Windows 7 Nvidia 260 series Driver comparison

Thanks to Nvidia and AMD we have a pretty constant flow of new graphics cards to ponder on, but when no hardware is released then the attention turns to software, more specifically drivers which bring more features, capabilities and performance improvements to sweeten up the cards already on sale.
It is on this note that we welcome back the driver testing team of the Techconnect EE Labs who’s once again ready to check the latest drivers for those craved performance increases.
This past summer saw to the introduction of the 260 series of drivers from Nvidia and those are the focus of this first driver comparison. On one side we have the last pre-260 release, the WHQL-certified GeForce 258.96 , while on the other there's the GeForce 260.63 beta , the GeForce 260.89 , and the latest release, the GeForce 260.99 WHQL . During testing we used the 260.89 beta but this shouldn't be different to the WHQL version. That pretty much it for the drivers lined up for the race, the benchmarking system is listed below while each game/application ran for the comparison is detailed on the appropriate page. Every result in the following pages is the average of three runs so as to counter any anomaly.
Test system
- Motherboard: X48C Platinum
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (@ 3.0 GHz)
- Memory: 4GB DDR2
- Graphics card: Gainward GeForce GTX 460 Golden Sample Goes Like Hell (800/1600/4000 MHz GPU/shaders/memory)
- Storage: 2 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB (oneWD1001FALS and one WD1002FAEX)
- PSU: FSP Epsilon 600W
- Audio: onboard
- OS: Windows 7 Enterprise 64bit
Alright, the stage (or is it ring?) is set, round one is coming up and it’s a classic - 3DMark06.

• Introduction
• 3DMark06
• 3DMark Vantage
• Heaven Benchmark
• Aliens vs Predator
• Lost Planet 2 Benchmark

• Just Cause 2
• Dirt 2
• Mafia 2
• Metro 2033
• Conclusion

Ref: From zero to 260 in nine tests - GeForce tales | TechConnect Magazine