NVIDIA video card(s) owners read here!

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

For those like myself that prefer to just wait on Nvidia drivers to come through windows updates, I received 196.21 automatically yesterday.

Doing it this way does prevent having to uninstall and using apps such as Driver Sweeper.

In both Benchmarks 1 & 2, it bumped my score 2 points each.

And we all know 1 point helps in ArmA2.

[Leopoldo 10]

quite ignorant to suggest it is a lie, rather than a mistake.

why would someone lie about their specs? larger question - why would somebody call someone out on lying about their specs on a troubleshooting board?

wrong the X38 and X48 socket 775 chipsets supports DDR3 (Dual Channel) as does the P45 chipset.

Also those with Dual GPU cards, the important thing for games such as ARMA 2 is "Dedicated GPU Memory"

On the GTX 295 dedicated GPU memory is 896MB not 1792MB. A GTX 296 as 2x896MB and it also has 2x GPU. That means each GPU has "Dedicated GPU memory" of 896MB. The reason for this is on Nvidia cards PU's can only access their own Dedicated GPU memory, so a single GPU on a Dual GPU card can not access all 1792MB and also with the way SLi is set up the data stored in the Memory must be stored in each GPU's memory, this means that the data is duplicated, so if you enter 896MB (or the byte equive;ant) into ARMA 2 it will use the 896MB for GPU1 but it will also duplicate it for GPU2 Dedicated Memory meaning that all the memory is being used.

this is the same for all nvidia Dual GPU cards (its the same principal for SLI, if you have 2 GTX 285's in SLI you dont have 2GB of memory, you have 2x1GB, which means 1GB of Dedicated Memory per GPU, as with the Dual GPU cards the game data needs to be duplicated and stored on each GPU's dedicated GPU Memory), this is also correct for ATI cards running in Crossfire or Dual GPU ATI cards.

---------- Post added at 12:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:37 PM ----------

i7 965 D0 stepping, 12 gigs of Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3, Quad SLI 295s, Asus Rampage 2 Extreme Mobo, all water-cooled

http://hardocp.com/news.html?news=NDAwMTAsLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=

have a second rig with same specs but one 295, Rampage II Gene mobo, 6 gigs DDR 3 that are not triple channel

My old tri-sli rig (still have the three 280s but in other projects):

http://hardocp.com/news.html?news=MzcwMjEsLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=

I posted specs in another thread but I do not want to be accused of lying. All of my GPUs came from sponsors so it is not like I am made of money . . . just lucky ;)

you may be good at modding cases and whatnot but your a little clueless about hardware, there is no such thing as a D0 stepping 965, might want to change that to C0 (C0 is whats used for a C0/C1 stepping)

Edited February 3, 2010 by Leopoldo

[kklownboy 43]

snip

Lol you do know they posted that back in july, and DarthBeavis hasnt been on the forum since oct....and his mistake was 975, not the D0.

Anyhoo. You are correct~

[Meatball0311 79]

For those like myself that prefer to just wait on Nvidia drivers to come through windows updates, I received 196.21 automatically yesterday.

Doing it this way does prevent having to uninstall and using apps such as Driver Sweeper.

In both Benchmarks 1 & 2, it bumped my score 2 points each.

And we all know 1 point helps in ArmA2.

does it still allow Over Clocking in the nvidia control panel?

Also I have an 8 core processor, should I have in my shortcuts target "-cpuCount=8"?

Edited February 12, 2010 by Meatball0311

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

does it still allow Over Clocking in the nvidia control panel?

It never did in the CP.

Tools such as nTune installs to the Nvidia CP, and there again...it is best to uninstall those tools when updating video drivers, then reinstall the tool/s.

I have an Asus card which you can use the Asus OSD for overclocking onscreen during gaming, without having to minimize the game. I've yet to have to reinstall OSD after driver updates.

I use OSD for it's fps counter, video recording and screenshots. Factory settings work fine for me.

Also I have an 8 core processor, should I have in my shortcuts target "-cpuCount=8"?

No sir,

From what I've read within these forums, most user's get better game play by disabling HT with the I7, or using -cpuCount=4.

[Meatball0311 79]

It never did in the CP.

Tools such as nTune installs to the Nvidia CP, and there again...it is best to uninstall those tools when updating video drivers, then reinstall the tool/s.

I have an Asus card which you can use the Asus OSD for overclocking onscreen during gaming, without having to minimize the game. I've yet to have to reinstall OSD after driver updates.

I use OSD for it's fps counter, video recording and screenshots. Factory settings work fine for me.

No sir,

From what I've read within these forums, most user's get better game play by disabling HT with the I7, or using -cpuCount=4.

Wow! Thanks for such an informative reply!.. Ok, let me see if I am tracking correctly..

1. When I update my driver to 196.21, I must also uninstall the Nvidia nTune and all Nvidia stuff?

2. Then I must reinstall all of them..

3. I should have my cpucount set to 4.

how am I doing so far?

---------- Post added at 02:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:38 PM ----------

For those like myself that prefer to just wait on Nvidia drivers to come through windows updates, I received 196.21 automatically yesterday.

Doing it this way does prevent having to uninstall and using apps such as Driver Sweeper.

In both Benchmarks 1 & 2, it bumped my score 2 points each.

And we all know 1 point helps in ArmA2.

are you saying that I do not have to uninstall if I go through windows update?

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

When you manually use sites such as guru3d.com, Nividia.com official downloads ect, you will notice those installs create a new folder for each new driver. Driver Sweeper does not remove the folders nor it's files for me.

Look in C:\Nvidia, it will show all of your drivers you have installed for a Nvidia based card (if installed manually). It just creates a new folder everytime.

When using Windows updates, you do not get all the clutter and it overwrites old files within the system files..

nTune & nHancer readme recommends to uninstall before new drivers are added. (well..I know it did a year ago when I was using them).

As I said, I gave up with getting each new beta/WHQL driver they released, heck..seems my PC's have way less hiccups this way.

Hint, if you would like to revert to this way of updating video drivers, delete that Nvidia folder (note: if manually added chipset drivers, they will be there also, so just delete the actual video folders) then uninstall video from Device Manager (it will prompt "do you want to remove all files"), click yes. Reboot and let windows take over. It should install the last driver Windows has within it's system files (usually generic or a very old one), and then you can run Windows updates to get the latest driver.

This worked with XP, Vista and W7.

Edited February 12, 2010 by SWAT_BigBear

[Meatball0311 79]

When you manually use sites such as guru3d.com, Nividia.com official downloads ect, you will notice those installs create a new folder for each new driver. Driver Sweeper does not remove the folders nor it's files for me.

Look in C:\Nvidia, it will show all of your drivers you have installed for a Nvidia based card (if installed manually). It just creates a new folder everytime.

When using Windows updates, you do not get all the clutter and it overwrites old files within the system files..

nTune & nHancer readme recommends to uninstall before new drivers are added. (well..I know it did a year ago when I was using them).

As I said, I gave up with getting each new beta/WHQL driver they released, heck..seems my PC's have way less hiccups this way.

Hint, if you would like to revert to this way of updating video drivers, delete that Nvidia folder (note: if manually added chipset drivers, they will be there also, so just delete the actual video folders) then uninstall video from Device Manager (it will prompt "do you want to remove all files"), click yes. Reboot and let windows take over. It should install the last driver Windows has within it's system files (usually generic or a very old one), and then you can run Windows updates to get the latest driver.

This worked with XP, Vista and W7.

I am not using nTune... just have this in control panel:

- NVIDIA Display Control Panel

- NVIDIA Drivers

- NVIDIA Performance

- NVIDIA PhysX

- NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Driver (do I need this I am not using Stereoscopic)

- NVIDIA System Monitor

- NVIDIA System Update

So are you recommending that I uninstall:

- NVIDIA Display Control Panel

- NVIDIA Drivers

and can I leave the rest?? or do I need to uninstall and reinstall?

[Horus 83]

@Meatball0311

answers to all your questions are here Nvidia Forceware Tweak Guide :now:

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

does it still allow Over Clocking in the nvidia control panel?

I am not using nTune.

Maybe I'm confused with your question of oc'ing within the CP.

The link posted above me has much info for you.

[Meatball0311 79]

@Meatball0311

answers to all your questions are here Nvidia Forceware Tweak Guide :now:

THANKS!!

Well I used this guide and installed the beta 196.34 drivers (which they fixed the inability of the 196.21 drivers of allowing OC'ing with the control panel)

---------- Post added at 10:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 PM ----------

It never did in the CP.

Tools such as nTune installs to the Nvidia CP, and there again...it is best to uninstall those tools when updating video drivers, then reinstall the tool/s.

I have an Asus card which you can use the Asus OSD for overclocking onscreen during gaming,

Can you explain what does the ASUS OSD do?

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

Can you explain what does the ASUS OSD do?

http://usa.asus.com/FeatureList.aspx?PG_ID=r3EWBZcGQvxHvrb4&F_ID=265

It has a 30 day trial for all brands.

[jpinard 10]

Even though I'm an experienced tech I'm a bit confused by the conflicting suggestions over the 70+ pages. So hopefully someone can post a few answers to my questions.

I have the NVidia Geforce 295, so...

* Should I be running it in SLI mode since it's techncially 2 cards sandwiched together?

* What is the final consensus on frames rendered ahead? 1? 3? 15?

* What does post-processing effects do besides the blur effect as you turn quickly?

* For a multi-gpu card like mine are you really suggesting to turn Phys-X off? Isn't that counterproductive if you have extra processing available for the physics effects?

Thanks for your feedback and help :)

[skyman 10]

Hi, i just downloaded the latest drivers for my EVGA 260GTX Video card from NVIDIA and EVGA wich is the version 196.21 for WINDOWS XP 32bits; BUT when i restart my computer it appears like in TEST MODE with a VERY LOW RESOLUTION of 800 x 600 or lower i think and 16 bits, i cannot change that resolution and color, i reinstalled the original drivers again.

What can be happening?

Thanks.........

[Alex72 1]

* What is the final consensus on frames rendered ahead? 1? 3? 15?

* What does post-processing effects do besides the blur effect as you turn quickly?

* For a multi-gpu card like mine are you really suggesting to turn Phys-X off? Isn't that counterproductive if you have extra processing available for the physics effects?

1. Test with "1" on both those values (max frames ahead and detected frames). It should make your mouse more responsive thus making it feel "better" and "faster". Raise the value 1 step at the time if your mouse feels too "twitchy". Maximum should be 4 i think. So test 1-4 and start with 1. Change both with the same value.

2. Post processing at LOW will add light radiation (shine) and give you scope effects plus blur effects when hit/tired etc. At HIGH you get all that plus a 3D feeling where distant objects/island blur out a bit. Close by objects/island is clear and crisp. When aiming it will be clear wherever you aim and blurry on the sides. On HIGH it can drag FPS down from 0-15FPS (roughly) depending on system. On LOW (my setting) it drags FPS down between 0-5FPS ca (2FPS on my pc roughly) so i use it as i like the effects.

3. PhysX should be turned OFF if you play with a "295" (think i read that before). I have it OFF even though im on 8800GTS although on my pc i didnt notice any difference. But test it OFF.

Also set your Nvidia Control Panel to "performance" and see if that helps. Visuals go down very slightly (not even noticeable during play) but can help. If you have any fan control program (RivaTuner or similar) try setting your GPU fan/s to 100% while playing - works for me. When i forget that my game starts to lag after a while. This is highly depending ofcourse on systems as im sure you already know. :)

About SLI im not sure. A friend of mine tested with SLI and said it worked but i cant comment on it as i dont have SLI im afraid. That card *should* perform great in ARMA2 though. Check youtube and people with 295's and ask there how they got it all setup. I seen many videos with awesome performance in villages during battle with high settings.

Hope that helps a bit.

[bangtail 0]

Nvidia 196.75

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=316638

[jpinard 10]

Nvidia 196.75

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=316638

How good is the built-in benchmark for comparing drivers?

---------- Post added at 03:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 AM ----------

1. Test with "1" on both those values (max frames ahead and detected frames). It should make your mouse more responsive thus making it feel "better" and "faster". Raise the value 1 step at the time if your mouse feels too "twitchy". Maximum should be 4 i think. So test 1-4 and start with 1. Change both with the same value.

2. Post processing at LOW will add light radiation (shine) and give you scope effects plus blur effects when hit/tired etc. At HIGH you get all that plus a 3D feeling where distant objects/island blur out a bit. Close by objects/island is clear and crisp. When aiming it will be clear wherever you aim and blurry on the sides. On HIGH it can drag FPS down from 0-15FPS (roughly) depending on system. On LOW (my setting) it drags FPS down between 0-5FPS ca (2FPS on my pc roughly) so i use it as i like the effects.

3. PhysX should be turned OFF if you play with a "295" (think i read that before). I have it OFF even though im on 8800GTS although on my pc i didnt notice any difference. But test it OFF.

Also set your Nvidia Control Panel to "performance" and see if that helps. Visuals go down very slightly (not even noticeable during play) but can help. If you have any fan control program (RivaTuner or similar) try setting your GPU fan/s to 100% while playing - works for me. When i forget that my game starts to lag after a while. This is highly depending ofcourse on systems as im sure you already know. :)

About SLI im not sure. A friend of mine tested with SLI and said it worked but i cant comment on it as i dont have SLI im afraid. That card *should* perform great in ARMA2 though. Check youtube and people with 295's and ask there how they got it all setup. I seen many videos with awesome performance in villages during battle with high settings.

Hope that helps a bit.

Thank you very much for the in-depth help. I'm still perplexed by the suggestion to turn off PhysX. I wish I knew more about what that could be sacrificing.

[bhaz 0]

The 196.75 drivers were pulled from the NVidia website after multiple reports of overheating. Turns out the drivers, in some situations, were causing the graphics card fan to stop spinning.

[bangtail 0]

The 196.75 drivers were pulled from the NVidia website after multiple reports of overheating. Turns out the drivers, in some situations, were causing the graphics card fan to stop spinning.

I personally have no problems with them but there have been horror stories and dead cards so if you don't constantly monitor your temps or you just want to be sure, I would stay away from these until Nvidia fixes them (hopefully today).

[Alex72 1]

The 196.75 drivers were pulled from the NVidia website after multiple reports of overheating. Turns out the drivers, in some situations, were causing the graphics card fan to stop spinning.

Since my pc died a bit on me and with the previous drivers not being able to OC through riva tuner i was happy to test the 196.75. They made RivaTuner able to OC and as a result of my pc stuttering horribly in ARMA2 for some unknown reason i have been monitoring my whole system as i tested them.

Running HWMonPro, GPU-Z and taskmanager etc im seeing fortunatelly no overheating with them on my system so everything seems to work "good" except for my stutter problem.

If i run ARMA2 as i usually did: Skip frames, detected frames both set to "1", and NVcpl Maximum Frames set to "1" my mouse in the game feels like its locked to a pixel sized grid and if i move slow my weapon "jumps" from grid to grid... If i turn these values up plus add more mouse smooth this "grid jumping" stops but its just made smaller and the game world is blurry when i move. And ofcourse it feels like steering a big boat around so i cant really play with those values.

If i pause the game (ESC) my mouse jumps/stutters bad and wont have the reach as it normally has. I just have no clue whats going on and im not a complete pc idiot. I just cant see any values being wrong.

GPU heat is around 60 at load. CPU working between 80-100% when i play. Even without any AI but me. Dont know if thats a reason. In windows i can sometimes see very stuttery behaviour when i have internet up. Kind of the same way like before you install video drivers. But i dont know if its CPU related. I thaught maybe my mouse caved in on me but its working in windows and in other games i tested. If i open www.armaholic.com website and move that window around it will stutter bad every 5 sec roughly as the site updates (taskmanager show 50% cpu usage every 5sec). Maybe that is normal but cant remember it doing that before?

Only thing i havent test is my HDD and i downloaded SeaTools now to start check that. Sorry for a bit OT and long boring post. If anyone of you reading this know something about HW and feel you want to help me please PM me. My problem atm is that i cant just buy a whole new pc but i am limited to buy 1 new part. Im leaning to a new videocard but if thats not the problem...

[Gen_Protection 10]

REf SLi

I am using 2 underspec identical cards. Turning on SLI most definitely took the framerate from totally unplayable to do-able. Doesn't double fps but approx 1.5/1.7 better fps than single card. Using the nvidia sli "workload" indicator shows sli pretty well max SLI throughput 90% of time ingame (sky uses small resource so looking up in flight sli load drops bigtime)

HTH

PS

I just installed latest Nvidia drivers and have strange issue. Am now getting best ever fps when "flying" ( up to 50 fps at times, dropping to 20/30 flying over dreaded orange trees, BUT when I am on ground as grunt on foot, the backside of FPS now plummet to 9 fps at times. GGrrhh. Never been remotely this low prior to driver update.. tried tweaking all various settings but no improvement. Very odd never had THIS low fps like ever. hmm Also something odd with ingame addon fps counter now. Hard to explain, it's like its misreporting Fps, almost like it only sees 1 card of the 2 when SLI turned on, am still experimenting with this.

Gen

[dragonbaron 10]

Official info for the latest 196.75 WHQL drivers:

Look here!

Edited March 5, 2010 by DragonBaron

[Meatball0311 79]

I have installed the 196.34 driver and it is working just fine.. those links suggest reverting back to 196.21

http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_64bit_196.34_beta.html

oh yeah that is the link for win vista 64 and win 7 64 bit

[Alex72 1]

Until we can verify and root cause this issue, we recommend that customers stay with, or return to 196.21 WHQL drivers.

However those drivers are said to have memory leaks plus RivaTuner doesnt detect the shader. Also it wont OC in RivaTuner.

Im back even further just to test something 191.07 and boringly enough it wont let me override AA... Fucking junk all around.

[Yoma 0]

Everyone that's on 196.75, revert to 196.21 to avoid your card getting fried!

This is not bs, but an official NVIDIA statement!

Do it.