NVIDIA release 310 and Steam for Linux

Our 310 UNIX driver release series brings exciting new functionality, fixes, and improvements to NVIDIA GPU users. Some of this work directly originates from our close collaboration with Valve and other game developers over the past year. Here is a sample of some of the highlights of the recent beta release:

  • Added support for OpenGL threaded optimizations; this experimental feature is now available on UNIX systems for gamers to try out. Enabling it in Left 4 Dead 2 results in performance increasing by up to 2.1 times! [1]
  • Improved performance and responsiveness of OpenGL applications running in OpenGL-based compositing managers such as Unity.
  • Extended the OpenGL shader disk cache for even faster loading times.
  • Optimized performance for OpenGL applications making heavy use of Framebuffer Objects and Vertex Buffer Objects.
  • Resolved VDPAU interaction problems with OpenGL-based compositing managers such as KWin.
  • Worked around long-standing Adobe Flash Player bugs which caused shifted colors and video bleeding in some scenarios.

We recommend that users of the Steam limited preview make sure to run it with the 310 release series for an optimal gaming experience. We look forward to hearing about your experience with the beta to further improve the quality of future 310 releases: please head to our new Linux support forums for any bug reports or inquiries. As usual, your feedback is much appreciated.

Note to Ubuntu users:

In addition to our regular .run installer package, we have coordinated with Canonical such that this beta release is made available through the new nvidia-experimental delivery mechanism in Ubuntu. As a result, Ubuntu users can easily evaluate this beta driver. Our regular installer package was released as per usual for Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris.

[1] Numbers taken from several full runs of the same timedemo on map c1m2_streets, running at 1280x1024 on a Core i7 3930k, GeForce GTX 680, Ubuntu 12.04.

Are you referring to the driver version 310.14 that was released almost 3 weeks ago [1]? It kind of sounds like the driver is out of beta now… at least that’s what I thought reading the press release [2].

[1] [url]Page Not Found | NVIDIA
[2] [url]http://nvidianews.nvidia.com/Releases/NVIDIA-Delivers-Massive-Performance-Boost-to-Linux-Gaming-8ac.aspx[/url]

Hi kugeleck,

This refers to the 310 release series as a whole; the only release from that at this point is the 310.14 beta driver, but new releases will be made from that branch in the near future.

Thanks,

  • Pierre-Loup