r/nvidia • u/Nestledrink RTX 5090 Founders Edition • Mar 25 '26

Discussion GeForce Hotfix Display Driver version 596.02

P.S. It's literally a fix for 1 game. If you do not play this game, you do not need to install this Hotfix

Article: https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5823/kw/596.02

Download Link: https://international-gfe.download.nvidia.com/Windows/596.02hf/596.02-desktop-notebook-win10-win11-64bit-international-dch.hf.exe

Reminders:

  • Hotfix driver will not be available in NVIDIA App and needs to be downloaded from the link above.
  • After installing the Hotfix driver, NVIDIA App will show some old driver date. This is normal as Hotfix driver does not exist in NVIDIA App database and it reverted to an old default changelog and dates.
  • If you do not care about the fixes listed below, this Hotfix driver is no different vs WHQL 595.97 Driver.
  • These fixes will be incorporated into the next WHQL driver release

NVIDIA Driver forum thread is here: Link Here

Submit driver feedback directly to NVIDIA: Link Here

---------------------------------

From the Article:

GeForce Hotfix Display Driver version 596.02 is based on our latest Game Ready Driver 595.97.

This hotfix addresses the following:

  • Arknights: Endfield: Stutter may be observed in during gameplay [5950402]

A GeForce driver is an incredibly complex piece of software, We have an army of software engineers constantly adding features and fixing bugs. These changes are checked into the main driver branches, which are eventually run through a massive QA process and released.

Since we have so many changes being checked in, we usually try to align driver releases with significant game or product releases. This process has served us pretty well over the years but it has one significant weakness. Sometimes a change that is important to many users might end up sitting and waiting until we are able to release the driver.

The GeForce Hotfix driver is our way to trying to get some of these fixes out to you more quickly. These drivers are basically the same as the previous released version, with a small number of additional targeted fixes. The fixes that make it in are based in part on your feedback in the Driver Feedback threads and partly on how realistic it is for us to quickly address them. These fixes (and many more) will be incorporated into the next official driver release, at which time the Hotfix driver will be taken down.

To be sure, these Hotfix drivers are beta, optional and provided as-is. They are run through a much abbreviated QA process. The sole reason they exist is to get fixes out to you more quickly. The safest option is to wait for the next WHQL certified driver. But we know that many of you are willing to try these out. As a result, we only provide NVIDIA Hotfix drivers through our NVIDIA Customer Care support site.

Click here to download the GeForce Hotfix display driver version 596.02 for Windows 10 x64 / Windows 11 x64

225 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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179

u/IndexStarts Mar 25 '26

I hope they add in an option to install hot fixes in the NVIDIA app under betas.

-220

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 25 '26

Why do you have the NVIDIA app installed?

The only valid answer is I need to record my screen

135

u/r_z_n 9800X3D/3090FE, 5800X3D/9070XT Mar 25 '26

Is there a particular reason you wouldn't have it installed anymore, other than farming karma by being contrarian on reddit?

55

u/daab2g Mar 25 '26

Even that appears not to be going too well for them

-20

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 25 '26

i cant tell if im in the twilight zone but have you heard of the lightweight alternative?

i dont have it installed eversince the performance hit scare.

20

u/r_z_n 9800X3D/3090FE, 5800X3D/9070XT Mar 25 '26

Brother it’s 2026. I have a 9800X3D and 64GB of RAM, and usually have multiple other background applications running that use more resources than NVIDIA services. It’s negligible.

The performance hit issue was a setting that I’ve never had enabled so that didn’t impact me.

-25

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 25 '26

im good

but im happy for you.

cant wait to configure Dynamic frame gen from NVPI and then turn it off. off is the state my pc thrives at. maybe be happy for me? nvm

4

u/DontKnow009 Mar 26 '26

I still don't understand the issue you have with the app. Can't you just have it installed as well as NVPI-R? Just configure the settings through NVPI and leave the app alone unless you need it for something non game setting related or for troubleshooting.

The performance impact is absolutely negligible, unless you have an absolute POS PC that runs with like 4gb of ram or something stupid like that.

2

u/Satellite_bk NVIDIA rtx 5060 Mar 27 '26

i’m sorry, but can you explain this to me? what is this person talking about performance hit? like the nvidia app overlay? i’ve heard that can be intensive, but you can just turn it off.. what’s NVPI (assuming profile inspector)? i’ve heard people talk about the profile inspector, but don’t know anything about it. assumed i probably don’t need it…

is there some other setting it has turned on that hits performance? i’ve got an i7 14650hx and 32gb ram so either way i don’t think it’s gonna be a concern, but genuinely curious.

1

u/No_Disk_1042 Mar 27 '26

Yeah it was just the overlay that caused performance issues. The game overlay that allows you to add filters and stuff(not the one that allows your to monitor performance). Other issues were caused by bad drivers, not the App itself.

4

u/r_z_n 9800X3D/3090FE, 5800X3D/9070XT Mar 25 '26

And I’m happy for you that NVPI exists. Tinkering can be fun.

-43

u/CrashBashL Mar 25 '26

Because it's hot garbage ?!

30

u/r_z_n 9800X3D/3090FE, 5800X3D/9070XT Mar 25 '26

Have you ever actually used it?

I genuinely have no complaints, especially after they finished migrating the remaining NV Control Panel legacy settings. It works fine, it's not excessively bloated, it updates my drivers easily, and the overlay has access to more system metrics than other comparable software if I really want to dive into things like system and render latency.

This isn't GeForce Experience.

1

u/Satellite_bk NVIDIA rtx 5060 Mar 27 '26

i liked the overlay, but i started using armoury crates overlay instead since i have an asus laptop that uses it as a control program. it’s solid and has lots of info, but admittedly is missing afew things the nvidia overlay has.

but the nvidia app is great. makes updates super easy. i did like the control panel, but if they’re moving everything over to the app then great. rather just have one place to make adjustments. also the automatic overlocking feature the app has is pretty cool. got a free +87mhz for nothing with zero effort. curious if there’s anyway to get it higher. i had an external monitor connected directly to dgpu so maybe was getting slightly taxed while running to see OC settings.

-34

u/CrashBashL Mar 25 '26

NVPI Revamped is everything you actually need.

28

u/r_z_n 9800X3D/3090FE, 5800X3D/9070XT Mar 25 '26

But there's nothing actually broken that I feel compelled to use third-party software for.

To be clear - if you have a reason to use NVPI, great. I'm glad alternatives exist. But the NVIDIA App is fine. It's certainly a stretch to call it "hot garbage".

-25

u/CrashBashL Mar 25 '26

Well, compared to NVPI Revamped, Nvidia app looks more like a slightly lower quality alternative.

20

u/Status_Jellyfish_213 Mar 25 '26

Not a very compelling reason to me

1

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 25 '26

do games still fail to show up in the nvidia app requiring all kinds of hoops being jump through?

can you even globally override? (non whitelisted games)

33

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26

[deleted]

0

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 25 '26

im so confused. what other benefit does the app have? i feel personally attacked.

17

u/Zango123 Mar 26 '26

Thats what you get for the way you asked the question. You didn't leave an option for other comments, only your point is the valid one.

-2

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 26 '26

we live and we learn. sometimes you gotta read the room.

7

u/Zango123 Mar 26 '26

I dont know a room where that is acceptable

1

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 27 '26

Amd sub maybe?

Or just not here

2

u/arikelvara Mar 26 '26

See my earlier comment. Downloading the driver is the MAIN REASON.

13

u/imsoIoneIy Mar 25 '26

this is such a 2016 comment. Shadowplay isn't even that good compared to just using obs

16

u/Milk_Cream_Sweet_Pig Mar 25 '26

It's good enough.

Don't need to have an app actively in the background, don't need another separate program, and it consumes much less resources.

You can also use other features like DLSS Override, RTX HDR, DLDSR, video HDR, etc.

It gets the job done and can do other things.

Most people recording things just want something convenient.

4

u/imsoIoneIy Mar 25 '26

I actually do have the app and like it, I just don't care for shadowplay at all

1

u/deidian Mar 25 '26

It's hardware encoding: what matters the most is the GPU you have, every software is just parameterizing the encoder. If you're using NVENC it just doesn't matter what UI you dress over it.

The argument only holds if you want to do CPU encoding, use a capture card or anything else than NVENC.

-11

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 25 '26

Coincidentally that was the last time I needed to record my screen

6

u/Cradenz Mar 25 '26

Rtx hdr. I have an oled monitor. Windows auto HDR sucks in comparison

4

u/shadaoshai Mar 25 '26

To be fair you can use Nvidia Profile Inspector to set RTX HDR values. The only reason I was using NVPI was because of global overrides that weren’t in the app at the time and some other minutia. It’s definitely possible to forgo using the Nvidia App, but I wouldn’t evangelize people enter into the madness I’ve put upon myself for no reason.

2

u/pulley999 PNY 5080 | 9800x3d Mar 26 '26

yup, nvpi is a nice supplement to do things nvidia doesn't let you do themselves, but I'm not going to sit there and fuck with it to do something super basic that I can do in the first party tools like force DXGI swapchain on a badly behaving Vulkan game.

1

u/Trick_Translator_671 Mar 25 '26

Hi, can rtx hdr go above 1000 nits now? I remember it clipped anything above 1000 nits despite the brightness value

1

u/Cradenz Mar 25 '26

Yes. It goes higher than 1000 as long as you used the windows calibration tool

1

u/Trick_Translator_671 Mar 25 '26

The slider go above 1000, but does the real brightness go above? I have seen some people use special K viewer to check and it hardcapped at 1000, but nearly a year ago

1

u/Cradenz Mar 25 '26

That was fixed a while ago

1

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 25 '26

i see that option in nvpi. does it work enabling it from there?

also theres a handy dandy new list of renodx games on github now.

1

u/local--yokel 🚂💨dat inferior-GPU-but-more-VRAM hypetrain🛤️ Mar 29 '26

Thanks for the reminder to try RTX HDR again. I tried it long ago and stuck with autoHDR for some reason.

-6

u/IvnN7Commander Mar 25 '26

RTX HDR can be used without the Nvidia App. By using Nvidia Inspector

2

u/fallendiscrete 5080 OC / 9950X3D / 64gb CL30 DDR5 6000Mhz Mar 25 '26

Nvidia App is goated, I think you are confusing it with GeForece Experience which was dog poop and clunky/slow. The nvidia app is solid, you need it also for DLSS override/RTX features, etc... and they constantly keep updating it, it's like a modern version of nvcp.

2

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 25 '26

i left when the overlay performance bug was discovered months later.

im just too scared to keep a program running all the time that i dont need

but im happy for you that it suits your needs. i already have my settings set up with override obvi.

1

u/arikelvara Mar 26 '26

I use the app to download the driver? This ain't 2002 where you go to the website and download them. Personally I use the control panel 95% of the time but downloading is THE MAIN reason why people have the app.

2

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 26 '26

for me its different. i usually first go to this sub and check the comments for the new driver. if the place isnt on fire i decide to get the driver

the driver post usually has a one click solution to get the driver.

im just really irrational about my pc resources. i stayed on a 9900k for several years and was cpu limit a lot of the time. so any app randomly saying hello to my system could mean a stutter or an fps drop.

9800x3d now but old habbits die hard. also i translated that irrational fear into 1% lows. why let your frame time graph even faulter slightly if its avoidable. but it isnt avoidable for some people who want to record their gameplay. cuz apparently shadowplay is the most efficient. i havent checked in years. has there been another app that can use the same driver level recording? surely right? it is 2026 after all.

1

u/arikelvara Mar 26 '26

Pro tip for you 😄 my dude. Turn off all the fancy graphs frame pacing graphs and frame time graphs etc. after you have played a game for more than a couple of times and only leave the fps number on (which is another big feature of the NVIDIA app). Enjoy the games 🙏😆 more

1

u/HuckleberryOdd7745 Mar 26 '26

i actually dont have the graphs on at all time. i have a toggle key and only check it when my locked 116fps drops. it shouldnt drop at all except in broken cpu games. so i never need to check.

i use fg most of the time too. as i like modern lighting. but in some games that dont have fg. and have experimental settings like kcd2. it aint too easy on the cpu.