NVIDIA posts WHQL-certified Big Bang II driver

Today NVIDIA officially pulled the wraps off their so-called "Big Bang II" graphics driver. The new drivers contain numerous performance improvements as well as the ability to run SLI with two monitors (previously you had to disable SLI in the driver control panel to enable this functionality). Here's the complete list of what's new from NVIDIA:

Exciting New Features:

Enables NVIDIA SLI technology on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards with the following GPUs: GeForce GTX 280, GeForce GTX 260, GeForce 9800 GX2, GeForce 9800 GTX+, and GeForce 9800 GTX.

Enables NVIDIA SLI Multi-monitor support, giving you the ability to use two monitors with your GeForce graphics cards in SLI mode. Now you can easily switch between multi-monitor desktop mode and full screen 3D gaming mode. Learn more here.

Enables NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on a dedicated GeForce graphics card. Use one card for graphics and dedicate a different card for PhysX processing for game-changing physical effects. Learn more here. (Note: GPU PhysX is supported on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory. This driver package automatically installs PhysX System Software version 8.10.13).

Blazing Fast Performance:

Boosts performance in numerous 3D applications. The following are some examples of improvements measured with Release 180 WHQL drivers vs. Release 178 WHQL drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):

Up to 10% performance increase in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset)

Up to 13% performance increase in Assassin's Creed

Up to 13% performance increase in BioShock

Up to 15% performance increase in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts

Up to 10% performance increase in Crysis Warhead

Up to 25% performance increase in Devil May Cry 4

Up to 38% performance increase in Far Cry 2

Up to 18% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID

Up to 80% performance increase in Lost Planet: Colonies

Up to 18% performance increase in World of Conflict

And More:

Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL, including 3-way and Quad SLI technology.

Supports CUDA.

Supports Folding@home distributing computing application. Download the high performance client for NVIDIA GPUs here and join the NVIDIA team: #131015.

Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.

Includes numerous 3D application compatibility fixes. Please read the release notes for more information on product support, features, driver fixes and known compatibility issues.

Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.

The new drivers support all GeForce GTX 200 series, GeForce 9, and GeForce 8800 series GPUs.

Download Links:
Windows XP
Windows XP x64
Windows Vista x86
Windows Vista x64

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