Nvidia Releases Windows 8 WHQL Driver for Desktop GPUs

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Nvidia confirmed that it has the first set of WHQL-certified Windows 8 drivers for its desktop graphics cards available.

The software was released as version 302.82 and has been made available for the Windows 8 Release Preview in 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

According to Nvidia, the driver supports the new Windows 8 display driver model WDDM 1.2 and should not be used on Windows 7 and Windows Vista systems. It's not a flawless driver and the company notes that GT 520 users will see flickering in DirectX applications when launched with FXAA turned on from the Nvidia Control Panel.

As with previous 302 driver releases, this version also supports Nvidia's GeForce 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600-series desktop GPUs as well as ION desktop GPUs. The driver requires a minimum of 200 MB (English, 32-bit), and a maximum of 360 MB (64-bit, international) of space.

Douglas Perry
32 Comments Comment from the forums
  • A Bad Day
    So, anyone wants to use their Windows 7 computer as a guinea pig to see what would happen if the WHQL driver is installed?

    I'll install the next non-Windows 7 driver in the future. Promise.
    Reply
  • s3anister
    Somewhat insignificant. All this means is that some testing was done by Microsoft to ensure compatibility. Doesn't sound like the driver is anywhere near stable.
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    WHQL driver for a BETA software ?

    does this mean its certified to crash once per day?
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    I thought that Nvidia usually only puts at least reasonably stable drivers out as WHQL releases. They'll probably fix at least most problems in the next release, but this one should not a a WHQL release if it truly has severe stability problems. At least it's for a more or less unfinished platform, so it's somewhat excusable.
    Reply
  • nebun
    nVidia is taking the initiative to make sure that the drivers are stable before win8 is ready to ship....that's what i call pro-active...good work on their part...unlike AMD
    Reply
  • SteelCity1981
    nebunnVidia is taking the initiative to make sure that the drivers are stable before win8 is ready to ship....that's what i call pro-active...good work on their part...unlike AMD
    Because AMD knows Windows 8 is going to suck so they aren't in a hurry. LOL
    Reply
  • prophylaxis
    Windows 8 isn't in beta. It's about a month out from RTM.

    And as far as crash protection, with WDDM 1.2, it handles crashes on a per application basis. This is in contrast to Win 7 where it would reset the entire adapter in the event of a program behaving poorly.

    Regardless of your personal opinion of the UI, the underlying technology is improved over 7 as 7 was over vista.
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    nebunnVidia is taking the initiative to make sure that the drivers are stable before win8 is ready to ship....that's what i call pro-active...good work on their part...unlike AMD
    AMD already has working Windows 8 drivers. If Nvidia is being proactive, then AMD was preemptively proactive in comparison.
    Reply
  • nebun
    blazorthonAMD already has working Windows 8 drivers. If Nvidia is being proactive, then AMD was preemptively proactive in comparison.not really...i haven't seen any drivers from AMD
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    nebunnot really...i haven't seen any drivers from AMD
    When you go to download a driver for your specific operating system right on the main page of amd.com, Windows 8 x86 and Windows 8 x64 are the first two options from the top. If you didn't find any Windows 8 drivers from AMD, then that means that you didn't look with the intent of finding them. It took me less than a minute to do it. Considering that it's in a simple drop-down menu, I'm inclined to think that you haven't even looked. I'm also forced to consider the fact that you've so conveniently ignored the one or two articles here on Tom's that were dedicated to AMD's Windows 8 drivers. AMD has had Windows 8 drivers for weeks.
    Reply