[SOLVED] Windows 10 Pro v1903 and most compatible nVidia driver for GTX 1060 6GB

[Thawth]

Did a clean install for Win 10 Pro v1903. Windows plopped in a really old nvidia driver 391.35 on a GTX 1060 6GB.

MB = ASROCK mini ITX z270 chipset running a i7 7700
VIDEO = EVGA GTX 1060 6GB

Windows 10 is so very fickle when it comes to drivers, I'm hesitant about dropping in some random WHQL release from nvidia these days. nvidia's new forum format is completely useless now; whoever came up with that format needs to be fired. Seriously, most people use desktops for their product information, not the latest iphone.

Anyway, back on topic. There isn't much information on a rock solid nvidia driver for the above configuration.

Any recommendations will be welcome. Please provide some reasoning why a given driver would be a good fit.

Thanks in Advance.

 

[Lutfij]

Ideally you should be on the latest BIOS update to ensure your OS doesn't go awry. The next thing you should do is manually install drivers for your devices, as opposed to people letting it go on full auto. Yes sometimes it accomplishes wonders but sometimes it ends up sourcing the wrong drivers for the right hardware.

 

[Darkbreeze]

This is the latest driver for your card, and is what you should be using. As Lutfij said, you should make sure you have the latest motherboard bios and Intel Z270 chipset drivers from the Intel website installed as well.

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/151275/en-us

 

[renz496]

Just use latest driver?

 

[Thawth]

Windows 10 is very picky about drivers. Latest drivers aren't always stable (I read quite a few posts regarding this very topic on this forum). As mentioned, I recently did a clean install into v1903. I had to redo the install 2 times from the latest and "greatest" chipset drivers, which ended up crashing my PC. Windows came back at me saying that chipset drivers v.xxxx was optimized for my system, other versions would likely result in stability issues.

BTW, my bios is updated.

Windows 10 is not very friendly to aging hardware and tends to have issues when combining older hardware with new drivers. Every features update on windows 10 does nothing but cause problems for self build PC'ers like myself.

Until I see a good solid release of nividia drivers that are compatible with my current setup and win 10 v1903, I'm sticking to the dated drivers as they appear to be good for now. Maybe not the most optimized, but they don't crash my system.

It seems to me that the PC industry as a whole is constantly pushing people to buy new hardware with fewer and fewer advantages over the previous gen, which is being enforced by the software industry. We've been at a performance wall for the last couple of years. I see the same trend on "smart phones" as well.

To be quite frank, for the applications I run (vmware workstation pro, Adobe Photo 5.5 on Win 7 pro in a VM and Path of Exile game), there is no good reason to upgrade from a i7 7700 to the latest gen of processor/chipset. Oh sure, I will get a small performance boost, but for the money I spend, I can't justify the cost compared to the increasingly small performance leaps from each new gen of CPUs.

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, Windows is not that picky about drivers as long as you're using verified drivers.

I do this all day, every day, and nobody has ever brought up that complain or accusation in thousands, literally, thousands, of threads.

I also build, repair and tune up systems. Usually four or five, sometimes more, per month. Used to be a lot more than that but I just don't have the time for it these days as a primary source of employment I make a lot more money elsewhere. Even so, that is not something I've come across and I'm not sure where you got the idea that it's "picky" but honestly, and I think pretty much every veteran systems builder and enthusiast here will agree, Windows 10 is a LOT better in the area of driver support than any previous version of Windows has ever been.

The problem isn't Windows not being friendly to drivers. The problem is hardware manufacturers not supporting old hardware on the latest Windows versions, or on 10 specifically, at all, because there are not enough people out there running those old hardwares to make it worth their time to continue developing compatible drivers for hardware that barely anybody uses anymore. For professional level hardware like workstation cards or applications with full support teams behind them for the professionals that use those applications, you'll find that even on their older hardware if it is compatible they'll do at least a fair job, if not an outstanding one, of making sure they update drivers in a timely fashion for those customers.

For non-professionals, well, after the sale, your mostly on your own in that area if they decide to stop supporting changes to the OS by continuing to supply compatible drivers. That fault belongs to manufacturers, not to Microsoft. Driver development for hardware is not their responsibility, even though they often work hand in hand with manufacturers to make sure things are fixed when they break due to a change in the OS.

 

[renz496]

What is your issue actually? Right now i'm using GTX970 (see my sig) and driver wise i i'm using the second latest from nvidia. So far i don't see any stability nor game issue with my current drivers.

Support wise sometimes i think newer hardware have more issues than older one. This is one example: my 2500K work much better in ghost recon wildlands in certain setting vs my new 9400F. The game sometimes do get occasional freeze due to all core being peg with my 2500K but otherwise everything is smooth with vsync enabled. But not with my new 9400F. With vsync enabled my new system get lower frame rates and the frame time also worsen causing very noticeable micro stutter. Good thing for game is the borderless mode work so well even without vsync disabled there is no tear i can notice.