CES 2020: New Nvidia driver introduces new features, more G-Sync compatible displays and RTX in Wolfenstein

We've already covered Nvidia's CES 2020 announcements for content creators but now, we get to turn our attention to the gaming side of things. Today, the latest GeForce ‘Game Ready' driver dropped, packing in support for ray-tracing in Wolfenstein: Youngblood, as well as support for 17 new ‘G-Sync Compatible' displays and new Control Panel features, like improved Image Sharpening, Variable Rate Supersampling and driver-level frame rate caps.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood was packaged with RTX GPUs over the summer of 2019 but the game's long-awaited ray-tracing update has been missing. That is changing this week, with the game getting a large update that adds ray-tracing, DLSS and support for NVIDIA Highlights. Quake II RTX is also getting a 1.3 update, adding in a new photo mode for custom screenshots.

This latest driver also boosts the number of G-Sync Compatible displays up to 90, adding in new options from Acer, ASUS, Dell, LG and Viewsonic. You can see the full list in our rundown of G-Sync Compatible displays, HERE.

Finally, today's release also adds some new features to the NVIDIA control panel, including a Max Frame Rate option for setting your own custom FPS cap. The Image Sharpening option has also been improved, allowing GPU scaling and sharpening to be toggled independently of each other, you can also add custom resolutions.

Nvidia introduced Variable Rate Shading alongside the Turing architecture in late 2018 and now, that technology is being used to improve VR games. Variable Rate Supersampling uses VRS to dynamically apply up to 8x supersampling to the centre of a VR headset display, giving sharper images directly where your eye is focused. VRSS is applied when GPU headroom is available, so you won't suddenly tank performance and have a less smooth VR experience.

This has benefits over traditional VR supersampling, which applies higher resolution to the full image. For instance, Boneworks with 4x super sampling drops frame rate closer to the 60fps range on an RTX 2080Ti, while 4x VRSS enables a 120fps experience. Currently, 20 VR games support VRSS, including Boneworks, Pavlov, Robo Recall, Job Simulator, Lone Echo and more. More games will be tested for support and added to the list in future driver updates.

The GeForce Game Ready 441.87 driver is available to download now, either directly through Nvidia or via the GeForce Experience.

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KitGuru Says: I've been holding off on playing Wolfenstein: Youngblood until the RTX patch, so I'm looking forward to finally giving it a proper go. There are plenty of other things to like about this driver though, particularly the inclusion of several new Control Panel features. Have any of you installed Nvidia's new driver yet? How are you finding it so far? 

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