NVIDIA Releases Hotfix Driver 576.26 to Squash More Bugs - Fixes Display, Game Crashes, and More
Hello, PC gamers and hardware enthusiasts, If you have been using one of NVIDIA's newer RTX graphics cards, particularly from the 50 series (or even the 40 series), you might have been experiencing some frustrating glitches as of late. The good news is that NVIDIA is on it, and they just dropped a new driver – the GeForce Hotfix Display Driver version 576.26.
This new hotfix is in addition to the recent Game Ready Driver 576.02. While 576.02 brought some good performance boosts (with users reporting noticeable gains, even up to 7% on cards like the RTX 5080, along with fixes for those horrendous black screen issues), it looks like a couple of other bugs lingered. That's where this hotfix comes in.
What This New Hotfix Attempts to Fix
So what specifically does the 576.26 hotfix fix? It targets a variety of things that users have been reporting:
Display Problems Addressed
- That screen flickering some RTX 50 series users were seeing, especially with DisplayPort 2.1 and high refresh rate monitors. Sometimes it was just the bottom half, sometimes totally random. This update seeks to smooth that out.
- Blank screen issues specifically with DisplayPort 2.1 and HDR enabled on certain LG displays (models like the 27GX790A, 45GX950A, and others).
- Less common, but still frustrating, grey screen crashes happening when using multiple monitors with RTX 50 series cards.
Game Crashes and Glitches Resolved
If your games have been acting up, this hotfix might be your salvation. Several game-specific issues are listed as fixed:
- Random Black Myth: Wukong crashes when Wukong is transforming (RTX 50 series).
- Night flickering lights in Forza Horizon 5.
- Corrupted track visuals in Forza Motorsport when running benchmarks or nighttime races.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 crashes when trying to run in DX12 mode (RTX 50 series – Vulkan mode was not affected).
- Horizon Forbidden West freezes after loading a save (RTX 50 series).
- Dead Island 2 crashes that started occurring after updating to the 576.02 GRD (RTX 50 series).
- Resident Evil 4 Remake flashing background textures (RTX 50 series).
Incorporating Previous Hotfix Goodness
It's also worth mentioning that the 576.26 hotfix also encompasses all of the fixes from the previous hotfix, version 576.15. So if you were holding out on that one, the installation of 576.26 should also fix issues like:
- Shadow corruption or flicker in some games after the 576.02 update (RTX 50 series).
- Lumion 2024 crashing on RTX 50 series when entering render mode.
- GPU monitoring software sometimes stopping to report temperature after waking the PC from sleep.
- Some games crashing during shader compilation after the 576.02 update (RTX 50 series).
- Black screen after resume from Modern Standby on some GeForce RTX 50 series laptops.
- Random V-SYNC micro-stutters in SteamVR with multiple displays (RTX 50 series).
- Lower than usual idle GPU clock rates following the 576.02 update (RTX 50 series).
Understanding NVIDIA's Hotfix Drivers
You can wonder, why "hotfix"? NVIDIA explains that their standard Game Ready Drivers go through extensive testing before a big release, which is usually timed with big game releases. But sometimes a bug occurs that's seriously impacting a lot of users, and they'd like to get a fix out sooner than the next big official release cycle allows.
That is precisely what hotfix drivers are. They are really the last official driver version with only a few particular, urgent fixes added on top. They are beta, optional, and are offered "as-is" since they haven't undergone the complete, enormous QA process of a WHQL-certified driver. Consider them an early patch for those who truly need the fix immediately.
The safest course of action is to always wait for the next WHQL driver drop, which will include these hotfix fixes plus many more following thorough testing. That said, if you're experiencing one of the problems listed and are happy to try out a beta driver, the hotfix is available for download at NVIDIA's Customer Care support site.
Hopefully, this 576.26 hotfix is able to flush out those pesky bugs and get you back to seamless gaming and computing!
