Nvidia Driver Version 306.97 - WHQL

First 3xx driver that supports 580M OC with no issues.
3DMark 11 same results as previous Nvidia developer driver v. 306.63
Windows 8 launch driver, so you can bet Nvidia put an extra effort with this one.

Drivers | GeForce

Edit:
NVCPL: best quality 720/1731.

As soon as default clocks are changed to risible 630/1531 Premiere CS6 MPE playback gives a much more smoother result so behavior improves with a minimal clock change (current 725/1745-GTX 580M), as the 3xx series are Kepler optimized drivers it seems to be a side effect of Kepler Gpu Boost different to the overvolting readings I found with the first 3xx, but that being the case I hope Nvidia doesn't ruin this with the next driver update.

Image quality is better, this meaning always a very subtle change from previous drivers considering the R3/R4 average low gamut panels. (relatively better than some other brands)

DPC latency values are good, had to reset it due to norton initial interference when launched, mostly disabled as there is no need with Sandboxie.

Follow this guide for better performance/stability How to: Remove your Nvidia GPU Drivers.

First °C reading GPU

CPU - Intel PCH

Can someone benchmark 680M (306.97) with LuxMark v2.0 : download from Guru3D.com

Thanks.

 

has anyone updated , what are they like,

 

Release Highlights
As part of the NVIDIA GeForce Notebook Driver Program, this is a reference driver that can be installed on supported NVIDIA notebook GPUs. However, please note that your notebook original equipment manufacturer (OEM) provides certified drivers for your specific notebook on their website. NVIDIA recommends that you check with your notebook OEM about recommended software updates for your notebook. OEMs may not provide technical support for issues that arise from the use of this driver.

Before downloading this driver:
Please check to make sure that your notebook has a supported GPU (refer to the Products Supported tab below).
It is recommended that you backup your current system configuration. Click here for instructions.
If you own a Dell Inspiron 1420, Dell XPS M1330, Dell XPS M1530, or Dell Latitude D630/D630c it is highly recommended that you first install this Dell software update.
This is the recommended driver for the launch of Windows 8. It is Microsoft WHQL-certified and will also be available for download via Windows Update.

This driver is also recommended for the best experience in the latest top PC games like Borderlands 2 and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.

New in GeForce 306.97 Drivers:

Recommended driver for Windows 8 launch.
Updates SLI profile for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier.
Updates 3D Vision profiles for the following PC games:
Check vs. Mate - rated Excellent
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - rated Good
Doom 3: BFG Edition - rated Excellent
English Country Tune - rated Good
F1 2012 - rated Good
Iron Brigade - rated Fair
Jagged Alliance: Crossfire - rated Good
Orcs Must Die 2! - rated Good
Planetside 2 - rated Not recommended
Prototype 2 - rated Poor
Sleeping Dogs - rated Good
Spec Ops: The Line - rated Good
Tiny Troopers - rated Fair
Torchlight 2 - rated Good
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron - rated Fair
New in Previous GeForce R304 Drivers (versions 304.xx to 306.xx):

Adds support for NVIDIA TXAA
NVIDIA TXAA is new film-style anti-aliasing technique designed specifically to reduce temporal aliasing (crawling and flickering in motion) through a combination of hardware AA, custom CG film style AA resolve, and a temporal filter.
The Secret World is the first game to support TXAA. Read about it on GeForce.com.
TXAA is supported on GeForce GTX 600-series Kepler-based GPUs.
Learn more about TXAA on GeForce.com.
Performance Boost – Increases performance for GeForce 400/500/600M Series GPUs in several PC games vs. GeForce 301.42 WHQL-certified drivers. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:
GeForce GTX 680:

Up to 18% in Batman: Arkham City
Up to 15% in Dragon Age II
Up to 10% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Up to 60% in Total War: Shogun 2 (fixes performance issue with latest game patch)
GeForce GTX 560:

Up to 14% in Batman: Arkham City
Up to 5% in Battlefield 3 with SLI
Up to 4% in Dragon Age II
Up to 8% in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings with SLI
Up to 7% in Lost Planet 2
NVIDIA SLI Technology – Adds or updates the following SLI profiles:
Alan Wake's American Nightmare – added
Borderlands 2 – added
Darksiders 2 – added
End of Nations - added
F1 2011 – updated
F1 2012 – added
Final Fantasy XIV – updated
Nexuiz - added
Orcs Must Die! 2 – added
PlanetSide 2 - updated
Saints Row: The Third – updated
Shogun 2: Total War – updated
Sleeping Dogs – updated
Spec Ops: The Line - added
The Secret World - updated
Torchlight II - added
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier - added
Tornado Force - added
Tribes: Ascend – updated
NVIDIA 3D Vision – Adds or updates the following 3D Vision profiles:
Alan Wake's American Nightmare – rated Not Recommended
A New Dawn – rated Fair
All Zombies Must Die! Scorepocalypse – rated Good
ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead – rated Fair
Bang Bang Racing – rated Excellent
Borderlands 2 – updated profile with new convergence settings
Brave – rated 3D Vision Ready
Devil May Cry 4- rated Fair
Depth Hunter – updated rating to 3D Vision Ready
Dishonored – rated Good
End of Nations – rated Good
London 2012 The Official Video Game – rated Fair
Mad Doc Jr.'s Doom Rails – rated Excellent
Mass Effect 3 – updated in-game compatibility message and profile to be more compatible with community 3D mods
Max Payne 3 – updated rating to Excellent and updated in-game compatibility message to inform users to use DirectX 11, disable MSAA and use SSA0.
Raiderz – rated Fair
Roller Coaster Rampage – rated 3D Vision Ready
SCANIA Truck Driving Simulator – rated Fair
Street Fighter X Tekken – rated 3D Vision Ready
Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends – rated Good
Tiger Woods PGA 12: The Masters – rated Good
Tribes: Ascend – rated Fair
The Secret World – rated Good
The Walking Dead – rating Good
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria – rated Excellent
Other Profile Updates
Added NVIDIA Control Panel antialiasing support for Diablo III
Added NVIDIA Control Panel antialiasing support for L.A. Noire
Added NVIDIA Control Panel antialiasing support for Rayman Origins
Added NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support for Star Wars: The Old Republic
Added NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support Counter-strike: Global Offensive
Added NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support MechWarrior Online
Disabled FXAA for several Windows programs like Media Player and Movie Maker.
NVIDIA CUDA
Includes support for applications built using CUDA 5 Preview or earlier version of the CUDA Toolkit. More information at CUDA Toolkit | NVIDIA Developer Zone
Additional Details

Installs PhysX System Software v9.12.0604.
Installs HD Audio v1.3.18.0.
Supports multiple languages and APIs for GPU computing: CUDA C, CUDA C++, CUDA Fortran, OpenCL, DirectCompute, and Microsoft C++ AMP.
Supported Products
ION (Notebooks)
ION
ION LE (Notebooks)
ION LE
GeForce 600M Series (Notebooks)
GeForce GTX 680M, GeForce GTX 675MX, GeForce GTX 675M, GeForce GTX 670MX, GeForce GTX 670M, GeForce GTX 660M, GeForce GT 650M, GeForce GT 645M, GeForce GT 640M, GeForce GT 640M LE, GeForce GT 635M, GeForce GT 630M, GeForce GT 620M, GeForce 610M
GeForce 500M Series (Notebooks)
GeForce GTX 580M, GeForce GTX 570M, GeForce GTX 560M, GeForce GT 555M, GeForce GT 550M, GeForce GT 540M, GeForce GT 525M, GeForce GT 520M, GeForce GT 520MX
GeForce 400M Series (Notebooks)
GeForce GTX 485M, GeForce GTX 480M, GeForce GTX 470M, GeForce GTX 460M, GeForce GT 445M, GeForce GT 435M, GeForce GT 425M, GeForce GT 420M, GeForce GT 415M, GeForce 410M
GeForce 300M Series (Notebooks)
GeForce GTS 360M, GeForce GTS 350M, GeForce GT 335M, GeForce GT 330M, GeForce GT 325M, GeForce GT 320M, GeForce 320M, GeForce 315M, GeForce 310M, GeForce 305M
GeForce 200M Series (Notebooks)
GeForce GTX 285M, GeForce GTX 280M, GeForce GTX 260M, GeForce GTS 260M, GeForce GTS 250M, GeForce GT 240M, GeForce GT 230M, GeForce GT 220M, GeForce G210M, GeForce G205M
GeForce 100M Series (Notebooks)
GeForce GTS 160M, GeForce GT 130M, GeForce GT 120M, GeForce G 110M, GeForce G 105M, GeForce G 103M, GeForce G 102M
GeForce 9M Series (Notebooks)
GeForce 9800M GTX, GeForce 9800M GTS, GeForce 9800M GT, GeForce 9800M GS, GeForce 9700M GTS, GeForce 9700M GT, GeForce 9650M GT, GeForce 9650M GS, GeForce 9600M GT, GeForce 9600M GS, GeForce 9500M GS, GeForce 9500M G, GeForce 9400M G, GeForce 9400M, GeForce 9300M GS, GeForce 9300M G, GeForce 9200M GS, GeForce 9100M G
GeForce 8M Series (Notebooks)
GeForce 8800M GTX, GeForce 8800M GTS, GeForce 8800M GS, GeForce 8700M GT, GeForce 8600M GT, GeForce 8600M GS, GeForce 8400M GT, GeForce 8400M GS, GeForce 8400M G, GeForce 8200M G, GeForce 8200M

 

Operating System
Windows 7 64-bit
Windows 8 64-bit


Wait, when did they start supporting windows 8?


Moreover, I'm hesitant about switching to win 8, partly due to rumors that later on microsoft has plans to make win 8 closed platform down the road...

 

i doubt that they will locking it down the windows store YES but u can still install anything u want. Windows rt is a whole different ball park it will be locked down from the beginning and will only run on ARM tablets

 

That's what I want to believe too but it's Ballmer, who knows what kind of things M$ would do...

 

I'll give 306.97 a try...but since I have the R1 with the 280M, I'll need to wait for the modded inf as the install fails.

 

Here are the Modded Files for M17x R1 users. I was able install this new driver on the 280Ms with these files so hopefully they will work for any R1 users too! Enjoy!

 

i think they would be stupid to lock it down

 

From the designers who thought that tablet UI is good on a pc? I wouldn't count on it...

 

Well I just installed Windows 8 this morning (first impressions, pretty awesome) and I discovered that if you inf mod at all on Windows 8 you have to turn off driver signature enforcement. It isn't hard to do, just google it, but there really is not a good error message the drivers will just fail and it took me a few minutes to figure it out.

 

Has anyone tested this with the 580m? Does it overvolt and throttle?

I'm pretty much done updating to 300x drivers. They're all awful and unstable for the 580m.

 

It doesn't.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...-version-306-97-whql-306.97-738-1753-1475.jpg

http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...ia-driver-version-306-97-whql-arkham-city.jpg

 

I'm seeing what I think is a lower power draw (no way to check) on a 675m. I always set P1 a little lower than the main clock so I can see when it cuts in. Not seen it at all with this driver .

Temps appear to be a couple of C lower as well.

 

going to give this driver a go with windows 8 around the corner

 

Hybrid SLI works with these?

 

Dunno for sure but I doubt it. From what I read NV have pretty much dropped it ...

 

Alright guys you talked me into it. Just updated to these drivers.... via Windows Update actually.... Did I mess up by doing that? Should I re-download through nvidia and do a clean install?

 

Nah, you didn't mess up, but only the display driver will be updated that way. The NV installation comes with a bunch of components so I reckon you should go ahead and download the full package .

I have found that with recent driver releases just selecting 'upgrade' works fine and keeps all my settings. HTH

 

Gave these a shot. Three different times it locked up with no warning. Just a total freeze with no BSOD or error. Back to 296 for me

 

Could someone benchmark 680M with LuxMark v2.0 : download from Guru3D.com

Thanks.

 

having issues with these drivers random fps drops and freezing using a gtx 580

 

m17xR1 with 280m SLI
only thing I really play right now is Diablo 3..
Noticed a 10-15fps DROP sitting in town and even worse drop off in big battles.
Will be reverting =(

 

I get epic fps drops in windows 8, not sure about windows 7. 310.33 seems very decent though. GTX 680M

 

Sir could you help me on how to do that? Tried to google but found none

 

i personally used the windows 7 guide and have had no issues with drivers here it is here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...er-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html but turn off auto driver install to do this search in windows 8 search through charms type change device installation settings in the settings search and turn it off then proceed with the guide above

 

Sorry but I don't understand the bolded part. Can you please kindly clarify?

 

How do you install this driver to your system?

I just installed Windows 8 but failed to install any latest Nvidia Driver. Do you use any modded .inf?

 

I have had no BSOD or TDR issues with these drivers. They have been as stable as the 296.10 drivers and I'm so far pleased with them. I have not had any overvolting or throttling with these drivers either. In fact, these are probably the only 300x drivers I've had any luck with.

Like others have said, if you're having a bunch of issues... do a clean install of your drivers and make sure you don't have a bunch of old stuff leftover when you upgrade.

 

Do you have any idea why I have this problem?

 

I have the same problem, did you find a solution?

 

Be aware, this version 306.97 can damage the integrated graphical card HD 4000 from Intel.
After receiving last week the new M17xR4 with GTX 680 the driver damages the Intel graphical card seriously.
F7 do not react, integrated graphical card is not detected during initialisation of the system (F2 set options), reinstalling the Intel driver after deleting the old one is not possible.
I hope Dell will repair asap.

 

Hi guys, does any of you encounter major performance drop using this version driver with Windows 8?

I just installed this driver to my newly installed Windows 8, on the old m17X R1 I have. Q9000 / 280m x2 SLI / 8G 1066mhz / OCZ 120G + Original 500G. I've done a lot of searching on the net and here in the forum, following the instructions of modifying INFs and "certify ignoring boot" things. After all that, the new driver is successfully installed, but I've noticed that the games I've been playing while when I had Win 7 encounter major performance drop. They almost look like powerpoint slide shows now.

I've tried installing 295.73 with modded nvdm.inf, and it installed well, but didn't work. The device manager gives a yellow sign on the video adapters explaining something like "driver not loaded" (sorry, I'm not using English system).

Just being curious if any of you encounters this problem. If so, what version do you recommend on Windows 8 (if there are more than 1 available).

Thank you all very much!

 

1) Open command prompt (Admin) windows key + X
2) Type "bcdedit /set {current} testsigning yes" (without quotes) enter.
3) Type exit and reboot.
4) Install
5) Repeat/replace with "bcdedit /set {current} testsigning no" reboot.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...10-54-beta-released-12th-nov.html#post8945072

 

Thanks j95, problem solved!