New NVIDIA Driver (174.74)

[Trilarian-2]

From the update notes(bold the points of interest):<ul><li><b>Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI™ technology on DirectX 9 and OpenGL.</b></li><li>Adds new PureVideo HD features for GeForce 9800 GX2 and 9600 GT:</li><ul><li>Dynamic Contrast Enhancement </li><li>Dynamic Blue, Green & Skin Tone Enhancements </li><li>Dual-Stream Decode Acceleration*</li></ul><li><b>Improved performance on many DirectX 9 and OpenGL applications.</b></li><li><b>Numerous game and application compatibility fixes.</b> Please read the release notes for more information on product support, features, driver fixes and known compatibility issues. </li></ul>Anyone try this out yet?  I will give them a whirl when I get off of work tonight...

[Bloodfa]

Are you freaking kidding me?  I just blew up the SLI mobo I've been running on and ordered a replacement ... non-SLI , boxed the dual cards & liquid cooling setup for them ... and <i>now</i> they're going to address it?  Imgonnasmacksomebodyupsidedahead ..... <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/2e207fad049d4d292f60607f80f05768.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />

[Ninivee]

Notice that the 86/88 series is not included in their "<b>Improved performance on many DirectX 9 and OpenGL applications.</b><ul><span class="postbody"><li><b>Numerous game and application compatibility fixes."</b></li></span></ul>-driver.Trying to install it on my 8800 anyway, i'm getting an error message saying that there is no supported card found. 169.21, here i come again.

[Trilarian-2]

You sure you have the right driver?  I'll be getting off of work soon and can let you know how it goes for me.Here is the list in the documentation for supported cards from <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp64_174.74.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>:GeForce 9800 GX2 GeForce 9600 GT GeForce 8800 Ultra GeForce 8800 GTX GeForce 8800 GTS 512 GeForce 8800 GTS GeForce 8800 GT GeForce 8800 GS GeForce 8600 GTS GeForce 8600 GT GeForce 8600 GS GeForce 8500 GT GeForce 8400 GS GeForce 8400 SE GeForce 8400 GeForce 8300 GS GeForce 8300 GeForce 8200 GeForce 8100/NVIDIA nForce 720a NVIDIA nForce 730a GeForce 7950 GX2 GeForce 7950 GT GeForce 7900 GTX GeForce 7900 GT/GTO GeForce 7900 GS GeForce 7800 SLI GeForce 7800 GTX GeForce 7800 GT GeForce 7800 GS GeForce 7650 GS GeForce 7600 GT GeForce 7600 GS GeForce 7600 LE GeForce 7500 LE GeForce 7350 LE GeForce 7300 SE GeForce 7300 LE GeForce 7300 GT GeForce 7300 GS GeForce 7200 GS GeForce 7100 GS GeForce 7150 / NVIDIA nForce 630i GeForce 7100 / NVIDIA nForce 630i GeForce 7100 / NVIDIA nForce 620i GeForce 7050 / NVIDIA nForce 630i GeForce 7050 / NVIDIA nForce 610i GeForce 7050 PV / NVIDIA nForce 630a GeForce 7025 / NVIDIA nForce 630a GeForce 6800 XT GeForce 6800 XE GeForce 6800 Ultra GeForce 6800 Series GPU GeForce 6800 LE GeForce 6800 GT GeForce 6800 GS/XT GeForce 6800 GS GeForce 6800 GeForce 6700 XL GeForce 6610 XL GeForce 6600 VE GeForce 6600 LE GeForce 6600 GT GeForce 6600 GeForce 6500 GeForce 6250 GeForce 6200SE TurboCache™ GeForce 6200 TurboCache™ GeForce 6200 LE GeForce 6200 A-LE GeForce 6200 GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 GeForce 6150 LE GeForce 6150 GeForce 6100 nForce 420 GeForce 6100 nForce 405 GeForce 6100 nForce 400 GeForce 6100 GeForce PCX 5900 GeForce PCX 5750 GeForce PCX 5300 GeForce FX 5950 Ultra GeForce FX 5900ZT GeForce FX 5900XT GeForce FX 5900 Ultra GeForce FX 5900 GeForce FX 5800 Ultra GeForce FX 5800 GeForce FX 5700VE GeForce FX 5700LE GeForce FX 5700 Ultra GeForce FX 5700 GeForce FX 5600XT GeForce FX 5600SE GeForce FX 5600 Ultra GeForce FX 5600 GeForce FX 5500 GeForce FX 5200LE GeForce FX 5200 Ultra GeForce FX 5200 GeForce FX 5100

[Dark_Grue]

<p>174.74 is a beta driver from March 27, 2008 - so if folks are looking for it, be aware. (Beta drivers aren't <i>inherently</i> bad, but they're not always polished.) No one's sure when the next set of official drivers will be out.</p><p> Also, if you're looking for them on NVIDIA's page, you can't use the big driver selector pulldowns, you have to go to the beta drivers page (listed as "Beta and Archived Drivers" about halfway down the page) and search from there.</p><p><b>EDIT:</b> To be fair, there is a released 174.74 (which <i>isn't</i> listed on the Beta driver search page) that is WHQL certified, but does not cover the entire current product line (you'll only be offered it if you select one of the few models it supports). The majority of folks will want the beta driver, not the WHQL one (there is unlikely to be any functional difference between the two other than the INF that excludes a wide swath of the product line and the digital signature on the driver files).</p>

[Ninivee]

The final and official 174.74 i've downloaded does not support my 8800gts.  I downloaded the 174.74-beta after which i was able to install. The beta but causes some bad hitching on my machine plus every few seconds weird fractional textures are kind of "flashing" into the screen for a split second. The hitching is constantly, while the flashing textures seem to appear by random.Another strange thing is that i wanted to make some clips using Fraps to record the hitching...and as soon as i start to record in game, the hitching stops. May relate to the overall lower fps while recording.

[Kaliguwra]

Those drivers actually cleared up half of the stuttering I've been having with EQ2.

[Trilarian-2]

Last night turned into a crafting and social night with guild, so I never left Neriak.  I didn't have any problems with the install or any problems within EQ2, but I'd like to run through some zones and do a party before commenting on if it helped or not.

[Willian]

SLI is still not working properly with these drivers and my 2 8800GTS(G92) 512's in SLI with Windows XP. ALOT of awful stuttersing.

[ATLDawgy]

These drivers rock!  I'm running a C2D 8400 with 4 GB of RAM on WinXP 64-bit and a 8800 GT (G92).  FPS is 25-41 in Fens on Extreme Quality in Windowed mode.

[TroubleMag]

<p>This driver sucked for me, but it could be that I'm using the integrated video while I wait to upgrade to a PCI-e video card.  New computer, better specs, gotta wait for the video card.</p><p> I experienced freezing problems - I could move my mouse and see the pointer moving and the sound files would continue to play, but nothing else on the screen would update and I could not alt-tab to other programs.  The only way to stop it was to power the computer down and restart.   After the 3rd time of this, I uninstalled 174.74 and went back to the previous non-beta drivers.  Not a problem since.</p><p> (Specs - AMD dual core, nvidia 6150 integrated video, 2gb ram, VISTA)</p>

[Trilarian-2]

From my test, it seems this driver set doesn't improve SLI at all(at least on 8800GTx2).  However, running one card in Single Monitor Performance Mode did see a performance gain.  Its too early to really tell, but so far since I've installed them the only area(s) I stutter is the problem parts of town(bridge in Neriak, etc.).  I average 25-45 fps in the trouble areas, and flat line at 60 fps (v-sync) as soon as I pass the problematic areas.This is all using the stock Extreme settings with shadows and flora.FYI - I saw a huge boost from 169.21 (stable) to 169.44 (beta) and a moderate boost from 174.74 (beta).  So if the 174 set doesn't work for you, try 169.44 before going back to the last stable release.  YMMV.