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New Nvidia Beta Drivers Offer 25% Skyrim Performance Upgrade

Dave Oshry — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 03:00:09 +0000

Got an Nvidia GPU? Want to get more out of Skyrim? Well rejoice, new beta drivers have just been released and they promise a 25% Skyrim performance upgrade!

Here’s the FUS RO DAH (rundown) from Nvidia:

This is the second beta release from the R290 family of drivers. For more information, read the 290.53 driver article on GeForce.com.

This driver package supports GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500-series desktop GPUs as well as ION desktop GPUs.

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 19×10 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.
3D Vision

Fixes issues with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 not launching into 3D Vision mode
Added new 3D Vision laser sight /crosshair options to better match The Elder Scrolls Skyrim crosshairs
Added or updated the following 3D Vision game profiles:
AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! for the Awesome – rated Good
The Adventures of Tintin: The Game – rated Excellent
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – rating changed to Fair
Driver San Francisco – updated settings to work better in 3D Vision
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – updated in-game compatibility message
Hard Reset – updated in-game compatibility message. FXAA x2 and x4 are now supported by the game
Ignite – rated Good
Jane’s Advanced Strike Fighters – rated Fair
Jurassic Park: The Game – rated Good
Orcs Must Die! – rated Good
PAYDAY The Heist – rated Poor
PT Boats – Knights of the Sea – rated Good
PT Boats – South Gambit – rated Good
Race 07 – updated in-game compatibility message
Race Room – rated Good
Serious Sam 3: BFE – rated Poor
SkyDrift – rated Good
Star Wars: The Old Republic – rated Good
Stronghold 3 – rated Good
Take on Helicopters – rated Fair
Trine 2 – rated 3D Vision Ready
Waves – rated Excellent
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.
Other Details

Supports multiple languages and APIs for GPU computing: CUDA C, CUDA C++, CUDA Fortran, OpenCL, DirectCompute, and Microsoft C++ AMP.
Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, and OpenGL, including 3-way SLI, Quad SLI, and SLI support on SLI-certified Intel and AMD motherboards.

GET THE NEW DRIVERS HERE!!

For more Skyrim performance tweaks be sure to check out Nvidia’s 20 page Skyrim tweaking guide.

Also, don’t forget to check out our Ultra Quality Skyrim screenshot gallery and, of course, the RipTen Review!!

Nvidia Releases Comprehensive Skyrim Graphics Tweak Guide

Dave Oshry — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 23:00:31 +0000

Nvidia’s GeForce blog is good for lots of things. I’m sure you’ve glanced over it while updating your drivers, but it turns out they also make some rather useful guides to tweak your game performance.

That being said, they’ve just released one for Skyrim!!

Here’s a part of the “Advanced Tweaking” section from the comprehensive 20 page guide:

For Skyrim, Bethesda has created the Creation Engine, a new, advanced engine featuring a real-time shadowing system and a number of other technological advancements. Fortunately, the game’s files and configuration options are easily accessible, allowing us to push the Creation Engine well beyond its limits through four different avenues:

By adding or altering variables in the initialization (.ini) files.

By using console commands.

Through the use of user-made game modifications (Mods).

Through alterations made to the graphics driver settings.

We’ll examine all of these methods in detail on the following pages. Before proceeding with any advanced tweaking however, you must take precautions to prevent losing your original settings and saved games. The easiest way is to make a backup copy of the entire \My Documents\My Games\Skyrim directory and store it somewhere safe.

.ini Tweaks

Skyrim’s engine uses .ini files to store various settings, which are then read and implemented at startup. These plain text .ini files can be edited using any text editor such as Windows Notepad. There are a range of these .ini files under the game’s main \Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim directory, however those are simply templates and none of them should be edited.

The .ini files which you should edit are found under the \My Documents\My Games\Skyrim directory. These files are Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini and the relevant file to be edited is noted in each tweak below. Importantly, if you mess up these files and don’t have a backup, or if you suspect that your adjustments to them are the cause of any problems, you can delete them and the next time Skyrim starts up it will recreate them with default settings.

Altering the in-game settings using the Skyrim Launcher will change or reset a range of variables in the .ini files, so it is best to first adjust all of your in-game settings to a level you’re reasonably comfortable with before moving on to doing some fine-tuning with .ini tweaking. You may also wish to separately note down any .ini tweaks you make, as future official patches are likely to alter or reset the .ini files, and you should never copy an .ini file or large portions of it from an older version onto the new one.

The tweaks listed here are not prescribed “fixes”. Advanced tweaking requires experimentation. Some general guidance is provided, but ultimately it comes down to your particular tastes and your system’s capabilities as to which tweaks you implement, and what values you use for them. Most importantly, do not simply copy anyone else’s .ini file contents. They are typically filled with non-functional or undesirable changes which will not suit your particular tastes or may cause problems. Every tweak requires that you understand the tradeoffs and changes that are involved, and that you test them personally and decide what is acceptable on your system.

Note: variables which can be fully altered using the in-game settings, and those which have no discernible performance or visual impact are not covered.

General Performance

uGridsToLoad=5 - This variable does not exist and need to be added to bottom of the [General] section of the Skyrim.ini file to be implemented. It controls the radius around the character within which the engine loads up the most detailed objects, characters and terrain. It can have a substantial impact on both image quality and performance. Any value assigned to this variable needs to be in odd increments, e.g. 3, 5, 7, 9, 11. The screenshot comparisons above demonstrate the way in which there is progressively higher detail in the distance as the value of this variable is raised (a better example showing uGridsToLoad=7, the most stable value, can be seen here).

While altering this variable is tempting given the image quality improvement it provides, you should experiment with any uGridsToLoad value in various areas, particularly those where you usually experience the lowest FPS. The default of 5 is already a good compromise of performance and image quality, but if struggling for FPS, you can drop it to a lower value such as 3, though Bethesda strongly advises against this as it may lead to game instability.

Importantly: Aside from lowering performance and causing potential instability due to the greatly increased resource usage when raising uGridsToLoad, if you save a game after you have altered this value, the new value will be incorporated into your saved game. This is worth noting because the game only allows you to load a saved game which has an equal or lower uGridsToLoad value than your current value; you will not be able to open a saved game with a higher uGridsToLoad value. This means if you lower your uGridsToLoad value again, you won’t be able to load up the saves which used the higher value. So you should extensively test any change to your uGridsToLoad before committing to saving the game. If you need to revert a change in uGridsToload in an existing save game follow the steps below:

Backup SkyrimPrefs.ini, Skyrim.ini and your Skyrim ‘Saves’ folder.

Load your last save game.

Press tilde on your keyboard, most commonly placed directly to the left of ‘1.’ If it is elsewhere, the keyboard symbol should be ` or ~.

In the now-visible in-game console type setini “ugridstoload:general” 5

Hit Return on your keyboard.

Type saveini

Hit Return on your keyboard.

Type refreshini

Hit Return on your keyboard.

Close the console using tilde.

Create a new save game.

Exit Skyrim.

Delete Skyrim.ini in My Documents\My Games\Skyrim.

Reload the Skyrim configuration tool.

Close the tool.

Re-tweak Skyrim.ini if necessary (and SkyrimPrefs.ini if it has since been modified).

Reload Skyrim and your most recent save.

Enjoy the game.

uExterior Cell Buffer=36 - This variable controls the number of world cells (controlled by the uGridsToLoad setting) that are buffered to RAM to provide smoother transitions and improve stability. The general rule for the optimal value to assign to this variable is to take your current uGridsToLoad value, add one to it, then multiply it by itself. For example, if you set a uGridsToLoad value of 7, change uExterior Cell Buffer to 64.

iPresentInterval=0 - A form of Vertical Synchronization (VSync) is enabled by default in Skyrim and cannot be disabled in the in-game settings. If this variable is added to the bottom of the [Display] section of Skyrim.ini and set to 0, it will forcibly disable VSync. Disabling VSync reduces/eliminates mouse lag and removes the cap on your FPS, and can also improve overall performance. However disabling VSync also has several potentially negative impacts: you may see screen “tearing” which is harmless but may be annoying; in areas where you get very high framerates, such as indoors, the vertical (up/down) axis of your mouse will become much more sensitive than the horizontal axis; game world physics and timing may also accelerate or glitch, especially in areas where you get high FPS.

The two main alternatives for VSync in Skyrim are:

Leave VSync enabled in Skyrim (i.e. the default), and enable Triple Buffering instead using the D3DOverrider utility which comes with the free RivaTuner software. This will improve performance and can reduce mouse lag without resulting in other negative effects. Furthermore, because the FPS cap from VSync remains in place, your vertical mouse axis will not become incredibly sensitive, though it will still become sluggish at low FPS. The only issue is that Triple Buffering uses more Video RAM which may cause problems on some systems, and it may not reduce mouse lag to the same degree as simply disabling VSync. To counter this, check the other mouse-related variables in this section.

Disable VSync and use a FPS Limiter Mod to maintain any FPS cap you wish, though 60 or 30 FPS is recommended. This will prevent extreme vertical mouse sensitivity and physics issues, and will remove mouse lag, but there may still be some tearing.

Note that iPresentInterval can also be given a value of 2 to implement VSync with a reduced FPS cap (typically 30 FPS instead of 60 FPS), but this increases mouse lag, does not improve performance, and also results in extremely long load times, so it should not be used.

You may notice that several prominent memory and caching tweaks have not been included in this guide, such as those sourced from this Memory Limit Increase mod, and those found in guides for previous Bethesda games, e.g. the uInterior Cell Buffer and iPreloadSizeLimit and various threading variables. In experimenting with these in Skyrim I didn’t find them to have any practical impact on the actual performance, resource usage or smoothness on my system. At the same time, I can’t conclusively disprove their effectiveness across all systems. On balance I believe that altering them is unnecessary.

Only a change like altering the Large Address Aware (LAA) flag on Skyrim’s main TESV.exe file can have any real impact on improving Skyrim’s resource usage. This LAA change allows Skyrim to potentially use more than the 2GB limit imposed on 32-bit executables, but it only recommended if you have 4GB or more of system RAM. Any patch which directly modifies the game’s executable is not allowed by Steam, so you need to use something like this 4GB Skyrim LAA mod instead. This should not be treated as a cureall for instability issues, but it can help if you’re using a range of resource-intensive mods or .ini changes in Skyrim.

Yep, 20 pages of awesome nonsense just like this for you to browse through. Even a hardcore PC gamer like me can benefit from a guide like this. You can be sure I’ll be giving it a good look over.

Read the entire guide HERE.

For more Nvidia game tweaking guides go HERE.

For more on Skyrim check out these 150 screens to die for and of course the RipTen Review.

Latest Battlefield 3 “Back to Karkand” Trailer Goes Back To Wake Island

Dave Oshry — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:30:31 +0000

The Back to Karkand map pack is already available for you lucky PS3 owners, but in one week the rest of the world will get to go… wait for it… Back to Karkand!!

One of the most anticipated maps in this pack is Wake Island. One of the all time favorite Battlefield maps that is being brought back once again.

However, It’s been given quite the update thanks to DICE and the Frostbite 2 engine:

I believe The Notorious BIG said it best: I’m going going, back back, to Karkand Karkand. Yeah, something like that.

See you on Wake Island next week!!

Nobody Will Ever See How Cool Your Skyrim Graphics Card Looks

Dave Oshry — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:30:42 +0000

What’s better than an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560Ti GPU? A PNY Skyrim Edition GeForce GTX 560Ti GPU!!

Yes, PNY has released their special Skyrim Edition GeForce GTX 560Ti and it looks awesome and comes factory overclocked… there’s just one problem.

Nobody Will Ever See How Cool This Looks In Your PC

Unless you have some sweet see-through windows on your rig and a motherboard that lets your cards sit with their fans facing toward said windows, nobody is ever going to see how cool this card looks except for you!!

Hopefully the performance will make up for that…

The PNY GeForce GTX 560 Ti is factory overclocked, meaning you receive a faster GPU that’s been rigorously tested to ensure it remains stable during long, intensive gaming sessions. In the case of the Skyrim Special Edition there’s a 55MHz Processor Clock overclock and a 28MHz Core Clock overclock, which should net you a good few extra frames per second in any game.

If so inclined, You can pick up the PNY GeForce GTX 560 Ti for $279.99 at a number of retailers. Fus Roh Dah!!

via [GeForce]

Warner Addresses Arkham City PC Issues – Says DX 11 Patch Is Coming

Dave Oshry — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:00:34 +0000

Even after being delayed, Arkham City is having PC issues. The game is currently having a plethora of performance problems when run in DX11 mode, and Warner has recommended you run it in DX9 mode until they fix the issues. Fucking fantastic.

Here’s what WB posted on their forums:

We have received reports of performance issues from players of Batman: Arkham City on PC. After researching the matter, we found that running the game with DX 11 is causing the performance issues. We’re working on a title update to address this matter and expect to make it available in the near future.

In the meantime, a workaround for this issue is to run the game with DX 9 instead of DX 11. Instructions on how to turn off DX 11 are listed below.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience with your gameplay experience and thank you all for your patience as we work to resolve this issue.

Instructions for changing DX 11 to DX 9
The Launcher can be accessed on Games for Windows LIVE and Steam to change DX 11 to DX 9 in the Settings menu.
Change both DirectX 11 Features and DirectX 11 Tessellation to OFF.

Games for Windows LIVE
Start > All Programs > Games > Right click on Batman: Arkham City and select Launcher > Settings

Open the Start Menu

Select All Programs and then the Games folder

Right click on Batman: Arkham City and select Launcher

Choose Settings then click on the arrow next to DX options to change

Steam:
Launch Steam Client > Library > Right click on Batman: Arkham City > Configure PC Options

Open Steam

Select Library

Right click on Batman: Arkham City and select Configure PC Options

Choose Settings then click on the arrow next to DX options to change

And now we play the waiting game…

Stay tuned to RipTen for continued coverage of Arkham City PC woes and hopefully some coverage of Arkham City on PC in 3D with DX11 ENABLED… when we actually can.

/sigh

Nvidia Releases Battlefield 3 Performance Tweaking Guide

Dave Oshry — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:00:32 +0000

Nvidia is pretty heavily invested in Battlefield 3. There’s a good chance you are too. However, if you’re having some issues tweaking your game for maximum performance, Nvidia’s got a guide for ya soldier.

Check it out below:

The aim of this guide is to allow you to better understand and best utilize all of the configuration options available in Battlefield 3.

Before proceeding further, make sure you meet the game’s minimum requirements as provided below, with the recommended requirements in brackets:

Processor: 2 GHz dual core CPU (Quad Core CPU)

Memory: 2GB (4GB) RAM

Hard Drive: At least 20GB of free space

Video Card: DirectX 10 compatible (NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT minimum, GTX 560 or above recommended)

Sound Card: DirectX compatible

OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7

Importantly: Battlefield 3 does not run under Windows XP. It requires DirectX 10 support at a minimum, which only Windows Vista and Windows 7 can provide.

What follows are full descriptions for all of the settings available in BF3′s various options menus. Screenshot comparisons are provided where relevant to highlight the impact on image quality of changing these settings. Performance information is also provided for every setting, although bear in mind that the precise impact on your particular system depends on your specific hardware combination and your other game and system-wide settings. The aim here is to give you enough information so that you can make an informed choice as to the settings you enable or disable to obtain a balance of visual quality and performance acceptable to you.

General System Optimization

Almost as important as any in-game setting is the way your Windows installation is configured. A great many problems and performance issues, especially stuttering, crashes and slowdowns, can be traced directly to sub-optimal settings in Windows and out-of-date or badly configured drivers. Take a look at our Stable Gaming Guide for tips on how to get your PC in the best shape. At the very least make sure to update your graphics drivers to the latest available version, as the latest drivers are specifically optimized for Battlefield 3.

Performance Measurement

To successfully conduct any tweaking, you will need some way of objectively measuring your performance inFrames Per Second (FPS). The quickest and easiest way to measure your FPS in BF3 is to open the in-game console by pressing the ~ key (above the TAB key). Then type render.drawfps 1 and press Enter to display a small FPS counter at the top right of the screen. You can disable this FPS counter by opening the console again and typing render.drawfps 0 and pressing Enter. More details are in the Advanced Tweaking section of the guide.

Pay attention to your FPS during the game, particularly during graphically intense scenes, such as in heavy combat or in highly detailed outdoor areas. If your FPS dips into the low double or single digits for example, this is a good indication that you need to adjust various settings until your minimum FPS is consistently above 20-25 FPS during normal gameplay, such as when walking around, and higher still (30-35 FPS) during combat to maintain appropriate responsiveness in a fast-paced game like BF3.

For more Nvidia tweaking guides be sure to head over to GeForce.com

New Nvidia Drivers Released Just in Time for Battlefield 3!

Dave Oshry — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:00:55 +0000

You want it? You got it!

Just in time for the launch of Battlefield 3, Nvidia has released brand new drivers to improve your GPU performance.

Nvidia says:

The new GeForce 285.62 WHQL drivers are now available to download. Recommended for Battlefield 3,Batman: Arkham City and Rage, these drivers bundle together all the enhancements and updates contained within the 285.27 and 285.38 beta releases, in addition to new SLI and 3D Vision profiles for many of today’s most popular games.

For Battlefield 3 we’ve improved performance by up to 11% since the release of the GeForce 285.38 beta drivers, have included several compatibility enhancements, a new and improved SLI profile, and a 3D Vision profile. Similarly, Rage has received enhancements since the release of the same drivers, and Batman: Arkham City compatibility has been implemented.

As mentioned, updates contained within the earlier beta drivers have been carried over, such as the many performance improvements made to games –between the release of the 280.26 WHQL drivers and today’s 285.62 WHQL drivers– when running on our entire range of 500-Series graphics cards.

GET THE DRIVERS HERE

For more on Battlefield 3, check out What We Love (and Hate), Our Thoughts on the (Almost) Final Build and stay tuned for the RipTen Review of Battlefield 3.

Battlefield 3 is Not Broken, The (Almost) Final Build is Magnificent

Dave Oshry — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 02:47:25 +0000

For the last three days, I’ve been playing Battlefield 3 on a decommissioned aircraft carrier floating in the San Francisco Bay.

If that fact wasn’t surreal enough, I was playing with hundreds of other PC gamers on top-of-the-line gaming rigs custom built by Nvidia to provide us with the “ultimate” BF3 experience. This event shall forever be known as the GeForce LAN 6.

However, the Battlefield 3 beta was anything but the “ultimate” BF3 experience.

That Ain't Right...

This glitchy, buggy, unfinished mess that was released as a public trial only a month before the game was to go on sale left us with many questions and legions of gamers were ready to give up on Battlefield 3 all together and cancel their pre-orders right there and then.

Many of us old time testers shouted, “Hey, it’s a BETA, it’s supposed to have issues, this is an old build!” But the masses cried foul. ”There’s no way they can fix this mess in one month, I don’t care how old the build is! How dare they release this to the public, don’t they know any better?!”

Fair enough.

However, the build I’ve been playing for the past few days is literally light years ahead of the beta. While not the final product, Nvidia and DICE confirmed to me that what we were playing was “damn close” to final build and if this is any indication of the final product… I’m sold.

That's More Like It.

There were no bugs, no glitches, and the Ultra quality visual settings actually looked “Ultra”. Being a high end PC gamer and a member of the press who gets to test damn near every PC game, I’m as jaded as they come. Yet everything about this build was downright beautiful. I played on new maps like “Operation Firestorm”, “Damavand Peak” and and “Grand Bazaar” and the first time I deployed on each – I did nothing but stare. The first time you see each of these landscapes laid out before you on PC, you will be in awe. Wether it be the burning oil fields of Operation Firestorm or the magnificently detailed snow capped mountains of Damavand Peak, I’ve never seen anything quite like it, especially in a first person shooter, and that’s certainly saying something.

Operation Firestorm

Damavand Peak

Hell, I even noticed little things like the fact that the UMP-45 had been nerfed a bit. DICE had clearly been listening to the player feedback, even at this late stage of the game. The entire experience felt balanced, focused and rock solid. It’s a testament to DICE’s commitment to PC game development and pushing the envelope with their Frostbite 2 engine.

Their developer commitment is also evidenced by the fact that I saw no vehicles flipping over, nobody falling through the map, no flying corpses hitting me in the face and no crazy giraffe neck dubstep.

I am proud to report that Battlefield 3 (on PC at least) is finally ready for action.

Are you?

Want to know more about the GeForce LAN or my experience with the latest build of Battlefield 3? Find me anytime on Twitter @DaveOshry or shoot an email over to Dave@RipTen.com

Nvidia and DICE Kick off the GeForce LAN With a Bang (Video)

Dave Oshry — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:53:51 +0000

As a wise man once said – I’m on a boat, motherfucker.

A big boat. A really big boat. A really big bad ass boat actually.

This baby served in the WWII and went to Midway and back.

Now, the USS Hornet is home to the Nvidia GeForce LAN 6. A three day celebration of PC gaming and Battlefield.

I’ve already taken hundreds of pictures and have some cool stories in the works, but in the meantime, how about you watch this video of the keynote which Nvidia has put together so you get a better idea of just what’s going on around here.

Watch as Drew Henry, General Manager of the GeForce product line from NVIDIA and Johan Andersson, the Chief Architect at DICE jointly present the state of PC gaming as seen through the lens of the Battlefield franchise.

It all started in 2002 with the release of Battlefield 1942, a game that many us have fond memories of. When the vintage game was shown on stage, it sent the crowd into a roaring cheer; many continue to play 1942 even as they ready theirmachines for its ultimate successor, Battlefield 3.

When the camera cut to Battlefield 3, it was like fast forwarding ten years into the future. Except the future was the present. The blurry, cartoony world was replaced by an intense, gritty rendering of a refinery complex in the sun parched Middle Eastern desert. The map was Operation Firestorm, one of the largest in the game. All the signature vehicles of Battlefield was on offer, from tanks, jets to helicopters. This map was made exclusively available for play at GeForce LAN. The crowd was jubilant.

Graphics have come a long way since 2002. The flagship GPU at the time of Battlefield 1942 was the GeForce 4600 Ti. Today, it’s the GeForce GTX 580. “Ti” refers to a faster version, and today it’s still available on the GeForce GTX
560, the GPU that DICE recommends for Battlefield 3.

That’s right, we’re on a boat.

Check out the full details on Nvidia 3DVision 2 HERE and what we Love and Hate about Battlefield 3 HERE

Stay tuned to RipTen for continued coverage of the GeForce LAN 6 straight from the flight deck (press room) of the USS Hornet.

Nvidia Unveils 3DVision 2. Bigger, Better, Sleeker and Cheaper.

Dave Oshry — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:30:55 +0000

I’ve been dying to tell you all about Nvidia’s NEW 3DVision for months now, and the time has finally arrived.

With their new tech, Nvidia is making the entry barrier into 3DPC gaming smaller than ever, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Let’s get started.

Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.

The Glasses:

NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ 2, the next generation of NVIDIA’s award-winning 3D glasses, features a sleek new design and other features to enhance the immersive experience when playing 3D games, or enjoying 3D movies or photos. Among these is NVIDIA 3D LightBoost™, a unique new display technology that dramatically improves the 3D experience by delivering images that are up to twice as bright and colors that are far richer than those provided by other 3D display technologies.

What that corporate blurb means is this: Gone are the days of having to turn up your brightness every time you enable 3DVision. Gone are the days of your 3DVision glasses being uncomfortable when you wear them with headphones and gone are the days of your 3D glasses looking anything but bad ass.

Brighter is Better

NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 glasses were designed specifically for gamers and 3D enthusiasts. They provide deeper immersion in games through lenses that are 20 percent larger than those in first-generation glasses, resulting in a wider viewing area and increased external light blocking. In addition, 3D Vision 2 glasses are made of soft composite materials for a more comfortable fit with gaming headphones.

So yeah, they’re also bigger. You won’t get light coming in from the sides or top of your 3DVision glasses anymore. You’ve got full immersion. But they’re also lighter and more comfortable. Trust me, I’ve worn them. I’ve played Arkham City in 3D with them. You jelly? Yeah, you jelly.

Bigger is Better.

But Dave, they’re NEW, these have to cost MORE than the old models, right? WRONG.

Same Price as The Previous Models. Word.

That’s it. No catch. Nvidia is banking on the fact that by making their 3DVision better than ever and keeping the pricing just as low as the old models, they’ll sell a ton of new 3DVision kits and create a whole new army of 3DPC gamers that will go out and buy the latest and greatest 3DPC games.

For more on 3DVision 2 and the latest monitors that come embedded with 3DVision technology, head on over to the 3DVision Website.

RAGE Gets Massive PC Patch (Notes)

Dave Oshry — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:16:17 +0000

As you may or may not know, the PC launch of id software‘s RAGE didn’t exactly go smoothly.

Lack of visual options, massively slow texture loading/pop in and the game being all but unplayable for AMD/ATi users led people to believe that id had truly given up on their PC roots. Well, that may or may not be true, but the game has gotten a massive patch anyway, here are the notes:

RAGE Patch Release Notes – October 8th 2011
——————————————-

RAGE defaults to lower video settings to allow the game to work on a
wide variety of hardware and software configurations.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to anticipate all possible graphics
driver issues in combination with unique end user hardware and software
configurations. For this reason RAGE does not automatically increase
video/graphics settings as this could result in negative side effects
on specific hardware and software configurations. The original release
of RAGE does not expose many video/graphics options for people to tweak
because some of these settings, although desirable from a quality
perspective, simply will not work on specific configurations either due
to hardware limitations and/or driver bugs. Due to popular demand for
more video and graphics options, this patch updates the video settings
menu and exposes several quality and performance settings. However, not
everyone may be able to increase the settings due to hardware limitations
and/or driver bugs.

VSync
—–

The new “VSync” option in the video settings menu allows you to remove
screen tearing. There are three options: ON, OFF and SMART.

When VSync is turned OFF you may experience screen tearing.

When VSync is turned ON you should not see screen tearing. However,
any time your frame rate drops below 60 frames per second you will
get a sudden more severe drop to 30 frames per second. This is how VSync
inherently works. If your computer cannot maintain 60 frames per
second and you miss the synchronization to the vertical retrace of
your monitor then you will miss a whole frame and synchronize to
the next frame instead.

Some graphics drivers now support a so called “swap-tear” extension.
You can try using this extension by setting VSync to SMART.
If your graphics driver supports this extension and you set VSync
to SMART then RAGE will synchronize to the vertical retrace of
your monitor when your computer is able to maintain 60 frames per
second and the screen may tear if your frame rate drops below 60 frames
per second. In other words the SMART VSync option trades a sudden drop
to 30 frames per second with occasional screen tearing. Occasional
screen tearing is usually considered less distracting than a more
severe drop in frame rate.

If your graphics driver does not support SMART VSync and you set VSync
to SMART in the video settings then RAGE will automatically fall back to
turning VSync OFF and you may experience screen tearing. The “swap-tear”
extension is brand new and may still present some issues on certain
graphics hardware. If you experience any problems using SMART Vsync
then set VSync to either ON or OFF. We are actively working with the
graphics hardware vendors to improve the “swap-tear” extension.

If changing VSync in the RAGE video settings menu does not appear to
make any difference then make sure you are not overriding the VSync
setting in the graphics vendor control panel. You can find the
graphics vendor control panel by right-clicking on the Windows desktop
and selecting the ” control panel” option from the pop-up menu.

If you force VSync to the ‘on’ setting in the graphics vendor control
panel then you should not see any screen tearing in RAGE but you may
get a more severe drop in frame rate if your computer cannot maintain
60 frames per second.

If you force VSync to the ‘off’ setting in the graphics vendor control
panel then you may experience screen tearing no matter what setting you
use for the VSync option in the RAGE video settings menu.

Texture Cache
————-

The new “Texture Cache” option in the video settings menu allows you
to increase the texture cache size to keep more texture data in
video memory.

If the Texture Cache is set to LARGE then RAGE will keep more texture
data in video memory. This may not only significantly reduce blurry
textures and texture popping, it will also allow complex scenes to be
rendered with more texture detail.

However, this may not work on computers that do not have enough system
or video memory, or you may experience a significant drop in performance.
If you experience issues due to hardware limitations you will have to set
the Texture Cache back to SMALL.

If after changing the Texture Cache to LARGE you experience a crash or
texture corruption (like a partially or completely blue world) then
the graphics driver may have run out of memory.

We are actively working with the graphics card vendors to resolve
any crashes.

If you do not experience a crash but you see texture corruption then you
may be able to get the large Texture Cache to work by accepting the change
and restarting the game. If you still experience texture corruption after
restarting the game you will have to set the Texture Cache back to SMALL.

You may also be able to improve the memory situation on your computer by
changing the Windows paging file management. Note that making changes to
the Windows paging file management may change the performance characteristics
of your computer. Any changes you make to your system configuration are
at your own risk. Always make backups of your system and revert these
changes if you notice undesirable side effects.

To change the paging file management on Windows Vista and Windows 7, first
press the “Start” button, then right-click on “Computer” and then select
“Properties” from the popup menu. Then select “Advanced system settings”
on the window that appears. Select the “Advanced” tab on the
“System Properties” window that is displayed and press the “Settings”
button under “Performance”. Select the “Advanced” tab on the
“Performance Options” window that shows up next and press the
“Change…” button under “Virtual memory”. Now uncheck the option
“Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” and make
sure that the option “System managed size” is selected on the
“Virtual Memory” window. Confirm the change by pressing the “OK” button
on each window. After making this change you will have to restart your
computer for the change to take effect.

To change the paging file management on Windows XP, first press the
“Start” button, then right-click on “My Computer” and then select
“Properties” from the popup menu. Select the “Advanced” tab on the
“System Properties” window that is displayed and press the “Settings”
button under “Performance”. Select the “Advanced” tab on the
“Performance Options” window that shows up next and press the “Change”
button under “Virtual memory”. Make sure that the option
“System managed size” is selected on the “Virtual Memory” window.
Confirm the change by pressing the “OK” button on each window.
After making this change you will have to restart your computer for
the change to take effect.

Anisotropic Filter
——————

The new “Anisotropic Filter” option in the video settings menu allows
you to increase the anisotropic texture filtering.

Anisotropic filtering is a method to enhance the image quality of
textures on surfaces that are at oblique viewing angles.

The anisotropic texture filtering in RAGE defaults to a low value to
accommodate for low-end graphics hardware. However, the anisotropic
filtering can be increased for high-end graphics hardware by setting
the Anistropic Filter option to HIGH in the video settings menu.

Do not force anisotropic filtering to the ‘on’ setting in the graphics
vendor control panel because this may cause rendering artifacts in
the game.

Note that increasing the anisotropic filtering may improve the
texture quality while it may also decrease the frame rate.

Patch Changes / Fixes
———————

- Implemented workaround for AMD driver crash right after intro cinematic
on Win 7 32-bit systems.
- Disabled UBOs because they are causing animation issues with AMD drivers.
- Don’t allow swap-tear to be enabled on AMD while the extension is not
exposed because it may crash.
- Support for new video settings: “texture cache”, “vsync” and
“anisotropic filter”
- Automatically adjust vt_maxPPF based on the number of available cores.
- Improved performance for SLI cards when GPU transcode is enabled.
- Fix for GPU Transcoding option being disabled after exiting gameplay.
- Added safe mode to restore video settings to default values.
- Allow g_fov to be changed from the RAGE launch options in Steam.
- Server now forwards text chat from clients to all other clients while
in-game.

Known Graphical Issues
———————-

The following issues were found using NVIDIA graphics hardware with
the GeForce R285 Driver or AMD graphics hardware with the AMD Catalyst
11.10 Version 2 Preview Driver.

- If you turn up both the screen resolution and anti-aliasing settings
to high values in the video settings menu and/or you enable
“GPU Transcode” then the screen may no longer update on some hardware
configurations. This means your system does not have the necessary
video memory to run with these high settings. You can re-enter the video
settings menu and lower your settings to restart screen updates.

- If you turn up both the screen resolution and anti-aliasing settings
to high values in the video settings menu you may experience a crash
if your system does not have the necessary memory to run with these
high settings. To avoid this problem you will have to re-enter the
video settings menu to lower the settings. If you can no longer launch
the game after changing the video settings to high values you can add
the following to your RAGE launch options in Steam:

+com_safemode 1

The launch options can be found by right-clicking on RAGE in Steam
and selecting “Properties”. Then click on “Set Launch Options” in
the dialog that pops up. Adding this option will reset your video
settings to the default values the next time the game is launched.
When the game is launched in safe mode the game will show “safe mode”
in the corners of the screen. Do not forget to remove the safe mode
launch option after launching the game once to make sure you do not
lose your video settings each time you launch the game.

- Using a NVIDIA graphics card on Windows XP 32-bit or XP 64-bit, you
may experience a crash or hang when changing the screen resolution in
full screen mode or switching from windowed mode to full screen mode.
This has been identified as a graphics driver problem. We have spent
significant effort trying to work around this problem and were
successful in reducing the frequency of occurrence but a driver update
is necessary to completely fix the problem. We are actively working with
NVIDIA to make a solution to this problem available as soon as possible.

- Using an AMD graphics card, you may experience black flickering
artifacts on flags, banners and zip-lines if you run in full screen
mode. This has been identified as a graphics driver problem. We are
actively working with AMD on a solution to this problem.

- Using an AMD graphics card, you may experience black grid lines on
some graphical user interface (GUI) elements like the in-game mini-map.
This has been identified as a graphics driver problem. We are actively
working with AMD on a solution to this problem. If you find the grid
lines particularly distracting, you can add the following to the RAGE
launch options in Steam as a temporary workaround.

+vt_maxAniso 1

The launch options can be found by right-clicking on RAGE in Steam
and selecting “Properties”. Then click on “Set Launch Options” in
the dialog that pops up. However, note that adding this setting will
lower the general texture quality in the game.

- If you have an AMD graphics card with a dual core CPU system you may
experience severe hitching and low frame rates. This has been
identified as a driver problem. We are actively working with AMD on
a solution to this problem. As a temporary workaround you may add the
following to the RAGE launch options in Steam:

+jobs_numThreads 0

The launch options can be found by right-clicking on RAGE in Steam
and selecting “Properties”. Then click on “Set Launch Options” in
the dialog that pops up.

- If you are running RAGE in full-screen mode and you ALT-TAB to a
different application you may lose your VSync setting. When you
switch to a different application VSync stops functioning.
RAGE detects that VSync is no longer working and automatically switches
back to synchronizing to real-time to make sure the game time advances
in a consistent manner. We are actively working with the graphics
vendors on a solution to this problem.

Has this patch fixed your problems? Are you happy now? Still going to send that angry letter to John Carmack?

For more on RAGE, be sure to check out the RipTen Review!!

via [Steam]

RipTen Radio Episode 9001 – We’ve Been Beta Tested

Ripten Staff — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:00:08 +0000

People seem to have enjoyed our reboot of RipTen Radio, so we’re back and we’ve been beta tested! Another week, another episode of nobody’s favorite podcast!

This week we discuss hot and important topics like Wonder Woman’s pants and the betas for both Diablo III and Battlefield. We also make sure to throw some DotA2 talk in for good measure and get all indie-hipster talking about The Binding of Isaac as well. All this and more, so get listening!

This week’s intro song is “The Clubbing of Isaac” from The Binding of Isaac Soundtrack <– Buy it here!! Only $0.99!!

RipTen Radio Episode 9001

(Click the play button to stream here, or click the text above to listen off-site)

Follow us on Twitter

@DaveOshry / @SigmaRue / @IamAaronAlex

Skyrim Voice Cast Announced

Wonder Woman With Pants

Homefront 2 Being Developed by Crytek

Gears 3 DLC Debate

PC Games Will Outsell Console Games by 2014

Diablo 3 Beta Impressions

Battlefield 3 Beta Impressions

84% of PC Gamers Will Want to Upgrade for Battlefield 3

Driver: San Fransisco Review

Space Marine Review

Gears of War 3 Review

Rise of Nightmares Review

The Binding of Isaac Review!

See you for Episode 9002!!

84% of PC Gamers Will Want To Upgrade For Battlefield 3

Dave Oshry — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 03:00:26 +0000

Today is a not-so-glorious day for the PC Gaming master race.

It’s no secret that Battlefield 3 will take a serious gaming rig to take full advantage of on PC, but a new study released by Valve and Nvidia shows that a serious percentage of PC gamers will need to upgrade in order to do it:

Valve Hath Spoken

This is based on recent Steam data and the recommended specs for BF3 on PC released by EA and DICE in conjunction with Nvidia.

Do you meet these specs? If not, you’re in that grey area.

Nvidia has told us that EA and DICE “may” lower the recommended specs, in which case you may be in the green, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, If you’re looking for a good GPU to upgrade to, I highly recommend the GeForce GTX 570. It’s slim, quiet, won’t eat your PSU and it gets the job done. Check out my full review HERE.

Or if you have a money tree in your backyard, check out my review of the GTX 590.

So, did you make the cut, soldier?

Research Shows PC Game Sales Will Eclipse Console Game Sales by 2014

Dave Oshry — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 05:17:07 +0000

’tis a proud day for the glorious PC gaming master race.

A few weeks ago I sat down with Nvidia up in LA for a lovely presentation about their upcoming products and the state of 3DPC gaming.

During said presentation I was showed a series of rather informative slides, one of which stood out far more than others:

Research Conducted by Independent Firm DFC Intelligence

That’s right, their research shows that PC game software sales will eclipse console game software sales by 2014!

I know what you’re thinking. “Madness! How can that be possible!? Nobody buys PC games anymore, they hardly even sell them in stores!”

Well, you’re absolutely right.

As you may have guessed, the rise in PC game sales is due to the ever expanding number of digital mediums which make it possible to not only purchase, but spend money in PC games.

As you can see, the majority of PC game sales are not packaged at all, they’re mostly digital. Moreover, the forms of digital distribution and sales associated with them are growing exponentially each and every day.

You may be familiar with rapidly growing digital distribution channels such as Steam, Direct2Drive and GoG that sell full games both new and old directly to players over the internet. However, let’s not forget the other ways in which gamers spend money on PC games.

World of Warcraft, which is run as a monthly subscription based MMO, racks up sales in the billions each and every year due to it’s tremendous player base:

And WoW is certainly not the only subscription based MMO out there. New MMO’s like TERA, Guild Wars 2, and The Old Republic are still on the horizon, and they too will contribute to the growth of PC game sales.

However, there’s still more. High profile Free-To-Play games such as League of Legends, World of Tanks and the upcoming Tribes: Ascend have their own business models which allow players to play the game for free, but spend money on in-game features and items to enhance their experience. Gamers spend millions on these “mico-transactions” each and every year.

Let’s also not forget the thousands of free to play Korean MMO’s you’ve never heard of and browser and Facebook based mobile and social games such as Farmville and Mafia Wars that rake in billions a year for companies like Zynga.

So, by all means it appears that PC gaming is not dead. Not because Razer wants to sell you a $3000 laptop, but because there are more ways than ever for gamers to spend money and play games on any type of PC, anywhere in the world.

Is this trend going to slow down anytime soon? We don’t think so.

Battlefield 3 GeForce LAN BYOC Spots Sell Out in Two Hours

Dave Oshry — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:00:39 +0000

Were you looking forward to hauling your PC up to the USS Hornet off the coast of San Francisco in order to frag it out with a thousand other PC gamers in Battlefield 3 this October?

Well, TOO BAD.

The BYOC (bring your own computer) section for Nvidia’s upcoming GeForce LAN has already sold out and as of this writing there are only 300 or so general admission tickets remaining.

If you’re still interested in being there at all, you may want to get your ass over to the GeForce website ASAP.

I warned you guys this would happen weeks ago, and a few days ago I told you I could get you a spot, but did you listen? nooooooooooooo

Anyhow, stay tuned to RipTen as we head up to the GeForce LAN in October to check out Battlefield 3 and a few surprises you won’t see coming.

Nvidia Is Throwing a BYOC Battlefield 3 LAN Party on an Aircraft Carrier!!

Dave Oshry — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:00:45 +0000

PC Gaming is not dead. Not because Razer just announced a ridiculous $3,000 gaming laptop, but because of events like Quake Con and the GeForce LAN.

Showcasing Battlefield 3 and being held on the USS Hornet, a decommissioned aircraft carrier off the coast of San Francisco, the 6th GeForce Lan is something a true PC gamer does not wanna miss.

It’s being held from October 14th-16th and will run for 48 fraggin’ hours straight.

Better yet, Nvidia says:

The Aircraft Carrier USS Hornet is a national treasure, having participated in two of the most historic events of the 20^th century—World War II and the Apollo 11 manned space mission. This is the first 48-hour LAN party to be held on the USS Hornet, and some lucky GeForce LAN 6 attendees may even get an opportunity to spend the night in the ship’s barracks or play dodge ball on the flight deck!

For more info on the GeForce LAN – visit GeForceLAN.com

Will you be there? I know I will.

Come Get Some!!

Rocksteady is “Amazed” by How Arkham City Looks On Current Gen Consoles

Dave Oshry — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:00:25 +0000

Batman: Arkham City is shaping up to be bigger and better than it’s predecessor in every way. That means story, gameplay, and of course… graphics.

This week I had the chance to sit down with Paul Crocker, the lead narrative designer for both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Low and behold, he had some great things to say about what he and the team at Rocksteady are working so hard on.

First off, when asked about Catwoman – Paul said that she was nearly first on their list of characters they wanted to have playable, it was just a matter of ‘if’ they could pull it off. They really wanted to push themselves to deliver a different experience from the first game, and having the two characters playable with an intertwining storyline really helped them to achieve that goal.

I pressed Paul for details about hopefully seeing Robin playable in more than just the challenge missions (since he’s so badass now) but alas, he replied that they have no plans to bring Robin into the game in a greater playable capacity at the moment.

However, when I asked if there would be any BIG surprises in store for players in the game, he replied, “Oh, yes”

He went on to say that since people know and love just about every character in the Batman universe, keeping things a secret and letting the player be surprised is that much more important to them. The team at Rocksteady knows it’s infuriating for players who want to know every detail of the game before it hits stores, but they believe that the payoff is worth the frustration:

“You have no idea how hard we worked to keep Scarecrow under wraps the first time… it was insane. Yet, I think everyone who got to experience the game, was thankful for that moment”

When I grilled him about how amazing Arkham City looks on PC thanks to their partnership with Nvidia, he said that it was obviously brilliant since they develop on PC, but that Rocksteady’s goal was to make the game look as good as possible on all platforms.

I then asked, “Why do you go that extra step, when so many other developers don’t?”

“What’s brilliant for us, and also terrible for us, is that we’ll make this thing look amazing on the PC, and then have to find a way to keep the quality of the visuals on consoles.”

A rough task indeed, given how capable PC’s are of pumping out next gen graphics and how far ahead of consoles they are at this point in this gaming generation. However, when I asked if he thought it was time for new consoles yet, he had this to say:

“I would buy a new console if it came out tomorrow, but I don’t know if it really is time. Arkham City looks great on the current gen, so I can hold onto that money for a bit longer.”

“Our goal is to make all versions of the game look as absolutely stunning as we can”

And indeed it does. Both Paul and myself admittedly have had to do double takes when checking out Arkham City. Only upon close inspection did we realize it wasn’t the PC version, but in fact the Xbox 360 version that was being shown. Paul went on to say:

“I’ve walked into rooms and gone, “Is that the PC version?” and been “Amazed” that it was the Xbox version”

So, by all accounts, it looks as if Rocksteady will prove once again that they are a developer who can go toe to toe with the best of them and deliver a gaming experience in the current generation that is second to none.

“Honestly, we just want to make the best Batman game we can”

Stay tuned to RipTen for continued coverage of Arkham City and all things Rocksteady.

Editor’s Note: I know you guys are used to me doing video interviews, and I do indeed have this entire conversation on video. However, it was far too noisy in the press room for me to publish it as such.

Deal with it ^__^

Geeked Out: Nvidia Gives Their Moscow Office a Bad Ass Paint Job (Video)

Dave Oshry — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:24:10 +0000

Seeing as Nvidia has a zillion dollars, they went ahead and opened a new office in Moscow. Then they went and spent another jillion dollars on this paint job. Yeah, it’s pretty sweet.

The artist is Anton Miroshnikov and yes, that’s Nomad from Crysis. (Not Alcanoob from Crysis 2)

As soon as I get a billion dollars, I’m totally doing this to the RipTen office… except it’ll be Duke Nukem on the wall. ^__^

Buy Nvidia 3DVision – Get Duke Nukem Forever Free

Dave Oshry — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:00:25 +0000

I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that Duke Nukem Forever is an awesome game and that this is just an excuse to get down with the Duke. However, Nvidia 3DVision is awesome and you should buy it now because it comes with free shit. And yes, by shit I mean Duke Nukem Forever. Ok, DNF isn’t THAT bad, but it’s certainly not worthy of 3DVision, even though it does obviously look much better on PC and in 3D.

But I digress, here’s the details:

For a limited time, NVIDIA 3D Vision wireless glasses kits include a free copy of Duke Nukem Forever. You can purchase the 3D Vision Duke Nukem Forever special edition today for $149 (USD MSRP) at these North American etailers: TigerDirect.com, Newegg.com and NCIX.

Or, look for the 3D Vision Duke Nukem Forever special edition bundle at your local retail store.

What are you waitin’ for, Christmas? Go Get Some!!

Yeah, I’m getting tired of those one-liners too…

Nvidia Builds Bad Ass Duke Nukem PC Mod For DNF Launch

Aaron Alexander — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:30:14 +0000

At the Duke Nukem Forever launch in Dallas, the fine folk at Nvidia unveiled an awesome PC modification in honor of the game. The build featured dual 3D enabled screens, GTX 580 SLi GPU’s and one “kick-ass” cooling system.

Project: Hail to the King

The project was presented to Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software. Nvidia conducted an interview with the man himself, and also captured some footage of this kick-ass PC mod. Check it out below;

The people at Nvidia never cease to amaze me, but is this monstrosity better than the Keg-Puter they showed off at the CES?

Let us know your thoughts on this absolute monster of a rig in the comments below, and be sure check out our review for Duke Nukem Forever.