Driver Update: Nvidia GeForce/Ion 257.21 WHQL

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Nvidia has released a new set of GeForce/Ion drivers. They are suitable for the GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300 and 400 series, and the Ion GPUs. The drivers have been given version number 257.21 and are provided with a whql certification. Versions are available for Windows XP, 2003 Server, Vista and 7 in both 32bit and 64bit versions. New in version 257 is support for 3D Blu-rays. Furthermore, several performance improvements for GeForce 400 series cards can be observed. Below is the full changelog of this release.

New in Version 257.21

  • Adds support for Blu-ray 3D with NVIDIA 3D Vision technology. Learn more about the hardware and software requirements here .
  • Increases performance for GeForce GTX 400 Series GPUs in several PC games. The following are examples of some of the most significant improvements measured with GeForce GTX 480. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:
    • Up to 14% in Aliens vs. Predator (1920×1200 noAA/AF – Tessellation on)
    • Up to 4% in Batman: Arkham Asylum (1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF PhysX=High)
    • Up to 5% in BattleForge (1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF – Very High settings)
    • Up to 5% in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF)
    • Up to 4% in Crysis: Warhead (1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF – Enthusiast setting)
    • Up to 24% in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (1920×1200 no AA/AF)
    • Up to 9% in Far Cry 2 (2560×1600 8xAA/16xAF)
    • Up to 25% in Just Cause 2 (2560×1600 no AA/AF – Concrete Jungle)
    • Up to 7% in Metro 2033 (1920×1200 no AA/16xAF – Tessellation on)
    • Up to 40% in Metro 2033 with SLI ((1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF – Tessellation on)
    • Up to 8% in STALKER: Call of Pripyat (1920×1200 no AA/AF – Day)
    • Up to 110% in Stone Giant with SLI (2650×1600 – Tessellation on, DoF on)
    • Up to 6% in The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena (2560×1600 no AA/AF)
    • Up to 9% in Unigine: Tropics (2560×1600 no AA/AF – OpenGL)
    • Up to 5% in 3DMark Vantage (Performance and Extreme Presets)
    • Up to 19% with Transparency AA (1920×1200 4xTrSS – measured in Crysis)
  • Upgrade PhysX System Software to version 9.10.0223.
  • Adds support for OpenGL 4.0 for GeForce GTX 400 Series GPUs.
  • Adds support for CUDA Toolkit 3.1 which includes significant performance increases for double precision math operations. see CUDA Zone for more details.
  • Adds support for new extreme Antialiasing modes for 3-way SLI PCs, including up to SLI48x AA for GeForce 200 series GPUs and up to SLI96x AA for GeForce GTX 400 series GPUs.
  • Adds support for a new ‘Quality’ mode for NVIDIA’s Ambient Occlusion control panel feature.
  • Adds a new NVIDIA Control Panel setup page for SLI and PhysX for ultimate control over multi-gpu configurations.
  • Adds a new NVIDIA Control Panel feature for ultimate control over CUDA GPUs, allowing the user to effectively choose which GPU will power each CUDA application.
  • 3D Vision customers can download the v257.21 3D Vision drivers here.
  • Includes numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release notes on the documentation tab for information about the key bug fixes in this release.

The following downloads are available:
nVidia ForceWare 257.21 WHQL for Windows XP (32bit)
nVidia ForceWare 257.21 WHQL for Windows XP and Server 2003 (64bit)
nVidia ForceWare 257.21 WHQL for Windows Vista/7 (32bit)
nVidia ForceWare 257.21 WHQL for Windows Vista/7 (64bit)

Version number 257.21 WHQL
Release status Final
Operating systems Windows 7, Windows 7 x64, Windows XP, Windows XP x64, Windows Server 2003 x64, Windows Vista, Windows Vista x64
Website nVidia
Download http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/win7-winvista-32bit-257.21-whql-driver-uk.html
File Sizes 114.00MB – 155.00MB
License type Freeware
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