NVIDIA has announced a new Game Ready driver that promises nothing short of the best experience not just in the forthcoming Battlefield 6 but also in the next wave of DLSS technology with its fourth version and Multi Frame Generation. The driver update together with NVIDIA Reflex is primarily aimed at getting better performance and reducing latency, however, the gaming community’s response was a mixed bag of excitement, disbelief, and even rage.
NVIDIA has already made the public aware that the new driver is ready. This is always a kind of event. The loudest claim is that the driver is Game Ready for Battlefield 6, a game whose details are not clear yet but nonetheless, it got support for DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation and Reflex. This indeed sounds like a recipe for smooth frames. But, as always, there is a catch with the driver updates. They can sometimes work wonders while at other times they just… stop working. From the huge number of comments on NVIDIA’s tweet, it is clear that the update is a hot topic.
The first and most crucial point in this discussion is DLSS 4. It is a next-gen upscaler that, in combination with the Multi Frame Generation technology, is supposed to give a substantial increase in frame rates. One user STEALTH1X was already testing it out and reported getting 180fps in a medium settings game with DLSS Performance and MFG x2. However, he also mentioned a 35ms latency and concluded with, “I couldn’t imagine trying to run Ultra without throwing the idea of good gameplay into the trash can due to high input latency at MFG x4.” The situation seems to be a trade-off. The extra frames may come together with the feeling of lag, which is a strict no-no for competitive shooting games like Battlefield.
On the other hand, the hardware issue is creating a divide and some users are getting very upset. A user with the handle doublepolygon bluntly asked, “Why not make DLSS 4 available for 4000x series gpu?” Good question indeed. If you bought a 4080 last year, have you been already excluded from using the latest technology? Besides, there was another user, BABUMAN, who suggested that for the new RTX 5000 series, support for legacy features is done differently at the hardware level with the new driver using “emulation”. The whole situation is quite technical and somewhat confusing for the average player who just wants to play without any interruptions.
But, the big fuss is not about future possibilities but current issues. A large number of gamers are saying that the new driver has made their ASUS software unusable. And it is not just one person. BlackThabata issued a comprehensive warning: “Caution ⚠️, do NOT install if you are using this Software: ASUS GPU Tweak III, ASUS AI Suite 3, ASUS Aura Sync, ASUS Armoury Crate.” Others like Wally Cortorreal and OG agreed and pointed out that while their games are running smoothly, all their RGB lighting and monitoring tools have stopped working. For anyone with an ASUS motherboard or GPU, that can be really annoying. ScreamerRSA even told someone not to have installed that “ASUS bloatware power virus ‘software’ in the first place.” Harsh, but the fact is that driver updates can cause weird conflicts.
Then there are the customers who have got fed up with the update cycle. WeeJaayyy wrote they would be skipping this one, predicting microstuttering in Black Ops 7. Later, they said they would only install new drivers if the GPU had issues, adding, “black ops 7 is running beautifully for me at the moment.” It is a widely shared sentiment. If it works, do not mess with it through the risk of it being a driver-breaking update.
At the same time, we should not ignore the complaints from those who feel neglected. Tyrsolos lamented, “Thanks for abandoning support for my 1080TI, a card that was working fine until now. I will never buy Nvidia again, that’s for sure.” Ouch. That is a GPU that has been a bad boy for ages, and now it is in line to be cut off from being optimized with new drivers. Another user xPashaTR, seemed to be upset with GTX cards and it started a heated debate where some thought that if you were able to buy a high-end card back then, you would have already upgraded. Things got a bit personal. Kelvin Fung said rather bluntly, “GTX? Retired…” which is a good way of putting the harsh pace of the tech world in a nutshell.
Nevertheless, there were some positive voices as well. zenthemagi shouted, “yessss maybe my game will stop crashing now,” and Shambles expressed, “At last! I really hope reflex works this time.” So, for a few gamers on PlayStation and Xbox, the update might be a welcome fix.
