News RTX 40 GPU owners suffering from BSODs and crashes complain about Nvidia's RTX 50 focus

[Lastnameimake]

I have a 4070Ti with a G-sync enabled monitor and this is the first I've heard of this problem.
And I even have the dreaded Win11 24H2 with 572.xx driver combination.

Have a machine with a 4070ti and one with a 5070ti. First I have heard of this.

 

[tamalero]

Yeah, it's nothing sort of embarassing for Nvidia that this black screen problem has been lingering for weeks now.

I have yet to encounter such issues myself, but i definitely understand the frustration of other users.

Black screen issues have been common since the 20X0 series imho.
they keep going and coming back.
Funny how they inserted these mostly on a 4000 gen when giving 5000 gen a boost.

 

[RxBrad]

Drivers on my 3070 were a clown show ever since Nvidia dropped the RTX50 series. Black screens requiring reboots & DDUs on updates. GSync totally broken with black screens 1-2x per second when it *used to work* on my "non-official GSync" display.

Bought a 9070XT on release day. It (and its drivers) works great. Unlike Nvidia's drivers.

 

[Heiro78]

My card was having connection issues to my TV for about a month. I typically put my computer in hibernation when not in use. When i would start it back up, the screen would flicker black about every 10-20 seconds unless I unplugged the HDMI from the TV. A couple times I would also need to unplug from the GPU side. Recently, after a driver update, it's been fine. Initially I thought it was finally my TV going bad but after hearing 50 series had only black and blue screens, I thought the update to fix that may have hampered 40 series.

 

[Heiro78]

But, wait, I'm always being told "oMg AmD dRiVeRs ArE tErRiBlE!!1!"

Funny, AMD drivers work well, and I often see reports that they get better with age, with the "like a fine wine" analogy being used.

That said, are we sure the complaint of Nvidia focusing only on the 50-series is accurate? Because it seems to be that they're barely focusing on the 50-series, since it looks like they just want to be an AI company at this point.

Now, with the new perk of Nvidia's drivers aging like warm milk.

The author and people in general probably mean, Nvidia is choosing to prioritize the 50 series in their gaming division. Which is definitely smaller than their AI division

 

[Heiro78]

I guess I've been "lucky" that the nVidia app won't allow me to update the drivers. It keeps saying unable to connect to nvidia when I try to download an updated driver. It only does that for the game ready driver. As a test, I opted for Studio drivers and it downloaded just fine but I didn't actually apply it. As, at some point in the future, I'll probably want to update the drivers; has anyone run into this before and know what the work around is?

Ha! I had a similar situation with the march update not wanting to install. It downloaded but would repeatedly not being installation. I had to uninstall the Nvidia App and reinstall it in order to update the driver. Full Shutdown and multiple restarts wasn't doing the trick

 

[Heiro78]

I seriously doubt we'll still be alive, by the time she does.

I hold out hope for the 14090 lol

 

[jp7189]

I'm glad this is getting attention. I was on the 566 driver for a while and wasn't having problems. Updated to the 57x train (which added support for 50 series) and occasionally would get the black screen thing... bios logo displayed, but no display in Windows despite hearing the startup sound.

I've been accumulating crap for a while now, so I decided to wipe clean and start over while taking the jump to Win11 24H2. Now, as soon as SteamVR launches the PC hard resets.. I don't even see a BSOD. That happens with pimax and with og vive. Rolled back to 566 and VR is stable, but the black screen problem is still there occasionally.. which wasn't a problem previously with 566, so I have a feeling something got leftover from 572.

 

[palladin9479]

But, wait, I'm always being told "oMg AmD dRiVeRs ArE tErRiBlE!!1!"

Funny, AMD drivers work well, and I often see reports that they get better with age, with the "like a fine wine" analogy being used.

That said, are we sure the complaint of Nvidia focusing only on the 50-series is accurate? Because it seems to be that they're barely focusing on the 50-series, since it looks like they just want to be an AI company at this point.

Now, with the new perk of Nvidia's drivers aging like warm milk.

AMD Drivers are "worse" so to speak, mostly in that lots of features are half baked or have quirks to how they function. nVidia's drivers, minus that whole Geforce Experience crud, have been solid for a very long time. Unfortunately it seems that this time around they didn't invest most time / effort into making the 50 series causing the newer versions to be buggy as heck. For 30/40 users it's best to stay on the version prior to 50 launch, wait six months to a year before switching drivers. For the 50 users, all twelve of them, they will need to just keep playing the lottery with nVidia drivers until it all gets sorted.

And yes AMD's implementation on v-sync is a 50/50 crapshoot if it'll work or not with borderless full screen. One game it refused to work unless I had the performance overlay displayed. Core functionality is great, but all those "features" are hit and miss on the best of days.

 

[FlayerSlayer]

The problem seems to be triggered by a combination of frame gen + G-Sync + HDR, so if you don't play with these enabled, please no need to say "I don't have this problem so it's not real".

I am using a 2080 Super and installed 572.16 using the .exe installer, not the Nvidia App. I did not use HDR or Frame Gen. I still got the black screen bug so badly I could not even boot back to desktop. I needed to roll back to a Restore Point just to get back into my PC.

 

[Confused_Counsel]

I guess I've been "lucky" that the nVidia app won't allow me to update the drivers. It keeps saying unable to connect to nvidia when I try to download an updated driver. It only does that for the game ready driver. As a test, I opted for Studio drivers and it downloaded just fine but I didn't actually apply it. As, at some point in the future, I'll probably want to update the drivers; has anyone run into this before and know what the work around is?

I had a similar problem with my daughter's rig running a 4080 super and 9800X3d. Kept getting installer failed when attempting to update driver or Nvidia App. I solved the issue by:
1. Going to Nvidia's website and downloading driver.
2. Opening the downloaded driver to run Nvidia's Driver Installer, which will fail, but don't close it.
3. Opening Device Manager in Windows --> Selecting Display Adapters --> right clicking on Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super --> selecting Update Drivers --> Selecting Browse my computer for Drivers --> selecting the folder C:\Nvidia\DisplayDriver (this file is created when the installer runs and is deleted when the installer close. So, don't close the installer, yet.)
4. After Windows has updated driver through Device Manager, closing the Nvidia Driver Installer.

That allowed me to update to the latest driver. Since the Nvidia App would not allow my daughter to update her driver (which is the only reason why my she uses the app), she then tried successfully several times to uninstall the app with the uninstaller. We eventually manage to rip it off her PC by deleting the app's folder and repairing the registry files.

In any event, I hope the above procedure works for you.

 

[Confused_Counsel]

Did you try to install it without Nvidia App? Just download the driver from the Nvidia website and install it manually.

I had the same problem and tried that solution. Nvidia's Driver Installer just reports it failed. I posted the work around I used above.

 

[abufrejoval]

It took me far too long to recognize that the toubles I was having were simply related to driver versions.

I was upgrading/swapping quite a few PCs in the family, because top hardware new hardware enters for professional use and then cascades towards kids and extended family and friends for many years who get to game a lot more than I do.

The current upgrade cycle was really more about making Windows 11 work on officially unsupported hardware, but quite a few GPUs got swapped along the way.

While I was working in my home-lab, which includes two 42" 4k screens in cascaded KVMs, one really annoying symptom was that the primary monitor, which typically runs at 10Bit full RGB and 144Hz, on a VR panel would refuse both refresh and bit depth and revert to a non-RGB TV mode with reduced bits for color, giving rather ugly color edges to TrueType font hinting especially with HDR. Oddly enough the secondary display which is a strict non-HDR IPS panel capable of no more than 60Hz at 8 or 10 bit pixel depth, runs just fine at those optimal settings.

For a while I was thinking this was just a limitation of older hardware (a GTX 980ti was involved, as were various GTX 10* series cards), but then even RTX 40* series cards were showing those same symptoms... but only on Windows 11 24H2, not on Windows 10 22H2.

So I was ready to make M$ the bad boy (always a popular option), but when I was also playing with Intel and AMD GPUs, swapping back to an Nvidia card typically activated an older Windows driver from around Summer 2024... And that one didn't have those issues with display capabilities! Turns out I was running Windows 10 still on the December 2024 CUDA release drivers, while I was upgrading to the latest "Game Ready" drivers on Windows 11!

After some more elaborate testing I've come to believe that the display capabilities detection code for the new drivers is the main source of my problems.

If it's a laptop GPU (e.g. an RTX 4060), no issues using current or last-gen drivers, with internal or external display, but I'm not using a KVM there and it's strictly 1080p.

If I use HDMI straight from the GPU, again no issue with 10* to 50* series GPUs even on the critical 42" display at 10Bit fulll RGB and 144Hz and HDR: pixel compression is likely at work, but it works as expected and as it has done for years.

But the dual 4x4k KVM is DP, and on a 10* to 40* GPU, with 2025 drivers, that primary display will only do 60Hz at 8bit YCb*422 (or 24HZ at full RGB), probably the last resolution to do 4k without pixel compression, yet with the RTX 5070 it will be fine

Reverting to a 2024 driver on either OS eliminates the issues for 10* to 40* GPUs.

So my current error theory is that negotiating for the vastly expanded range of display connector speeds and capabilities is broken for the older generation hardware in the new drivers. Where 50* series GPUs could drive these high resolutions without pixel compression, neither my screens/KVM, nor the 10*-40* series GPUs can support those speeds and require compression, but fail to negotiate properly with 2025 drivers, falling back onto the highest resolutions possible without compression.

2024 drivers are much more likely to negotiate for compression as a default at 4k, because even the GPUs couldn't do without, even if displays could.

Just with my setup, the amount of GPU/screen negotiation going on, every time I switch between systems is truly mind boggling: ATEN, my KVM providers has explained to me that they cannot really retain state during switching but need to treat it like a full set of plug/unplug events of two DP monitors and the sheer number of potential resolutions, refresh rates, color formats and bus speeds has been very large even before the new speeds, resolutions and formats now supported with Blackwell and RDNA 4 came along.

Still, if you're in the GPU business, that's simply what you have to deal with and sort out.... soon, I hope.

BTW: I didn't really observe any game related crashes, but I typically just bench games a bit: it's the family that gets to play, I tend to work on computers.

 

[DS426]

I guess they need to upgrade.

Buy more, save more!

 

[DS426]

i feel sorry for all the 40 50 generations, im still waiting for upgrades, im still happy with my rtx3060 and absolutely don't want to be in a hurry

sorry to rant and laugh at how nvidia sucks the hell out of many customers

to see how many are not learning from 1 - 2 - 3 years of all the problems who where shown and told, and jump on each new gadgets from nvidia they absolutely act like apple fan boys, just paying top dollars to be on the top and say hi people i have the latest badess thingy / gimmick, amd have their share too

just waiting for others news loll awww man it never end

and the buyers are left with a bad taste, and futures ones like me ... meh i'll wait more

You think nVidia is going to treat gamers BETTER going forward / sometime in the future when AI is their baby now?

 

[DS426]

Funny how the tables have turned in terms of who has the more stable drivers now. Heck, even Intel launched Battlemage with great day 1 driver support, including not botching things for Alchemist (at least as far as I'm aware).

Maybe nVidia is letting AI write too much of their driver code. 🤣

 

[danny009]

Just get 6090 Ti next year, it fixes everything.

 

[jp7189]

It took me far too long to recognize that the toubles I was having were simply related to driver versions.

I was upgrading/swapping quite a few PCs in the family, because top hardware new hardware enters for professional use and then cascades towards kids and extended family and friends for many years who get to game a lot more than I do.

The current upgrade cycle was really more about making Windows 11 work on officially unsupported hardware, but quite a few GPUs got swapped along the way.

While I was working in my home-lab, which includes two 42" 4k screens in cascaded KVMs, one really annoying symptom was that the primary monitor, which typically runs at 10Bit full RGB and 144Hz, on a VR panel would refuse both refresh and bit depth and revert to a non-RGB TV mode with reduced bits for color, giving rather ugly color edges to TrueType font hinting especially with HDR. Oddly enough the secondary display which is a strict non-HDR IPS panel capable of no more than 60Hz at 8 or 10 bit pixel depth, runs just fine at those optimal settings.

For a while I was thinking this was just a limitation of older hardware (a GTX 980ti was involved, as were various GTX 10* series cards), but then even RTX 40* series cards were showing those same symptoms... but only on Windows 11 24H2, not on Windows 10 22H2.

So I was ready to make M$ the bad boy (always a popular option), but when I was also playing with Intel and AMD GPUs, swapping back to an Nvidia card typically activated an older Windows driver from around Summer 2024... And that one didn't have those issues with display capabilities! Turns out I was running Windows 10 still on the December 2024 CUDA release drivers, while I was upgrading to the latest "Game Ready" drivers on Windows 11!

After some more elaborate testing I've come to believe that the display capabilities detection code for the new drivers is the main source of my problems.

If it's a laptop GPU (e.g. an RTX 4060), no issues using current or last-gen drivers, with internal or external display, but I'm not using a KVM there and it's strictly 1080p.

If I use HDMI straight from the GPU, again no issue with 10* to 50* series GPUs even on the critical 42" display at 10Bit fulll RGB and 144Hz and HDR: pixel compression is likely at work, but it works as expected and as it has done for years.

But the dual 4x4k KVM is DP, and on a 10* to 40* GPU, with 2025 drivers, that primary display will only do 60Hz at 8bit YCb*422 (or 24HZ at full RGB), probably the last resolution to do 4k without pixel compression, yet with the RTX 5070 it will be fine

Reverting to a 2024 driver on either OS eliminates the issues for 10* to 40* GPUs.

So my current error theory is that negotiating for the vastly expanded range of display connector speeds and capabilities is broken for the older generation hardware in the new drivers. Where 50* series GPUs could drive these high resolutions without pixel compression, neither my screens/KVM, nor the 10*-40* series GPUs can support those speeds and require compression, but fail to negotiate properly with 2025 drivers, falling back onto the highest resolutions possible without compression.

2024 drivers are much more likely to negotiate for compression as a default at 4k, because even the GPUs couldn't do without, even if displays could.

Just with my setup, the amount of GPU/screen negotiation going on, every time I switch between systems is truly mind boggling: ATEN, my KVM providers has explained to me that they cannot really retain state during switching but need to treat it like a full set of plug/unplug events of two DP monitors and the sheer number of potential resolutions, refresh rates, color formats and bus speeds has been very large even before the new speeds, resolutions and formats now supported with Blackwell and RDNA 4 came along.

Still, if you're in the GPU business, that's simply what you have to deal with and sort out.... soon, I hope.

BTW: I didn't really observe any game related crashes, but I typically just bench games a bit: it's the family that gets to play, I tend to work on computers.

I noticed some hard crashes when VR is launched.. which after reading your post might be a matter of "activating" a new display output. I don't have the problem on 566 series with the exact same hardware.

 

[beyondlogic]

this is exactly why i dont update drivers. be it amd or nvidia till there tested.

 

[Confused_Counsel]

this is exactly why i dont update drivers. be it amd or nvidia till there tested.

Should not the drivers be test before they are released on the unsuspecting public. No... Wait... Sorry forgot we live in a dystopian quality control society.

 

[beyondlogic]

Should not the drivers be test before they are released on the unsuspecting public. No... Wait... Sorry forgot we live in a dystopian quality control society.

absolutely but shouldn't the product also not catch fire damn you think we have something like i dunno product quality control darn or inhouse testing.

in fairness nvidias track record is better with drivers but hardware wise there fumbling very hard. now there fumbling that also to focused on ai.

I've yet to test the amd new cards but ill be interested if the image quality is fixed because it was broken on rdna 2 and 3 with some games.

 

[Confused_Counsel]

I've yet to test the amd new cards but ill be interested if the image quality is fixed because it was broken on rdna 2 and 3 with some games.

I am building my son his first PC with a 9070 XT. So far, its benchmark scores are higher than his sister's 4080 Super for Steel Nomad, Port Royal, and Time Spy Extreme. His sister's 4080 Super scores higher in Speedway. Image quality looks nice.

 

[palladin9479]

Should not the drivers be test before they are released on the unsuspecting public. No... Wait... Sorry forgot we live in a dystopian quality control society.

Why bother testing when there are all those unpaid beta testers out there? I mean not only does nVidia not have to pay them, those testers even pay nVidia for the privilege of testing their products.

 

[beyondlogic]

Why bother testing when there are all those unpaid beta testers out there? I mean not only does nVidia not have to pay them, those testers even pay nVidia for the privilege of testing their products.

sssh beta testers dont exist thats just the average gamer that now have to screw around with hardware/software drivers/then screw around with a broken game that was cobbled together by a bunch of programmers that got there degree in chat gpt.

easy answer is just dont buy anything in first 3 months. its why i usually never upgrade for 5 years. longest was 10.

nvidia will lose ground there 5000 series is a disaster both as a product and software cutting software physx even if its only 32 bit. is a mistake whole point of pc is to be backwards compatible for all generations of games otherwise just move to console.

 

[Lastnameimake]

There are so many combinations of hardware that can be used in a "PC", I'm surprised we don't have a scrolling list of people that stopped writing drivers like actors that died this year.