Win10 Release Notes
Win10 Release Notes
Win10 Release Notes
497.09
Windows 11 / Windows 10
Release Notes
This edition of Release Notes describes the Release 495 family of NVIDIA® graphics drivers
(versions 495.xx to 499.xx) for Microsoft® Windows® 10 and later1. NVIDIA provides these notes to
describe performance improvements and bug fixes in each documented version of the driver.
These changes are discussed beginning with the chapter “Release 495 Driver Changes” on
page 2.
This chapter describes open issues for version 497.09 WHQL, and resolved issues and driver
enhancements for versions of the Release 495 driver up to version 497.09 WHQL
Existing Support
This release supports the following APIs:
Open Computing Language (OpenCLTM software) 3.0 for NVIDIA® MaxwellTM and later GPUs
OpenGL® 4.6
Vulkan® 1.2
DirectX 11
DirectX 12
1. Supports Windows 10 (Version 1803) and later, including Windows 10 May 2021 Update (Version 21H1).
Discontinued Support
NvIFR OpenGL support.
Release 470 was the last driver branch to support this functionality. NvIFR header files,
samples and documentation have been removed from the NVIDIA Capture SDK 7.1.9 release.
Future drivers will remove NvIFR.dll and any other reference to NvIFR. For details, see the
NVIDIA Video Codec SDK page.
The latest version of the SDK fixes this bug that affects the AppEncME sample application. NVIDIA
recommends downloading the latest version from https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-video-
codec-sdk.
Note: You may encounter issues installing the NVIDIA Control Panel
from the Windows Store. See “Issues Installing the NVIDIA Control Panel
from the Windows Store” on page 17 for more information.
For notebook computers, issues can be system-specific and may not be seen on your particular
notebook.
If HDR is required to be toggled from the Microsoft Control Panel, be sure to switch to a different
Image Scaling resolution.
Windows 10 Considerations
Cross-adapter Clone Mode
Under Windows 10, clone mode across graphics processors is handled by the Windows OS, and
not by the NVIDIA driver. Consequently, there are no controls for cross-adapter clone mode in the
NVIDIA Control Panel under Windows 10.
Functionality of some display controls in the NVIDIA Control Panel may be affected if cross-
adapter clone mode is enabled through the Windows Control Panel. In this case, use the Windows
Control Panel to adjust display settings.
Optimus Systems
Because cross-adapter clone mode is handled by the Windows 10 OS, there are no display
controls in the NVIDIA Control Panel if no display is connected to the NVIDIA GPU on Optimus
notebooks.
Application Issues
Fixed Frame Rate Games
Some games and applications are designed to run at a fixed frame rate, and consequently do not
take advantage of NVIDIA G-Sync. To prevent issues, G-Sync may be disabled for those
applications.
As part of the NVIDIA Notebook Driver Program, this is a reference driver that can be installed on
supported NVIDIA notebook GPUs. However, please note that your notebook original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) provides certified drivers for your specific notebook on their website. NVIDIA
recommends that you check with your notebook OEM about recommended software updates for
your notebook. OEMs may not provide technical support for issues that arise from the use of this
driver.
Driver Security
Follow these safe computing practices:
Only download or execute content and programs from trusted third parties.
Run your system and programs with the least privilege necessary. Users should run without
administrator rights whenever possible.
When running as administrator, do not elevate UAC privileges for activities or programs that
don’t need them.
This section describes additional actions to take to mitigate specific known security issues.
An end-user gains nothing by attempting to raise the voltage of the higher performance GPU
because its clocks must not exceed those of the other GPU.
3D Compatibility Mode
3D Compatibility Mode is an NVIDIA proprietary rendering mode for 3D Vision that improves the
3D experience for many key DirectX 10 and 11 games. NVIDIA continues to add game support with
new driver versions.
The resize controls on the NVIDIA Control Panel are provided in case satisfactory results cannot
be achieved using the controls on the display.
After resizing the HDTV desktop using the NVIDIA Control Panel Resize controls, the new custom
resolution created is now added to the list of available resolutions for that display, and also added
to the resolution list within the game or application.
The method for resizing the HDTV desktop was improved to provide better image quality when
applying underscan. This method results in a new custom resolution being created which needs
to be selected from games or applications to apply the resizing. In the example displayed in the
following screen shot, the underscan has created a new resolution (1216 × 682). Although this
resolution looks different, it is still in HD format. Remember to select this resolution in your game
or other application in order to take advantage of it.
Note: Some games or applications may not support the new resolu-
tion.
Explanation
This can occur under Windows 10 (20H1), with NVIDIA Volta and later GPUs, and with this release
of the NVIDIA Release 460 driver and later. This combination supports multiplane overlays. With
this support, Windows may grant a windowed application its own plane, in which case the plane
behaves as if it were operating in full-screen mode, subsequently activating G-SYNC.
For assistance with installing the NVIDIA Control Panel from the Microsoft Windows Store, see the
NVIDIA Knowledge Base Article, NVIDIA Control Panel Windows Store App.
For information about the DCH vs Standard drivers for Windows 10, see the NVIDIA Knowledge
Base Article, NVIDIA DCH/Standard Display Drivers for Windows 10 FAQ.
Explanation
If hardware accelerated video is playing on one display and an application is launched on another
display in windowed mode with NVIDIA G-SYNC or adaptive-sync enabled, the video stutters. This
is the result of desktop compositing on displays with differing refresh rates.
To prevent the video stutter in this scenario, the driver disables NVIDIA G-SYNC during active
video playback, but re-enables G-SYNC if the video is paused or closed.
Note: The issue can also occur when displays are set to different
refresh rates, even when G-SYNC is not used. To resolve in this case,
make sure all displays are set to the same refresh rate.
Explanation
On Optimus systems, when the NVIDIA GPU is not being used then it is put into a low- power
state. This causes temperature-reporting tools to return incorrect values.
Waking up the GPU to query the temperature would result in meaningless measurements
because the GPU temperature change as a result.
These tools will report accurate temperatures only when the GPU is awake and running.
Cause
This issue could be the result of a corrupt WMI service on your system. The NVIDIA Installer
requires the WMI service to properly install the driver or other NVIDIA software.
Resolution
You must repair the WMI service on your system in order to successfully install NVIDIA drivers. A
future driver release will alert the user during installation that there is a problem with the WMI
service on the system.
The values for each of these components are computed according to WDDM guidelines when the
NVIDIA Display Driver is loaded.
Issue
Some TAG-reporting APIs represent video memory using 32-bits instead of 64-bits, and
consequently do not properly report available graphics memory when the TAG would otherwise
exceed 4 gigabytes (GB). This results in under reporting of available memory and potentially
undesirable behavior of applications that rely on these APIs to report available memory.
The under reporting can be extreme. For example, 6 GB might be reported as 454 MB, and 8 GB
might be reported as 1259 MB.
Resolution
1 Open the NVIDIA Control Panel, then click Manage 3D Settings from the navigation pane.
2. Click the Global Settings tab, then scroll to the Power management mode feature, click the
corresponding list arrow and select Prefer maximum performance, then click Apply.
1. The WDDM guidelines dictate minimum and maximum values for the components, but the display driver
may further constrain the values that are reported (within the allowed minimum and maximum).
Explanation
The NVIDIA PhysX System Software installer is not compatible with Microsoft's policy for Windows
Safe Mode. Consequently, installation or uninstallation of the PhysX System Software under safe
mode would fail. To allow installation or uninstallation of the graphics driver under safe mode, the
NVIDIA PhysX System Software is blocked from the process.
Instead, use the Windows Add and Remove programs to remove the current driver, and then
install the older driver using setup.exe.
Explanation
Microsoft has confirmed that this behavior is by design. If you wish to uninstall the NVIDIA driver,
it is recommended that you do so using Add and Remove programs.
See the Microsoft KB article 2278714.
Explanation
On an SLI system with each SLI GPU driving a display, the display connected to the secondary SLI
GPU is the primary display (also the SLI focus display). In order to switch the primary display to
the one connected to the other GPU, the primary and secondary SLI GPU configuration must also
switch. In order to reassign which GPU is the primary and which is the secondary SLI GPU, the
driver must be reloaded. It is the process of reloading the driver that takes the additional time.
Some HDMI displays have a native resolution that exceeds the maximum supported HD mode. For
example, displays with a native resolution of 1920 × 1200 exceed the maximum supported HD
mode of 1920 × 1080.
Applying this native mode results in display overscan which cannot be resized using the NVIDIA
Control Panel since the mode is not an HD mode.
To avoid this situation and provide a better user experience, the driver treats certain TVs– such as
the Viewsonic VX2835wm and the Westinghouse LVM- 37w3–as a DVI monitor when applying the
native mode. Because the driver does not treat the TV as an HDMI in this case, the HDMI audio is
not used.
However, Microsoft requires that certain TV/HDTV modes be available for all digital displays,
including DVI and HDMI, even if they are not HDTV.
While the NVIDIA flat panel scaling controls are available for those displays, they will not be
functional for the TV modes that appear in compliance with the Microsoft requirements. The
affected modes are as follows:
1920 × 1080i @ 50/59.94/60 Hz
1280 × 720p @ 50/59.94/60 Hz
720 × 480p @ 59.94/60 Hz
720 × 576p @ 50 Hz
Because of this issue with the monitor, the NVIDIA driver blocks the problem mode (1280 × 1024 @
60 Hz) and makes it unavailable.
Microsoft Windows® 11
1. Supports Windows 10 (Version 1803) and later, including Windows 10 May 2021 Update (Version 21H1)
Supported Languages
The Release 495 Graphics Drivers supports the following languages in the main driver Control
Panel:
Driver Installation
Minimum Hard Disk Space
The hard disk space requirement is approximately 1.5x the size of the installation download to
accommodate extracted and temporary files.
Installation Instructions
1 Follow the instructions on the NVIDIA.com Web site driver download page to locate the
appropriate driver to download, based on your hardware and operating system.
2. From the driver download page, click the Download button.
The Download Confirmation page appears.
3. If you agree to the “License For Customer Use of NVIDIA Software”, click the Agree &
Download button to begin the download.
The File Download dialog appears.
4. Either click Save to save the file and then run it from your PC, or click Run.
An extraction path dialog appears prompting you to specify where on your PC you want the
driver files to be installed.
5. Click OK to use the default location, or click the folder icon and specify an alternate location
to install the driver files.
The files are extracted and then the NVIDIA Installer is launched automatically.
6. At the License Agreement page of the Installer, click Agree and Continue.
7. Follow the instructions in the NVIDIA Installer to complete the installation.
Note: The NVIDIA PhysX System Software will not be included in the
installation if the same version or a later version is already installed.
Information furnished is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, NVIDIA Corporation assumes no responsibility for the consequences of use of such
information or for any infringement of patents or other rights of third parties that may result from its use. No license is granted by implication of otherwise under
any patent rights of NVIDIA Corporation. Specifications mentioned in this publication are subject to change without notice. This publication supersedes and
replaces all other information previously supplied. NVIDIA Corporation products are not authorized as critical components in life support devices or systems
without express written approval of NVIDIA Corporation.
Macrovision copy protection technology is protected by U.S. patent numbers 5,583,936; 6,516,132; 6,836,549; and 7,050,698 and other intellectual property rights.
The use of Macrovision's copy protection technology in the device must be authorized by Macrovision and is intended for home and other limited pay-per-view
uses only, unless otherwise authorized in writing by Macrovision. Reverse engineering or disassembly is prohibited.
Developed by:
LLVM Team
http://llvm.org
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal with the
Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,
and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimers.
* Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimers in the documentation and/or
other materials provided with the distribution.
* Neither the names of the LLVM Team, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote
products derived from this Software without specific prior written permission.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE CONTRIBUTORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS WITH THE SOFTWARE.
Vulkan Notice
Copyright (c) 2015-2016 The Khronos Group Inc.
The Vulkan Runtime is comprised of 100% open source components (MIT, and Apache 2.0). The text of such licenses is included below along
with the copyrights.
ALL INFORMATION HERE IS PROVIDED "AS IS." LUNARG MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH
REGARD TO THIS LIST OR ITS ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS, OR WITH RESPECT TO ANY RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USE OR
DISTRIBUTION OF THE LIST. BY USING OR DISTRIBUTING THIS LIST, YOU AGREE THAT IN NO EVENT SHALL LUNARG BE HELD LIABLE FOR
ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM ANY USE OR DISTRIBUTION OF THIS LIST, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY
SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR OTHER DIRECT OR INDIRECT DAMAGES.
HDMI, the HDMI logo, and High-Definition Multimedia Interface are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC.
OpenGL® and the oval logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. Additional
license details are available on the SGI website.
OpenCL and the OpenCL logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. used by permission by Khronos.
Vulkan and the Vulkan logo are trademarks of the Khronos Group Inc.
Other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated.
Copyright
© 2018 - 2021 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved.