Nvidia 196.75 GPU driver burning up graphics cards

I recently updated my drivers but I'm not sure if these are the ones I have or not. I have noticed some odd slow-down in some games. I need to check this when I get home. Maybe a little more time in QA is needed next time.

I wouldn't go that far as blaming all nVidia cards. The only problems I had so far was with ATI, ironically enough. There are myriads of manufacturers with their own issues and I can't blame chip developer/manufacturer for all the faults. Driver issue is the whole other story.

My 4850 ran up to 105c until i installed a aftermarket heatsink. does not get past 60c now.

WOW! How did this slip through testing? Will users be reimbursed for destroyed cards?

and NVIDIA screws it up again. I thought ATI was known for overheating.

Wow, i will have to check my version when i get home. I don't think i had updated to this yet, but will definitely want to make sure.

hello ...

this look terrible, i'd better warn my friends & customers. it also mean we should be careful with updates & wait a few days for some feedback.

cheers!

anyone notice their ATI cards running warmer since 10.2? all 3 of my 4850's topped out @ around 68c before 10.2, now running @80c under full load.

I am glad I saw this article. I checked my temps with EVGA Precision and they were running at 100C. Sheesh. I backleveled the drivers and the temps are now back to the mid-40's. This was with a GTX285 in Win7 x64.

Another reason not to update your drivers too soon...?

I think both manufacturers are in a trying-to-run-before-you-can-walk situation to a degree. With a number of new technologies (Eyefinity, 3D Surround, DX11), new release card series and process manufacturing with the inevitable competition and subsequent scrutiny via benchmarking reviews over every fraction of a fps, both teams seem to be overlooking some of the basics in order to fire out better tailored driver releases. Thus we get to a point where an nVidia driver breaks overclocking (196.21) or doesn't auto-adjust fan speed (196.75). AMD of course have their own problems (GSoD, lack of 2D performance and the "ATIKMDAG stopped responding" issue , drivers optimized for HD5xxx series cards having adverse effects on HD4xxx series), so neither is immune from tripping up in this technological egg-and-spoon race. All the consumer can hope for is that both driver teams see these recurring conflicts as damaging their respective brands in the eyes of the end user. The only other alternative is that everyone migrates to.....Intel IGP's

I almost find this comical (if not for the actual damage possible, I wouldn't wish that on any fellow computer gamers). One of the main arguments from the nVidia fanboys is always how their products are soooo stable and their drivers are light years ahead of ATi in quality and reliability...

So now nVidia's destroying their own last bastion of superiority. Kinda makes you wonder how what is going on with the leadership of the company.

.....seems that I have to do a rollback to the drivers even though I haven't experienced anything odd. But on the other hand I dont want to find out...
nevertheless something odd for nVidia...

rofl, do they not beleive in tasting their food beofre they serve it?

This explains my constant system crashing while playing steam games and wow. I RMA's my vid card lawl... I guess it was the drivers fault.

Does anybody know their testing process for new drivers?

Do they have a fixed ammount of time to 'test' the improvements in games?

Glad ive got a HIS ATI - HD 4870 x2, ive had no problems with drivers.

It involves writing a lot of code, and supposedly running the hardware to check for conflicts. A more involved explanation for (Windows) driver certification here :http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winlogo/drvsign/drvsign.mspx .

nVidia usually have the inside track in gaming driver profiles simply because they have poured development funding, kits, and in some cases, game code into new gaming titles, hence the "The way it's meant to be played" splashscreen that begins a lot of game loading screens. AMD/ATI through lack of funding (and not identifying that software development kits (SDK) given to game developers can lead to a better launchday gaming experience) usually have to wait until a game is released before working on a driver fix/improvement, whereas nVidia through the TWIMTBP program have had the opportunity to optimize the driver before launch.
This puts AMD under pressure to fix problems fast if the problems arise in a popular new release game title. Having to get a fix out fast is usually not the best of conditions for writing code.
At the moment there is a lot to driver test for, in addition to DX11, new games,new cards series, Eyefinity, PhysX and 3D Surround, you also have a new OS (Win 7) to code for.

Good to hear that your own graphics experience is troublefree- long may it continue !

Thanks for the heads up TechSpot. I installed this driver on the day it was released and have been playing CoD 4 and BF: BC2 since then without problems. But upon reccomendation looks like it's time to roll back to 196.21.

Nvidia should at least pay 3/4 of a exact replacement , for a new card... if not, then nvidia should hire some employees to do just beta testing or something, or just there act together... If i had my card fryed, i would be so so mad, if i lived near nvidia, i would camp out at the HQ, till they replaced my card... (maybe not) but anyways, i would be upset ...

The problem with the NVIDIA drivers isn't new, it's been going on well before 196.75 and as far back as 195.62 back in November. That's when my gpu started acting buggy and then failed. Others on the NVIDIA forums indicated that the driver updates re-set the fans to less than 30%. NVIDIA has never responded or defended themselves. With FERMI coming out shortly, NVIDIA should get their act together or everyone may migrate to Radeon. There's no point to be loyal to NVIDIA.