[*Unresolved* Issue] Alienware M18x: GTX 580M SLI DPC Latency Problems

[Mr. Fox]

Don't be worried yet. There is always a bit of lag while they are working on the solution. Be patient. We saw similar lulls in activity while they were working on the Aero/OSD bug, the AMD 6990M overheating and thermal shutdown, and the 580M throttling. They have come through for us on each of those things. The wildcard here is NVIDIA, since a big portion (if not all) of the responsibility is theirs for fixing their drivers. Give it a week or two, or three.

Also consider this. Dell's recommended driver (269.03) is not Dell tweaked. It is merely validated and approved by Dell, but it is a 100% standard NVIDIA reference driver. Since that driver was released there have been a ton of new game releases, most of which had issues with both AMD and NVIDIA cards. Verde 269.03 is the newest driver NVIDIA has provided that passes Dell quality standards, so 269.03 is the latest Dell recommended driver. I'm actually glad Dell cares enough not to "validate" or "recommend" crappy drivers.

Also consider that every NVIDIA driver released since the Dell recommended driver has been tweaked by NVIDIA to provide an improved user experience with the new game releases. How do we know that it's not something NVIDIA had to do to a driver to fix a game performance issue at the expense of DPC latency? We don't know that for sure and if they go back and fix the DPC latency and break somebody's favorite game in the process, they will simply be switching customer groups that are not happy. They may be catering to the largest audience and ignoring the issue that has been identified by fewer customers. Don't get me wrong, I want it all, but it may take time to get it right.

[neosis]

obligatory

[bumbo2]

obligatory

Hmmmmmm. That video has tooooo muuuch DPC latency. Hehehehehe

[NecroSavant]

I would like to say that skygunner27 is my new conscience lol

We decided to test if the 460M's had an SLI DPC latency...and oh boy does it have it.

Here is a pic i took from the DPC program:

[skygunner27]

Thank you for posting.

Here's my 580M SLI latency.
http://i.imgur.com/VT4iP.png

[bumbo2]

DELLChrisM what cooking with the DPC Lt. thing ehh, can you increase the fire in the kitchen or in the oven?. jocking

[Dell-Bill_B]

Sentinel196 is correct. The only driver that is free of DPC Latency is Dell's NVIDIA 269.03 driver. Which is SUPER old and unsuitable for Q3/Q4's 2011+ games. Every other driver suffers from serious latency.
Thank You, Bill.

Would it be possible to update the OP with a list of games that a) can't run on Dell's older driver and/or b) games that work on our driver but have issues, with short descriptions of the issues?

[skygunner27]

Games that I know that have glitches or poor performance on 269.03 are Crysis 2, BF3(NOT PLAYABLE), Rage, Batman:AC, Alice Madness Returns(update to date) and Saints Row:The Third. 269.03 also lacks SLI profiles for a lot of recent titles(MW3,SR3). As far as I know some of these games run on 269.03. Just not very good. There has been a significant amount of improvements/fixes from 269.03 to 290.53.

I'm sure most of these problems can be substantiated by looking at the change log/release notes of every driver released after 269.03 to 290.53.
BF3: Massive performance issues, artifacts, random crashing to the desktop.
SR3: Massive performance issues, random crashing to the desktop.
Rage: Massive performance issues, artifacts, glitches.
Crysis 2: Massive performance issues, artifacts, HDR & bloom effects problem that causes flickering.
Batman AC: Massive performance issues, artifacts, PhysX problems, random crashing to the desktop, DX11.
Alice Madness Returns: artifacts from old 269.03 PhysX
Saints Row 3: Massive performance issues, artifacts, random crashing to the desktop.

While some of these problems have been patched by a developers released update, they still require a more up to date driver than 269.03 to finalize the patch in accordance with Nvidia's driver.

269.03 also has the 3D Prototype error more frequently than 290.53. I called in and explained this problem to a level I to have this problem on file. I explained the problem through AlienContact and mentioned that I was working with Dell here in the threads to find a solution to both problems. He said that he was aware of who you and Chris are and that he would forward the data over to Chris and a level 3.
Hopefully a mod can edit/add to the OP.



Here's an example not including 3D Vision and the fixes/changes made from 269.03 to pre-285.27
New in Release 285.27

Performance

•Increases performance for GeForce 400 and 500-series GPUs in several PC games vs. v280.26 WHQL drivers. The following are some examples of improvements measured on Windows 7. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:

GeForce GTX 580:
◦Up to 5% in Call of Duty: Black Ops
◦Up to 7% in Civilization V with SLI
◦Up to 5% in Crysis 2 DX11 with SLI
◦Up to 7% in F1 2010 with SLI
◦Up to 5% in Lost Planet 2 with SLI
◦Up to 5% in Mafia 2 with SLI
◦Up to 13% in Metro 2033 with SLI
◦Up to 8% in STALKER: Call of Pripyat with SLI
◦Up to 5% in StarCraft II (Check out the finals of the GeForce StarCraft II Pro/Am Tournament)
GeForce GTX 560:
◦Up to 4% in Bulletstorm
◦Up to 5% in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 with SLI
◦Up to 6% in Call of Duty: Black Ops
◦Up to 5% in Crysis 2 DX11 with SLI
◦Up to 7% in Dragon Age 2 with SLI
◦Up to 7% in F1 2010 with SLI
◦Up to 5% in Just Cause 2 with SLI
◦Up to 5% in Lost Planet 2 with SLI
◦Up to 4% in Mafia 2 with SLI
◦Up to 7% in Metro 2033 with SLI
◦Up to 11% in STALKER: Call of Pripyat with SLI
◦Up to 7% in StarCraft IINVIDIA PhysX

•Updates PhysX System Software to version 9.11.06.21.
HD Audio

•Updates HD Audio driver to version 1.2.24.0.

New in Release 285.38

•Increases performance in Battlefield 3 by up to 38%i.
•Improves overall stability and image quality in Battlefield 3.<<---
•Improves performance and compatibility in id Software’s RAGE. <<---
•Added or updated SLI profiles for Battlefield 3, Dead Island, Diablo III, Dragon Age 2, Need for Speed: The Run, and Saints Row: The Third.
•Fixed a performance regression found with 285.27 beta in Crysis 2 (DirectX 9).<<---


New in R285.62 Drivers

•This is the recommended driver for Battlefield 3. It contains several performance and compatibility enhancements for the final release of the game. Check here to see if your PC is ready for Battlefield 3.<<---
•This is also the recommended and enhanced driver for Batman: Arkham City and RAGE. <<---
[/B]•Check here to see if your PC is ready for Batman: Arkham City
•Contains a fix for the driver timeouts reported with the R285 beta drivers

Performance

•Increases performance for GeForce 400 and 500-series GPUs in several PC games vs. v280.26 WHQL drivers. The following are some examples of improvements measured on Windows 7. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:
GeForce GTX 580:

◦Up to 6% in Battlefield 3
◦Up to 5% in Call of Duty: Black Ops
◦Up to 7% in Civilization V with SLI
◦Up to 5% in Crysis 2 DX11 with SLI
◦Up to 7% in F1 2010 with SLI
◦Up to 5% in Lost Planet 2 with SLI
◦Up to 5% in Mafia 2 with SLI
◦Up to 13% in Metro 2033 with SLI
◦Up to 8% in STALKER: Call of Pripyat with SLI
◦Up to 5% in StarCraft 2
GeForce GTX 560:

◦Up to 4% in Bulletstorm
◦Up to 5% in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 with SLI
◦Up to 11% in Battlefield 3
◦Up to 6% in Call of Duty: Black Ops
◦Up to 5% in Crysis 2 DX11 with SLI
◦Up to 7% in Dragon Age 2 with SLI
◦Up to 7% in F1 2010 with SLI
◦Up to 5% in Just Cause 2 with SLI
◦Up to 5% in Lost Planet 2 with SLI
◦Up to 4% in Mafia 2 with SLI
◦Up to 7% in Metro 2033 with SLI
◦Up to 11% in STALKER: Call of Pripyat with SLI
◦Up to 7% in StarCraft 2NVIDIA PhysX

•Updates PhysX System Software to version 9.11.06.21.
NVIDIA SLI

•Added or updated SLI profiles for Battlefield 3, Dead Island, Diablo III, Dragon Age 2, Need for Speed: The Run, and Saints Row: The Third.
HD Audio

•Updates HD Audio driver to version 1.2.24.0.

OpenGL

•Adds support for OpenGL 4.2 for GeForce 400 series and 500 series GPUs.

New in Version 285.79

[B]•Includes several bug fixes and performance improvements for Battlefield 3.<<---
◦Fixes cases of irregular performance (stuttering) primarily seen on DirectX 10 GPUs. The fix improves the performance of both DX10 and DX11 GPUs.<<---
◦Fixes shadow map corruption seen with DirectX 10 GPUs <<---.
◦Fixes cases of black corruption lines/triangles with DirectX 10 GPUs.<<---
•Fixes black screen during playback using Windows Media Center.
•Added or updated SLI profiles for the following games:
◦Aion v3.0
◦Anno 2070
◦Assassins Creed: Revelations
◦Bastion
◦Need for Speed: The Run
◦Payday: The Heist
◦The Adventures of Tintin
◦The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

•Includes HD Audio driver 1.2.24.0.
•Includes PhysX System Software 9.11.06.21.



New in R290 Drivers

NVIDIA Ambient Occlusion

•Adds NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. See the comparison screenshots on GeForce.com.
•Adds NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. See the comparison screenshots on GeForce.com.
NVIDIA PhysX

•Updates PhysX System Software to version 9.11.11.07 for the best PhysX experience in Batman: Arkham City.
NVIDIA SLI

•Added or updated SLI profiles for Crysis 2, Heroes and Generals, Inversion, Stronghold 3, and Syndicate.

Some Key Bug Fixes

•Fixes random flickering as Windows boot logo is loading or fading away.
•Fixes corruption in Crysis 2 with SLI and lower quality shadow settings.<<---
•Fixes ability to set Surround resolutions to 5760x1080 using custom resolutions.
•Fixes some random instances of triangular artifacts when playing Battlefield 3.<<---

•Fixes corruption seen in Settlers 7 with 275.33 drivers. <<---



New in 290.53

Optimizations for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

•Increases performance by up to 25% in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim vs. 290.36 drivers (measured with GeForce GTX 560 at 19x10 Ultra – Indoor Scene). Results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and in-game location.
•Updates the NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to a higher performance profile.
•Added new 3D Vision laser sight /crosshair options to better match Skyrim crosshairs.
•For a full Skyrim tweak guide, visit GeForce.com.
NVIDIA SLI

•Adds SLI profiles for Trine 2, WRC 2: FIA World Rally Championship 2011, and Afterfall: InSanity.


Key Bug Fixes

•Fixes some random instances of triangular artifacts when playing Battlefield 3 (fix is now enabled for GeForce 400 and 500 series GPUs). <<---
•Fixes a default panel resolution/ timing bug in 290.36. <<---

and syrim run like crap.

oh Dell-Bill_B, you are the guy i thought i was taking to.

Add Skyrim to that list.

Thanks Bill.

[Sentinel196]

BF3 won't even open unless you have 283 or newer. It displays an error message asking you to upgrade to the latest video drivers.

[skygunner27]

Thank you, I forgot to add that.