The newest set of GPU drivers from hardware giant Nvidia are out an about, and there’s some nice new features included for graphics hogs to enjoy. The new driver is a reference driver with the designation 418.81 WHQL that primarily targets the latest round of Nvidia notebook GPUs. The major new addition for these SKUs with this update is expanded DLSS (Deep Learning Super-Sampling) for the benchmarking utility 3DMark Port Royal.
This will allow the popular benchmarking utility to make more efficient use of GPU hardware to allow for faster completion of testing phases. In theory, this should allow for higher final results for the GPUs that support it.
For those not aware, DLSS is the newest effort by Nvidia to improve the turnaround time on improved performance with their latest GPUS. DLSS uses a form of machine learning to “train” a series of routines to take into account the demands of various games, and then optimize delivery of assets with the most efficient use of hardware and power. The company’s supercomputing cluster is constantly training with new data on new games which means much better performance over time as more data is collected.
In terms of other aspects, there’s also some more specific tweaks for performance in a handful of new games. Namely, Anthem, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2, Life is strange Season 2, NBA 2K19 and Space Hulk Tactics should all see some level of improved performance on the updated SKUs.
The final bit of the update includes some fixes for rendering and flickering issues within GSYNC.
Here are the full patch notes from Nvidia for this latest release. Those interested can download this new driver from here.
NVIDIA GeForce 418.81 WHQL Release Notes
Gaming Technology
Includes support for new GeForce RTX laptops, and delivers the optimum performance in Futuremark’s 3DMark Port Royal benchmark, which has just added a new feature test
for NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS).Application SLI Profiles
Added or updated the following SLI profiles:
- Anthem
- Assetto Corsa Competizione – AFR enabled for Turing GPUs
- Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 – AFR enabled for Turing GPUs
- Life is strange Season 2 – AFR enabled for Turing GPUs
- NBA 2K19 – AFR enabled for Turing GPUs
- Space Hulk Tactics – AFR enabled for Turing GPU
Software Module Versions
- nView – 149.34
- HD Audio Driver – 1.3.38.13
- NVIDIA PhysX System Software – 9.18.0907
- GeForce Experience – 3.16.0.140
- CUDA – 10.0
New Features
- Implemented performance improvements on multiple titles, such as Witcher 3. when using G-SYNC and SLI on Pascal and Maxwell GPUs.
Fixed Issues
- [Gamestream][OS HDR]: Stream is not set to launch in HDR despite having HDR display attached to the PC and client. [2467526]
- [GeForce Experience]: Share FPS overlay appears in the Twitter UWP app from the Microsoft Store. [2465033]
- [G-SYNC]: Flickering may occurs in games if G-SYNC is enabled. [2399845]
- [G-SYNC]: With G-SYNC enabled, after hot-pugging a G-SYNC display and then a GSYNC Compatible display, the right half of the G-SYNC Compatible display may go blank. [200484819]
