Following a beta launch late last month, Nvidia has now begun to distribute the WHQL version of its so-called Big Bang II driver release. As reported in October, the new ForceWare 180.48 package should provide a significant performance boost in a number of games along with multi-display support for SLI configurations, the option to dedicate a graphics card to PhysX calculations, and SLI support for some Core i7 motherboards with Intel X58 chipsets.

You can grab the latest drivers for Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, and Windows XP 64-bit. It should be noted, however, that the 180.48 release only supports GeForce 200-series, GeForce 9, and GeForce 8800-series graphics cards. Read the full list of fixes and changes after the jump.

Release Highlights Products Supported User Guides

This is a WHQL-certified driver for GeForce 200-series, 9-series, and 8800-series desktop GPUs.

Exciting New Features:

* Enables NVIDIA SLI technology on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards with the following GPUs: GeForce GTX 280, GeForce GTX 260, GeForce 9800 GX2, GeForce 9800 GTX+, and GeForce 9800 GTX. Learn more at https://www.slizone.com/object/sli_for_x58.html.
* Enables NVIDIA SLI Multi-monitor support, giving you the ability to use two monitors with your GeForce graphics cards in SLI mode. Now you can easily switch between multi-monitor desktop mode and full screen 3D gaming mode. Learn more at https://www.slizone.com/object/sli_multi_monitor.html.
* Enables 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 at https://www.slizone.com/object/sli_cuda_learn.html. (Note: GPU PhysX is supported on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory. This driver package automatically installs PhysX System Software version 8.10.13).

Blazing Fast Performance:

* Boosts performance in numerous 3D applications. The following are some examples of improvements measured with Release 180 WHQL drivers vs. Release 178 WHQL drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):

o Up to 10% performance increase in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset)
o Up to 13% performance increase in Assassin's Creed
o Up to 13% performance increase in BioShock
o Up to 15% performance increase in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
o Up to 10% performance increase in Crysis Warhead
o Up to 25% performance increase in Devil May Cry 4
o Up to 38% performance increase in Far Cry 2
o Up to 18% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID
o Up to 80% performance increase in Lost Planet: Colonies
o Up to 18% performance increase in World of Conflict

And More:

* Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL, including 3-way and Quad SLI technology.
* Supports CUDA.
* Supports Folding@home distributing computing application. Download the high performance client for NVIDIA GPUs here and join the NVIDIA team: #131015.
* Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.
* Includes numerous 3D application compatibility fixes. Please read the release notes for more information on product support, features, driver fixes and known compatibility issues.