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Message boards : Graphics cards (GPUs) : new driver: 178.24 WHQL

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ExtraTerrestrial Apes
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Message 3113 - Posted: 18 Oct 2008 | 12:56:17 UTC

They're out. Did anyone test them yet? It's somewhat unfortunate timing, as a driver switch will now coincide with the new 6.48 client, so observing performance changes will be difficult.

MrS
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Message 3114 - Posted: 18 Oct 2008 | 13:34:03 UTC

I've installed them on 2 Cards so far, they work is about all I can really say ...

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Message 3116 - Posted: 18 Oct 2008 | 15:06:02 UTC - in response to Message 3114.

I've installed them on 2 Cards so far, they work is about all I can really say ...


dito :-)

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Message 3120 - Posted: 18 Oct 2008 | 16:31:05 UTC - in response to Message 3114.

I've installed them on 2 Cards so far, they work is about all I can really say ...


Same for me. Running two 8800GT's. I've only been running for about 1.5 days with the new drivers, but the few 6.45 WU's I've processed have times that seem comparable to the 178.13 drivers. That being said, I was unaware that the 6.48 app was coming out only a day later, so I'll let someone else test them separately who hasn't already installed 178.24.

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Message 3156 - Posted: 19 Oct 2008 | 14:14:02 UTC

Switched back to the prev. driver.


With .24 I had more ms/step :/

http://www.ps3grid.net/result.php?resultid=85630


32 ms instead of 27 ms / step

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Message 3159 - Posted: 19 Oct 2008 | 23:41:59 UTC
Last modified: 19 Oct 2008 | 23:42:41 UTC

On windows xp with a GTX260

cuda 178. 25.792 ms, 25.797 ms, 26.100 ms, 25.613 ms, 26.006 ms, 26.042 ms, 25.745 ms

cuda 177. 25.839 ms

I will let it run the rest of the night to verify the single result.

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Message 3164 - Posted: 20 Oct 2008 | 8:08:02 UTC - in response to Message 3159.

Which versions are you comparing? 178.24 and 177.? Anyway, the message seems to be that there is no difference with your setup, which is good to know.

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Message 3165 - Posted: 20 Oct 2008 | 8:39:38 UTC - in response to Message 3113.
Last modified: 20 Oct 2008 | 8:40:39 UTC

New drivers works fine, I'm getting 27 to 29 MS on my first units, will take time to average it out.

I've bench marked, gamed, and downgraded/upgraded long enough to agree with this article:

Do New Drivers Really Boost Performance?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/GeForce-Catalyst-overclocking,2037.html

My personal experience is it has more to do with stability than performance!

And as for the thorough numbers and test setups done in this article, the conclusion is that drivers improved performance, but not for all graphics chips.

Your own interpretation will vary depending on your own setup.

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Message 3171 - Posted: 20 Oct 2008 | 17:12:24 UTC - in response to Message 3165.

Do New Drivers Really Boost Performance?


Of course they do.. sometimes for certain hardware/software combinations. And sometimes it's a half step backwards.

My personal experience is it has more to do with stability than performance!


Yes, fixing things is the reason why we get so frequent driver updates. Regarding performance.. there's just so much you can do once you invented the wheel. You can tweak it a bit, but you can't make it more round ;)

With GPU-Grid it's a bit different: we lost ~20% performance due to the move to CUDA 2.0 compilers. The team says it's driver-related and NV is looking into it. I'm not sure if they'd publicly state if they eventually fix it, as that would mean publicly admitting the problem existed in the first place. That's the main reason why I'm curious about performance changes with every new driver release.

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Message 3210 - Posted: 21 Oct 2008 | 20:14:24 UTC

There are also new Beta drivers (at least when I selected vista x64 for my geforce 8800 gts 512)
version 180.42
Dated Oct 21 (today!)

I am d/ling them now, and will try then out in a few min.

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Message 3214 - Posted: 22 Oct 2008 | 8:01:34 UTC - in response to Message 3210.

178.24 no problems, no changes in comp. time.

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Message 3233 - Posted: 23 Oct 2008 | 15:42:46 UTC - in response to Message 3210.

Hi,

Please do post your experiences with the 180 beta drivers.

Cheers,

MJH

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Message 3438 - Posted: 28 Oct 2008 | 13:38:28 UTC - in response to Message 3113.

They're out. Did anyone test them yet? It's somewhat unfortunate timing, as a driver switch will now coincide with the new 6.48 client, so observing performance changes will be difficult.

MrS


Hi I change my 8800GTS512 to GTX260 it is very nice card :)

so on 178.24 i have 28230 seconds per WU. CPU Q6600@2968Mhz, also runing Roseetta@4cores + 1 gpugrid (5 tasks together)...


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Message 3441 - Posted: 28 Oct 2008 | 15:36:22 UTC

what are you going to do the the 8800?

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Message 3443 - Posted: 28 Oct 2008 | 15:54:39 UTC - in response to Message 3441.

I sell it on allegro.pl :)

OMG my last task take: 31234.688 s and Time per step: 36.747 ms

sometimes it's taking 27000 sometimes 31000 hmmmm

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Message 3536 - Posted: 31 Oct 2008 | 17:42:29 UTC

Sow how about present moment? Should we use new drivers or not? What can you say based on your experience in this new drivers? Or any other fresh drivers?

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Message 3538 - Posted: 31 Oct 2008 | 19:35:20 UTC

Looks like the 178.24 is not any different for GPU-Grid than the previous ones, so feel free to use it or not.

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