PSA: nVidia driver # 196.75 might torch your card

[Feralidragon]

heads up to you guys, if any one of you updated to the 196.75 driver for your card, there is a high chance your card's remaining lifespan just got slashed by 60% or more. Apparently the new driver turns the cards fan off and doesnt turn it on even when there is a thermal problem, resulting in the card and quite possibly the entire system going up in smoke and flames. If you DID update, roll back to the previous driver.

cards affected by this include (and possibly doesnt include)
8600
8800
9600
9800
GTX 260
GTX 275
GTX 280
GTX 295

again, if you have one of the above listed cards and you updated to the new driver, roll back immediately to prevent damage to your hardware. And according to some, even people with liquid cooled cards burned, which means this isnt just a fan stopping problem. 8500 series GPUs or less are not affected.... at least not yet.




and if your card does burn, guess what? nvidia will not help you. Lets just put it this way, with Fermi (which runs at 300W) being on par with the Radeon 5850 (which runs at ~180W), and the 5870 + overclock (taking it up to 220W) being able to rape it, combined with this, means nVidia is FUCKED this and next generation.

I guess I do fine by not updating them since I have no problems since the drivers from 6 months ago work just fine...

[Creavion]

Woha. Thanks for the info
I have still 178.13 or better 182.50, dunno why I have 2 different subfolders of that stuff...

[gopostal]

I think every new update to your drivers creates a new folder so you are able to "roll back" easily.

[Feralidragon]

I think every new update to your drivers creates a new folder so you are able to "roll back" easily.

The problem is that whoever downloaded these drivers and played some games with it won't get a good card again with the rolling back rofl

[Creavion]

Haha, yes lets roll back the time...time machine.. anyone?

[Shadow]

Updates are always critical tasks, so thanks for the info, luckily I'm not always installing newest updates... still have the previous driver version.

Well but that issue surely is embarrassing for NVidia, how could that have happaned lol

[Myth]

I had some problems whit the latest drivers once so I rolled back. Haven't updated since then.

[Feralidragon]

ive been looking around (and lurking on the tech board on 4chan) and it turns out the driver not only stops the fan, but overclocks the card to increase heat output. Id say this was done to force the users of the old nvidia cards up to fermi when it comes out. Hey nVidia? Guess what? ATI has better cards, they use less power, are more efficient, and Oh yeah, THEY HAVE WORKING DRIVERS THAT DONT FRY THE CARDS.

im sorry, but ill be keeping my 7900GS until i get a new system.

Or maybe it was intended to overclock the rebadged cards to give the illusion that they are actually an improvement. Either way NVIDIA now faces a threat from AMD. I wonder if my card overheating a while back had something to do with another driver? I changed my driver after that incident.

And nVidia newest drivers keep scoring points

[Saya-chan]

The only problem I had with those drivers was the fans spinning at an insane speed when I restarted the computer (making a super-loud noise), but I just reset the Power supply, turn computer on again and everything went back to normal (It might have been just luck 'cause I have a modded card).

Also, I always have my card at about 50ºC (Or higher), even if it has two fans. But it's been this way since I used it for the first time.

[Feralidragon]

The only problem I had with those drivers was the fans spinning at an insane speed when I restarted the computer (making a super-loud noise), but I just reset the Power supply, turn computer on again and everything went back to normal (It might have been just luck 'cause I have a modded card).

Also, I always have my card at about 50ºC (Or higher), even if it has two fans. But it's been this way since I used it for the first time.

Hmmm, the graphic drivers are NOT loaded until the OS comes up, so that issue wasn't the drivers actually... lol
So it could have been something on BIOS that got set when you turned it on, not the drivers.
These drivers only stop the fans and overclock the cards in some cases, but only once the OS gets loaded up.