NVIDIA rolls out Release 258.96 drivers, promises more speed

NVIDIA launched the GeForce GTX 460 1,024MB and 768MB graphics cards on Monday. New GPUs means a new driver, folks. This time around, the green team is bringing you the Release 258.96 set, complete with Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) support for 3D Vision Surround.

The driver itself is going through formal WHQL certification now, NVIDIA says, and it brings healthy gaming improvements across the board.

Presenting a best-case scenario with a GeForce GTX 480 card - single-card and SLI - and compared to Release 258.21, most GTX 400-series users can expect a small bump in performance. If you don't like squinting at graphs, here's how it pans out.

Up to 11% in Aliens vs. Predator (1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF – Tessellation on)

Up to 7% in Crysis: Warhead (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF – Gamer)

Up to 4% in H.A.W.X (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF – Very High)

Up to 10% in Just Cause 2 (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF - Concrete Jungle)

Up to 6% in Metro 2033 (1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF – Tessellation on)

Up to 7% in Metro 2033 (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF – Tessellation on)

Up to 10% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF)

Up to 12% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF)

Up to 4% in World in Conflict (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF)

Upgrades PhysX System Software to version 9.10.0224.

Upgrades HD Audio driver version 1.0.15.0 (for supported GPUs).

Give them a go by heading over to download page.