It’s never a dull moment when it comes to what you get after installing a new update or driver these days for users with an NVIDIA RTX GPU. It’s been a rollercoaster ride with all the ups and downs when it comes to performance issues for RTX 50 series cards for quite some time, thanks to some baffling Windows 11 updates, and now over the last couple of weeks, NVIDIA GeForce drivers as well. The first sign of trouble involving a driver update began with 595.59 WHQL. The Resident Evil Requiem game-ready driver was quickly taken down after reports from users that their GPU fans were no longer spinning up as configured. In addition, it was reported that game performance was significantly degraded, with one user noting it dropped from 133 FPS to 79 FPS at 1440p. In essence, the driver coincidentally made a terrifying change to GPUs for a horror game featuring the undead by transforming them into a zombie state.
Hahaha I just tested it myself and I can confirm that it's true:
— Sebastian Castellanos (@Sebasti66855537) February 27, 2026
– Latest NVIDIA Game Ready Driver (595.59): 79 FPS
– GRD 576.88 from July 2025: 133 FPS
Exact same scene, 1440p path tracing with DLSS SR Quality + FG 2X + RR.
What. A. Mess! https://t.co/HAkECHICe2 pic.twitter.com/YO9PJn8piC
A few days later, NVIDIA rolled out v595.71 WHQL to hopefully bring its GPUs back to life. However, it appears there’s a hidden caveat, as multiple reports have indicated that new voltage limits seem to be in place now. The ongoing theory is that this driver has implemented some sort of undervolting settings, but not everyone is happy about it due to testing showing RTX 5090 graphics cards now being unable to go above 3 GHz. Previous OC voltages for an MSI GeForce RTX 5090 SUPRIM X (via Wccftech) were said to be as high as 1.04V, but when using this latest driver had dropped to 1.00V. The fund doesn’t stop there, as VideoCardz has documented other reports indicating problems with HDR, more black screens (it seems to be never-ending for some), along with odd refresh rate changing behaviour, and even some games that use Vulkan having issues.
NVIDIA has yet to issue a statement on why the 595.71 driver has seemingly introduced undervolting, nor has it offered another driver replacement due to the aforementioned problems. There is a growing belief that the GPU manufacturer may have limited voltage for its RTX 50 series GPUs on purpose to possibly stem burning/melting incidents regarding the 12V-2×6 16-pin power connector, which has plagued many an RTX GPU owner. One thing is for certain, though, you never really know what you’re going to be in for after installing a new driver or Windows update when it comes to how your graphics card may, or may not, perform afterward. The short end of it is that if you’re using 591.86, it might be a good idea to keep using it for a bit longer.
Discussion (9 replies)
Join Discussion →Ironically I've been undervolting my 5090s, more or less, since last spring and I honestly think NV should've been using these settings since installing them rather than the horribly unoptomized out of box experience most folks chase after with the 3+ GHz clocks. Power draw and heat is just plain stupid at that level and for only a few percentage point gains at that. I admit that games like CB2077/RE Requiem/Indiana Jones, which use path tracing and all the other bells and whistles can still hit 400W at 4k/120 Hz but its usually not sustained and more often than not hangs in the 200-300W area. Limit FPS to 70-80 and TDP/temps gets even lower not to mention quieter.
I guess its a sign of the times but I don't remember ever seeing so much effort by folks to blow up a top tier, flagship, halo product before. Must be a lot more folks out there with money burning holes in their pockets and want to see the same in their rigs. Regardless of burnt/melted connectors, I've lost track of all the idiotic stories of folks pushing 1000-2000W watts through one until its destroyed and given the $3K-$5K current price tags, I just can't fathom the mentality for this. Like I said, I don't remember ever seeing the same volume of stupidity with past gens.
Without adjusting voltage my 5080 hits 3325 Mhz core and 18000 RAM. Maybe a couple degree increase in temps while gaming, but those usually settle around 65-70c. It's a decent bump in performance bringing it to within a percent or two of a 4090.
As for the drivers. I always wait a week or two before installing the latest release. In case shtuff happens.
I have to say I've helped more people recover from a faulty blue screening Nvidia driver update than I have AMD. It's a single case point but that's where it stands.
AMD driver doesn't usually bluescreen. It simply reboots or the CPU will go crazy with fans spinning at max speed and you are like, what do I do! What do I do???? You can either reset the PC or power it off at that point, unless you enjoy hearing your CPU fan shrieking the life out of itself. I don't actually remember if the GPU fans are louder or the CPU one when that happens.
It's the future Jensen promised. Quicker updates thanks to vibe coding. Multiple times a month as they fix one issue after the other!
and on that note:
[URL unfurl="true"]https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-releases-595-76-hotfix-driver-addressing-oc-voltage-issues-on-rtx-gpus[/URL]
Guys they are just trying to correct the melting connectors issue and everyone cries... geeze... either you want nanny state corporate risk mitigation or you want extreme performance. How DARE you expect a released product to perform to spec WITHOUT self destructing.
I mean if nvidia had confidence their connectors are so good. Why not put a fully built system above Jensen's desk for people to game on in a magnesium chassis.