What Is Happening With Nvidia 590 Drivers
Nvidia has quietly reached the end of the road for some of its most popular older graphics cards. With the release of the 590 driver series, official Game Ready support is being cut for the GeForce GTX 900 series and GTX 10 series cards.
These GPUs were legendary for PC gamers. Cards like the GTX 970, GTX 980 Ti, GTX 1060, GTX 1070, and GTX 1080 powered a huge part of the gaming world for years. Many budget and mid range gaming PCs still run them today. However, the latest driver branch is now focused on newer Nvidia architectures.
So what does this actually mean for your gaming rig, and should you be worried?
What Dropping Support Really Means
When Nvidia drops support for a generation in a new major driver branch, it does not mean your card suddenly stops working. Instead, it means:
- You will no longer receive new Game Ready driver updates for those GPUs in the 590 series and beyond.
- Upcoming PC games will be optimized for newer cards only, using the latest drivers.
- Performance tuning and bug fixes for modern games will not target GTX 900 and 10 series anymore.
- Security and stability updates may also stop coming after a final legacy driver release.
Your existing drivers will continue to work, and current games that run well on your card will keep running. But over time, as new games release and engines advance, you can expect:
- Less consistent performance in brand new titles.
- More visual glitches or crashes that never get patched for older cards.
- New features like advanced upscalers or driver level frame generation to be locked to newer GPUs.
For players who mostly enjoy older or less demanding games, this might not be a problem right away. For those chasing the latest AAA releases, it is a clear sign that it may be time to plan an upgrade.
How This Affects Different Gamers
The impact of the 590 driver cutoff will depend heavily on what you play and how you use your PC.
If you are a casual gamer with a 1080p monitor and a GTX 970 or GTX 1060, you can probably keep gaming comfortably for a while. Many esports titles like Counter Strike, League of Legends, Valorant, and Fortnite will stay playable at reasonable settings. Your main limitation will be in the newest single player blockbusters that push graphics to the limit.
If you are a performance focused gamer aiming for high refresh rates and ultra presets, the end of driver support is more serious. Without fresh optimizations, your GTX 1070 or 1080 will age faster in modern engines. When developers and Nvidia tune for newer architectures only, older cards slowly fall further behind.
For content creators and streamers on these GPUs, this is also a warning sign. New creator features in Nvidia Studio drivers and encoder improvements will center on RTX series cards. If you rely on your PC for work or streaming, planning a hardware refresh becomes even more important.
What You Can Do Next
You have a few clear paths forward if you are still on a GTX 900 or 10 series card.
-
Stay on the last supported driver
Check Nvidia’s site for the final Game Ready driver that supports your card and keep it installed. For games you already play, performance will remain the same as it is today. -
Tweak settings for new releases
As new games arrive, you may need to lower resolution or graphics settings more aggressively. Turning down heavy features like ray tracing and demanding post processing can help keep frame rates acceptable. -
Consider a used or new GPU upgrade
If your budget is tight, a used RTX 20 or 30 series card can be a big step up while still staying affordable. If you want the best long term support, a current generation RTX card will receive driver optimizations for years. -
Look at cloud gaming as a bridge
If you cannot upgrade your hardware yet, services like GeForce Now or other cloud gaming platforms can let you play new AAA titles at high settings using your existing PC as a simple client.
Whichever route you choose, the key is to understand that your card is now officially in legacy territory. It still works, but it is no longer part of Nvidia’s active future planning.
What This Says About PC Gaming Hardware Cycles
The end of support for GTX 900 and 10 series cards is also a reminder of how PC hardware cycles work. Even extremely popular cards have a lifespan for optimal support. As game engines evolve and new graphics features become standard, driver teams focus on newer architectures that can fully take advantage of them.
For PC gamers, this is a nudge to think ahead. When buying a GPU, it is not just about raw performance on day one. Long term driver support and feature updates matter a lot. A card with strong support can feel fresh for longer and provide better performance in new games over time.
If you are still rocking a veteran GTX card, it has probably served you very well. With the 590 drivers drawing a line, now is a good moment to decide whether you want to squeeze a little more life out of it or jump to something newer and unlock the latest features and optimizations.
Original article and image: https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/geforce-590-driver-branch-is-the-first-without-feature-support-for-gtx-9-and-10-series-gpus-linux-release-marks-the-end-of-the-line-for-graphics-cards-that-defined-an-era
