3d mark 03 score drops with new nvidia forceware driver

[brianthesnail]

hi guys
i recently updated by nvidia forceware driver to the latest 197.45 WHQL version however when i ran 3dmark03 my score plummeted from 26,000+ to 23,000(approx)
i removed the 197.45 WHQL and installed the 196.45 driver and my score returned to 26,000+
why is this .. i have read on the nvidia forum that they tweak the latest drivers for better results on 3dmark 06 and vantage however the downside of this is the older 3dmark scores will drop ....
is it time i stopped using 3dmark03 ... and use 05 or 06 .... however the only reason i use 3dmark03 anyway is because the benchmark is better in my opinion ....
also i cant use vantage because my genuine windows 7 ultimate cant run a succesful performance index ... i have tried everything but to no avail ....
is there anyway to bypass the performance index and run a vantage benchmark ?
thanks for your time guys
peace !

[Neeyik]

is there anyway to bypass the performance index and run a vantage benchmark ?

You don't need to run the Performance Index test to use 3DMark Vantage. 3DMark03 is over 7 years old - 3DMark06 and Vantage are far more useful for judging performance in modern gaming situations.

[terrannova]

I gotta agree, don't use 3DMark03 to tell if a driver has a positive or negative effect on your system.

We're due for another 3DMark soon so that should make things a bit more helpful I think.