GeForce ForceWare 260.89 Beta Download & Discussion

DriverVer = 10/08/2010, 8.17.12.6089
Release date : 2010.10.11
Official page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-32bit-260.89-beta-driver.html
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English (Links: Guru3D)
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GeForce Forceware 260.89 Win 7 | Vista 32-bit
GeForce Forceware 260.89 Win 7 | Vista 64-bit
GeForce Forceware 260.89 Windows XP 32-bit
GeForce Forceware 260.89 Windows XP 64-bit
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International: (Links: Nvidia)
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GeForce Forceware 260.89 Win 7 | Vista 32-bit
GeForce Forceware 260.89 Win 7 | Vista 64-bit
GeForce Forceware 260.89 Windows XP 32-bit
GeForce Forceware 260.89 Windows XP 64-bit
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Optimized SLI profiles for: (Unofficial)

Just Cause 2 (Work!)
Mafia 2
Lost Planet 2
And few others optimized.

|Download|
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Release notes.
Adds support for the newly released GeForce GT 430 GPU.
Adds support for OpenGL 4.1 for GeForce 400 series GPUs.
Adds or enhances SLI profiles for the following PC games:

City of Heroes: Going Rogue
Alien Swarm
Dead Rising 2
Front Mission Evolved
Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days
LEGO: Harry Potter

Other info is the Same as 260.63
ALL files in the driver folder are newer
and whit different size compared to 260.63.

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nVIDIA:

Version 260.89 also includes several bug fixes from the earlier beta release 260.63 and adds SLI support for some of the latest PC gaming titles including Dead Rising 2 and City of Heroes: Going Rogue.

The new version 260.89 can be downloaded. We expect to post a WHQL-certified version soon.
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It seems those was WHQL (260.81) but back to BETA

@OP linked to Guru3D mirrors, thanks for posting. (Thanks @OP)

 

R. note

This is a Beta release from the Release 260 family of drivers. This driver package supports GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, and 400-series desktop GPUs as well as ION desktop GPUs.

New in Release 260.89

New GPU Support

* Adds support for the newly released GeForce GT 430 GPU.

Performance

* Increases performance for GeForce GTX 400 Series GPUs in several PC games vs. v258.96 WHQL drivers. The following are examples of some of the most significant improvements measured on Windows 7. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:

GeForce GTX 480:
+ Up to 10% in StarCraft II (2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF Ultra)
+ Up to 14% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 16% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (SLI – 2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 6% in Aliens vs. Predator (SLI – 1920x1200 noAA – Tessellation on)

GeForce GTX 460:
+ Up to 19% in StarCraft II (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF Ultra)
+ Up to 15% in Battlefield Bad Company 2 (SLI – 2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 12% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (2560x1600 noAA)
+ Up to 9% in Aliens vs. Predator (1680x1050 4xAA/16xAF – Tessellation on)
+ Up to 7% in Metro 2033 (1680x1050 noAA – Tessellation on)
+ Up to 11% in Dirt 2 (SLI – 2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 12% in Crysis:Warhead (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF Gamer)
+ Up to 13% in Far Cry 2 (2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 12% in H.A.W.X (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF SSAO Very High)
+ Up to 5% in Just Cause 2 (1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 22% in Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (1920x1200 noAA)
+ Up to 5% in 3DMark Vantage (Extreme Preset)

Blu-ray 3D

* Adds support for playing back Blu-ray 3D discs when connecting your GPU to an HDMI 1.4 3D TV. Playback requires compatible software application from CyberLink, ArcSoft, Roxio, or Corel. For more information, NVIDIA Blu-ray 3D website.

HD Audio

* Adds lossless DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD audio bitstreaming support for compatible Blu-ray movies with GeForce GTX 460 GPUs*.
* Adds high definition 24-bit, 96 and 192 KHz multi-channel audio sampling rate support for compatible Blu-ray movies with GeForce GTX 400 Series ,GT 240, GT 220 and 210 GPUs*.
* Upgrades HD Audio driver to version 1.1.9.0.

*Note: A Blu-ray movie player update may be required to enable these new features; check with your movie players software manufacturers for more details.These features are only supported on Windows 7.

Installation

* New driver installer with enhanced user interface and new Express and Custom installation options.
o Express – fast and easy one-click installation
o Custom – customized installation
+ Option to perform a clean installation (completely removes older drivers from your system prior to installing the new driver).
+ Option to choose which driver components (ie. PhysX or 3D Vision) to install.
o Improved installation time for multi-GPU PCs.

NVIDIA Surround

* Updated NVIDIA Surround setup wizard
o After first setup, wizard allows users to jump to any setup step.
o Improved display connection diagrams and tooltips.
o Improved UI for setup and arrangement of displays.
o Improved bezel correction setup experience.
o Adds help page to highlight which in-game resolution to select (e.g. how to pick bezel corrected resolutions)
o Option to dedicate an extra GPU to PhysX or to drive an additional display.
o Allows for portrait or landscape setup directly from the setup wizard.
* Updated 3D Vision Surround and NVIDIA Surround game support list. Please visit the 3D Vision Surround web page for a full list of supported games.

NVIDIA 3D Vision

* With Release 260 drivers, the installation process for 3D Vision has changed. Please view this knowledgebase article for more information on the changes.
* Adds NVIDIA 3D Vision streaming support for Firefox 4 and Google Chrome web browsers.
* Adds support for Sony’s 3D Sweep Panorama picture format added to NVIDIA 3D Photo Viewer (Sony digital cameras that can capture 3D Sweep Panorama pictures include NEX-5/NEX-3, Alpha a560/a580 and Cyber-shot DSC-WX5/DSC-TX9/DSC-T99 models).
* Adds support for new 3D Vision Desktop LCD monitors: BenQ X2410 and NEC F23W2A
* Adds support for new 3D Vision projectors: Sanyo PDG-DWL2500 and ViewSonic PJD6251
* Added the following 3D Vision game profiles:
o Arcania: Gothic 4
o Fallout: New Vegas
o FIFA 11
o Formula 1 Racing
o Final Fantasy XIV Benchmark
o Guild Wars 2
o Kane &Lynch 2 – Dog Days
o Lead and Gold
o Lego Harry Potter
o Live For Speed
o Lost Planet 2
o Moonbase Alpha
o Serious Sam HD – The Second Encounter
o Shrek Forever After
o Singularity
o Vitua Tennis 2009
o Virtua Tennis 3
* Update the following 3D Vision game profiles
o Drakensang: The Dark Eye – updated in-game compatibility text
o Mafia II – updated profile to properly for 3D Vision-Rating
o StarCraft II – fixed profile to properly recognize the retail game executable name and match the 3D Vision rating of “Good”
o Super Commander – fixed HUD elements
o TRINE – new profiles fixes that allow the game to be rated “3D Vision-Ready” when used with the TRINE patch v1.08, available via Steam.

NVIDIA SLI

* Adds or enhances SLI profiles for the following PC games:
o City of Heroes: Going Rogue
o Alien Swarm
o Dead Rising 2
o Front Mission Evolved
o Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days
o LEGO: Harry Potter

Other Improvements

* Adds support for OpenGL 4.1 for GeForce 400 series GPUs.
* Upgrades PhysX System Software to version 9.10.0514.
* Improves compatibility for older PC games (DirectX 7 to DirectX 9) running on Windows 7 (examples: Gothic, Gothic II, Falcon 4.0: Allied Force, Links 2003, Independence War II - Edge of Chaos, and X2: Wolverine's Revenge).
* Adds drag and drop display arrangement support to the “Set up multiple displays” page.
* Includes numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release notes on the documentation tab for information about the key bug fixes in this release.
* Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.

Additional Information

* Supports the new GPU-accelerated features in Adobe CS5.
* Supports GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with Adobe Flash 10.1. Learn more here.
* Supports the new version of MotionDSP's video enhancement software, vReveal, which adds support for HD output. NVIDIA customers can download a free version of vReveal that supports up to SD output here.
* Supports DirectCompute with Windows 7 and GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
* Supports OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language) for all GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
* Supports OpenGL 3.3 for GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
* Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, and OpenGL, including 3-way SLI, Quad SLI, and SLI support on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards.
* Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.

So we have more changes, OpenGL 4.1 support! New games profiles! :banana: But still beta drivers.... three months without WHQL drivers :nerd:

 

I allready post the CHANGE in the release notes, no point of posting the same info

 

have removed the 260.63, strange ...

 

But 260.89 vs 260.63 haves more changes than support for GT430, like OpenGL 4.1 + new SLI and noSLI games profiles so...

 

Because 260.63 have been dangerous for some users :3eyes:

OMG! Sorry for double post!

 

So essentially the same as the 260.81 WHQL, but with support for the GT430, so probably just a slightly different .inf.

Anyone tried these yet, as won't be home for another 7hours or so, and curious of the results.

I had to lol at the 3D Vision profiles for Virtua Tennis3/2009, been wanting a normal one for that game(s) for a year now, but nice to see so much support for 3D being added, just wish there was also performance improvement for those games, as they will need it even more.

 

The are WHQL 260.81 drivers? Where?
And yes, for me this drivers are alot better than 260.63

 

anyone have a link for 260.81?

 

These drivers are almost exactly the same than 260.63, yet people is starting to post their improvements and claim stability and performance gains -just a few hours after the drivers were uploaded-.

I'm starting to think this whole drivers topic is all about subjective and imagination.

 

Q8..asd I fully agree

 

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/win7-winvista-64bit-260.89-beta-driver-uk.html
Thought they were on the Nvidia site, but just noticed the link points to the 260.89 beta ones, so either a mistake on Nvidia's part, or/and people are hitting F5 too often, and pulling stuff off there before Nvidia are done putting it on.
But the release notes are there, so the drivers are probably are too, just need to wait for Nvidia to sort out where they have put them.

trementine, you thinking placebo effect for lots of people? Some people just want a new driver, with a higher number, and a newer WHQL date, even if there is little to no difference from the previous one.

 

This is only in 64bit Win7.
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/win7-winvista-32bit-260.89-beta-driver-uk.html

all other ok.

 

the url is broken, when I want to download this driver

 

That's what i was saying, that link goes to the page for the WHQL ones, but the download link etc...look broken.

Would check again later, as they no doubt exist, Nvidia have just messed it up when uploading stuff.

 

try this: http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/260.89/260.89_desktop_win7_winvista_64bit_english_beta.exe

 

I think they moved back to beta, because the BETA number is higher.And
260.81 are older (Release Date: 2010.10.06) than the creation date of the
260.89 files (Creation date: 2010.10.08).

 

Possibly, but beta drivers are always newer, and if Nvidia got the 260.81 drivers WHQL certified, then im sure they would release them, especially when the last ones are nearly 3months old, and some people will only use WHQL drivers.

Not that its an issue for me, i test anything, and everything that appears.

 

this is 260.89, I need 260.81 whql

 

There is no WHQL driver yet! Probably if there is no bugs nVidia will relaese the whql driver soon after, so whql drivers won't be any different then these betas.