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Reviews
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CCleaner v2.32.1165 Review |
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Written by beforedark
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Friday, 11 June 2010 23:10 |
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CCleaner v2.32.1165 Review and updates
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
As web technology and security diversify your computer is further becoming more dependent on storing local files and information relating to you. This in turn creates a build up of unnecessary and potentially risky data, which is why CCleaner (formerly “Crap Cleaner”) exists – typically removing any browser history, local explorer history and cookies.
CCleaner is a multi-functional freeware toolkit, and because its freeware you need not pay for it the only forfeit is that it asks if you’d like to install the Yahoo Toolbar. It looks after its self by notifying you of whether there’s an update, again this can be disabled when installing and after installation.
As its freeware it naturally supports a vast majority of browsers as well as wide support for various revisions of Microsoft’s Windows operating systems.
Minimum computer requirements:
- Windows 7*
- Windows Vista*
- Windows XP*
* Includes both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
Additionally CCleaner is backwards compatible with older OS’s:
- Windows 2000
- Windows ME
- Windows 98
For advanced and business uses CCleaner can be ran on the following flavours of windows:
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows Server 2008
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows 2000 Server
CCleaner cleans the following:
Internet Explorer - Temporary files, history, cookies, Auto complete form history and index.dat.
Firefox - Temporary files, history, cookies, download history, form history.
Google Chrome - Temporary files, history, cookies, download history, form history.
Opera - Temporary files, history, cookies.
Safari - Temporary files, history, cookies, form history.
Windows - Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.
Registry Cleaner - Advanced features to remove unused and old entries, including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more... also comes with a comprehensive backup feature.
Third-party applications - Removes temp files and recent file lists (MRUs) from many apps including Media Player, eMule (seriously? Who the hell uses that crap?), Google Toolbar, Netscape, Microsoft Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and many more...
Installation is relatively painless.
What is the user interface like?
Well the Piriform has styled CCleaner with a simplistic and utilitarian appeal, i.e. set out more than adequately for its job. It provides the user with a brief, quite brief, overview of their systems specs as well as using the traditional westernised left had tab layout which is both easy to use and specific. You can select what area you wish to clean and within it you can modify the clean up you choose.
The standard clean-up selections are probably enough for most people, the averages Joes among us, but for peace of mind you can go a whole lot further (especially under the Windows section/tabs).
The best bit, by far, is the registry cleaner. Unlike many of the other cleaners, most are commercialised and therefore aren’t always freeware, it’s a far less intrusive job as well as presenting a lower risk for the lesser experienced users as there are fewer entries it deems “unwanted” and even provides a utility to back up the registries keys – although who uses that...?
Also when it finishes finding entries, which it most definitely will, it even has a pop-up screen allowing you to view the details and dependencies for each entry to allow the user to make an informed choice about whether they should delete or keep.
Speed wise its good, although testing on my machine is pretty fruitless from this respect as its cleaned quite often whereas browsing history gets hammered – which will take longer as most likely there are many more entries and directories to scan.
My next favourite is the “Tools” section, where there are a few more treasures which include an easy to use uninstall list where you can manage software you want to rid yourself of. It includes a search box, although so does windows as standard (no real difference in speed on that front), an installed software list back up (pretty much self explanatory – it can save you time if you liked a specific list of applications as this will save what you have currently installed a nice text file).
Also in the Tools section there is the start-up manager, pure brilliance, which is fantastic because your PC novice friend can now turn off that trash he installed that runs upon start up slowing him down and you too. It’s a non-destructive way of dealing with items that you don’t really want running as you disable an item rather than delete – which can save a load more hassle for most users.
Further space saving users among us can utilise the ability to remove specific system restore points, ideally you should leave at least one for reassurance but the rest you can remove without too much worry, freeing up quite a lot of space as typically a restore point can range from 400MB to over 1GB+.
Finally the last tab in CCleaner, the Options tab. This tab features options that are configured during installation and further includes control over file deletion and which drives where free space can be wiped – user’s choice once again shinning through. Also a nice noted feature is the ability to run the application on start-up, personally I’d rather see a scheduled run on shut down as it makes a little more sense.
Next up is a nice touch, the Cookies section allows you to keep cookies when cleaning – really useful when you want to stay logged into a favourite website say or eBay and the like. It even features a search box for ease of use. This goes hand in hand with the next two sections within the options tabs, include and exclude – which in essence allow you to exclude specific folders and include any extra folders to clean.
For advanced users there is the advanced section which features extra options including the ability to minimize to tray, delete newer files and saving options.
Conclusion:
To conclude CCleaner is a superb utility, it’s free, its light and it’s easy to use. Perfect for everyone, unless you’ve you really need to clean deep in a serious case.
5/5 - 5 out of 5!
CCleaner has saved my computers many times and no doubt it will save many others computers, run it weekly and you avoid data privacy problems and a bloated operating system as you can trim the unwanted leftovers of you daily abuse.
Keep it up to date and it’ll look after you.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
Discuss in our forum - CCleaner v2.32.1165 Review Thread. |
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Last Updated on Sunday, 13 June 2010 18:57 |
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Nvidia Forceware Comparison and Review - 190.38 WHQL Vs. 190.62 WHQL |
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Written by Administrator
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Saturday, 29 August 2009 20:04 |
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Nvidia Forceware Comparison and Review - 190.38 Vs. 190.62
In this Nvidia Forceware review and comparison we intend to test and examine as far as deemed necessary in order to determine which version is most suitable to use, whether you’re a gaming addict to a humble user trying to fix those enraging bugs. It’s been a while since we last dragged up Vantage and showed it what’s boss, since we last tested there’ve been a few subtle changes to the testing and hardware used even though the old machine is still being used results are reasonably accurate. Would like to draw attention to the fact that we're testing on an upgraded platform, we got our selves a GTX275!
Testing Nvidia’s Forceware is reasonably straight forward, consisting of a simple combination of synthetic benchmarks combined with some real world testing, particularly leading titles and ageing classics. Both new and old games are assessed for several reasons, key of which is compatibility which Nvidia’s Forceware is worth testing for – since Nvidia is regarded as the most compatible but this is advised to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Don’t forget to leave feed back in our forum at Before Dark, the Forceware reviews could do with some extra results – if you can donate spare time give us a line.
Nvidia Forceware Testing Methodology:
Hardware used in Nvidia Forceware testing:
- Intel Core 2 Quad - Q6600, Overclocked to 3.00Ghz.
- OCZ Platinum 800Mhz.
- Abit IP35-E .
- Nvidia GTX275 - No overclocks and no image quality adjustments (all game dependant).
- Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music.
Software used (General):
- Windows Vista Ultimate - 64 Bit - SP2.
- Fraps - for screen capture and time demo testing.
Benchmark software used (including games and synthetic tests):
- Futuremark 3D Mark Vantage.
- Futuremark 3D Mark 2006.
- F.E.A.R - First Encounter Assault Recon SP (Built in game test) V1.08.
- World In Conflict.
- Far Cry 2.
- Crysis Warhead.
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R - Clear Sky.
- Mirrors Edge.
- Call of Juarez - Bound in Blood.
Driver release notes:
190.62 WHQL:
- Adds WHQL support on Windows 7 for Microsoft’s new DirectX GPU Computing API: DirectCompute.
- Optimized for the latest PhysX gaming titles: Batman: Arkham Asylum and Darkest of Days.
- Installs PhysX System Software version 9.09.0814.
- Includes several bug fixes. More information can be found in the release documentation.
- What is your Windows 7 upgrade plan? Take a Quick Survey.
190.38 WHQL:
- Adds support for OpenGL 3.1.
- Adds support for CUDA 2.3 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications
- Adds a new user-controlled power management setting for select GeForce 9-series and later graphics cards (cards must already support more than one power state). This option allows users to set a performance level for each DirectX or OpenGL application.
- Includes several new control panel features and numerous bug fixes. More information can be found in the release documentation.
Existing Support:
- Supports Microsoft’s new DirectX Compute API on Windows 7.
- Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology* on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL,including 3-way SLI, Quad SLI, and SLI support on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards.
- Installs PhysX System Software version 9.09.0428.
- Supports NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on a dedicated GeForce graphics card. Use one card for graphics and dedicate a different card for PhysX processing for game-changing physical effects. Learn more here.
- Supports GeForce Plus Power Pack #3. Download these FREE PhysX and CUDA applications now!
- Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.
GPU's/Cards Supported by both 190.38 and 190.62:
- GeForce GTX 295
- GeForce GTX 285
- GeForce GTX 280
- GeForce GTX 260
- GeForce 9800 GX2
- GeForce 9800 GTX+
- GeForce 9800 GTX
- GeForce 9800 GT
- GeForce 9600 GT
- GeForce 9600 GSO
- GeForce 9500 GT
- GeForce 8800 Ultra
- GeForce 8800 GTX
- GeForce 8800 GTS 512
- GeForce 8800 GTS
- GeForce 8800 GT
- GeForce 8800 GS
Nvidia Forceware IQ (Image Quality) Testing.
Image Quality (IQ) is not what everyone always strives to achieve or even try to pay much attention to, other factors can matter to different people in different situations which is why we’re testing several different areas. Image Quality is often factor controlled from areas such as driver modifications to the Forceware drivers by Nvidia and the GPU’s instructions rendering the tests and games, often there are small errors by drive incompatibilities creating artifacting and more often than not the game will just crash to desktop (CTD). Who cannot resist the idea of playing games where photo-realism is finally making its way on to common gaming systems, the fine touches to IQ adjustments makes a large impact affecting texture clarity and fine particle rendering – every last bit helps.
F.E.A.R:
Nvidia Forceware 190.38 WHQL:
Nvidia Forceware 190.62 WHQL:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R - Clear Sky:
Nvidia Forceware 190.38 WHQL:
Nvidia Forceware 190.62 WHQL:
Mirrors Edge:
Nvidia Forceware 190.38 WHQL:
Nvidia Forceware 190.62 WHQL:
Well there you have it, swings and roundabouts as suggested. Typically average IQ from all sets of drivers and extremely little between each comparison.
Nvidia Forceware Synthetic Testing
Ah yes the synthetics the bane of most people’s lives and conversely the main part of a few lives. If you’re a number pumping, adrenaline fuelled anorak that finds time to benchmark their machine will most certainly have heard of the following tests – the Futuremark 3D Mark Suite of both the 2006 and the recent and controversial release of Vantage. Vantage is a tedious affair with users being forced to use Windows Vista and soon to be Windows 7 as a result of the move up from DirectX 9 to DX10 and as a result of this change some ‘preferential’ users weren’t very happy due to the recent ramblings regarding XP’s actual performance.
These tests are regarded as synthetic as they often show results which do not reflect actual real world gaming performance including imbalances regarding CPU and GPU performance.
3D Mark 2006 -
2006 – Once the standard it was one of the favourite tests among overclockers and casual performance addicts now put aside by the newer and controversial Vantage affair.
Bit of an odd one – a decrease of 300 points is a fair amount although at this end of the scale it’s not really much of an issue, perhaps there’s a few subtle changes somewhere.
3D Mark Vantage (2008) -
Vantage – the most recent and up to date Futuremark benchmarking utility known to man. The controversial release forcing the clingy users to move up to Vista didn’t quite go too well and then hit by the unfair testing of PhysX (disabled in these tests!) which gave users with Nvidia cards an advantage. That said it’s not like ATI needed to do a lot to compete, in fact they didn’t do much at all.
Fair performance coupled with a slight increase with the latter release – scores seem average for the card and rest of the system.
Real World Testing - Where it counts.... Most of the time.
The real world testing is the most important or most crucial area for testing - this is where the general population would want to see any changes positively affect them. To every keen gamer smoothness is key alongside stability – those who play Battlefield 2 late at night only to have it CTD (Crash To Desktop) on them would understand that it’s important to test this. Testing real world performance is generally based around an average frame rate figure which is produced by running a set and timed scene from a game. The only issue with an averaged figure is you cannot see any of the extremes during these scenes such as parts within a scene where there is significantly more to render thus affecting the frame a great deal and this can be missed.
Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood - Bound In Blood is an ideal candidate to test with as it features advanced shader effects and extremely large distances to render. CoJ also features large numbers of cut scenes and several light effects which can create a dramatic and almost cinematic test for the Forceware.
Both sets of Nvidia Forceware (190.38 and 190.62 WHQL) perform admirably with neither featuring so much as stuttering nor loss of fidelity throughout the time-demos. Performance between both driver releases is minimal with the earlier release fairing a little better.
Crysis Warhead: Warhead is the latest addition to the science-fiction based Crysis series, the soon to be trilogy has been the hot topic of performance hardware for the last 2 years with hardware only just really running the game flawlessly with all the bells and whistles. So makes a good test for hardware as it does place a lot of strain on the system chief of which the GPU must render a heck of a lot of effects and scenery around it whilst attempting to remain a fast paced FPS with quite frankly some of the best beaches in gaming.
Both sets perform well with the latter proving the best overall – in game both are extremely pleasant to use with average Image Quality and smoothness only really comparable to butter. Game stability remains tip top.
Far Cry 2: FC2 was meant to be a successor to the original Far Cry 2, the only down side is that the AI is pretty dumb in comparison and the map makes up for it – the map its self is 50 Square KM of Africa desert, forest, rivers and lagoons proving difficult to cross without encountering the local branch of your favourite tribal arms dealers, most of the time you’re on the receiving end of the rusty AK’s but at least you can buy some shiny new guns. Proves will as a test, vast areas of highly detailed objects such as grass, trees and water are not easy to get to neither look great nor render.
Both sets again performed well, neither showing the age old problems with previous drivers regarding the jittery game play and artifacting which was tedious as most of the recent releases all featured these problems. Both stability and IQ were superb throughout especially after the time-demos in game IQ was made extremely detailed with the addition of anti-aliasing and filtering.
F.E.A.R. – First Encounter Assault Recon is probably one of the best action and science-fiction based FPS games to date featuring everything that would also make a damn good John Woo film including extremely detailed explosions, volumetric fog comparable to that of reality and one of the best slow-motion effects ever. The game can be repetitive but that said there’s a decent story line and a couple of spooks with some great visuals it’s definitely worth a play.
Both of the Nvidia Forceware releases (both 190.38 and 190.62 WHQL) fair well, with excellent IQ between both of them. The only gripe is the long standard issue with the metal grates being aliased (no smooth edges) even with forced levels of anti-aliasing (AA) but this can be forgiven for the time being as there’s certainly plenty to be getting on with the in the first place.
Onwards to the last few tests and conclusion.
Nvidia Forceware Review Real World Testing where it counts continued.. And the conclusion - on Page 5
Mirrors Edge – Mirrors Edge is most likely one of the best first person titles (recently) and probably one of the first parkour and free running games which offers advanced graphical effects in a modernised and futuristic environment. Above the ground you jump across tops of buildings, run across walls and jump and land from insane heights in an attempt to gather information and deliver packages when all turns sour.
Again both Forceware sets were tested equally and both had shown similar results with minor differences between releases. Performance differences were minimal and IQ was similar the only drawback was PhysX functionality is still very much unstable.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky – Clear Sky is the latest instalment of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series of games, based on the horrific Chernobyl incident and the game is based on the fictitious response from the incident creating suspicion, murder and money making by different factions within the Zone. Clear Sky has several key features which make it worth testing with including a massive game world, completely dynamic weather and A.I. coupled with the most advance lighting and DirectX 10 effect it creates a truly epic atmosphere for players alike.
Being one of the most challenging titles for the GPU to render the drivers can seriously affect performance and playability fortunately both game play and visual quality remain very good both presented very smooth game play and decent IQ with little or no change in frame rate.
World In Conflict – WiC is a game of style and substance it provides you with both visual quality and game play which can be extremely variable and dynamic. With several expansion packs and several different campaigns World In Conflict has so much to offer if you have the time to spend.
WiC proves a great test showing no significant changes in frame rate or IQ, though some game quibbles could be seen as the action got heated up.
Nvidia Forcereview Review and Comparison, The Conclusion:
With the advancement of cheap enthusiast hardware you’re still limited by a lot else and well you can always keep up to date to help that. Both releases from Nvidia did well and to be fair we’ve only got two sets of results but you can already see small differences – just take a look at the older articles and you’ll see what I mean. Not everything newer is better but in this set of tests new and old prevail well, but with the recent releases there are always small bugs fixed between releases and if you like a particular game will you sacrifice frame rate elsewhere or what about image quality?
190.38 WHQL: A good set but again some bugs with recent titles, and still poor PhysX support.
190.62 WHQL: The best overall in terms of IQ and stability (no complaints with either release), just got to start modifying these sets now.
Please leave feedback in our forum - http://forum.beforedark.co.uk/
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Last Updated on Monday, 31 August 2009 21:49 |
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Nvidia 186.18 WHQL and 190.15 Beta Analysis |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 18 June 2009 10:03 |
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Nvidia 186.18 WHQL and 190.15 Beta Analysis Introduction: Welcome back, during your time away from Before Dark Nvidia has released several sets of drivers within the last 3 days. All of which have been released with the similar promises, as usual, providing fixes and performance improves if possible. Obviously we’re here to test these claims and verify if it’s worth spending your good time using these sets, take this is a light guide and enjoy your stay. Onwards!.. New in Release 186.18: - Numerous bug fixes. More information can be found in the release documentation.
- Installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0428.
- Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.
New in Release 185/186 drivers: - Adds support for Ambient Occlusion – the newest NVIDIA Control Panel feature to offer enhanced 3D gaming realism exclusively to GeForce GPUs.
- Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDA for more details.
- Expands GPU hardware acceleration for the NVIDIA Video Encoding library to GPUs with less than 32 cores. Applications using this library include CyberLink PowerDirector 7, Nero Move it 1.5, Loilo SuperLoiloScope MARS, and CyberLink MediaShow Espresso.
Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 185/186 drivers vs. Release 181 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
Up to 25% performance increase in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena- Up to 22% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled
- Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled
- Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2
- Up to 30% performance increase in Half-Life 2 engine games with 3-way and 4-way SLI
- Up to 45% performance increase in Mirror’s Edge with antialiasing enabled
Testing methods Benchmarks used: - F.E.A.R (built in performance tester) - Maximum settings, no soft shadows.
- 3D Mark 06 and Vantage.
- Crysis War Head (benchmark application from here, using the ambush map).
- World In Conflict Standard test ran at "High Quality".
- S.T.AL.K.E.R Clear Sky - Used a custom time demo and recorded the frame rate (average frame rate given).
- Far Cry 2 - built in benchmarking tool.
- Mirrors Edge - Used a custom time demo and recorded the frame rate (average frame rate given).
Hardware used: - Intel Q6600 Overclocked to 3Ghz
- Abit IP-35 E
- 4GB of OCZ Plat at 667Mhz (CL4)
- Nvidia GeForce 9600GT
- Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music
Software: - Microsoft Windows Vista x64 Ultimate
- Fraps, for screen captures.
Cards supported by this driver (included .inf): GeForce GTX 295
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce GTX 280
GeForce GTX 260
GeForce 9800 GX2
GeForce 9800 GTX+
GeForce 9800 GTX
GeForce 9800 GT
GeForce 9600 GT
GeForce 9600 GSO
GeForce 9500 GT
GeForce 9500 GS
GeForce 9400 GT
GeForce 9400
GeForce 9300
GeForce 9200
GeForce 8800 Ultra
GeForce 8800 GTX
GeForce 8800 GTS 512
GeForce 8800 GTS
GeForce 8800 GT
GeForce 8800 GS IQ Testing Image quality, often over-looked by some which is a shame but since Nvidia is still competing with ATI on this - its worth taking a peek. F.E.A.R: 182.47 Beta: 
180.50 WHQL 
185.81 Beta: 
186.18 WHQL: 
190.15 Beta: 
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky: 182.47 Beta: 
182.50 WHQL: 
185.81 Beta: 
186.18 WHQL: 
190.15 Beta:  Mirrors Edge: 182.47 Beta: 
182.50 WHQL: 
185.81 Beta: 
186.18 WHQL: 
190.15 Beta: 
Next Page Please.. Benchmarking - Performance testing 3D Mark results: Here we see the sets passed through the most recent DX10 based benchmark, CUDA is disabled though as stated in the testing methods. This is the standard test using the latest version of 3D Mark 06, small increase on the end there with 190.15's. Next page, real world tests. Gaming, real world, tests; where it counts: Standard FEAR run here, maxed out and ran at these resolution. Very consistent results from this test, it seems FEAR/2 is at the end of the line regarding driver tweaks - as they use the exact same engine. No real changes with the last 5 driver releases, typical test ran. This is oddly consistent now which is a good thing albeit with different IQ levels - will have to find a new card soon it seems maxing out S.T.A.L.K.E.R is very tough. Real world testing, continued on page five.. Gaming tests continued: Again solid performance, consistently smooth game play from each release; no significant change in performance. Nvidia maybe on a role with recent games and testing applications, it seems there was no real changes - apart from the annoying stuttering in the recent releases. Can't help wondering why EA limits the frame rates, but thanks to Tat3 the next set of tests will have an unlocked frame rate. Note that drivers before the 182.08 Quardo set were limited to 62 FPS. Solid performance throughout, it's good to see the rest of the performance out of the different resolutions. Conclusion: Well then, perhaps your wondering why you gazed upon either of these and you’re not the only one wondering why. There were no gains over previous sets of neither drivers nor many decreases, if none at all. After the initial boom from the 18x.xx’s most driver releases have been rather dull other than the ambient occlusion tweaks and inclusion in the range and following of CUDA there’s been no real increase in performance but there have been some impacts upon IQ which is a shame. 186.18 WHQL: This set offered very little change from the previous set, it still follows with the same problems regarding Far Cry 2 testing – awful stuttering and it seems to have affected the actual game play as well. That aside during logging in as of locking the machine it often resets the resolution which is frequent and annoying. 190.15 Beta: This set again has Far Cry 2 woes and resolution changes but at least game play isn’t affected. Either's as good/bad as each other, stick to the WHQL released if your not fussed. Await our modified drivers, be patient. Nvidia.com We need feedback, what would you want included in these reviews? Suggest what you'd find helpful, either by mail or in the forum. Stop by and check out the forum! |
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Last Updated on Friday, 19 June 2009 19:31 |
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Nvidia 185.85 and 186.08 driver analysis and comparison |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 05 June 2009 16:14 |
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Nvidia 185.85 and 186.08 driver analysis and comparison Introduction: Today we will be reviewing, testing and analysing two recently released sets of drivers, the latter of which was released a week ago and the former over a month ago. Forceware release 185.85 WHQL and the Beta 186.08, both tested on a 64Bit platform and significantly on this occasion the machine will be running Vista alongside Service Pack 2. Neither of which intend to provide performance changes but both offer changes in hardware support and bug fixes – that said we’re not aware of any real changes! Lets continue.. New in Release 185.81: - Adds support for the new GeForce GTX 275 GPU.
- Adds support for Ambient Occlusion – the newest NVIDIA Control Panel feature to offer enhanced 3D gaming realism exclusively to GeForce GPUs.
- Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See www.nvidia.com/cuda for more details.
Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 185 drivers vs. Release 182 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
- Up to 25% performance increase in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
- Up to 22% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled
- Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled
- Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2
- Up to 30% performance increase in Half-Life 2 engine games with 3-way and 4-way SLI
- p to 45% performance increase in Mirror’s Edge with antialiasing enabled
- Automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0203.
New in Release 182.50: - Optimized single GPU and SLI support for upcoming PC games.
- Numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release documentation notes.
- Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.
Performance enhancements with the release of 182 WHQL and up: - Up to 8% performance increase in Fallout 3 at high resolution and AA.
- Up to 10% performance increase in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
- Up to 9% performance increase in Half-Life 2 at high resolution with AA.
- Up to 11% performance increase in Left 4 Dead at high resolution with AA.
- Up to 10% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID at high resolution and AA.
- Includes full support for OpenGL 3.0 on GeForce 8-series, 9-series, and 200-series GPUs.
- Automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0203.
Predicted performance increases (from 178.24 WHQL): - Up to 10% performance increase in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset)
- Up to 13% performance increase in Assassin's Creed
- Up to 13% performance increase in BioShock
- Up to 15% performance increase in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
- Up to 10% performance increase in Crysis Warhead
- Up to 25% performance increase in Devil May Cry 4
- Up to 38% performance increase in Far Cry 2
- Up to 18% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID
- Up to 80% performance increase in Lost Planet: Colonies
- Up to 18% performance increase in World of Conflict
Testing methods Benchmarks used: - F.E.A.R (built in performance tester) - Maximum settings, no soft shadows.
- 3D Mark 06 and Vantage.
- Crysis War Head (benchmark application from here, using the ambush map).
- World In Conflict Standard test ran at "High Quality".
- S.T.AL.K.E.R Clear Sky - Used a custom time demo and recorded the frame rate (average frame rate given).
- Far Cry 2 - built in benchmarking tool.
- Mirrors Edge - Used a custom time demo and recorded the frame rate (average frame rate given).
Hardware used: - Intel Q6600 Overclocked to 3Ghz
- Abit IP-35 E
- 4GB of OCZ Plat at 667Mhz (CL4)
- Nvidia GeForce 9600GT
- Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music
Software: - Microsoft Windows Vista x64 Ultimate
- Fraps, for screen captures.
Cards supported by this driver (included .inf): GeForce GTX 295
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce GTX 280
GeForce GTX 260
GeForce 9800 GX2
GeForce 9800 GTX+
GeForce 9800 GTX
GeForce 9800 GT
GeForce 9600 GT
GeForce 9600 GSO
GeForce 9500 GT
GeForce 9500 GS
GeForce 9400 GT
GeForce 9400
GeForce 9300
GeForce 9200
GeForce 8800 Ultra
GeForce 8800 GTX
GeForce 8800 GTS 512
GeForce 8800 GTS
GeForce 8800 GT
GeForce 8800 GS IQ Testing Image quality, often over-looked by some which is a shame but since Nvidia is still competing with ATI on this - its worth taking a peek. F.E.A.R: 182.08 WHQL Quadro: 
182.08 WHQL: 
182.47 Beta:
180.50 WHQL 185.81 Beta: 185.85:  186.08 Beta: 
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky: 182.08 WHQL Quadro: 
182.08 WHQL: 
182.47 Beta: 182.50 WHQL:
185.81 Beta: 185.85: 
186.08 Beta: 
Mirrors Edge: 182.08 WHQL Quadro: 
182.08 WHQL: 
182.47 Beta: 182.50 WHQL: 185.81 Beta: 185.85: 
186.08 Beta: 
Next Page Please.. Benchmarking - Performance testing 3D Mark results: Both the quadro set and the GeForce 182.08 set, not as fast as GeForce sets but sets a reasonable pace Seems that the 182.xx sets have generally low '06 performance, lets hope for the keen '06 addicts this change. Next page, real world tests. Gaming, real world, tests; where it counts: Solid performance again, good job this time round. A good effort I say! A good increase across all resolutions, bringing the average up significantly improved gameplay. It seems the recent additions have leveled off any correlation suggesting improvement. Slight increase in performance in clear, kept in performance like the previous sets. Real world testing, continued on page five.. Gaming tests continued: Again solid performance, overall increase along with smooth game play. Pretty good if you ask me :D Nvidia maybe on a role with recent games and testing applications, even the modified quadro driver holds up along with the recent GeFore set maintaining this. Can't help wondering why EA limits the frame rates, but thanks to Tat3 the next set of tests will have an unlocked frame rate. Note that drivers before the 182.08 Quardo set were limited to 62 FPS. Solid performance throughout, it's good to see the rest of the performance out of the different resolutions. Conclusion: To conclude both drivers set are well within the average changes between each set, which typically is a minimal change in any significant way; including performance or image quality changes. Both sets still have the pausing issues with Far Cry 2 in the time demos used for the testing, which is unfortunate as the Beta set worked fine in game and played very well throughout. The 185.85 WHQL seemed solid and reliable otherwise as an everyday test showed, practicality proved well. Conversely the Beta set, 186.08, had a few glitches such as sluggish desktop performance i.e. general computer used outside of 3D work was sluggish and was particularly noticeable. That said in gaming is very much smooth and very playable. Nvidia.com We need feedback, what would you want included in these reviews? Suggest what you'd find helpful, either by mail or in the forum. Stop by and check out the forum! |
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Last Updated on Monday, 08 June 2009 12:29 |
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Nvidia 182.50 WHQL and 185.81 Beta Comparison and Review |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 01 May 2009 23:49 |
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Nvidia 182.50 WHQL and 185.81 Beta Comparison and Review Introduction:Today we will be analysing the performance of both recently released sets of drivers from Nvidia, 182.50 WHQL and the 185.81 Beta set. These both promise gains in performance and bug fixes in the way of release notes. Nvidia recently has released these drivers in the usual tradition of a monthly fix at a minimum and these Beta sets are usually worth a quick peek. Onwards.. New in Release 185.81: - Adds support for the new GeForce GTX 275 GPU.
- Adds support for Ambient Occlusion – the newest NVIDIA Control Panel feature to offer enhanced 3D gaming realism exclusively to GeForce GPUs.
- Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See www.nvidia.com/cuda for more details.
Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 185 drivers vs. Release 182 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
- Up to 25% performance increase in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
- Up to 22% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled
- Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled
- Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2
- Up to 30% performance increase in Half-Life 2 engine games with 3-way and 4-way SLI
- p to 45% performance increase in Mirror’s Edge with antialiasing enabled
- Automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0203.
New in Release 182.50: - Optimized single GPU and SLI support for upcoming PC games.
- Numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release documentation notes.
- Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.
Performance enhancements with the release of 182 WHQL and up: - Up to 8% performance increase in Fallout 3 at high resolution and AA.
- Up to 10% performance increase in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
- Up to 9% performance increase in Half-Life 2 at high resolution with AA.
- Up to 11% performance increase in Left 4 Dead at high resolution with AA.
- Up to 10% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID at high resolution and AA.
- Includes full support for OpenGL 3.0 on GeForce 8-series, 9-series, and 200-series GPUs.
- Automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0203.
Predicted performance increases (from 178.24 WHQL): - Up to 10% performance increase in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset)
- Up to 13% performance increase in Assassin's Creed
- Up to 13% performance increase in BioShock
- Up to 15% performance increase in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
- Up to 10% performance increase in Crysis Warhead
- Up to 25% performance increase in Devil May Cry 4
- Up to 38% performance increase in Far Cry 2
- Up to 18% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID
- Up to 80% performance increase in Lost Planet: Colonies
- Up to 18% performance increase in World of Conflict
Testing methods Benchmarks used: - F.E.A.R (built in performance tester) - Maximum settings, no soft shadows.
- 3D Mark 06 and Vantage.
- Crysis War Head (benchmark application from here, using the ambush map).
- World In Conflict Standard test ran at "High Quality".
- S.T.AL.K.E.R Clear Sky - Used a custom time demo and recorded the frame rate (average frame rate given).
- Far Cry 2 - built in benchmarking tool.
- Mirrors Edge - Used a custom time demo and recorded the frame rate (average frame rate given).
Hardware used: - Intel Q6600 Overclocked to 3Ghz
- Abit IP-35 E
- 4GB of OCZ Plat at 667Mhz (CL4)
- Nvidia GeForce 9600GT
- Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music
Software: - Microsoft Windows Vista x64 Ultimate
- Fraps, for screen captures.
Cards supported by this driver (included .inf): GeForce GTX 295
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce GTX 280
GeForce GTX 260
GeForce 9800 GX2
GeForce 9800 GTX+
GeForce 9800 GTX
GeForce 9800 GT
GeForce 9600 GT
GeForce 9600 GSO
GeForce 9500 GT
GeForce 9500 GS
GeForce 9400 GT
GeForce 9400
GeForce 9300
GeForce 9200
GeForce 8800 Ultra
GeForce 8800 GTX
GeForce 8800 GTS 512
GeForce 8800 GTS
GeForce 8800 GT
GeForce 8800 GS IQ Testing Image quality, often over-looked by some which is a shame but since Nvidia is still competing with ATI on this - its worth taking a peek. F.E.A.R: 182.06 WHQL: 
182.08 WHQL Quadro: 182.08 WHQL: 182.47 Beta:
180.50 WHQL 185.81 Beta: S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky: 182.06 WHQL: 
182.08 WHQL Quadro: 182.08 WHQL: 182.47 Beta: 182.50 WHQL:
185.81 Beta: Mirrors Edge: 182.06 WHQL: 
182.08 WHQL Quadro: 182.08 WHQL: 182.47 Beta: 182.50 WHQL: 185.81 Beta: Next Page Please.. Benchmarking - Performance testing 3D Mark results: Both the quadro set and the GeForce 182.08 set, not as fast as GeForce sets but sets a reasonable pace Seems that the 182.xx sets have generally low '06 performance, lets hope for the keen '06 addicts this change. Next page, real world tests. Gaming, real world, tests; where it counts: Solid performance again, good job this time round. A good effort I say! A good increase across all resolutions, bringing the average up significantly improved gameplay. It seems the recent additions have leveled off any correlation suggesting improvement. Slight increase in performance in clear, kept in performance like the previous sets. Real world testing, continued on page five.. Gaming tests continued: Again solid performance, overall increase along with smooth game play. Pretty good if you ask me :D Nvidia maybe on a role with recent games and testing applications, even the modified quadro driver holds up along with the recent GeFore set maintaining this. Can't help wondering why EA limits the frame rates, but thanks to Tat3 the next set of tests will have an unlocked frame rate. Note that drivers before the 182.08 Quardo set were limited to 62 FPS. Solid performance throughout, it's good to see the rest of the performance out of the different resolutions. Conclusion: Interesting test, the Beta overall seems to be significantly faster (as suggested by the Nvidia release highlights). The performance gains are overall, albeit with large increases elsewhere such as the Far Cry 2 time demo and in the synthetic tests. Overall if you’re a gamer and a benchmark freak/addict the Beta seems great. A few issues persist particularly the Far Cry 2 stuttering or ‘jittery feel’ to the play of the game and in the time demo tests but fortunately Nvidia has covered its back in the Beta release on test and I do hope it remains that way as the gains in FPS performance is more than welcome. 182.50 WHQL: This set may well be Microsoft stable but here today lies its broken self, still no Far Cry 2 fix but again there is a guaranteed performance with a few exceptions. 185.81 Beta: Personally the favourite set, frame rates increased; no doubt an increase in IQ seems to good to be true? Debatably we did notice a few resolution issues resuming from a game into windows as the drivers didn’t reset back the default resolution and required prompting. But this seems to have only affected FEAR and Mirrors edge.
If you want to play around with some drivers, give these a try especially if you have recently supported cards i'd chose the 185.81's if you want to try something new. Nvidia.com We need feedback, what would you want included in these reviews? Suggest what you'd find helpful, either by mail or in the forum. Stop by and check out the forum! |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 02 May 2009 00:30 |
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