UT3: nVidia Forceware Driver Performance

25/11/2008 Forceware 180.60 CUDA betas prove themselves a bit worse than the 180.48 set, but better than previous 180.xx releases with an avg of 62.42fps and suprisingly few frame rate dips with 91.39% above 30fps. You need at least a Geforce 8 card to take advantage of CUDA, so this time I'm SOL.

15/11/2008 Forceware 180.48 WHQL gives us a new reason to upgrade. With the fastest average fps of most driver releases of recent memory at 64.29, the best of the 180.xx series to date, this one is definately worth trying. Windows driver signing is the icing on the cake!

15/11/2008 Forceware 180.44 was released and as the version choronology suggests, this one is very close to its predecessor in terms of performance. Slightly reduced overall fps, slightly improved overall frames above 30pfs.

08/11/2008 Forceware 180.43 actually set down some conistent numbers. Not mind-blowing numbers, but they acheived a respectable % frame rate above 60 without noticable hitches or lags at 91.19%. The average frame fer second came out to only 61.19 but this is not unplayable by any means.

01/11/2008 Forceware 180.42 is the first of the 180.xx series with XP support, although the performance proved most disappointing scoring on average lower than 60fps. If your refresh rate is 60Hz (see chart) and you have v-sync on, you might not notice but I see this as a sad day for Geforce 7 owners.

24/10/2008 Forceware 178.24 has just edged out the last 178.xx release. Slightly improved minimum framerates and WHQL candidacy made this one a modest success.

06/10/2008 Forceware 178.15 has filled the gap that saw Vista owners get them a few days in advance of the dwindling few XP-ers. These didn't break the bank: the latest WQHL sibling is a better bet at this point, although they aren't completely unfortunate and might resolve some game-related issues.

01/10/2008 Mobile Forceware 179.13 was leaked from Alienware, although the package signatures make this one older than last week's beta release. Furthermore, unless you have a mobile nVidia GPU, I wouldn't bother with this set. Performace was average to below average with some stutters and slowdowns not seen on earlier versions.

26/09/2008 Forceware 178.13 WHQL has become the first of the 178.xx generation and with Microsoft's seal of approval and incredibly solid performance, it bodes well for the future of this new line. All cards are supported and install was a breeze once again. Definitely one to check out!

10/09/2008 Forceware 177.98 is out and gets WHQL certification. This one struggled on the Coret trials, but turned out to be a steady performer, gave me no bugs and was easy to install without the need for inf modding. This is an update worth checking out, especially if your squeamish about driver signing.

30/08/2008 Forceware 177.92 popped up on Guru3d with the big story being PhysX support for the newest 9 series Geforce cards. Sadly, legacy support for my old 7950GT SLI cards seems to have taken a backseat to the hype of onboard physics. I'm sure it's pretty, but don't forget where you came from, nVidia!

19/08/2008 Forceware 177.89 beta has emerged like a twin of 177.83 with almost identical performance. If you notice any graphical hitches or shading bugs with one, try the other at virtually no cost to frame rate.

15/08/2008 Forceware 177.83 beta has finally put an end to the downward trend in performance among the last handful of leaks. Geforce 7 series owners should give this one a hard look, especially if you are experiencing problems with your GPU. My tests indicate a 6% in average FPS with the highest FPS above 30 among the lot of the 177.xx series!

12/08/2008 Forceware 177.79 has been run through my extensive testing methods. The verdict: pffffffffffft! These await WHQL status but didn't impress with any noticeable performance increase.

30/07/2008 Forceware 177.73 was leaked without much fan fare. The drivers performed well on average, the highlight being a slightly increased ability to keep fps above 30.

27/07/2008 Forceware 177.70 were leaked on XFastest for all nVidia cards. Performance turns out to be much the same as 177.66 but with notably fewer drops in frame rate.

13/07/2008 Forceware 177.66 came out after a driver dry spell of about 2 weeks. These ones get the nod as they perform better than average: about on par or a little better than the latest official release (175.16 WHQL) at least.

06/07/2008 Forceware 177.41 failed to improve upon the rock-steady performance seen in the 177.35 release. The major bottleneck for these seemed to be large polygons: perhaps mip-map optimization needs a tweak.

28/06/2008 Forceware 177.39 was released amid eager expectations after the .35 sibling performed so well. Not so for this release: after my 9 runs, this driver gets a thumbs down for the Unreal Engine 3.

20/06/2008 Forceware 177.35 is out (along with a handful of other 177.xx versions that I've had some trouble with.) Another hindrance was the failure of my power supply unit. But I replaced it with an 800w, SLI certified BFG PSU. Once I finally did figure out how to get these running, I was more than pleased with the results: there are almost the best drivers ever! Welcome the new 177.xx series: the new performance leaders for all cards!

30/05/2008 Forceware 175.80 is out in fine form, scoring handsomely atop the 175.xx series charts. SLI was enabled with out a hitch and Digital Vibrance works as well. Image quality is high and there are few noticeable drops in framerate: I do seem to see a skip when a map has just loaded and a new weapon or vehicle was fired for the first time as the textures and sound effects load into memory, but this is true of all drivers and unrelated to the graphic driver.

26/05/2008 I spotted Forceware 174.90 on Station Drivers. I know it seems like a step back, but watching the results of these was really quite interesting. Somehow these performed better on the CTF-Coret map than most of the 175.xx drivers have done. I noticed this trend earlier as well and thought very little of it at the time, although this driver show the other typical behaviour of struggling on VCTF-Suspense. The difference between these maps in terms of rendering techniques as far as I can see are some weather effects and volumetric fog on Coret, while the vehicles and size of the polygons visible on Suspense seem to create the most work for the GPU. I'm still trying to find someone more mapping-savvy than I to lend a clue as to what shading and lighting techniques are at play here and why the 174.xxx and 175.xx series seem to share these differences.

15/05/2008 WHQL status has been awarded to Forceware 175.16 beta. No different performance-wise from the non-certified version, but it's nice to know my numbers are in check.

11/05/2008 Forceware 175.16 has been leaked and provides another strong driver option for UT3. Very consistent performance backed by an easy install and great IQ make this worth installing if other beta's are failing you on other games.

07/05/2008 I initially saw Forceware 175.63 as a real waste of time, but my nVidia control panel settings were to blame. I was going to say it dragged its sorry ass out of the underground of beta benchmark bartertown. But these turned out to be the best drivers I've seen in a long time!

05/05/2008 Forceware 175.51 is out and thankfully its installation didn't make me want to weep. Not a super strong performer fps=wise, but solid nonetheless. Furthermore, the % above 30fps was healthy and the image quality is perfect. Let's hope this series brings good performance for older cards as well as new.

On that note, I'd like to vent about the way the 174.xx series fizzled out. These weren't necessarily nVidia's fault per se, but hardware manufacturers let go a few stinkers. Poor installers, a lack of SLI support and the last driver that even worked on my system really didn't perform well. Perhaps this is telling me to get myself a Geforce 9800, though...

13/04/2008 Forceware 174.82 beta was leaked. Now I'm a huge fan of Driver Sweeper, but these drivers were quite the chore to install and the sweep only seemed to make things worse. For more on the Driver Sweeper issues, read my Troubleshooting page.

I tried to install Forceware 174.82 with someone else's nv4disp.inf which was "modified for all cards." This ended up being a problem for me, since I didn't need all of the extra device ID's. The result was the installer telling me that "your device is not supported" even though I could see the lines that I needed. In then end, I fixed it by modding the .inf myself. As for the driver, the results weren't spectacular: 64.14 fps with 87.98% above 30fps. I know that 174.85 have been getting a welcome reception from the Vista camp, but I have yet to find an XP version yet.

Archive

UT3 Benchmark Final Results - Forceware Driver Comparison

Driver Version	Date **	Avg FPS	% Above 30FPS
Forceware 180.60 CUDA	25/11/2008	62.42	91.39
Forceware 180.48 WHQL	20/11/2008	64.29	90.67
Forceware 180.44 beta	15/11/2008	61.87	91.56
Forceware 180.43 beta	08/11/2008	61.96	91.19
Forceware 180.42 beta	01/11/2008	59.80	90.47
Forceware 178.24 WHQL	24/10/2008	62.57	91.20
Forceware 178.15 beta	06/10/2008	62.17	90.69
Forceware 179.13 mobile	01/10/2008	62.33	89.70
Forceware 178.13 WHQL	26/09/2008	67.40	90.63
Forceware 177.98 WHQL	10/09/2008	65.58	90.22
Forceware 177.92 beta	30/08/2008	62.20	90.25
Forceware 177.79 beta	18/08/2008	66.73	91.00
Forceware 177.83 beta	15/08/2008	67.84	91.29
Forceware 177.79 beta	12/08/2008	63.82	90.95
Forceware 177.73 beta	30/07/2008	65.38	91.23
Forceware 177.70 beta	27/07/2008	66.42	91.02
Forceware 177.66 beta	13/07/2008	66.15	90.85
Forceware 177.41 beta	06/07/2008	63.01	89.34
Forceware 177.39 beta	28/06/2008	63.22	90.32
Forceware 177.35 beta	20/06/2008	69.04	91.16
Forceware 175.80 beta	28/05/2008	65.87	90.91
Forceware 174.90 (mobile WHQL)	24/05/2008	64.22	89.97
Forceware 175.75 beta	21/05/2008	65.26	91.75
Forceware 175.16 WHQL	13/05/2008	64.28	90.49
Forceware 175.16 beta	08/05/2008	64.31	90.91
Forceware 175.63 beta (ARF2)	05/05/2008	65.63	91.49
Forceware 175.63 beta (Single GPU)	05/05/2008	61.05	89.52
Forceware 175.51 beta	13/04/2008	64.54	90.89
Forceware 174.82 beta	01/04/2008	64.14	87.98
Forceware 174.74 beta	21/03/2008	69.52	90.42
Forceware 174.70 beta	21/03/2008	67.14	91.24
Forceware 174.60 beta	20/03/2008	67.66	90.65
Forceware 174.53 beta	18/03/2008	66.57	91.40
Forceware 174.40 beta	12/03/2008	66.65	91.37
Forceware 169.44 (evga)	06/03/2008	63.90	90.54
Forceware 174.31 beta	02/03/2008	64.97	90.82
Forceware 174.20 beta	01/03/2008	65.08	90.13
Forceware 174.16 beta	20/02/2008	63.64	86.45
Forceware 174.12 beta	17/02/2008	64.06	90.57
Forceware 169.39 WHQL	09/02/2008	62.67	89.15
Forceware 171.23 beta	15/02/2008	64.17	89.54
Forceware 171.17 WHQL	13/02/2008	66.62	88.42
Forceware 169.38 beta	06/02/2008	63.13	90.45
Forceware 169.61 beta	04/02/2008	61.40	89.84
Forceware 171.16 beta	03/02/2008	64.85	89.13
Forceware 169.32 WHQL	31/01/2008	62.89*	89.13*
Forceware 169.28 beta	23/12/2007	56.40	91.42
Forceware 169.13 beta	06/12/2007	52.33	89.33