nVidia NVCP Shader Cache & latest driver

[DapperDan]

I'm posting this as a result of a question I had in another thread (TS2015-Graphics Problem). There was a reference to Shader cache in NVCP. I chimed in stating I couldn't find any reference on my computer in NVCP and I received a response from Bob suggesting that I may not have the latest driver. Below is what I've found on my PC.

Device Manager/Display Adapter - Display Driver 9.18.13.2723 dated 9/12/13
GeForce Driver Ver 327.23 (and yes I realize there's a version 340.52 dtd 7/24/2014 available)
NVCP Ver 7.4.760.0 (don't think this has anything to do with drivers)

My question is which driver should I be updating, the Device Manager or GeForce? If it's the GeForce diver I've read posts regarding some people having issues with updating to newer drivers, so I'm a little hesitant to do this. I have to admit as I've gotten older I've started to lean more towards the KISS principle or the "If it ain't broke don't fix" philosophy. There's been references to tearing/jiggies/jaggies/v-sync/g-sync etc., and I could go on but it makes my head hurt, and as it shakes more with getting older I think maybe that's why I don't see things like jiggies * jaggies.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any suggestions that any of you might have.

Regards,

[artimrj]

Actually the latest version of the driver is 344.11 so you are way out of date it looks like to me. I do not know what card you have though either. You need to go to NVidia.com and download new drivers for your card and windows version. It will come with a new control panel also. There is something called GEForce Experience now also but I removed that it had way too many other things like streaming and video capturing that I did not want.

Just get the drivers.

[Ericmopar]

A lot of the gamers are recommending sticking to the 340.xxx release versions. That is available at Nvidia if you click "all" when you do a search for your GPU and Windows version.
That's what I'm running right now, but technically Bob is correct, they are up to the 344.xxx series. Newer doesn't mean better though.
The 340.xxx and up have the shader cache option.
A lot of us choose the Custom option and then deselect everything but the PhysX and actual Graphics driver. We also choose the Clean Install option. If you use speakers in your monitor via HDMI cable, then the HD Audio drivers should be installed.
A person doesn't need the 3D part of the drivers unless they are actually doing 3D games and TV. IE the kind you need the 3D glasses for to play.
Likewise if the sound is from a dedicated sound system on the mother board, or plugged into a PCIe sound card, a person doesn't need the HD audio part of the drivers.

Heres a link to Nvidias driver page.
Manual driver search seems to work best. Just scroll and click on whatever you have for Windows and GPU.

http://www.geforce.com/drivers

[DapperDan]

Thanks for the responses guys. But, before I take the proverbially leap of faith I'm wondering what people's thoughts are regarding the use of the DDU program that had been made reference to in an earlier post (I think it was Peter that had used it), as there's been a number of comments by some individuals of problems with NVidia updates.

Thanks again,

[arizonachris]

Thanks for the responses guys. But, before I take the proverbially leap of faith I'm wondering what people's thoughts are regarding the use of the DDU program that had been made reference to in an earlier post (I think it was Peter that had used it), as there's been a number of comments by some individuals of problems with NVidia updates.

Thanks again,

When I update to a newer Nvidia driver version, I just use the built in "clean install" option, which is the least you should do. (also do a custom install, leaving out 3D stuff and Nvidia Experience) But if I roll back to an older version, then I'll use DDU. It doesn't hurt anything to use that DDU program for an update, tho.

[DapperDan]

Thank-you all for your guidance. I downloaded ver#340.52 and did a clean/custom install, unchecking the 3D and Geforce stuff and so far everything is working tickety-boo.