Nvidia 266.35 Beta Driver for XPS 14/15/17

Good news! Nvidia finally released a driver that has support for all of the new XPS 14/15/17 machines. If you have an Optimus configured laptop you will still need to install the Intel HD Graphics driver first then the Nvidia driver. If you have a non-Optimus laptop just install the Nvidia driver. I recommend using the clean install option in the nvidia install. Here are links to the Nvidia and Intel drivers:

Nvidia 266.35 Beta Driver

Intel HD Graphics Driver

Note: You can also find the Intel HD Graphics drivers on Intel's website, or Dell's driver website.

 

Excellent!

 

Any idea if it will allow Optimus to work properly?

 

I'll wait until someone else trys it and runs a benchmark. My current driver is working flawlessly

 

Works and installs just fine on my rig, didn't have a chance to bench it, I will tonight.

 

The link to the Intel driver in your post is only for the XPS 14; it doesn't work for the XPS 15 and at the minute there's no version of that driver that actually works for the XPS 15 (from what I've been able to see anyway.)

I just installed the nVidia driver you provided and left the Intel driver as the one that came preinstalled on my laptop.

The Punkbuster bug appears to be fixed and performances issues I had with CS:S seems to be sorted as well.

 

Sorry, didn't know there was a difference. Source the intel from intel's website or dell's website for each model.

 

I'll try it on my 17 when I get home tonight.

 

I read this in the supported products notes:



Notebooks supporting Hybrid Power technology with Intel chipsets are not supported by this release.

Is that another way to say Optimus? Do the drivers work for someone with an i7 on the 15?

 

No it's not, optimus is fully supported but it doesn't include the Intel GPU driver. This will work for any of the XPS 14/15/17 models with any configuration, the Optimus notebooks have to have the Intel driver installed first though.

 

Ok. I wonder what that hybrid power is.

 

Hybrid Graphics are just a different older version of Optimus, kind of like the Sony Z or M11x-R1. They require the Intel driver and Nvidia driver all in one package.

 

Just installed the 266.35 drivers on my hybrid XPS15 with a 420m and it took, no complaint from the installer that my driver was unsupported. I did install the lastest Intel HD driver off Dell site first (dated November).

Launched WoW and the system tray icon indicated the Nvidia GPU was in use by 1 program which is a good sign, didnt have time to actually play.

 

First BSOD on these driver.
WinDbg reported:

DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (9f)
A driver is causing an inconsistent power state.

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0x9F_3_nvlddmkm_IMAGE_pci.sys
BUCKET_ID: X64_0x9F_3_nvlddmkm_IMAGE_pci.sys


nvlddmkm.sys is Nvidia's file.

Conclusion: This driver is not stable.

 

Which is why its a beta.

anybody get a benchmark yet? curious as to benefits of making the switch

 

Great to hear. Can you check if the overlay controls in youtube or vimeo flicker with this driver while making sure the enable hardware acceleration is selected in the flash settings? This was a problem I experienced earlier with the older drivers.

 

Yes that is now fixed

 

i have run 3Dmark06 with the beta drivers and with a modded nvidia 266.44 driver on my overclocked 445m (core clock 712, shader clock 1425, memory clock 912)

with beta driver


with modded 266.44 driver


the beta driver gave me very similar results from a test that i run before overclocking

before overclock with modded driver


so for now, im stickin with the modded driver

 

Great! But I am still apprehensive of installing beta version of the drivers. But knowing that there is a fix around the corner is good.

 

I'm so glad the Punkbuster kick problem is fixed finally~

 

Just installed this driver yesterday. Didn't have any problem with the installation. One problem, however, arises off the fan. The fan just abnormally turns on and off repeatedly for every few seconds after 10 minutes since startup. The sound cycle the fan produces really drives me nuts...

 

Yea, that is probably related to the idle temp being higher. With the Dell drivers, the fan would never run or at least be on the super quiet setting when I wasn't gaming. Now it stays around 49C and is in the quiet but still audible mode constantly. It doesn't get any hotter while gaming than the Dells, but the jet engine fan speed kicks in around 62C or 63C instead of 65C. None of my games go over 63C so I never had to hear the loud fan, but now it stays like that if it makes it to 62C.

 

Thanks a lot for the clarification. My idle temp stays around 55C, which is a bit higher than yours 49C. But it might be caused by the oc to 650/800/1300 with 420M. Anyway, just hope dell updates to the 260 or above drivers as soon as possible.

 

I was OCed 750 GPU - 800 VRAM on 445M for a while with the Dell drivers before the most recent ones, and I never idled so high.

 

Looks like I better rollback to the dell driver before the beta driver causes any damage. Thanks again.

 

Do the modded 266.44 drivers do the same thing? I am going to test those tonight. One thing I noticed is that the Dell's don't activate PhysX per GPU-Z, but all the Nvidia from nvidia.com I've used do activate PhysX. Would PhysX cause it to idle higher?

 

I'm too noobed to mod a driver. So not sure about the answer to this question.

 

Already modded 266.44 driver courtesy of DaneGRClose:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...odified-nvidia-driver-445m-3.html#post7019847

 

I just installed this driver and the performance improvement is amazing. GT420M OC'd to 650/900 playing Black OPS @ 1080p with standard settings, 28-46 FPS reported by FRAPS!
Before this on the Dell drivers I had to play @ 1024x768 res to keep things playable, super happy with these drivers, no issues so far

And optimus still works with these drivers