NVIDIA releases 195.62 WHQL mobile driver - EPIC FAIL #2

NVIDIA posted the 195.62 WHQL driver today. Highlights include:

- Adds GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta. See this link for PROPER SUPPORT of 10.1.
- Adds support for DirectCompute with Windows 7.
- Adds support for OpenGL 3.2.
- Adds support for OpenCL 1.0.
- Adds support for CUDA Toolkit 3.0 features and performance enhancements.
- Adds SLI and multi-GPU support for many top new gaming titles including Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA Soccer 10, and more.
- Includes numerous bug fixes including improved performance for Need for Speed: Shift.

NVIDIA posts beta driver 195.55 - EPIC FAIL

Today NVIDIA posted the 195.55 Beta. For the M17x it will not install - no small surprise. C'mon NVIDIA - time to get your game on and NOT leave out the Alienware M17x.

Adds GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta.

Adds support for DirectCompute with Windows 7.

Adds support for OpenGL 3.2.

Adds support for OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language).

Adds support for CUDA Toolkit 3.0 features and performance enhancements.

Adds SLI and multi-GPU support for many top new gaming titles including Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA Soccer 10, and more.

Includes numerous bug fixes including improved performance for Need for Speed: Shift.

Installs NVIDIA PhysX System Software v9.09.0814.

TESTING NOTES:

HybridSLI is functional and pulling the AC Power Cord will automatically kick you into 9400M G mode only (if you have Hybrid and Integrated Graphics enabled in the BIOS of course).

L4D2, TF2, MW2 and others are running fine in SLI with this driver.

ISSUE #1: BluRay playback is again not functional. Same issue was present with 187.xx. You can work around this issue by unchecking the option in PowerDVD to disable Aero for BluRay Playback.

ISSUE #2: If you are running SLI your second GPU will not downclock properly after ending a 3D Gaming session. Clocks for GPU #2 will remain @ default (583/950/1450) whereas GPU #1 will return to 200/100.

ISSUE #3: Uninstaller is broken. When accessing the Programs & Features Control Panel to uninstall, the display driver option is missing. You will need to uninstall each display adapter via the Device Manager.

The only + side to this release so far has been the updated SLI Profiles. Given the issues found, I cannot recommend this driver for use with the M17x. I will not be adding it to the lists. Back to 186.82 for me.

If you are as tired as I of these sub-par drivers NVIDIA has been churning out or tired of the fact that 186.81, 195.39 and now 195.55 (which are all part of the NVIDIA Verde Driver Project) have NOT installed properly on the M17x, I ask all of you to provide feedback on these issues. In fact, since the M17x has been released, not one driver NVIDIA has published has worked correctly. Please take a moment and report the issues - HERE.

Sleep Mode and the M17x

I have found that using sleep/suspend mode on the M17x has been problematic at best. Most of the time when waking the unit up, I am greeted with a blank LCD and no way to work around it short of a hard reset (holding down the power button). I have observed this behavior with 179.85, 186.12 and the 186.24 drivers. I know from past experience this is almost always a display driver issue.

There is currently no work around to this that I can find. I have tried disabling the 9400M G (motherboard GPU) prior to putting the system to sleep (via the FN+F7 command) has met with poor results. Sometimes it will work and wake properly, other times it will not.

I will be testing the current line of drivers (190.xx) series this weekend. I plan to disable the mGPU (via the BIOS) and install the 190.40 driver from xfastest.com and see how it fairs. If sleep is still an issue, then I'm going to label this as a severe problem. If the unit enters and exits sleep mode without issue then it will confirm its poor driver implementation.

Bottom line, my opinion is this: A laptop is used for portability. If you cannot put the unit to sleep and transfer it to another location (i.e. conference room to office, etc.), then what is the point in having a laptop? One of the selling points to the M17x is the integrated GPU (mGPU). The mGPU provides greatly enhanced battery time but at what cost? A non-functioning sleep mode? Not acceptable in my book.

I can only hope that Alienware/Dell resolve this issue soon. If this is truly the 'All Powerful' laptop, it should function properly out of the box without having to cripple certain features. Most would agree.

More to follow on this 'bug'.