nVidia FM Approved 66.93 - cancelled

[dwwalker14335]

Well, here's a bit of news. It appears that Futuremark is pulling the FM approved status for the 66.93 drivers, so any posted results on the ORB Hall of Fame will no longer be valid. The list has radically changed.

The Forceware 66.93 drivers have been re-reviewed and discussed with NVIDIA based on the drivers' application detection mechanism with SLI configurations and application profiles for 3DMark. It has been mutually decided that their approval will be canceled. Forceware 71.89 drivers are recommended for all 3DMark testing on SLI configurations

[Cybercat]

Well anyone with common sense wouldn't be using outdated drivers like that anyway. Latest drivers = performance increase for free.

[eva2000]

nice i never got 66.93 to work in SLI but 71.89WHL work for me :D

[dwwalker14335]

Well anyone with common sense wouldn't be using outdated drivers like that anyway. Latest drivers = performance increase for free.

It's not about common sense. It is about using the FM approved WHQL driver and the Hall of Fame list.

I agree. Newer drivers = better performance. But, many of the SLI clockers were obligated to using this driver to get on the Hall of Fame. The 66.93 drivers were slower, but they were official. And, since many clockers use the project approach, they do not have the SLI system around any longer to run with the latest FM approved driver. It's all about timing.

A good example, Shimano. He had World Record highest scores for an SLI system on the earlier build of 05 and 03. Then, the new build comes out, and his efforts are erased. His scores would have maintained number 1 spots up until just a couple of weeks ago. Instead, his efforts were removed back at the beginning of January. Now, the 66.93 driver pull has the same effect. Back when this driver was official, there were not other 71.X WHQL drivers available, yet. So, once again, very recent efforts of some of the "name brand" clockers have been erased.

I think this muddies the water around the SLI results on the ORB. Now we have sub 11K scores with the newer faster drivers making the list, and all the 11K plus scores with the slower 66.93 previously approved driver removed. That is a big swing.

[afireinside]

Well anyone with common sense wouldn't be using outdated drivers like that anyway. Latest drivers = performance increase for free.

I guess thats why older drivers gave me 500 points :stick:

[dwwalker14335]

I guess thats why older drivers gave me 500 points :stick:

Yes, true. With nVidia, the latest is not always the fastest. They seem to fix one thing and break another. The Catalyst drivers from ATI seem to have a more steady performance increase release to release versus nVidia's efforts. But, one thing is for sure, the 66.93 drivers for SLI were definitely the slowest.

[Cybercat]

I guess thats why older drivers gave me 500 points :stick:
yeah but most of the time all you ever run is 3DMark01. if you look around the web you can see people have run benchmarks with various driver versions, and the performance increase in the newer apps is there.

[Kanavit]

lol, so 66.93 forcewares are not approved anymore?? it's slower than 71.89s anyway. wow, nVidia drivers dont get a break do they.

[zakelwe]

yeah but most of the time all you ever run is 3DMark01. if you look around the web you can see people have run benchmarks with various driver versions, and the performance increase in the newer apps is there.

then why stop 66.93 for 03 and 05 when 66.93 is better for 2001 ?

After 70.XX 3dmark 03 and 05 got a massive jump , 10%, so why pick on little old 66.93 ?

It's all very odd.

Regards

Andy

[drcrawn]

I've been waiting to use this smily forever... :gay: