NVIDIA has taken a step toward fulfilling its promise of streamlined, regular software updates with the launch of its first 256-series driver.
The v256 family, ranging from versions 256.xx to 259.xx, aim to unify desktop and notebook releases by granting new features and general driver improvements to both platforms simultaneously.
Kicking off the trend is the 257.15 beta release. Available as separate downloads for either desktop and notebook users, the release introduces support for high-end technologies such as Blu-ray 3D.
For gamers, the updated driver adds higher-quality visual modes that now support up to 96x anti-aliasing when running three GTX 400-series GPUs in SLI. Speaking of SLI, said driver release also offers finer control of multi-GPU configurations, making it easier to pair multiple graphics cards and/or dedicate certain GPUs to PhysX processing, says NVIDIA.
Support for CUDA 3.1 and OpenGL 4.0 has also made the cut, but there's still no sign of 3D Vision Surround.
What is available is a healthy performance bump on numerous games when using NVIDIA's latest GeForce GTX 400-series graphics cards. According to the GPU giant, performance gains of as much as 25 per cent can be had on certain titles:
As always, NVIDIA suggests users back up their systems prior to using a beta release. Those wanting something a little more stable won't need to wait long, however, as a WHQL-certified release is planned for early June.
The 257.15 beta release is available to download for desktop users here and notebook users here.
