Nvidia Releases GeForce 397.31 WHQL Driver with Vulkan 1.1 Support

Nvidia has just released a new driver for its GeForce graphics cards. What makes this particular driver special is that it offers complete support for the for the Vulkan 1.1 API. Moreover, the driver passed the Vulkan Conformance Test Suite (CTS) version 1.1.0.3 with flying colors. This means that it is able to ensure an ideal gaming experience in titles such as Battletech and Frostpunk. Another interesting feature is a developer preview for NVIDIA RTX ray tracing technology in DirectX 12. This tech is compatible with Microsoft DirectX Raytracing (DXR) API on NVIDIA Volta GPUs.

DirectX Raytracing.

Obviously, before they can create DirectX Raytracing applications, developers will need to get their hands on a Volta GPU. They will also rely on Windows 10 RS4 and Microsoft’s DXR developer package, which includes DXR-enabled D3D runtimes, and an HLSL compiler. Below you will find the complete release notes for this new Nvidia GeForce driver. If you want to download the driver, you can do so right here.

New Features

NVIDIA RTXTM Technology
Developer preview for NVIDIA RTX ray tracing technology for DirectX 12. NVIDIA RTX supports the Microsoft DirectX Raytracing (DXR) API on NVIDIA Volta GPUs.
In order to get started with developing DirectX Raytracing applications accelerated by RTX, you’ll need the following:
• NVIDIA Volta GPU
• NVIDIA driver version 396 or higher
• Windows 10 RS4
• Microsoft’s DXR developer package, consisting of DXR-enabled D3D runtimes, HLSL compiler, and headers
Vulkan 1.1
This driver release provides full support for the new Vulkan 1.1 API and passes the Vulkan Conformance Test Suite (CTS) version 1.1.0.3.
HD Audio
This driver adds new sample rates 32 kHz, 88.2 kHz, and 176.4 kHz to the HDMI device for all GPUs
Display Driver Standalone Installer
The stand-alone display driver installer now removes extracted files after installing the driver, leaving a smaller footprint on the hard drive.
Display Driver Libraries
Added new libraries (nvdlist.dll and nvdlistx.dll) to support Optimus and MSHybrid notebooks.
NVDECODE API
Added a new API that lets the client reconfigure the decoder resolution and other post-processing parameters (such as the display resolution, cropping rectangle, and aspect ratio of the decoded frame) without having to destroy and recreate the decoder instance. This API is useful in scenarios where the decoder instance initialization time takes up a significant portion of the overall decode execution time; for example, in back-to-back decoding of multiple short clips of different resolutions. The new API will be included in Video Codec SDK 8.2, which is expected to release in late Q2 2018.