Performance with nVidia 181.20 drivers

Syxx_Killer · 01-13-09, 09:10 AM

I currently have an XFX 8600GT that I got about a year ago. For most of that time I had the 169.21 drivers. A couple days ago I updated to the 181.20 drivers when I got Red Alert 3. I think the new drivers cured an issue I got with that game, but I also think they decreased the performance I got with SH4. I run TMO straight up now, so I am basically running EE 5.0. With 169.21 I had SH4's own profile in the driver's control panel that I set to have 16x AA and either 16x or 8x AF (I don't remember). I also had multisampling turned on. With 181.20 and those settings I get these annoying little "jumps" in the framrate much like if I had Vsync turned off, but not as drastic. I now have AA and AF down to 4x each with multisampling just to keep the frames somewhat smooth. When I press Ctrl + F8 in the game my FPS counter is all over the place, even in open ocean. Before, it would hover around 20-30 FPS in open ocean. I have every graphical option checked in the game. I had them checked before, too, with no ill effects. What is anyone else's experience with these drivers? If I didn't have RA3 I would probably revert back to 169.21, but I can't now.

01-13-09, 09:10 AM	#1
Syxx_Killer Admiral Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 2,387 Downloads: 21 Uploads: 0	Performance with nVidia 181.20 drivers I currently have an XFX 8600GT that I got about a year ago. For most of that time I had the 169.21 drivers. A couple days ago I updated to the 181.20 drivers when I got Red Alert 3. I think the new drivers cured an issue I got with that game, but I also think they decreased the performance I got with SH4. I run TMO straight up now, so I am basically running EE 5.0. With 169.21 I had SH4's own profile in the driver's control panel that I set to have 16x AA and either 16x or 8x AF (I don't remember). I also had multisampling turned on. With 181.20 and those settings I get these annoying little "jumps" in the framrate much like if I had Vsync turned off, but not as drastic. I now have AA and AF down to 4x each with multisampling just to keep the frames somewhat smooth. When I press Ctrl + F8 in the game my FPS counter is all over the place, even in open ocean. Before, it would hover around 20-30 FPS in open ocean. I have every graphical option checked in the game. I had them checked before, too, with no ill effects. What is anyone else's experience with these drivers? If I didn't have RA3 I would probably revert back to 169.21, but I can't now.