We don’t cover driver updates a lot here at CrunchGear because the changelog is usually pretty trivial — small performance gain here, bug fix there. But the latest update to the NVIDIA Optimus drivers (the ones governing hybrid graphics on notebooks) has some features I wish I’d had years ago. The ability to see when your GPU is in use, the load, and what’s causing it are great tools for power users.

Visibility of the GPU’s role in the system is important, since power draw and GPU needs are increasing all the time, yet batteries aren’t getting much bigger.

[via PC Perspsective]