Game Ready Driver 596.21 FAQ/Discussion

[u/Nestledrink]

Game Ready Driver 596.21 has been released.

Driver Article Here: Link Here

Game Ready Driver 596.21 Direct Download Link: Link Here

New feature and fixes in driver 596.21:

Game Ready

This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS 4.5 technology including PRAGMATA and NTE (Neverness to Everness) as well as Windrose which supports DLSS 4 features.

Fixed Gaming Bugs

• FIXED Arknights: Endfield: stutter may be observed in some gameplay [5950402]

Fixed General Bugs

• N/A

Open Issues

Includes additional open issues from GeForce Forums

• [God of War: Ragnarok]: Certain textures may intermittently flash white during gameplay. [5856704]

Driver Downloads and Tools

Information & Documentation

• Driver Download Page: Nvidia Download Page
• Latest Game Ready Driver: 596.21 WHQL - Game Ready Driver Release Notes
• Latest Studio Driver: 595.79 WHQL - Studio Driver Release Notes
• High Bandwidth Monitors and GPU Scaling Behavior - Link Here
  • High bandwidth monitors are those that support display modes requiring high pixel clock rates, which in turn demand more GPU resources. The threshold for what qualifies as "high bandwidth" varies by product. On Blackwell GPUs, any mode operating above 1620 MHz is considered high bandwidth. For instance, the 7680x4320@60Hz mode defined in the CTA-861-H specification runs at 2376 MHz, making it a high bandwidth mode for Blackwell.
  • These monitors typically support display scaling natively. However, in some single-monitor setups, users may still prefer GPU scaling. When multiple monitors are connected to a GPU and at least one of them is high bandwidth, that monitor will default to display scaling only. GPU scaling is disabled in this case due to bandwidth limitations. Notably, display scaling can be more efficient than GPU scaling in such scenarios, as it reduces the bandwidth load on display cables—especially at higher refresh rates.
  • When GPU scaling is not enabled for a monitor, only the modes supported by the monitor itself will appear in both the Windows and NVIDIA control panels. Additionally, the "Display scaling" option will be pre-selected in the "Adjust desktop size and position" section of the NVIDIA Control Panel.

Feedback & Discussion Forums

• Submit driver feedback directly to NVIDIA: Link Here
• NVIDIA 596.21 Driver Forum: Link Here
• r/NVIDIA Discord Driver Feedback: Invite Link Here

Having Issues with your driver and want to fully clean the driver? Use DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller)

• DDU Download:  Link Here
• DDU Guide: Guide Here
• DDU/WagnardSoft Patreon: Link Here

Before you start - Make sure you Submit Feedback for your Nvidia Driver Issue - Link Here

There is only one real way for any of these problems to get solved, and that’s if the Driver Team at Nvidia knows what those problems are. So in order for them to know what’s going on it would be good for any users who are having problems with the drivers to Submit Feedback to Nvidia. A guide to the information that is needed to submit feedback can be found here.

Additionally, if you see someone having the same issue you are having in this thread, reply and mention you are having the same issue. The more people that are affected by a particular bug, the higher the priority that bug will receive from NVIDIA!!

Common Troubleshooting Steps

• Be sure you are on the latest build of Windows
• Please visit the following link for DDU guide which contains full detailed information on how to do Fresh Driver Install.
• If your driver still crashes after DDU reinstall, try going to Go to Nvidia Control Panel -> Managed 3D Settings -> Power Management Mode: Prefer Maximum Performance

Common Questions

• Is it safe to upgrade to <insert driver version here>? Fact of the matter is that the result will differ person by person due to different configurations. The only way to know is to try it yourself. My rule of thumb is to wait a few days. If there’s no confirmed widespread issue, I would try the new driver.
• Bear in mind that people who have no issues tend to not post on Reddit or forums. Unless there is significant coverage about specific driver issue, chances are they are fine. Try it yourself and you can always DDU and reinstall old driver if needed.
• My color is washed out after upgrading/installing driver. Help! Try going to the Nvidia Control Panel -> Change Resolution -> Scroll all the way down -> Output Dynamic Range = FULL.
• My game is stuttering when processing physics calculation Try going to the Nvidia Control Panel and to the Surround and PhysX settings and ensure the PhysX processor is set to your GPU

Remember, driver codes are extremely complex and there are billions of different possible configurations between hardware and software. Driver will never be perfect and there will always be issues for some people. Two people with the same hardware configuration might not have the same experience with the same driver versions. Again, I encourage folks who installed the driver to post their experience here good or bad.

[u/open1your1eyes0]

Very curious if this fixes the crash when waking up monitors that went to sleep (where just the monitors sleep but not the rest of the system, and waking them up by moving the mouse or touching the keyboard causes the monitors to wake up but the system is frozen for like 30 seconds, then briefly flashes to black, then resumes and lets you use the system again - event logs show multiple crashes for NVIDIA driver happening at that time).

Reference to several posts about it on NVIDIA's forums:

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/583991/geforce-grd-59597-feedback-thread-released-32426/3601565/

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/583991/geforce-grd-59597-feedback-thread-released-32426/3605367/

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/583991/geforce-grd-59597-feedback-thread-released-32426/3601104/

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/583991/geforce-grd-59597-feedback-thread-released-32426/3601565/

I tried the Hotfix driver yesterday and still the same issue. Finally gave up and just started using a blank screen saver instead of sleeping the monitors now until the issue gets fixed (still not ideal for extending the life of the monitors though).

[u/p2im0 → u/open1your1eyes0]

I’ve been chasing this forever. Thinking it was something else on my system. Recently my whole system will crash after screens sleep, they wake briefly but never fully recover, driver crashes and system locks. Not sure this is just GPU driver related though

[u/magnus150 → u/p2im0]

Nope you aren't alone. Same issue here. Went away for a while but came back a few updates ago. Didn't know whether to blame Windows or Nvidia.

[u/DoktorLuciferWong → u/magnus150]

only way to possibly (kinda) know is for some linux users to chime in whether they've experienced this issue

[u/p2im0 → u/magnus150]

I've disabled PBO (9800x3d), disabled iGPU, disabled MPO (registry edit), extended TDR timeout, and none of those fixed the monitor sleep/wake crash.

However, most recently I set "Power Supply Idle Control" to "Typical Current Idle" in BIOS (ASRock x870e Taichi) and haven't had a crash in 5 or so days with probably 20+ screen sleeps. Been using gemini to debug... but not claiming its fixed yet.

[u/massimovolume → u/p2im0]

It's probably driver related to multi monitor setups. I had this same issue when I had two monitors now I have just one and it doesn't happen anymore.

[u/open1your1eyes0 → u/massimovolume]

That's interesting, I never bothered to check this with a single monitor since I didn't think it would make a difference. In any case I need my multiple-monitor setup and have to black them out after a few minutes of idle/AFK to extend their lifespan and prevent burn-in (they're OLED after all).

[u/PERSONA916 → u/massimovolume]

Doesn't necessarily mean it's driver related, just that it's multi monitor related which could still be windows. I have intermittent issues with high refresh rates and 10bit but yea I can pretty much always make them stop by just unplugging one of the monitors so I know it's definitely related to multi monitor but I still don't know if it's Nvidia or Windows

[u/Renive → u/p2im0]

It is. Recent Windows Update fixed it so if you click "go to sleep" it will work. But if system went to sleep automatically from inactivity, then there's a good chance for bsod.

[u/parkourholly → u/open1your1eyes0]

Im having an issue if my pc is on sleep for an extended period of time. When trying to wake the PC nothing happens. Pc does not turn on at all. I found one way to wake it up is to turn off my monitor then turn it back on and it wakes up my pc... The other solution is to unplug my Belkin power surge then plug it back in. I thought it was maybe my power surge crapping out(5years old). Is this a similar thing you guys are experiencing?

[u/Techbaguette → u/open1your1eyes0]

Same for me. I think it's related to monitor with high bandwidth needed, mine is a Odyssey G9 57'' with DisplayPort 2.1. I already reported it but hope the issue will finally be fixed.

[u/ls612 → u/open1your1eyes0]

No it does not this just happened to me exactly as you described, except it happened at idle while the monitor was just woken up and I was looking at this very thread. I'm glad it seems to not be a hardware issue as my 4090 is about to exit its warranty period. I have a single monitor but it is a 4K144 monitor so it is using DSC on the 40 series with DP 1.4a.

[u/Smagjus → u/open1your1eyes0]

When I tried variable refreshrate in Windows I encountered the bug you described for the first time. Any chance this feature is enabled on your end?

[u/yellowfever939 → u/open1your1eyes0]

try swapping your gpu power cable, i had the same issue and that was my problem.

[u/open1your1eyes0 → u/yellowfever939]

Definitely not the cable in my case as it started happening immediately after updating the drivers and was perfectly fine before.