Nvidia recently launched the latest GeForce driver 536.09 for Windows 10 and 11, intended to bolster the performance of Nvidia’s sophisticated line of graphics cards. However, according to Reddit discussions, numerous users have reported several complications arising post-update, most notably increased latency and screen flickering.
The new driver was designed to not only introduce new features and enhancements for premium GPUs, but also to offer fixes that ensure owners of previous generation cards do not miss out. Nevertheless, the GeForce 536.09 update seems to be causing more harm than good, with several users reporting screen flickering issues after the update.
Nvidia 536.09 driver causes screen flickering
Multiple complaints from Nvidia users have shed light on the extent of the problem.
For instance, one user described how the flickering occurred on one of their two identical monitors (ASUS, G-Sync, HDR ON, 165hz), particularly when hovering over or using any feature with video acceleration like the Battle.Net client or Chrome tabs. Moreover, the flickering appeared randomly when the PC was idle.
Additional problems highlighted by users include stability issues, screen blackouts, and TDR issues with GeForce RTX Series 40 GPUs. Some of these problems may be mitigated by a motherboard BIOS update, specifically one that provides ‘compatibility updates for Lovelace’.
Other users have reported that the Nvidia control panel setting ‘Prefer Maximum Performance’ may alleviate idle monitor, resume, and crashing issues.
Further issues have surfaced with Microsoft Store’s Game Pass. These problems seem to stem from the Nvidia ‘game ready driver profile’ settings not being applied to PC games due to the APPID not being present in the Nvidia game profile.
A potential workaround for this issue could be manually adding the APPID to the Nvidia driver game profile using the Nvidia Profile Inspector or a similar tool.
Even LG C2 Display users have reported 4K/120Hz/Deepcolor HDMI handshake issues or screen artifacts while active or when resuming from standby. Some users found that reducing the refresh rate to 120hz or disabling G-Sync resolved the problem, albeit these are only temporary solutions, and these features should not be causing issues in the first place.
How to fix issues caused by GeForce driver 536.09
Various workarounds have been proposed to mitigate the problems caused by the driver update.
To fix the issue of display blinking or temporary blackout, try these steps:
- Open Nvidia Control Panel.
- Click Display.
- Under ‘Content Type Detection’, change Desktop Color Settings’ to ‘Desktop Programs’.
If the setting is not available, install the 536.09 Hotfix Driver.
For NVLDDMKM or TDR issues, users can download any previous or a driver considered stable by you. If you do not want to downgrade, try adjusting RAM/CPU/GPU overclocks, using Nvidia Debug Mode, toggling the Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling setting, or disabling hibernation/fast startup) have proved ineffective.
It’s clear that Nvidia has some work to do to address these significant issues with its latest driver release.