Nvidia Driver
We used the current driver version 41.01 for our tests. AGP8X is only displayed if the graphics card is used in the corresponding platform. In this case, AGP4X is still visible in this window because the i850 chipset was used.
We released the speed controllers for information purposes only. They are hidden in the standard drivers. You can see that the chip speed is set at 297 MHz, although it should actually be 300 MHz. This is just a little inaccuracy of the tweaking tool (wrong interpretation of internal registers). The same rating of 297 MHz is shown for the older Quadro4 900XGL, too. In contrast to ATi, Nvidia gives twice that speed at 650 MHz. From a physical standpoint, however, the correct value is 325 MHz. This is where the effect of marketing becomes noticeable. Although it's true that the bandwidth is double that of conventional SDRAM when DDR SDRAM is used, that doesn't mean you can simply double the physical speed, as it stays constant. But Nvidia is not the only company that uses this strategy. In the end analysis, the customer is only getting what he's asking for: when everything is reduced to the common denominator "Megahertz," it's no wonder that marketing departments employ the same method. Thank goodness that readers of Tom's Hardware know more...
Like ATi, Nvidia also offers preconfigured settings for important workstation applications. For test purposes, however, we set the vertical sync to "off" to get the best possible performance. Another note at this point to avoid misunderstandings: the "Custom OpenGL Application Settings" are not the same thing as driver certification, which is an evaluation process that occurs separately. Although Nvidia suggests in its marketing and press releases that you are certified for many important applications, this does not apply at present to the Quadro4 980XGL. Why? Because older drivers only support the NV25 chip (in other words, the Quadro4 series up to 900XGL). The 980XGL, however, is based on the NV28 chip and thus requires drivers from the 4x.xx generation and later. If your purchase decision rests solely on certification, you should check out the latest information on the Nvidia website. To reiterate: the appropriate driver number should be 40.00 or higher so that the certification details also apply to the 980XGL.
