eVGA GTX 260 SC/55nm

[spyknee]

I posted this question at the eVGA forum, unfortunately the forum is lame as compared to here.

So,

I have a pair of these cards. I recently updated to driver 258.96, from beta 257.XX.
My W.E.I. score for both graphics categories dropped from 7.9 to 7.7.
I was wondering what driver others were using?
And if anyone could suggest a better driver for my cards?

258.96 works fine as far as gaming and the like goes, but you learn nada by being passive.

I got 7.9 from all previous drivers after OC'ing the cards, 7.7 before I OC'ed. I pushed the cards a little hard but things have always been stable either way.
I assume what W.E.I. is testing for is MB/s so I was wondering why the drop, albiet a little drop.
I have installed Precisions latest version and thats how I OC the cards, but the latest version does not work with pre 2XX.XX drivers and I'd rather not revert back.
Any thoughts appreciated.
ty

ps: please do not post that W.E.I. is garbage or inconsequential. I use it as a point of comparison.

 

[ken9122]

As long as the system works ok i wouldn't worry about a .2 point drop in your WEI. You could always go back to the old drivers unless the new drivers have features or fixes you need.

Ken

 

[spyknee]

As long as the system works ok i wouldn't worry about a .2 point drop in your WEI. You could always go back to the old drivers unless the new drivers have features or fixes you need.

Ken

Sorry Ken,
I do not want to be rude, but did I not bring these points to the thread. I was hoping for a more informative discussion.

 

[kellymac35]

I also have 460 SC's using 260.89. Wait Reread post 260. Still might give 260.89 a try less than a week old.

 

[jr26]

I've yet to use 2xx series drivers that improve my GTX 260(EVGA SC core 216). Still running 197.45's here which have provided the best performance (except for some distant texture flickering in GTA IV) of the 196-197 series. I've personally had nothing but poor performance from the 2xx series drivers.

 

[thefabe]

If your basing the performance of a new driver only on the WEi score then you don't know that the WEi program has always been know as.a fickle program not to be taken seriously, or as a benchmarking tool for driver preformance comparisons.

If you really want to compare performance of different drivers then I suggest you use a benchmarking program such as one of these 5 and compare the difference. Freeware Files: Five Punishing Game Benchmarks for your GPU! | Maximum PC

This will give you real gaming benchmark scores to compare by.
Fabe

 

[jr26]

Just paging through a couple sites on the net i've seen others mention a loss of performance with these drivers. You might be better off with what you had previously.

 

[spyknee]

Just paging through a couple sites on the net i've seen others mention a loss of performance with these drivers. You might be better off with what you had previously.

the beta 257 was previous driver, it ran at 7.9.

 

[spyknee]

Well,
I realize that this is a software forum, but I was hoping...............................
guess not.

 

[spyknee]

So,
I updated to driver ver 260.XX, lost more W.E.I. score. Down to 7.6.
I went back to driver ver 197.45. W.E.I. went to 7.9.
3DMark06 score was never much different no matter what driver ver.
I'm done playing and I will stick with 197.45.
Still had been hoping for better input tho, rather than people just repeating original post, info.

 

[Packet]

that's interesting... as newer cards have come out, the older cards have had their wei reduced...

i dont think i ever tried the 197.xxx drivers

 

[spyknee]

that's interesting... as newer cards have come out, the older cards have had their wei reduced...

i dont think i ever tried the 197.xxx drivers

Just goes to show that the latest always ain't the greatest.

 

[jr26]

The 200 series drivers appear to be more directed for the 4xx cards. I don't think there's been any improvements for 2xx cards since the last 19x.xx drivers. I doubt nvidia will be investing any more time into the older cards. I know just from personal testing the 197.45(196.21 second best but the 197.45 improved Just Cause 2 a good amount) have been the best drivers for my GTX 260. I had nothing but issues with the 200 series drivers.

 

[spyknee]

Topic Update

197.xx drivers were bad for game I fly. So I went back to where I began 257.xx beta, which works just fine as before.

So for my series 200 nVidia cards, it would appear that the 257.xx driver are a break over point, where driver updates are no longer beneficial to the vid card.

 

[vierasniper]

a .2 drop isnt a big deal, that card is still a tank

 

[spyknee]

a .2 drop isnt a big deal, that card is still a tank

Quite true, but they back at 7.9 again so................ they are tanks that go 75mph.

 

[jr26]

I've since moved to the 260.99's myself. Have you tried those? They are performing very well for me (best out of the 200 series drivers.. actually the only one for me that has shown improvement)

 

[taylorig]

Well i see you all going on about WEI drops on Graphics perfomance but i'm in a different boat and i haven't seen anyone else mention this before.

Anyway in regards to WEI scores this is what i get with each set of driver's.

197.45's
Processor = 6.3
Memory = 6.4
Graphics = 7.2
Gaming Graphics = 7.2
Primary Hard Disk = 5.9

258.96 Driver's come out exactly the same.

260.99's
Processor = 5.9 < WTF!
Memory = 5.9 < Double WTF!
Graphics = 7.1
Gaming Graphics = 7.1
Primary Hard Disk = 5.9

So has you can see from the various scores that my concern was what the hell are graphics driver's doing messing with my Processor and Memory scores...

 

[jr26]

That's some odd results. Mine scores 7.3 with either driver. If I up the overclock a little from the factory overclock it will hit 7.4.

 

[Mashed1316]

Odd problem, i gotta say... i've been with Nvidia drivers since about 2 or 3 years ago (mi 1st Nvidia card) and i've been with Windows 7 since the day after it came out... i believe i had the 195.62 drivers, the score on WEI for my s****y card was 3.5 and 5.1, to this day i have 260.99's and still have 3.5 and 5.1, so i can't really say "hey, i've been there" but i'm aware that there is a decent amount of guys with this...

The reason? IDK, somebody should write Nvidia about this... cause nobody has a real answer hehe...

Just my .02 cents.