New nVidia Drivers

[TechAngel85]

310.70 drivers have been released for nVidia users. These are the official drivers. Not beta. Cheers!

[haelfix]

I had issues with the beta as an FYI.  Project ENB + .119 would periodically turn green.  I'll upgrade and try these out eventually.

[JudgmentJay]

Was it the 310.70 beta drivers specifically that had the issue? I've been using the 310.64 beta for a while with no problem. Nice little performance increase with my 680s too!

[Besidilo]

Was it the 310.70 beta drivers specifically that had the issue? I've been using the 310.64 beta for a while with no problem. Nice little performance increase with my 680s too!

All 310 beta drivers had issues with Skyrim as far as I know. Even Boris recommended the official drivers.

 

With that said, 310.70 WHQL is probably just the certified beta driver.

[Korentin]

I think its .119 that had the problem. Either way, 310.70 and the 121212 ENB doesnt have the problem as far as I've noticed.

[TechAngel85]

I'm downloading them now and will post any issues that I find. The release notes state that 680s should get a small performance boost. :)

 

I never used the beta driver so I can't say anything about that. But I don't think STEP should be recommending people to download the Beta drivers like they do in the guide. They are Beta for a reason and usually have some issues to be worked out.

[torminater]

I played for about half an hour using the new driver without any problems. ENB .119 and SkyRealism.

[Besidilo]

I'm downloading them now and will post any issues that I find. The release notes state that 680s should get a small performance boost. :)

 

I never used the beta driver so I can't say anything about that. But I don't think STEP should be recommending people to download the Beta drivers like they do in the guide. They are Beta for a reason and usually have some issues to be worked out.

There are a few reasons for releasing beta drivers:

 

a) Testing for WHQL certifications takes a while.

b) It's not worth releasing a whole new driver for everyone with hotfixes for one game.

c) New features/bug fixes are being tested this way on wider audience.

 

Neither Nvidia nor AMD intentionally release buggy drivers. Often beta drivers fix issues that occurred in the new WHQL release.

 

This driver is no different to the last beta, hence no number change.

[TechAngel85]

I'm downloading them now and will post any issues that I find. The release notes state that 680s should get a small performance boost. :)

 

I never used the beta driver so I can't say anything about that. But I don't think STEP should be recommending people to download the Beta drivers like they do in the guide. They are Beta for a reason and usually have some issues to be worked out.

There are a few reasons for releasing beta drivers:

 

a) Testing for WHQL certifications takes a while.

b) It's not worth releasing a whole new driver for everyone with hotfixes for one game.

c) New features/bug fixes are being tested this way on wider audience.

 

Neither Nvidia nor AMD intentionally release buggy drivers. Often beta drivers fix issues that occurred in the new WHQL release.

 

This driver is no different to the last beta, hence no number change.

Over the period of a month 4 betas were released. A change here, a tweak there, a fix applied... I would much rather wait a month to a month and a half to have the final, stable release rather than updating the beta 4-6 times to a month.

[Besidilo]

 

I'm downloading them now and will post any issues that I find. The release notes state that 680s should get a small performance boost. :)

 

I never used the beta driver so I can't say anything about that. But I don't think STEP should be recommending people to download the Beta drivers like they do in the guide. They are Beta for a reason and usually have some issues to be worked out.

There are a few reasons for releasing beta drivers:

 

a) Testing for WHQL certifications takes a while.

b) It's not worth releasing a whole new driver for everyone with hotfixes for one game.

c) New features/bug fixes are being tested this way on wider audience.

 

Neither Nvidia nor AMD intentionally release buggy drivers. Often beta drivers fix issues that occurred in the new WHQL release.

 

This driver is no different to the last beta, hence no number change.

Over the period of a month 4 betas were released. A change here, a tweak there, a fix applied... I would much rather wait a month to a month and a half to have the final, stable release rather than updating the beta 4-6 times to a month.

That's not the best way for everyone, though. Say you wanted to play Far Cry 3 at acceptable framerates on release, you needed to use the beta drivers.

 

Same with SLI/Crossfire compatibility, or new methods of supported AA. I hardly ever have any driver related issues on my system and I update to every single new releases (unless something is notoriously buggy).

 

BTW, I can confirm that these are the same drivers that were released 14 days ago as WHQL and then later renamed to WHQL-candidates. So beta drivers as such. :P

[TechAngel85]

 

 

I'm downloading them now and will post any issues that I find. The release notes state that 680s should get a small performance boost. :)

 

I never used the beta driver so I can't say anything about that. But I don't think STEP should be recommending people to download the Beta drivers like they do in the guide. They are Beta for a reason and usually have some issues to be worked out.

There are a few reasons for releasing beta drivers:

 

a) Testing for WHQL certifications takes a while.

b) It's not worth releasing a whole new driver for everyone with hotfixes for one game.

c) New features/bug fixes are being tested this way on wider audience.

 

Neither Nvidia nor AMD intentionally release buggy drivers. Often beta drivers fix issues that occurred in the new WHQL release.

 

This driver is no different to the last beta, hence no number change.

Over the period of a month 4 betas were released. A change here, a tweak there, a fix applied... I would much rather wait a month to a month and a half to have the final, stable release rather than updating the beta 4-6 times to a month.

That's not the best way for everyone, though. Say you wanted to play Far Cry 3 at acceptable framerates on release, you needed to use the beta drivers.

 

Same with SLI/Crossfire compatibility, or new methods of supported AA. I hardly ever have any driver related issues on my system and I update to every single new releases (unless something is notoriously buggy).

 

BTW, I can confirm that these are the same drivers that were released 14 days ago as WHQL and then later renamed to WHQL-candidates. So beta drivers as such. :P

That's true but I'm not looking at other games when referring to the STEP guide recommending beta drivers. Just Skyrim as STEP is just for Skyrim. Thus, this is just my opinion, but I don't think STEP should be recommending driver updates that aren't official releases. Prime example is above when Haelfix stated his issues with the beta; regardless if the issue was driver or ENB related. STEP, IMO, should only be recommending polished, finished products. Just all my personal opinion. I have no influence in this area. Haha!

[Besidilo]

 

 

 

I'm downloading them now and will post any issues that I find. The release notes state that 680s should get a small performance boost. :)

 

I never used the beta driver so I can't say anything about that. But I don't think STEP should be recommending people to download the Beta drivers like they do in the guide. They are Beta for a reason and usually have some issues to be worked out.

There are a few reasons for releasing beta drivers:

 

a) Testing for WHQL certifications takes a while.

b) It's not worth releasing a whole new driver for everyone with hotfixes for one game.

c) New features/bug fixes are being tested this way on wider audience.

 

Neither Nvidia nor AMD intentionally release buggy drivers. Often beta drivers fix issues that occurred in the new WHQL release.

 

This driver is no different to the last beta, hence no number change.

Over the period of a month 4 betas were released. A change here, a tweak there, a fix applied... I would much rather wait a month to a month and a half to have the final, stable release rather than updating the beta 4-6 times to a month.

That's not the best way for everyone, though. Say you wanted to play Far Cry 3 at acceptable framerates on release, you needed to use the beta drivers.

 

Same with SLI/Crossfire compatibility, or new methods of supported AA. I hardly ever have any driver related issues on my system and I update to every single new releases (unless something is notoriously buggy).

 

BTW, I can confirm that these are the same drivers that were released 14 days ago as WHQL and then later renamed to WHQL-candidates. So beta drivers as such. :P

That's true but I'm not looking at other games when referring to the STEP guide recommending beta drivers. Just Skyrim as STEP is just for Skyrim. Thus, this is just my opinion, but I don't think STEP should be recommending driver updates that aren't official releases. Prime example is above when Haelfix stated his issues with the beta; regardless if the issue was driver or ENB related. STEP, IMO, should only be recommending polished, finished products. Just all my personal opinion. I have no influence in this area. Haha!

But they are official releases. Beta drivers appear on the same Nvidia's website for download

 

This bloody driver was under  beta section, now it's "official", as you would call it, but nothing has changed.  They've just added a WHQL certificate.

 

Do you even know why they have to wait for those certificates? By reading "official releases" and "poilished,finished products", I don't think you do...

 

It's in the best interest of STEP's team to recommend drivers that work best for SKYRIM, not other games.

[TechAngel85]

But they are official releases. Beta drivers appear on the same Nvidia's website for download

 

This bloody driver was under  beta section, now it's "official", as you would call it, but nothing has changed.  They've just added a WHQL certificate.

 

Do you even know why they have to wait for those certificates? By reading "official releases" and "poilished,finished products", I don't think you do...

 

It's in the best interest of STEP's team to recommend drivers that work best for SKYRIM, not other games.

 

When I refer to official I refer to the drivers you are presented with when using their "driver lookup" form. You are not presented with Beta drivers unless you specifically search them out. They are not provided by default on the main driver pages.

 

And WHQL certificates are Microsoft...drivers are signed by Microsoft as being compatible...lots of testing is done...it takes time...yada yada. I know all this.

 

We techs tend to have rather strong opinions. Agree to disagree?

[Besidilo]

Look, I really don't want to argue, but WHQL aren't any different drivers to the beta ones, and this specific driver was still in the testing at the time of release.

 

And yes, you can get them with the driver lookup form, often the recommended driver by Nvidia is a beta one that hasn't been certified by Microsoft.

 

They simply don't send every driver for testing as it wouldn't be productive in the long term.

[Farlo]

They simply don't send every driver for testing as it wouldn't be productive in the long term.

I'm sure it costs a pretty penny as well.