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August 8, 2011

By Andrew Burnes

The new GeForce 280.26 WHQL drivers are now available to download. Filled with fixes, new and updated 3D Vision profiles, and a couple of new features, the drivers are an essential upgrade for those seeking the absolute best from their games. Compared to the 280.19 beta drivers released July 28th there are a few minor changes included of little note, in addition to a number of new 3D Vision profiles.

Though not mentioned in our release notes, we recommend that NVIDIA GPU users testing the Battlefield 3 Alpha download these drivers to help eliminate any in-game glitches they are experiencing. Also, anyone with a SLI PC and a 3D Vision kit should grab these drivers to enable 3DVisionLive.com and YouTube 3D video support. And finally, the new drivers enable Window mode in the latest version of the 3D Vision Player.

For a complete summary of all the noteworthy changes, updates and fixes in the 280.26 WHQL driver keep on reading:

New 3D Vision Hardware

  • Adds support for new 3D Vision projectors: Acer X1111, BenQ W710ST, NEC NP-V300W; and new 3D Vision monitor: ViewSonic V3D245

New 3D Vision Profiles

  • Alice Madness Returns
  • Back to the Future (Episodes 1-5)
  • Call of Juarez: The Cartel
  • Chuang Shi Xi You
  • Dao Jian 2
  • Dead Island
  • Deep Black
  • Dou Zhan Shen
  • Dragon Ball Online
  • Dungeons and Dragons: Online
  • Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
  • L.A. Noire
  • League of Legends
  • LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
  • Mars
  • Might & Magic Heroes VI
  • Mount & Blade: Warband
  • Mount & Blade: With Fire and Blade
  • PROUN
  • RAGE
  • Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
  • Rise of the Immortals
  • Rusty Hearts
  • Serious Sam 3: BFE
  • The Darkness 2
  • The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
  • Virtua Tennis 4
  • Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Updated 3D Vision Profiles

  • Crysis 2 – rating upgraded to Excellent. NVIDIA recommends using the v1.9 game patch.
  • Deep Black – rating upgraded to 3D Vision Ready
  • Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition – convergence changes and rating upgraded to 3D Vision Ready

Resolved Single GPU Issues

  • When installing the driver in Windows safe mode, the driver installation fails with an "NVIDIA Installer failed" message: The NVIDIA PhysX driver installer is not compatible with Microsoft's policy for safe mode, so the failure occurs when the PhysX driver is installed. To install the NVIDIA graphics driver in safe mode, deselect the PhysX driver from the list of NVIDIA driver components during safe mode installation.
  • GeForce 400 Series: "Out of Memory" error messages occur when loading certain saved DirectX 9 games with 3D Vision enabled.
  • GeForce 500 series: Crysis 2 – when played using DirectX 9, weapons become semi-transparent.
  • GeForce 500 Series: Crysis 2 “Seat of Power” – weapons are not drawn correctly.
  • GeForce 500 series: World of Tanks – the game hitches and stutters, especially while moving around the view.
  • GeForce GTX 280M: “Could not find compatible graphics hardware” error occurs when installing the notebook driver.

Resolved Multi-GPU Issues

  • 3D Surround, GeForce 400 series: With three displays connected and enabled, after connecting a fourth display, if cannot be enabled from the NVIDIA Control Panel.
  • 3D Surround, GeForce 500/400 series: Two displays from the Surround group go blank upon enabling extended view on a display connected to the non-Surround group GPU.
  • 3D Vision: 3-way SLI is slower than 2-way SLI in 3D Vision mode.
  • 3-Way SLI, GeForce 500 series: Displays connected to the HDMI connection on the second or third GPU cannot be enabled from the NVIDIA Control Panel: To workaround, enable the displays using the Windows Display Settings page.
  • Optimus, Notebook GPUs: With the NVIDIA GPU display set as the secondary Dualview display, a YouTube HD video in full-screen mode is blank the first time it is played.
  • SLI, GeForce 500 Series: Crysis 2 “Seat of Power” – weapons are not drawn correctly.
  • SLI, GeForce 500 Series: Dirt 3 – the game stutters within the menu and occasionally during a race.
  • SLI, GeForce 200 Series: Crysis 2 – the game flickers when both PhysX and SLI are enabled.
  • SLI, GeForce 200 Series: F.E.A.R. – poor SLI performance.
  • SLI, GeForce 400 Series: Dragon Age 2 – shadows glitches occur.
  • SLI, GeForce 400 series: After restart the system, the PhysX processor setting on the Set SLI and PhysX configuration page switches from “Auto” to “GPU.”
  • SLI: Homefront – with SLI is enabled, shadows flicker in the game.
  • SLI: The NVIDIA Control Panel reports that the first GPU is not installed in a high-performance PCIe slot: This message can be ignored. It is an obsolete message that no longer applies, and will be removed in a future driver release.

Click here to download the NVIDIA GeForce 280.26 WHQL drivers