reaches the ideal frame rate (i.e. 60fps) and it's disabled when speeds dips below the target performance.
Download GeForce 301.24 beta (release notes)
Desktop: Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista/7 32-bit | Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Mobile: Windows Vista/7 32-bit | Windows Vista/7 64-bit
GeForce 301.24 has a slew of Nvidia Surround enhancements, including the ability to enable a fourth "accessory display" for basic tasks like checking email and Web browsing, desktop management options, "bezel peeking" to reveal hidden game information, custom resolution management, and central display acceleration.
Nvidia touts another ~20% boost in Skyrim's indoor scenes (compared to last month's 296.10 WHQL release). Depending on your setup, you might also feel gains in Batman: Arkham City, Bulletstorm, Civilization V, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dragon Age 2, Far Cry 2, Just Cause 2, Metro 2033, Total War: Shogun 2, and StarCraft 2.
We've included a list of SLI and 3D Vision profile updates below and you'll find various bug fixes on page nine of the release notes. Considering Microsoft hasn't approved the update yet, you might want to wait a week or two until the WHQL build surfaces. If not, get downloading and share your findings in the comments.
New & Updated SLI Profiles
Alan Wake
Call of Juarez: The Cartel
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Missing Link
Left 4 Dead
Orcs Must Die!
Portal 2
Risen 2: Dark Waters
The Darkness II
New & Updated 3D Vision Profiles
All Zombies Must Die! – Rated Fair
Ghosts 'n Goblins Online – Rated Good
Krater – Rated Poor
Oil Rush – Rated 3D Vision Ready
Postal III – Rated Good
Rayman Origins – Rated Good
SevenCore – Rated Fair
Stacking – Rated Good
Unigine Heaven Benchmark v3.0 – Rated 3D Vision Ready
Wargame: European Escalation – Rated Good
Warp – Rated Good
Wings of Prey – Rated Fair
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User Comments: 9
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GeForce 301.24 beta highlights
- New GPU Support - Adds support for the new GeForce GTX 680, the fastest, most efficient GPU ever built.
- Performance Boost - Increases performance for GeForce 400 Series and 500 Series GPUs in several PC games vs. GeForce 296.10 WHQL-certified drivers. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:
GeForce GTX 570/580:
? Up to 23% in Just Cause 2 with SLI
? Up to 21% in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
? Up to 17% in StarCraft II with SLI
? Up to 14% in Far Cry 2 with SLI
? Up to 9% in Bulletstorm
? Up to 7% in Civilization V
? Up to 6% in Deus Ex: Human Revolution with SLI
? Up to 6% in Dragon Age 2 with SLI
? Up to 5% in Metro 2033 with SLI
? Up to 5% in Total War: Shogun 2
GeForce GTX 560/560 Ti:
? Up to 20% in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
? Up to 15% in Just Cause 2 with SLI
? Up to 13% in Far Cry 2 with SLI
? Up to 12% in Bulletstorm
? Up to 11% in Civilization V
? Up to 10% in StarCraft II with SLI
? Up to 9% in Batman: Arkham City
? Up to 4% in Deus Ex: Human Revolution with SLI
? Up to 4% in Dragon Age 2 with SLI
? Up to 4% in Metro 2033 with SLI
? Up to 4% in Total War: Shogun 2
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Am I the only one with an ati card looking at this? :-(
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Darth Shiv said:
Am I the only one with an ati card looking at this? :-(Nope... always good to keep an eye on the competition
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Nice upgrade.
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SKYSTAR said:
Good job Nvidia ,Finally we can activate FXAA on any game we want ,especially on games that do not support AA
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KG363 said:
I don't really want to let the stability of my computer depend on a beta driver. I'l wait for the official release.
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Anyone know if this offers any benefit to users of older Nvidia products. Say... a GTX 260?
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KG363 said:milwaukeemike said:
Anyone know if this offers any benefit to users of older Nvidia products. Say... a GTX 260?
I think it mainly affects 400/500/600
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wait for official driver? you must be new to nvidia as they hardly ever release official drivers. their beta drivers are just as good and in fact the worst drivers they have ever had were official drivers. I am sure we all remember the official drivers that let cards basically cook themselves don't we. in other words just give it a couple of days to make sure there are no major issues and then grab the drivers and don't let "beta" scare you off.
I installed them myself a few hours ago and in the games i am playing there have no issues. its nice to finally get rid of jaggies in a game like Dead Space 2 using FXAA. adaptive vsync is also pretty nifty for game where your framerate can fluctuate wildly.
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