Graphic Drivers

Nvidia has released the Beta Forceware 257.15 driver for Windows XP, Vista and 7. This new 'Release 256' series of drivers are for the GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400 and ION series cards. The drivers add support for Blu-ray 3D with Nvidia 3D Vision technology, add new control panel options for PhysX, CUDA and SLI configuration, and contain performance improvements and bug fixes. The driver package also contains the 9.10.0222 PhysX drivers.

Hot off the press ATI have released Cat 10.5 Whql.

Drivers & Support | GAME.AMD.COM

Release notes: http://www2.ati.com/relnotes/Catalys...ease_notes.pdf


New Features
This section provides information on new features found in this release of the ATI
Radeon� Display Driver. These include the following:
Support for 120 Hz displays on the ATI Radeon� HD 4000 Series and ATI
Radeon� HD 3000 Series
ATI Overdrive enhancement � full support for multiple display configurations
Support for 120 Hz displays on the ATI Radeon� HD 4000
Series and ATI Radeon� HD 3000 Series
ATI Catalyst� now supports 120 Hz Displays for the ATI Radeon� HD 4000 and
ATI Radeon� HD 3000 Series
ATI Overdrive enhancement � full support for multiple display
configurations
ATI Overdrive has been enhanced � delivering full support for over-clocking
functionality on supported ATI Radeon� HD graphics accelerators connected to
multiple display configurations
Resolved Issues for All Windows Operating Systems
This section provides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATI Catalyst�
Software Suite for Windows. These include:
"Battlefield 2: Bad Company" maps no longer takes unusually long to load
Enabling hardware shaders (perfect mode) no longer causes text and on-screen menu
corruption while loading missions in "IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946" game
Re-logging into a system after a Remote Desktop connection no longer results in
"Catalyst Control Center is not supported..." warning message or the Graphics menu
for Catalyst Control Center Advanced view to go missing
HDTV resolutions are now properly reported by the tooltip when the mouse cursor
hovers over the CV display icon under "Desktops & Displays" in Catalyst Control
Center
Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System
This section provides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATI Catalyst�
Software Suite for Windows 7. These include:
Alt-Tabbing to desktop and back into "Mass Effect 2" game no longer causes the
display to go black
In-game Anti-Alias can now be applied when other in-game options like Volumetric
Effects are enabled in "Empire: Total War" and "Napoleon: Total War" games
Enabling Anti-Alias in "Empire: Total War" no longer causes a performance drop
Running "Unigine Heaven Benchmark 2.0" in wireframe mode with tessellation
enabled no longer causes the application to fail on ATI Radeon HD 5000 Series cards
Changing in-game resolution in "Alien vs. Predator" no longer causes the screen to
flicker under Multi-GPU configurations
Catalyst Control Center now remembers the position of fourth monitor in Eyefinity
group
Black screen no longer observed with "Unigine Heaven Benchmark 2.0" application
with OpenGL mode settings
Enabling dynamic contrast in Catalyst Control Center video settings no longer causes
vertical stripes to appear during XVID content playback
Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System
This section provides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATI Catalyst�
Software Suite for Windows Vista. These include:
[Catalyst Control Center] Avivo basic color controls in the "All Settings" page can
now be applied and will not shift to default values
HBR (high bit-rate) audio now functions properly
"Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction" no longer fails during game play for ATI
Radeon� HD 2000 and 3000 series cards
Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System
This section provides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATI Catalyst�
Software Suite for Windows XP. These include:
"Resident Evil 5" now launches properly with a HDMI display connected to an AGP
card
PowerDVD no longer exhibits blue and pink tint when adjusting brightness and
contrast in Catalyst Control Center when viewing Blu-ray content
Known Issues Under All Windows Operating Systems
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under
the Windows operating system in the latest version of Catalyst�. These include:
Disabling CrossFire� for the first time may cause the "Contrast" value to change to
zero in Catalyst Control Center - Display Properties Color page

One downer I've got since Catalyst 10.5 is playing "TW Napoleon" that when battles load up the menus are flickering and only cure is to reload battle by changing any option in the graphics settings to force the reload...

Gonna update the game in case that helps.. was playing vanilla 1.0

As you say, perhaps a patch (if there is one) will help..

A new WHQL driver hit the web, this is revision 197.77 WHQL which carries support for pretty much any GeForce graphics cards in the series GeForce 6000 and upwards. The first reports are that these drivers run extremely well.
We do not have release notes just yet but we do have an open and active discussion thread live right here.
Forceware 197.77 Win 7 | Vista 64-bit WHQL
Forceware 197.77 Win 7 | Vista 32-bit WHQL
Forceware 197.77 Win XP 32-bit WHQL

Ref: NVIDIA GeForce Forceware 197.77 WHQL

Originally Posted by kemical

As you say, perhaps a patch (if there is one) will help..

Ok sorted the issue, seems to be because I had forced AA and Anistropic in the CCC options (even set to same as in the games settings themselves), once ticked the let app select working fine again on ultra everything on.

ATI Catalyst™ 10.5a Hotfix




5/28/2010

GPU-66 ATI Catalyst™ 10.5a Hotfix features:

The ATI Catalyst 10.5a Hotfix provides resolution for the following issue:

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Long load times for new maps when using a Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® based system with an:
  
  • ATI Radeon HD 4xxx series graphics card
  • ATI Radeon HD 3xxx series graphics card
  • ATI Radeon HD 2xxx series graphics card

Download:

In order to download and install the ATI Catalyst 10.5a Hotfix, click on the following link:

• ATI Catalyst 10.5a Hotfix for Windows 7 / Windows Vista 32-bit / 64-bit Edition

For detailed instructions on how to install the driver hotfix, refer to:

• Article GPU-33 for a Windows 7 based system
• Article GPU-1 for a Windows Vista based system

Additional Recommendations:

If the issue continues to occur after installation of the driver hotfix, the following troubleshooting steps can help resolve the issue:

1. The problem may be a result of issues within the game application. Install any patches and / or updates available for the game application.
   1. Contact the game developer for instructions on how to obtain / install the latest patches and / or updates for the game application
2. Conflict between the graphics card and motherboard’s BIOS version can cause performance issues. To reduce any hardware compatibility conflicts, install the latest BIOS version available for the motherboard
   1. Contact the motherboard manufacturer for instructions on how to obtain / install the latest BIOS version for the motherboard
3. Installation errors that may have occurred during the installation of the game application may cause performance instability. Perform a clean install of the game application
   1. First uninstall the application
   2. Perform a fresh install of the application
   3. Install any available patches / updates for the application
   4. If the problem persists, reinstall the ATI Catalyst 10.5a Driver Hotfix
4. Installation errors that may have occurred during the installation of the ATI Catalyst Software may cause performance instability. Perform a clean install of the ATI Catalyst Software
   1. For detailed instructions on the recommended steps for uninstalling / installing ATI drivers, refer to:
      1. Article GPU-33 for a Windows 7 based system
      2. Article GPU-1 for a Windows Vista based system

Applicable Products:

This article applies to the following configuration(s):

• Hardware
  
  • ATI Radeon HD 4xxx series of products
  • ATI Radeon HD 3xxx series of products
  • ATI Radeon HD 2xxx series of products
• Software
  
  • Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Operating System
  
  • Windows 7 32bit
  • Windows 7 64bit
  • Windows Vista 32bit
  • Windows Vista 64bit

Ref: ATICatalystHotfix

ATi Catalyst 10.6(?) Beta 8.740 - 17 May

ATi Catalyst 10.6(?) Beta 8.740 - 17 May - Guru3D.com Forums

Have tried these myself and they do seem quick drivers..

All about the GTX 400 series

Nvidia has rolled out its WHQL certified 257.21 Geforce driver with support for Geforce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300 and of course, the 400 series graphics cards as well as the ION GPUs. The new version of the Geforce driver is, as expected, all about Geforce GTX 400 series and brings numerous new features as well as performance improvements for the noted series.

The highlighted features include support for OpenGL 4.0 for Geforce GTX 400 series GPUs, support for CUDA Toolkit 3.1, support for the new extreme Antialiasing modes on 3-way SLI including the up to SLI48x AA on Geforce 200 series and SLI96x for the GTX 400 series, support for a new "Quality" mode for Ambient Occlusion, new Control Panel setup page for SLI and PhysX on multi-GPU systems, and new Control Panel feature for CUDA GPUs.

The new driver also brings support for Blu-ray 3D with Nvidia 3D Vision technology, something that the latest beta and WHQL drivers lacked.

The performance improvements include various games like Aliens vs. Predator, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Battleforge, Far Cry 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, but the most noticable one is the 40 percent improvement in Metro 2033 with SLI setup. Performance improvements are also visible in Unigine: Tropics and 3DMark Vantage benchmarks at certain resolution and settings.

You can download the new driver here, where you can check out the full list of performance improvements as well.

Ref: Fudzilla - Nvidia rolls out its 257.21 WHQL driver

Originally Posted by kemical

ATi Catalyst 10.6(?) Beta 8.740 - 17 May

Have tried these myself and they do seem quick drivers..

They are now final 10.6 build on AMD's driver page
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx