GeForce 320.18 WHQL Drivers Released

Coinciding with the launch of the GeForce GTX 780 (our review HERE), NVIDIA has just released the new GeForce 320.18 WHQL drivers. You can grab the 32-bit version and the 64-bit version HERE.

Performance Boost – Increases performance by up to 20% for GeForce 400/500/600 series GPUs in several PC games vs. GeForce 314.22 WHQL-certified drivers. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration. Here is one example of measured gains:

Additional Details
Installs PhysX System Software 9.12.1031.
Installs HD Audio v1.3.24.2
Includes support for applications built using CUDA 5.5 or earlier version of the CUDA Toolkit. More information at http://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-toolkit
Supports OpenGL 4.3 for GeForce 400-series and later GPUs.
Supports DisplayPort 1.2 for GeForce GTX 600 series GPUs.
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.

Click to expand...

For those who (still) need some XP love:
http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/62792

Does this contain the shadow recording application for keplar gpus?

Any improvements over 320.14?

As far as I can tell it's the same as the last beta but now WHQL certified. It doesn't have any improvements that weren't in the prior beta release.

I haven't noticed anything, but I'm not playing the latest games ATM.. But is it only my systems or do the recent batch of driver cause your GPU to idle hotter than normal. Just from .14 to .18 i'm 6-8C hotter..

I take that back: I did notice Geforce experience being a default install option now, and nvidia update is no longer part of the driver set. That's the only difference I noticed.

Drivers that support the card they just released. You don't say.

WorldExclusive said:

Drivers that support the card they just released. You don't say.

Click to expand...

Sarcasm noted, but the context of the question above was 320.14 vs 320.18 for existing nvidia users On a side note, I wonder the WHQL cert process takes so long. I don't think I've ever had any issues with beta releases.

xoleras said:

Sarcasm noted, but the context of the question above was 320.14 vs 320.18 for existing nvidia users On a side note, I wonder the WHQL cert process takes so long. I don't think I've ever had any issues with beta releases.

Click to expand...

That was for the Red Team.

Not sure, but the WHQL have to work with an almost infinite amount of configurations.
Now why does MS XBOX WHQL take so long is beyond anyone's comprehension.

Are these still crasheriffic with Titans like the other 320 series drivers?

These are suppose to be WHQL of 320.14 with GTX 780 support, but I'm seeing reports about games like Black Ops 2 that rendered fine now seeing random hick ups with 320.18. I just installed them before I left for work so I'll see tonight, but the notebook version have been working fine.

I can't even get past the compatibility check. Just says installer fail. Good stuff.

660 Ti

I noticed that you have to have an Internet connection active in order to install these...pretty funny. Not a problem for 99.99% - but when I am setting up a new box or re-formatting I like to install the basics via USB so I can secure the system prior to getting it on the Internet. It's troubling that NVIDIA would "require" an Internet connection to install video drivers, lol...I even tried going command-line and there are no options that I could find by doing a "/?".

This 320.18 driver quickly fails during installation on my system.

As the NVIDIA installer begins to execute the initial "System Check" step, the install process halts almost immediately with the error "NVIDIA Installer failed". None of the components are installed and the only option available is to close the installer.

Below is part of the NVIDIA installer log dump. I did find the error, but I don't know how to resolve this apparent file system path issue in the NVInstaller thread, as if an expected directory and/or file is missing:

6.542 | INFO: [NVI2.Installation] 600@CInstallationChecking::Analyze : Calling ".\DisplayDriverExt.DLL" to perform Analyze work. 2013-05-26 07:39:17.076 ( 6.547) | DEBUG: [DisplayDriver.DisplayDriverExtSite] 2882@CDisplayDriverExtSite:erformOptimusRemovalAnalysis : Determining if Optimus should be removed.
2013-05-26 07:39:17.076 ( 6.547) | DEBUG: [DisplayDriver.DisplayDriverExtSite] 2899@CDisplayDriverExtSite:erformOptimusRemovalAnalysis : Optimus removal detection skipped: not for selected for install extension.
6.542 | INFO: [NVI2.Installation] 600@CInstallationChecking::Analyze : Calling ".\GFExperienceExt.dll" to perform Analyze work. 2013-05-26 07:39:17.783 ( 7.254) | INFO: [system] 353@Nvidia::Logging::Logger::Logger :
2013-May-26 07:39:17 : Logging init OK. Using configuration from HKLM for DefaultProcess, for the setup.exe.
2013-05-26 07:39:17.784 ( 7.255) | DEBUG: [DevicePackageUtil] 131@DevicePackageUtil::HardwarePresent : Found 3 candidate devices.
7.957 | ERROR: [NVI2.InstallThread] 54@CInstallThread::ThreadProc : Install failed - Exception {0x80070003 - The system cannot find the path specified.; File: InstallationStepper.cpp; Line: 606; Extension failed during call to Analyze} - going to fail state.
7.958 | DEBUG: [NVI2.Installation] 92@CInstallationStepper:resent : Presenting "!InstallFailed".


A few seconds later, the NVInstaller thread gives up entirely and dumps a second, final error in the log:

10.453 | DEBUG: [NVI2.NVInstaller] 2051@CNVInstaller::CloseUI : Requesting UI to be closed.
10.456 | DEBUG: [NVI2.NVInstaller] 128@CNVInstaller:erformSteps : Completed install steps and closed UI.
10.478 | DEBUG: [NVI2.NVInstaller] 996@CNVInstaller::InternalCleanupCacheDeferred : Scheduling deferred delete using module C:\Users\SONICA~1\AppData\Local\Temp\NVI2_29.DLL waiting for this process C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\320.18\Win8_WinVista_Win7_64\English\setup.exe 4060.
10.501 | DEBUG: [NVI2.NVInstaller] 1037@CNVInstaller::InternalCleanupCacheDeferred : Deferred delete is primed.
10.501 | ERROR: [NVI2.NVInstaller] 216@CNVInstaller:erformSteps : Installation failed with error Exception {0x80070003 - The system cannot find the path specified.; File: SimpleThread.h; Line: 228}.

After many attempts using various tactics, along with a little advice from EVGA Technical Support, here is the only way I have been able to get around the installation failure issue and actually install the latest 320.18 driver on my system.

The installation issue seems to be isolated in an unknown subset of Windows 7 platforms and is caused by a corrupt installer (bug) that prevents the drivers from unzipping fully; when this issue happens, it applies across all Nvidia video cards, not just TITAN.

There are a couple ways around this. First, uninstall the current NVIDIA display driver, then run the 320.18 installer again and let it fail once more. It unpacks just enough of the driver software to proceed with a manual driver install. Close the NVIDIA installer after it fails and go to the Windows 7 Control Panel Device Manager application, select "Display Adapter", right click on the TITAN video card and chose "Update Drivers". Select the option to "Browse My Computer for Driver Software", then change the path to the location where the drivers were unpacked, usually C:\Nvidia. Next, continue with the Device Manager manual installation, which should fully install the 320.18 video driver without further problems.

However, if this doesn't work, the only other way to get the latest driver is to perform a full Windows 7 re-install, because with the latest driver release this occasional installer corruption issue is bad enough that sometimes a clean install is the only option.

In such cases as this pitiful driver release, I would advise remaining on a prior driver revision until all of these really horrible installation (and subsequent lock-up) bugs can be resolved...

"Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered."

Got it a couple of times doing simple stuff. Rolling back for now. GTX560Ti factory OC

SuperSubZero said:

"Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered."

Got it a couple of times doing simple stuff. Rolling back for now. GTX560Ti factory OC

Click to expand...

I guess I have been lucky because I have never gotten that before on any setup ever except when I was testing overclocks.

SonataSys said:

After many attempts using various tactics, along with a little advice from EVGA Technical Support, here is the only way I have been able to get around the installation failure issue and actually install the latest 320.18 driver on my system.

The installation issue seems to be isolated in an unknown subset of Windows 7 platforms and is caused by a corrupt installer (bug) that prevents the drivers from unzipping fully; when this issue happens, it applies across all Nvidia video cards, not just TITAN.

There are a couple ways around this. First, uninstall the current NVIDIA display driver, then run the 320.18 installer again and let it fail once more. It unpacks just enough of the driver software to proceed with a manual driver install. Close the NVIDIA installer after it fails and go to the Windows 7 Control Panel Device Manager application, select "Display Adapter", right click on the TITAN video card and chose "Update Drivers". Select the option to "Browse My Computer for Driver Software", then change the path to the location where the drivers were unpacked, usually C:\Nvidia. Next, continue with the Device Manager manual installation, which should fully install the 320.18 video driver without further problems.

However, if this doesn't work, the only other way to get the latest driver is to perform a full Windows 7 re-install, because with the latest driver release this occasional installer corruption issue is bad enough that sometimes a clean install is the only option.

In such cases as this pitiful driver release, I would advise remaining on a prior driver revision until all of these really horrible installation (and subsequent lock-up) bugs can be resolved...

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Guess i'll stay on the old till the problems are fixed.

No issues installing and using 320.18 on my EVGA GTX 780 SC ACX.

I have a GTX 570. After installing these drivers last night my system randomly shuts off. Happened a few times while watching Youtube (flash hardware acceleration?). System also crashed while just running prime, so I don't know if it is the drivers or not. I rolled back my OC and disabled my AV, still shuts off. Have rolled back to 314 WHQL, but I'm just not confident that's going to fix it.

What's with the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 installer now included in the driver? I guess they need that for GeForce Experience?

On Windows 7 64-bit, I already had "Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile" in the Programs and Features control panel, but running this installer added "Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Extended".

Edit: Ah ha, if the .NET Framework box is unchecked when you put a check in the GeForce Experience box, it then automatically puts a check in the .NET Framework box, so I guess that answers my question.

I rolled mine back to the previous version due to severe color issues in Eve Online. Nvidia is saying a fix is in the works. Worst driver release they've done in along time, lots of issues with other stuff as well being posted on the nVidia site.

Yup, I rolled back after one day on these drivers because of a new kind of crash to desktop in Planetside 2. The existing C2D still exists, but the new one crashed without any error message, just, BAM, where you were an instant before playing the game, you are now staring at your PS2 icon, no error message of any kind. Also, it crashed this way far more frequently than the C2D that occurs every ~3 hours that I'm used to.

Rolled back and I no longer get the new kind of C2D. Usually I wait a while to "upgrade" video drivers, this time I broke my rule and got burned.

These drivers seem to be the cause of my system rebooting when gaming with my Titans in SLI mode. Completely unstable. Using just one card seems to be ok.

My 480 is rock solid with these drivers. However, my wifes 460 blue screens and locks 2 or 3 times a day. Rolled her back.

This is interesting. I no longer have the texture flipping that you see on mountains in skyrim and every where in fallout 3. Only took them 3 centuries to fix it

My 650 Ti is going nuts with these, seems to crash every 10 minutes doing nothing.

Was perfectly fine running an older version (not sure of the number)

mwarps said:

My 650 Ti is going nuts with these, seems to crash every 10 minutes doing nothing.

Was perfectly fine running an older version (not sure of the number)

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I'm still rockin the 314.22's on my 660's. I learned a long time ago dealing with the drama on my GTX 260 that upgrading drivers randomly for no good reason or to try and squeeze a little bit more performance out of the card, wasn't always a good idea. Strangely, it usually ends up being the drivers closest to the release date of a new card always end up being the most stable for that particular product, at least in my experiences.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Running GTX 580's in SLI. The 320.18's gave me missing/corrupted textures in Black Ops 2 plus a few random BSOD. I tried the clean install option but that didn't work for me either. Did remove 1 card to see if it was an SLI issue and it wasn't. Rolled back to 314.22 and all is fine again.

The missing textures was a Black Ops 2 error and was fixed in a recent patch, will see tonight though.

Not sure if it's related but with these drivers, Bioshock Infinite seems to develop graphical artifacts after about 20 minutes of gameplay. Have not yet experienced this in other games but then again, I haven't played too many others that are as graphically intense as Bioshock. Will continue to test.

As well, Bioshock refuses to launch when fullscreen is set; I have to set the steam launch parameter to windowed then switch to fullscreen each time.

Term-X said:

Not sure if it's related but with these drivers, Bioshock Infinite seems to develop graphical artifacts after about 20 minutes of gameplay. Have not yet experienced this in other games but then again, I haven't played too many others that are as graphically intense as Bioshock. Will continue to test.

As well, Bioshock refuses to launch when fullscreen is set; I have to set the steam launch parameter to windowed then switch to fullscreen each time.

Click to expand...

its a combination of the latest patch and the 320.18 drivers. remove either one and it will not happen again. if you go back to patch 3 though the game will stutter badly in many spots. btw I suggest lowering dynamic shadows to high as very high or ultra will tank the framerate in front of many doors for some reason. and on patch 4, lower the texture resolution one notch too and that will reduce performance issues. lol ain't pc gaming great.

Ah, this is probably why my latest Steam puzzler game suddenly refused to launch in full screen mode, I forgot that I updated to these drivers.

Having issues with these as well. My 480 was rock solid playing through Metro with these, but I couldn't play Planetside 2 without crashing a few seconds into combat. Rolling back fixes this.

The opposite is true for my partner's 460, she's stable with a ~30% overclock.

All 320's are messing up GPU boost. I have replicated the same results with the 320 beta and WHQL 320.18. It shoots the boost clock up farther than its suppose to at default, and in turn turns down the fans. Does it SLI'ed or Single card. Here are both cards at default with boost:





In these shots I had to set the fan all the way up to keep from having distorted screen while playing BF3. Tombraider same way. There is something wrong with GPU Boost. This took about 2 weeks of use before the tearing/distortion/ BSOD's started. Only way to keep them from happening is to crank the fans. I know of another close friend who just fried his GTX 570 with the 320's just yesterday. (thats without GPU boost) Something is increasing power output.

I guess this is where I feel justified about flashing my $$$ card with a custom bios that pegs the voltage and frequency, and using a custom manual fan profile. Other than the full screen launch thing, I haven't had any issues.

[tin foil] It has crossed my mind if gfx card vendors have ever done anything shady that causes new drivers to make older gen cards unstable, therefore encouraging upgrades. But I doubt so with this affecting 600, 700, and Titans. [/tin foil]

320.18 has been smooth for me with my 780. Still hope they get a new beta driver out soon for those having issues.

Bio shock infinite has been giving me real problems with these drivers. Any word on a new beta?

Another problem... seems like every once in awhile (let's say every 20-30 seconds) videos on Youtube seem to skip ahead like a few seconds like an instant-hitch. Hard to explain but an issue nonetheless. I hope they release new drivers soon.