NVIDIA Releases GeForce 185.66 BETA Drivers

alexp999 · Apr 2, 2009

The day after releasing the GeForce 182.50 WHQL drivers, NVIDIA has also released a GeForce BETA driver with version 185.66, for both Windows Vista and XP.

New in Release 185.66:

Adds support for the new GeForce GTX 275 GPU.
Adds support for Ambient Occlusion - the newest NVIDIA Control Panel feature to offer enhanced 3D gaming realism exclusively to GeForce GPUs. (Vista Only)
Adds support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See nvidia.com/cuda for more details.
Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 185 drivers vs. Release 182 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
- Up to 11% performance increase in Call of Duty: World at War
- Up to 5% performance increase Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
- Up to 22% performance increase Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled
- Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled
- Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2
- Up to 45% performance increase in Mirror's Edge with antialiasing enabled
Supports GeForce Plus Power Pack #3. Download these FREE PhysX and CUDA applications now!
Numerous bug fixes. Refer to the release documentation notes.

DOWNLOAD: GeForce 185.66 BETA for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows Vista 64-bit

UPDATE: The day following the release of the 185.65 BETA drivers this article originally covered, NVIDIA removed the driver links and updated the BETA to 185.66, this article has therefore been updated accordingly.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

MilkyWay · Apr 2, 2009

jesus that was quick it seems they have 3 sets of drivers one with ambient occlusion added one with open CL (is it GL) i dunno and one vanilla set

that was fast lol need to wait till the tweakforce set come out

v12dock · Apr 3, 2009

lol... and I just updated to the newest drivers today, time to install new drivers again.

lemonadesoda · Apr 3, 2009

Poor w1z. Time to update those reviews again :laugh:

You know, 11%-22% performance gain is as much as going UP a graphics card, like GTX260 to GTX275, or 4870 to 4890.

blkhogan · Apr 3, 2009

Wow, and I thought staying up with ATI was difficult. :toast:

EastCoasthandle · Apr 3, 2009

I've been reading some responses over at Guru3d forums (as that's the only place were I've found user feedback on the drivers so far) and it appears that a few are having problems with this driver.
source

Cold Storm · Apr 3, 2009

EastCoasthandle said:
I've been reading some responses over at Guru3d forums (as that's the only place were I've found user feedback on the drivers so far) and it appears that a few are having problems with this driver.
source

Evga is also show to have problems with BOTH drivers that came out today.. I've started a thread about the Voltage tool having problems.. But it's more then that... I still haven't been able to do a vantage run yet.. Even with AO off.. But, threw in the 182.50 beta's and it works... :roll:

phanbuey · Apr 3, 2009

EastCoasthandle said:
I've been reading some responses over at Guru3d forums (as that's the only place were I've found user feedback on the drivers so far) and it appears that a few are having problems with this driver.
source

yeah it broke CSS for me...:shadedshu

wolf · Apr 3, 2009

they consistently pull a rabbit out of their hat, amazing work green team. totally about as good as an actual card upgrade lol, i have to try these.

magibeg · Apr 3, 2009

I kinda want to see benchmarks after these drivers are installed.... those are some lofty numbers.

HammerON · Apr 3, 2009

I downloaded, unistalled 182.08, used Driver Sweeper in Safe Mode, installed 185.65 and then I get nothing after the Windows Logo. Had to go into Safe Mode, into Control Panel and Uninstall 185.65.
I have been updating drivers with ATI cards and now Nvidia for 3 years with NO problems ~ what the hell :twitch:

I don't know whether to try again or just stay with 182.08, which worked just fine for me with VISTA 32bit :confused:

Edit:
Okay ~ tried again with same result. I am going to try 182.50 :cool:

Boneface · Apr 3, 2009

I installed them and was able to run Vantage, play Cod4 and world at war with no problem at all

HammerON · Apr 3, 2009

Okay ~ tried the 182.50 drivers.
Lot better :laugh:

chooky · Apr 3, 2009

I could not complete 3DMark06 with 185.65 drivers, they hung in different places until I gave up.

v12dock · Apr 3, 2009

they killed WoW

Kursah · Apr 3, 2009

Tried these, video playback would flicker severely in full-screen mode. Did not try games, I figured at that point these drivers are not meant for general use...which might as well include gaming. I have installed the 182.50 whql's...I guess the AO feature will have to wait for a release more tuned to the general public (imo). The 182.50 drivers work great though! Seems my folding efficiency/ppd dropped by about 600ppd, I will monitor this and also how my gaming performance has been affected.

alexp999 · Apr 3, 2009

I'm havin no problems on these yet, though I have to admit, I'm not testing them out till this morning.

EDIT:

Nope these broke my HL2

Back to 182.50 I go.

I know its beta, but official ones on their site are usually pretty good

chooky · Apr 3, 2009

One nice new feature is that after the install the PC reboots into a low resolution and asks if you would like to change to the native resolution. This is great for me because my SONIQ 27" LCD TV reports to windows a native resolution that it can not display. So every time I install a driver I have to plug in a CRT lower the resolution then plug the LCD back in. So nice one nVidia.

The Witcher · Apr 3, 2009

To be honest, this beta driver is almost perfect, I will tell you why.

I used to use these settings in Crysis Wars :

Everything Best visuals except the Shader which was Good visuals, 2xAA and 1280 x 1024, I got 35~48 fps.

But with this new driver I didn't feel the change until I raised the graphic settings and increased the AA to 4x.

Now my settings are Everything on Best visuals, 4xAA and 1280 x 1024, I lost only 7 fps

.

The only bugs I had were :

1. EVGA voltage tool won't work anymore.

2. All HL2 games crash when you start it.

Other than that, this driver is a kickass !!! I really don't know how they did it.

I gave it 8.5

Bjorn_Of_Iceland · Apr 3, 2009

The Witcher said:
To be honest, this beta driver is almost perfect, I will tell you why.

I used to use these settings in Crysis Wars :

Everything Best visuals except the Shader which was Good visuals, 2xAA and 1280 x 1024, I got 35~48 fps.

But with this new driver I didn't feel the change until I raised the graphic settings and increased the AA to 4x.

Now my settings are Everything on Best visuals, 4xAA and 1280 x 1024, I lost only 7 fps .

The only bugs I had were :

1. EVGA voltage tool won't work anymore.

2. All HL2 games crash when you start it.

Other than that, this driver is a kickass !!! I really don't know how they did it.

I gave it 8.5

Yeah because Crysis uses ambient occlusion excessively like theres no tommorow. Not sure if the current update on the driver puts the ambient occlusion calculation on a whole new churning level.

Arctucas · Apr 3, 2009

185.66 BETA (Guru3D)

185.66

Cold Storm · Apr 3, 2009

Arctucas said:
185.66

I guess I'll try that tonight and see if it works!

alexp999 · Apr 3, 2009

Arctucas said:
185.66

I have updated the article accordingly, as NVIDIA seems to have removed the 185.65 drivers.

I will have to give these another go and see if HL2 works again!

infrared · Apr 4, 2009

No support for the 8x00 series

Might try editing the inf file to get it to install. If they've improved performance with AntiAliasing it'll be worth installing.

EDIT: Installed. Just about to try it with cod5/crysis/f@h.

EDIT #2: wow, big diff in crysis warhead. DX10 mode, 64bit. 1680x1050, 4xAA, all settings @ enthusiast and it's playable!! kinda.. lol 14-20fps. Was getting around 8-12 before.

Attached is the modded inf I made. It supports the 8800GTX/Ultra/GTS

Blacksniper87 · Apr 4, 2009

sweet good work mate its good to know the drivers are delivering on the performance claims though unlike sometimes when its complete bull

System Name	Gaming Rig \| Uni Laptop
Processor	Intel Q6600 G0 (2007) @ 3.6Ghz @ 1.45625v (LLC) / 4 GHz Bench @ 1.63v \| AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-62 2 GHz
Motherboard	ASUS P5Q Deluxe (Intel P45) \| HP 6715b
Cooling	Xigmatek Dark Knight w/AC MX2 ~ Case Fans: 2 x 180mm + 1 x 120mm Silverstone Fans
Memory	4GB OCZ Platinum PC2-8000 @ 1000Mhz 5-5-5-15 2.1v \| 2 x 1GB DDR2 667 MHz
Video Card(s)	XFX GTX 285 1GB, Modded FTW BIOS @ 725/1512/1350 w/Accelero Xtreme GTX 280 + Scythe sinks\| ATI X1250
Storage	2x WD6400AAKS 1 TB Raid 0, 140GB Raid 1 & 80GB Maxtor Basics External HDD (storage) \| 160GB 2.5"
Display(s)	Samsung SyncMaster SM2433BW @ 1920 x 1200 via DVI-D \| 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050 resolution)
Case	Silverstone Fortress FT01B-W ~ Logitech G15 R1 / Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000
Audio Device(s)	Soundmax AD2000BX Onboard Sound, via Logitech X-230 2.1 \| ADI SoundMAX HD Audio
Power Supply	Corsair TX650W \| HP 90W
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7100 x64 \| Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7100 x64
Benchmark Scores	3DM06: 19519, Vantage: P16170 ~ Win7: -CPU 7.5 -MEM 7.5 -AERO 7.9 -GFX 6.0 -HDD 6.0

System Name	ICE-QUAD // ICE-CRUNCH
Processor	Q6600 // 2x Xeon 5472
Memory	2GB DDR // 8GB FB-DIMM
Video Card(s)	HD3850-AGP // FireGL 3400
Display(s)	2 x Samsung 204Ts = 3200x1200
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 2
Software	Windows Server 2003 R2 as a Workstation now migrated to W10 with regrets.

System Name	Hogan's Crap
Processor	Intel i3-2120 Crap!
Motherboard	Dell POS Crap!
Cooling	Stock Crap!
Memory	4 GB Kingston DDR3 10600 Crap!
Video Card(s)	Stock Crap!
Storage	500 GB 5400 rpm Crap!
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	MY PC
Processor	E8400 @ 3.80Ghz > Q9650 3.60Ghz
Motherboard	Maximus Formula
Cooling	D5, 7/16" ID Tubing, Maze4 with Fuzion CPU WB
Memory	XMS 8500C5D @ 1066MHz
Video Card(s)	HD 2900 XT 858/900 to 4870 to 5870 (Keep Vreg area clean)
Storage	2
Display(s)	24"
Case	P180
Audio Device(s)	X-fi Plantinum
Power Supply	Silencer 750
Software	XP Pro SP3 to Windows 7
Benchmark Scores	This varies from one driver to another.

System Name	Haro
Processor	AMD 1700x
Motherboard	AsRork x370 Taichi
Cooling	EK Custom Loop - CPU only
Memory	32gb G-Skill Trident Z
Video Card(s)	EVGA 1080 Superclock 2
Storage	Too Many
Display(s)	Viewsonic VX2450WM-LED 24" & LG 32 IPS
Case	Cooler Master Cosmos II
Power Supply	Cooler Master V1000
Mouse	SteelSeries Rival 500
Software	Win10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	i5 750 4.62ghz pi runs // Evga FTW p55

System Name	stress-less
Processor	9800X3D @ 5.42GHZ
Motherboard	MSI PRO B650M-A Wifi
Cooling	Thermalright Phantom Spirit EVO
Memory	64GB DDR5 6400 CL30 / 2133 fclk
Video Card(s)	RTX 4090 FE
Storage	2TB WD SN850, 4TB WD SN850X
Display(s)	Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case	Jonsbo Z20
Audio Device(s)	Yes
Power Supply	Corsair SF750
Mouse	DeathadderV2 X Hyperspeed
Keyboard	65% HE Keyboard
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	They're pretty good, nothing crazy.

System Name	MightyX
Processor	Ryzen 5800X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570 I Aorus Pro WiFi
Cooling	Scythe Fuma 2
Memory	32GB DDR4 3600 CL16
Video Card(s)	Asus TUF RTX3080 Deshrouded
Storage	WD Black SN850X 2TB
Display(s)	LG 42C2 4K OLED
Case	Coolermaster NR200P
Audio Device(s)	LG SN5Y / Focal Clear
Power Supply	Corsair SF750 Platinum
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RBG Pro SE
Keyboard	Glorious GMMK Compact w/pudding
VR HMD	Meta Quest 3
Software	case populated with Artic P12's
Benchmark Scores	4k120 OLED Gsync bliss

System Name	Not named
Processor	Intel 8700k @ 5Ghz
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX Z370-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Assassin II
Memory	16GB DDR4 Corsair LPX 3000mhz CL15
Video Card(s)	Zotac 1080 Ti AMP EXTREME
Storage	Samsung 960 PRO 512GB
Display(s)	24" Dell IPS 1920x1200
Case	Fractal Design R5
Power Supply	Corsair AX760 Watt Fully Modular

System Name	Aki
Processor	AMD 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS ROG STRIX X670E-A
Cooling	MSI MAG CoreLiquid E360
Memory	Patriot Viper Elite 5 32GB 6200
Video Card(s)	PNY RTX 4090 XLR8
Storage	Samsung 960 Pro 512 GB + WD Black SN850 1TB
Display(s)	Dell 32" Curved Gaming Monitor (S3220DGF)
Case	Corsair 5000D Airflow
Audio Device(s)	On-board
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G5
Mouse	Roccat Kone Pure
Keyboard	ASUS ROG Strix Scope II Wireless
Software	Win 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Always changing~

System Name	Bones Beast
Processor	Intel Core i7 4770k@4.5ghz
Motherboard	ASROCK Extreme 3 Z87
Cooling	Corsair H100 4x120mm fans!
Memory	2x4gigs Corsair Vengance 2400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX R9 290 @1151/1350/Corsair H55
Storage	Samsung 120gig 840/OCZ Vector 120gig SSD/500gig SG/320
Display(s)	Samsung S27A950D 27in 3D 120hz monitor
Case	NZXT S340
Audio Device(s)	Asus Zonar d1/Z506 Speakers
Power Supply	Coolermaster GX750watt PSU
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	My Oil PC
Processor	E8400@4000
Motherboard	XFX 780i
Cooling	20,000L Swimming Pool
Memory	4GB Kingston 8500 @ 1100
Video Card(s)	2 x Asus 8800GT @ 700/1000
Storage	3 x WD2500AAKS in Raid 0
Display(s)	27" Soniq
Case	Fish Tank
Power Supply	Silverstone Strider ST60F 600W
Software	XP Pro x64 SP2
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06 19000@1024x758

System Name	Kursah's Gaming Rig 2018 (2022 Upgrade) - Ryzen+ Edition \| Gaming Laptop (Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 2022)
Processor	R7 5800X @ Stock \| i7 12700H @ Stock
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X370-F Gaming BIOS 6203\| Legion 5i Pro NM-E231
Cooling	Noctua NH-U14S Push-Pull + NT-H1 \| Stock Cooling
Memory	TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32GB (2x16) DDR4 4000 @ 3600 18-20-20-42 1.35v \| 32GB DDR5 4800 (2x16)
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 4070 JetStream 12GB \| CPU-based Intel Iris XE + RTX 3070 8GB 150W
Storage	4TB SP UD90 NVME, 960GB SATA SSD, 2TB HDD \| 1TB Samsung OEM NVME SSD + 4TB Crucial P3 Plus NVME SSD
Display(s)	Acer 28" 4K VG280K x2 \| 16" 2560x1600 built-in
Case	Corsair 600C - Stock Fans on Low \| Stock Metal/Plastic
Audio Device(s)	Aune T1 mk1 > AKG K553 Pro + JVC HA-RX 700 (Equalizer APO + PeaceUI) \| Bluetooth Earbuds (BX29)
Power Supply	EVGA 750G2 Modular + APC Back-UPS Pro 1500 \| 300W OEM (heavy use) or Lenovo Legion C135W GAN (light)
Mouse	Logitech G502 \| Logitech M330
Keyboard	HyperX Alloy Core RGB \| Built in Keyboard (Lenovo laptop KB FTW)
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64 \| Windows 11 Home x64

System Name	The Fouth Light
Processor	i7-2600K @ 3.80GHz (1.35voltage)
Motherboard	GA-P67A-UD4-B3
Cooling	Corsair H50
Memory	8GB DDR3 Corsair Vengence 1600MHz (8-8-8-24)
Video Card(s)	2x GTX460 @ Stock
Storage	Cosair GTX Neutron 120GB + 2xWD Carviar Black 640GB RAID0
Display(s)	Samsung S27B970D 27 Inch
Case	Thermaltake Element V Full tower
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar Essense STX
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000W
Software	Windows 7 64bit Ultimate

System Name	Thakk
Processor	i7 6700k @ 4.5Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte G1 Z170N ITX
Cooling	H55 AIO
Memory	32GB DDR4 3100 c16
Video Card(s)	Zotac RTX3080 Trinity
Storage	Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD / Intel 250GB SSD / Samsung Pro 512 SSD / 3TB Seagate SV32
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34 100hz IPS Gsync / HTC Vive
Case	QBX
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150 > Creative Gigaworks T40 > AKG Q701
Power Supply	Corsair SF600
Mouse	Logitech G900
Keyboard	Ducky Shine TKL MX Blue + Vortex PBT Doubleshots
Software	Windows 10 64bit
Benchmark Scores	http://www.3dmark.com/fs/12108888

System Name	It's just a computer
Processor	i9-14900K Direct Die
Motherboard	MSI Z790 ACE MAX
Cooling	2X D5T Vario, XSPC BayRes, 3X Nemesis GTR560, NF-A14-iPPC3000PWM, NF-A14-iPPC2000PWM, IceMan DD
Memory	TEAMGROUP FFXD548G8000HC38EDC01
Video Card(s)	MSI 4070 Ti Super w/Alphacool Eisblock Aurora RTX 4070TI Ventus with Backplate :13724
Storage	Samsung 990 PRO 1TB M.2
Display(s)	LG 32GK650F
Case	Thermaltake Xaser VI
Audio Device(s)	Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 2G/Z-5500
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime PX-1300
Mouse	Logitech
Keyboard	Logitech
Software	Win11PRO

System Name	Box of Distraction
Processor	Ryzen 7 1800X
Motherboard	Crosshair VI Hero
Cooling	Custom watercooling
Memory	G.Skill TridentZ 2x8GB @ 3466MHz CL14 1T
Video Card(s)	EVGA 1080Ti FE. WC'd & TDP limit increased to 360W.
Storage	Samsung 960 Evo 500GB & WD Black 2TB storage drive.
Display(s)	Asus ROG Swift PG278QR 27" 1440P 165hz Gsync
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Pro M
Audio Device(s)	Phillips Fidelio X2 headphones / basic Bose speakers
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 750W G3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 6.0 (mx red switches)
Software	Win 10 & Linux Mint
Benchmark Scores	https://hwbot.org/user/infrared

Processor	E8400 @ 3.00 GHZ
Motherboard	Asus P5K/EPU
Cooling	Stock Heatsink
Memory	4gb in 2x 2 GB 1066 MHZ Corsair Dominators
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 280
Storage	2 x Seagate 500 GB
Display(s)	Samsung 275t
Case	Coolermaster Stacker 830
Audio Device(s)	Razor Barracuda
Power Supply	Unknown
Software	Vista Ultimate x64

NVIDIA Releases GeForce 185.66 BETA Drivers

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