NVIDIA Forceware
Revisited
Graphics card driversPCI Express x16 graphics cards
Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT
After doing our round up of GeForce 6600GT, we came to the conclusion that there's a lot of homework to be done by NVIDIA's driver developers. Since then, NVIDIA has release the latest Forceware version, the 78.01. We recently received the Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT Silent Pipe (which you can read the review here), but we used Forceware 77.72 for evaluation purposes in that review. Of course, we're aching to see whether or not NVIDIA fixed the many problems we encountered in Forceware 78.01. What better way to test it but by using additional games? We spent some time with everyone's favorite these past months - Battlefield 2.
We only spent a short time with Battlefield 2, so we won't be using it in testing (for now). This is more of a quick and dirty test, we choose the above settings since it's still very playable on the GeForce 6600GT. You'll also notice that the 100 fps cap is still active. We really like the custom quality options, since it allows us to troubleshoot graphical glitches and problems. Unlike Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield: Vietnam, Battlefield 2 uses shaders extensively and each time we change video settings, the game will automatically 'optimize' the shaders for best performance. Even with fixed settings, the game will optimize the shaders if you change graphics card drivers. We ran test with three drivers - Forceware 66.93, 77.72 and 78.01. There are some graphical differences as you can see below.
While the images are not exactly the same frame, you can clearly see quality differences. We didn't use a Battle Record, opting for a screenshot in game, that's why they don't exactly match up. With Forceware 66.93, the (dynamic) shadows will render incorrectly, resulting in the artifact you can see clearly on the first image. You can however, turn off the lighting (although not completely) to avoid this bug. Forceware 77.72 and 78.01 renders the shadows correctly.
However, Forceware 77.72 has a graphical bug that renders some parts (the sandbags) a little 'funky'. It's even more annoying to look at if you're moving the camera. This artifact is not present on Forceware 66.93 and 78.01. So, at least compatibility wise, the latest Forceware 78.01 is the best one to use with Battlefield 2. How about performance?
|
|
Forceware 66.93 |
Forceware 77.72 | Forceware 78.01 |
|
Minimum fps |
52.25 |
50.85 |
57 |
| Average fps |
69.18 |
70.39 |
72.30 |
|
Maximum fps |
82.25 |
84.57 |
85 |
These are average results from five runs, with 5 to 10 % variance between each run. As you can see, the maximum fps never reach the 100 fps with the settings we used on the GeForce 6600GT. However, long extensive gameplay does indicate we can see much lower fps than these (especially with lots of smokes and explosions), down to the 25 to 30 fps range. It's clear that upping the settings will tax the graphics card beyond its capability. You really have to use at least a GeForce 6800GT if you want to use the 'High' settings.
Our incursion with Battlefield 2 shows that again you need newer drivers if you want to play newer games on NVIDIA hardware. Sadly, with past driver versions, this mean sacrificing some performance and quality with older games. But it looks like things are getting better with Forceware 78.01. Let's see whether or not that's true for all games, new and old. Forceware 66.93 is very similar to 66.81 and you can look at the quality differences in our past article (which you can read here and here). There's no need to post the 78.01 screenshots, since they're basically the same as with 77.72, so let's discuss performance.
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