My initial testing with Forceware driver 169.13 in the default SLI performance mode worried me a bit. As a tweaker, I know when my framerates are dipping below 30fps and it bothers me. With the 169.13 driver I had no crashes, but my frame rates were usually in the 40's and that's a bit low for my taste: especially since I have a high-end, SLI GPU configuration. As per usual however, subsequent beta drivers have proven to boost that performance and we haven't seen the plateau yet.

Forceware 169.28 was release specifically for UT3 to cure random crashes, slowdowns and graphical anomalies. It was a clear winner over 169.13, but since then a flood of newer drivers have entered the arena.

Actually, it was released for Vista users and only for XP systems running a Geforce 8800GS. But by modifying the .inf file, we are able to make the driver work for all nVidia GPU's. This is not something I typically do, but I don't yet have 100% of my frame rate above 30% and there's always room to improve. As they say, "every little bit helps."

I am obliged to put out a disclaimer, however. Every beta driver carries a "use at your own risk" warning and could potentially damage your hardware, your stored data and excessive tweaking and benchmarking could ruin your marriage. Thankfully, my honey was out of town during the busiest beta release week I've ever seen.

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Test Results: Significant Improvement

The final results show quite clearly that the Unreal Engine still hasn't seen its full potential yet. Please use caution with beta drivers however: use them at your own risk. ;)