Nvidia Graphic Drivers Benchmark Tests

Updated (October 6, 2009): Tested the Nvidia GeForce 191.03 video card graphic driver. See below. (Or type ctrl-f and type "Nvidia GeForce 191.03" without the quotes.)

Settings for Nexuiz:

(Ingame) Resolution: 1024; Skins: Best; All settings off. (Nvidia Control Panel) AF: Application-controlled; AA: None; Force Mipmaps: Trilinear; Texture Filtering- Trilinear Optimization: On; Texture Filtering - Quality: High Performance; Texture Filtering - Anisotropic xx: all On.

Settings for F.E.A.R.:

(Ingame)

• CPU: Physics: Max; Sound: Max; Particles: Med; Shells: On; World Details: Min; Corpse Detail: Med
• Effects: Effects: Med; Model: Max; Water: Max; Reflections: Med; Volum: Off
• Graphics: Anti-aliasing: None; Light: Medium; Shadows: Off: Texture Filtering: Bilinear; Texture Resolution: Max; Videos: Med; Shaders: Med; Resolution: 640.
  

(Nvidia Control Panel) All settings at default except: Multi-display/mixed-GPU Acceleration; Single Display Performance Mode; Texture Filtering - Quality: High Performance; Texture Filtering - Negative LOD Bias: Clamp; Triple Buffering: off.

Update:

I erased most of the old video card benchmark tests; they won't be of much use now that I've made several more tweaks to my PC. I kept the old Tribes: Vengeance pictures though. :D

Also, I am now using Nexuiz V2.4.2 (demo1) and Lightsmark 2008.

(You might also notice the low scores of these video card benchmark tests. I am using a very old rig with only a stock 7300 GT, a P4 2.4Ghz CPU, and 2Gb of RAM. Don't ask about the mobo. It's old; it was manufactured back in the time when fish first grew legs.)

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Nvidia 175.19

3DMark 2001 SE: 11146 3D Marks

Cinebench R10: 2252

Lightsmark 2008: 39.5

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 46 Ave: 70 Max: 100

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 17 Ave: 44 Max: 85 (23%/25%/52%)

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Nvidia 177.40 (Leaked beta; Source: Guru3D)

3DMark 2001 SE: 11309 3D Marks

Cinebench R10: 2262

Lightsmark 2008: 39.8

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 32 Ave: 70 Max: 120

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 19 Ave: 45 Max: 85 (21%/25%/54%)

NOTE: This driver wasn't fully compatible with my system; I found out that my system couldn't play VCDs and DVDs anymore. Uninstalling the driver fixed it of course.

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Imba awardee: :D

Nvidia 177.92 (Beta; Source: Nvidia)

3DMark 2001 SE: 11325 3D Marks

Cinebench R10: 2235

Lightsmark 2008: 39.5

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 25 Ave: 74 Max: 112

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 20 Ave: 45 Max: 85 (22%/27%/51%)

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Imba awardee: :D


Xtreme-G 177.92 (Source: Tweakforce)

3DMark 2001 SE: 11167 3D Marks

Cinebench R10: 2262

Lightsmark 2008: 39.5

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 25 Ave: 71 Max: 107

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 20 Ave: 45 Max: 84 (21%/25%/54%)

It is a very rare instance when a new video driver takes your breath away with the image quality (IQ) it churns out for your system. The last one was Tweakforce's Xtreme-G 163.67 SE. The Nvidia 177.92 beta drivers made me quietly mumble awe-inspired invectives when I played games with it.

It's even rarer when a tweaked Nvidia driver makes your PC perform even smoother with IMPROVED image quality than the vanilla driver it is based from. This new Xtreme-G 177.92 driver is definitely a keeper. (The frames might be a tad lower but games play smoother.)

I've been doing video card benchmark tests for three years now and only three I consider as my Hall of Famers: Xtreme-G 163.67 SE, Forceware 177.92 Beta and --- the best so far: Xtreme-G 177.92.

Kudos to the people at Tweakforce!

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Nvidia 178.13 ( Source: Nvidia)

3DMark 2001 SE: 11402

Cinebench R10: 2204

Lightsmark 2008: 39.5

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 43 Ave: 73 Max: 109

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 19 Ave: 45 Max: 85 (25%/21%/54%)



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Xtreme-G 178.13 ( Source: Tweakforce)

3DMark 2001 SE: 11307

Cinebench R10: 2239

Lightsmark 2008: 40.0

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 27 Ave: 73 Max: 107

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 18 Ave: 46 Max: 85 (21%/23%/56%)

Better scores in F.E.A.R.; spectacular IQ --- perhaps the best so far. It's just the DV bug that's holding this and the stock 178.13 back.
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Nvidia leaked 178.15

3DMark 2001 SE: 11182

Cinebench R10: 2203

Lightsmark 2008: 39.9

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 27 Ave: 72 Max: 109

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 20 Ave: 46 Max: 85 (18%/27%/55%)

Slightly improved figures in F.E.A.R.; DV bug fixed (The Image Sharpening slider still doesn't work though); slightly improved IQ.

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Nvidia 178.24

3DMark 2001 SE: 11212

Cinebench R10: 2252

Lightsmark 2008: 39.6

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 55 Ave: 76 Max: 122

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 20 Ave: 46 Max: 85 (16%/26%/58%)

This version displays unprecedented clarity. It's not much but it's noticeable. The DV bug is back with a vengeance though; the DV and Image Sharpening sliders aren't working again.

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Xtreme-G Quadro 178.26

3DMark 2001 SE: 11371

Cinebench R10: 2178

Lightsmark 2008: 39.8

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 55 Ave: 75 Max: 121

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 20 Ave: 46 Max: 85 (18%/26%/56%)

Mixed results; slightly better IQ; the DV slider works; still no luck with the Image Sharpening one --- the thing is still disabled.

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Xtreme-G 180.42

3DMark 2001 SE: 11303

Cinebench R10: 2243

Lightsmark 2008: 40.1

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 24 Ave: 70 Max: 118 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 64 Ave: 87 Max: 148)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 18 Ave: 45 Max: 85 (21%/25%/54%)

PHENOMENAL IQ; Desktop color sliders are all bugged --- talk about paying the price for something so beautiful. :D

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Nvidia (leaked) 180.70

3DMark 2001 SE: 11253

Cinebench R10: 2173

Lightsmark 2008: 39.7

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 25 Ave: 69 Max: 116 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 61 Ave: 86 Max: 142)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 18 Ave: 45 Max: 85 (21%/25%/54%)

Exact same performance in F.E.A.R. but slower at all other video card benchmark tests; this is probably the best vanilla Nvidia driver in terms of IQ though.

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Xtreme-G 180.70

3DMark 2001 SE: 11137

Cinebench R10: 2229

Lightsmark 2008: 39.8

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 47 Ave: 71 Max: 104 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 62 Ave: 86 Max: 144)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 19 Ave: 44 Max: 85 (18%/29%/53%)

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Nvidia GeForce 180.84

3DMark 2001 SE: 11200

Cinebench R10: 2262

Lightsmark 2008: 39.8

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 56 Ave: 76 Max: 123 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 62 Ave: 87.5 Max: 146.5)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 20 Ave: 45 Max: 85 (20%/26%/54%)

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Xtreme-G Nvidia GeForce 180.84

3DMark 2001 SE: 11277

Cinebench R10: 2260

Lightsmark 2008: 39.8

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 45 Ave: 74 Max: 116 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 62 Ave: 87 Max: 146)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 18 Ave: 44 Max: 85 (21%/23%/56%)

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Xtreme-G Nvidia GeForce 181.00

3DMark 2001 SE: 10971

Cinebench R10: 2223

Lightsmark 2008: 39.6

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 24 Ave: 72 Max: 118 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 61.3 Ave: 87 Max: 145.6)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 17 Ave: 43 Max: 85 (20%/30%/50%)

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Dox Optimized Nvidia 181.20

3DMark 2001 SE: 11268

Cinebench R10: 2221

Lightsmark 2008: 36.8

Nexuiz (v2.4.2; demo1): Min: 57 Ave: 76 Max: 124 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 62.7 Ave: 88 Max: 146.7)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 20 Ave: 44 Max: 84 (22%/25%/53%)

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Dox Optimized Nvidia 185.68

3DMark 2001 SE: 10743

Cinebench R10: 2141

Lightsmark 2008: 39.2

Nexuiz (v2.5.1; demo1): Min: 46 Ave: 61 Max: 100 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 55.33 Ave: 75 Max: 119)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 16 Ave: 41 Max: 85 (25%/27%/48%)

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Nvidia GeForce ION 190.38

3DMark 2001 SE: 10451

Cinebench R10: 2171

Lightsmark 2008: 38.6

Nexuiz (v2.5.1; demo1): Min: 45 Ave: 61 Max: 99 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 55 Ave: 75 Max: 118.67)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 14 Ave: 40 Max: 84 (30%/21%/49%)

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Nvidia GeForce ION 190.62

3DMark 2001 SE: 10623

Cinebench R10: 2173

Lightsmark 2008: 38.8

Nexuiz (v2.5.1; demo1): Min: 47 Ave: 62 Max: 101 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 57 Ave: 77 Max: 121.33)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 16 Ave: 40 Max: 85 (33%/19%/48%)

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Xtreme-G Nvidia GeForce ION 190.62

3DMark 2001 SE: 10668

Cinebench R10: 2202

Lightsmark 2008: 39.5

Nexuiz (v2.5.1; demo1): Min: 46 Ave: 61 Max: 100 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 53.67 Ave: 75.67 Max: 118.33)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 15 Ave: 40 Max: 85 (30%/21%/49%)

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Xtreme-G Nvidia GeForce 191.03

3DMark 2001 SE: 10511

Cinebench R10: 2174

Lightsmark 2008: 38.8

Nexuiz (v2.5.1; demo1): Min: 45 Ave: 61 Max: 99 (Averaged results from 2nd and 3rd runs: Min: 54 Ave: 74 Max: 118)

F.E.A.R. (v1.08): Min: 17 Ave: 41 Max: 84 (27%/25%/48%)


As with all software, USE THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK. What might work for me might not for you. Please use a registry backup restore software before installing 3rd-party anythings just to be on the safe side.