Santa Clara, California-based graphics manufacturer NVIDIA has just updated its GeForce drivers with the release of the 180.48 version. The new WHQL-certified driver has been designed for the company's GeForce 200-series, 9-series and 8800-series of desktop graphics processors. With the new release, NVIDIA enables several performance improvements in numerous 3D applications, including some of the latest gaming titles on the market. In addition, the new GeForce drivers will also provide users with support for the company's multi-graphics SLI technology, enabled on the latest X58 platforms from Intel.

According to the release notes made available by NVIDIA, the new GeForce drivers are to enable X58-based motherboards to support the multi-graphics SLI technology, which can improve graphics performance by the addition of a new GeForce card. The new drivers are now available for download and support the following GPUs: GeForce GTX 280, GeForce GTX 260, GeForce 9800 GX2, GeForce 9800 GTX+, and GeForce 9800 GTX.

Combining Intel's fastest processors to date with NVIDIA's latest GeForce graphics cards in a multi-GPU desktop system could seriously boost the performance of a standard desktop PC.

In addition to the support added for SLI on X58-based mobos, the new GeForce Release 180 comes to provide computer enthusiasts with a way in which they can use one of their system's GeForce graphics cards as a dedicated PhysX processing unit. This feature is available for all of the company's GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory.

Additional improvements include performance upgrades in 3D applications, such as 3DMark Vantage (performance preset) with a 10% boost, Assassin's Creed with a 13% boost, Crysis Warhead with 10%, Far Cry 2 with a 38% improvement, Lost Planet: Colonies with a massive 80% boost, as well as other major gaming titles. The new drivers are available on the chip maker's website, as well as right here on Softpedia. Below are the download links for the Windows XP 32- and 64-bit operating systems, as well as for the Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

NVIDIA GeForce Release 180.48 WHQL XP 32-bit
NVIDIA GeForce Release 180.48 WHQL XP 64-bit
NVIDIA GeForce Release 180.48 WHQL Vista 32-bit
NVIDIA GeForce Release 180.48 WHQL Vista 64-bit