WHQL-certified GeForce 190.38 Drivers Out
Nvidia has released its final build of the WHQL GeForce 190.38 drivers for all recent Windows platforms, including Windows 7.
Download now for:
The big new feature in this driver release is power management features. As Nvidia describes in its release notes:
Many NVIDIA graphics cards support multiple performance levels so that the PC can save power when full graphics performance is not required. To provide more control over these power management capabilities, NVIDIA has added the Power Management Mode control. The control consists of two settings–Adaptive and Prefer Maximum Performance.
Adaptive: This is the default setting in which the graphics card monitors GPU usage and seamlessly switches between modes based on the performance demands of the application. This allows the GPU to always use the minimum amount of power required to run a given application, and can allow even older 3D games to run in lower power modes if the game does not require full 3D performance. NVIDIA recommends this setting for best overall balance of power and performance.
Prefer Maximum Performance: This setting lets you maintain the card at its maximum performance level when 3D applications are running regardless of GPU usage. This option can be set Globally (for all 3D applications), or an application profile can be created under Program Settings to set the preference for a particular 3D application.
Other new additions include expanded CUDA support, 64-bit video encoding, OpenGL 3.1 and a few more. Check out the full list of fixes and open issues for the appropriate release notes: Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.

* Adds support for OpenGL 3.1
* Adds support for CUDA 2.3 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDA Zone for more details.
* Adds a new user-controlled power management setting for select GeForce 9-series and later graphics cards (cards must already support more than one power state). This option allows users to set a performance level for each DirectX or OpenGL application.
* Includes several new control panel features and numerous bug fixes. More information can be found in the release documentation.
* Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
... anyone running into stability issues or anything?
Will have to give this latest one a try tonight.
*shrug* ill play around with it later.
What is SF4 - are you so pressed for time you can't write out the full title of a game? Yes, I could simply google it or just think a little harder and figure it out but seriously...GRRRRR! Ok, I feel much better now.
SF4 = Street Fighter 4. No stress
I'm not sure if this is doable on Nvidia cards, but for my 4870 I use ATI Tray Tools in an awesome way. I use the 'auto overclock' feature with two profiles. I have my 'desktop' profile which is undervolted and heavily underclocked, I believe something like 350/400. Combined with the undervolt it eats much less juice (according to GPU-Z). It auto detects when I open a game and switches to my 'OC' profile, plays a little chime, and when I exit it goes back to 'desktop' and plays a little chime. Also you can add specific programs to be excluded that don't need it, like Diablo 2 or any older game.
I'm curious whether the adaptive and maximum power states will affect 3rd party manufacturer programs. My Gigabyte Zalman 8800gt oc uses the gamer hud for this very purpose and overclocks better than the existing nvidia tools as it supports the card's voltage setting. Would the nvidia drivers override those settings?
The only reason I prefer Nvidia over ATi is:
a) Better UI. The ATi UI is absolute shit.
b) EVGA GTX 295 hydrocopper. Though Saphhire did produce a single card 2GB 4870...