NVIDIA's Latest Drivers: The 90 Series Control Center

Final Words

The UI for a graphics driver (or any software for that matter) should strive for a certain level of functionality and usability for its user. There should be access to all the necessary options while still being intuitive and easy for users to navigate. This is the basic ideal requisite for all driver interfaces, and it is our experience that NVIDIA's graphics drivers over the years have done just that. One issue that has plagued ATI's driver interface is the issue of startup time and lag after clicking on selections in the menu. While we are only talking seconds here, this can be pretty frustrating, and gives the interface a very "clunky" feel over NVIDIA's, which don't have this problem.

Change is necessary as technology evolves, and it's sometimes difficult dealing with an interface we aren't used to even when it is generally accepted as better than the previous version (think Windows and the 95 and XP UI upgrades). Whether or not this driver will be better or worse than the previous one is open to debate, but this is something we are taking into account when critiquing the 90 Series ForceWare update. Putting aside our initial prejudices against the new interface however, there are some differences from the old version that need to be addressed.

Some advanced settings that were available using Coolbits or NVTweak with the classic interface are no longer accessible, which could cause some problems for users needing to access them. Fortunately, these are still able to be tweaked by choosing the option to go back to the old interface so it looks to be more of an inconvenience rather than a detriment for those using the driver. The things that appear left out include Display Mode Timing, Refresh Rate Overrides, Additional Direct3D Settings, and Additional Information (VESA BIOS Details). Some of these are serious omissions for some, as mentioned earlier. HDTV use for many people requires the ability to fine tune the resolution, and until this is corrected you will need to revert to the classic UI.

It's good that NVIDIA has left the option to go back to "classic" mode over the new one, but it defaults to the new mode when installed. Figuring out how to switch back can be confusing initially, but it turns out that all you need to do is enter the View menu and select "Switch to Classic Interface." It would be helpful if this option were placed more prominently, perhaps under one of the Main Menu icons. You can also switch to the classic UI through the "Advanced" dialog off the standard Windows Display Settings interface, though that's even less intuitive.

The new driver interface has a couple of solid positives going for it as it stands, and these should be noted. Keeping access to the classic mode could technically be seen as one, but there's no doubt the revamped heat section is a plus. The real-time preview mode may also be useful for newer users, though most enthusiasts will simply find it to be window dressing that gets in the way. Being able to log heat levels while benchmarking or playing games is a nice thing for enthusiasts and overclockers who wish to keep track of temperature over time. Intel, ATI, S3, and other graphics hardware designers would do well to adopt a similar option for their own drivers. The new drivers also offer integration with NVIDIA's chipset drivers, providing a common interface, and the latest nTune 5.0 software also (partially) integrates with the new UI and allows control over many aspects of the motherboard that were previously only accessible by rebooting and entering the CMOS menus. Finally, all of the screens do an admirable job of providing context sensitive tips at the bottom that explain what each setting changes.

That said, NVIDIA needs to improve on their new interface even further. As it stands, the menus look Vista-like, but act a lot more like the current windows explorer. The issue is in the branching sections: it is difficult to immediately find which section the particular setting you are looking for will be under. Whereas the old way has all of the settings listed right under the top level menu options, the 90 Series driver's "sections within sections" style requires users to hunt around for some items. This could be remedied by having the subsections listed and accessible via the main menu (as Vista's control panel will be) in each of the main icons. At any rate, it needs to be clear which options are contained within each category or even the novice users NVIDIA is attempting to cater to will become frustrated while attempting to change even the simplest settings.

To summarize, these are the main things we would like to see NVIDIA incorporate with the 90 series drivers:

• Make the interface more easily navigable; it should be easier to find certain specific settings from the main menu.


• Provide access to more driver settings; at the very least, provide access to options that were available in the previous driver version (i.e. refresh rate overrides).

While the NVIDIA driver interface has changed dramatically from the previous version, it makes sense for NVIDIA to revamp the design to better resemble the Vista interface. If incorporated correctly, this kind of interface could be potentially very useful, but as it stands, NVIDIA has some tweaking of their own to do before the 90 series control center can live up to its potential. Of course, offering a Vista-like interface on top of XP is not really necessary, but some people might like the new UI and giving users the choice of which interface to use is definitely appreciated. We only hope that the classic control panel doesn't go the way of ATI's old control panel - while ATI technically continues to offer their old UI, CrossFire users are required to upgrade to CCC if they want to actually take advantage of their dual GPUs.

Given the Beta nature of the current 90 series drivers, we can't draw too many final conclusions. Hopefully, our above concerns will be addressed, and overall the new UI seems to be shaping up nicely. There will certainly be hold-outs that like the older interface, and some of us will be among them pending a few hopefully easy fixes. In the mean time, we look forward to seeing what future refinements NVIDIA will offer.