14 DAY TRIAL // NVIDIA and Advanced Micro Devices release new drivers pretty much every month and it seems the former has now completed its newest, WHQL-certified version for the GeForce series of graphics adapters.
While there are some ICs (integrated circuits) and PC hardware parts (like RAM) who don't really need a special driver to function, other components do.
AIBs (add-in boards) are one of those types of components, with graphics adapters being especially notorious for getting new software updates on a monthly basis, sometimes even more often.
This, of course, is understandable, considering that new driver updates usually bring about optimizations and better frame rates in games, not to mention new features.
The newest WHQL-certified version of NVIDIA's suite for the GeForce and desktop ION series is the 270.61 version and does several things.
For one, it ensures support for the dual-GPU GeForce GTX 590, the mainstream GTX 560 Ti and the 550 Ti.
Still, the benefits that end-users will no doubt appreciate most are the performance increases in various games, at least as far as the GTX 580 and 560 Ti cards are concerned.
The most notable improvements are no doubt those in Dragon Age 2, up to 516% (SLI 2560x1600 8xAA/16xAF Very High, SSAO on) or 326% (1920x1200 8xAA/16xAF Very High, SSAO on) on the GTX 580.
A comparable boost should be noted on systems running the GTX 560 Ti, though results will vary based on the rest of the hardware (CPU, RAM etc.).
Furthermore, the new driver release Adds support for applications using CUDA 4.0 features (Unified Virtual Addressing (UVA) and GPUDirect v2.0 for instance).
All these, along with 3D Vision features and NVIDIA update (notifies when a new version is available) can be acquired form the appropriate links below.
Nvidia GeForce/ION Display Driver 270.61 WHQL for XP
Nvidia GeForce/ION Display Driver 270.61 WHQL for XP64
Nvidia GeForce/ION Display Driver 270.61 WHQL for Vista, Win7
Nvidia GeForce/ION Display Driver 270.61 WHQL for Vista64, Win7 x64