NVIDIA Releases GeForce 417.71 WHQL Drivers with FreeSync Support

[btarunr]

NVIDIA today released its latest version of GeForce software. Version 417.71 WHQL is the first public driver to add support for the new GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card. More importantly, it makes good on CEO Jen-Hsun Huang's promise to make NVIDIA GPUs, "Pascal" and "Turing," compatible with VESA Adaptive-Sync (AMD FreeSync) monitors. NVIDIA maintains this repository of monitors it has tested to support Adaptive Sync, although any compatible monitor meeting the cable requirements can be made to run G-Sync. The only feature only supports single-displays for now, and NVIDIA plans to add multi-display Adaptive-Sync support later.

NVIDIA also addressed a number of issues. To begin with, it fixed the problem of the GeForce GTX 1080 not dropping down GPU clock-speed to idle when three displays are connected. Also addressed is a black-screen noticed on monitors connected via DisplayPort, when resuming from S3 sleep. Also fixed is black screen noticed on BenQ XL2730 when the refresh-rate is set to the monitor's advertised 144 Hz. A Windows 7-specific error in which game frame-rates drop when both G-Sync and the in-game V-sync are enabled. Multiple apps throw up artifacts on Windows RS5 when resolution is changed, on machines with RTX 2080, which NVIDIA fixed with this release. An occasional crash on "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" with the game running in DirectX 12 mode was fixed.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 417.71 WHQL



The change-log follows.
Product Support

• Added support for GeForce RTX 2060

New Features

• G-SYNC Compatible Support
• NVIDIA G-SYNC can now be used to activate the VRR features of G-SYNC Compatible displays. G-SYNC Compatible displays have been validated by NVIDIA to not show pulsing, flickering, or other artifacts during VRR gaming. See https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/products/g-sync-monitors/specs/ for the list of G-SYNC Compatible displays.
• G-SYNC on G-SYNC Compatible displays is supported only with NVIDIA Pascal and later GPU architectures.
• Only single displays are currently supported; multiple monitors can be connected but no more than one display should have G-SYNC enabled.

3D Vision Profiles
Added or updated the following 3D Vision profiles:

• Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Not Recommended
• Darksiders 3 - Fair

Fixed Issues in this Release

• [GeForce GTX 1080]: GPU clock speed does not drop to idle when three monitors are enabled. [2474107]
• Black screen when resuming from monitor sleep on some DisplayPort monitors. [2457142]
• [Notebook]: Fixed lockup that occurred when resuming from sleep on MSI GT83 notebook [2456849]
• [GeForce GTX 1060 Notebook][Gu Jian Qi Tan 3]: The application hangs during launch. [200477252]
• Fixed black screen on BenQ XL2730 monitor at 144Hz refresh rate [2456730]
• [Windows 7][G-SYNC]: Game FPS drops when G-SYNC is used with V-Sync. [200473408]
• [SLI][3D Gaming][TU104][PG 180][Multiple apps][Win10RS5x64]Blocky Corruption when application is switched to certain resolutions [200465152]
• [Shadow of the Tomb Raider]: Fixed occasional application crash in DirectX 12 mode. [200464716]

Windows 10 Issues

• [SLI][Shadow of the Tomb Raider][G-SYNC]: Flickering occurs in the game when launched with SLI, HDR, and G-SYNC enabled [200467122]
• [HDR][Ni no Kuni 2]: Enabling HDR causes the application to crash when launched. [2483952]
• [ARK Survival]: Multiple errors and then blue-screen crash may occur when playing the game. [2453173]
• [Firefox]: Cursor shows brief corruption when hovering on certain links in Firefox. [2107201]
• [G-SYNC]: Random flickering occurs when connecting G-SYNC monitor + non-G-SYNC HDMI monitor with G-SYNC enabled. [2399845]

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[TheLostSwede]

Well, that was quick, now let's wait and see what the feedback will be.

 

[wolf]

It's a swing and a hit for me, GTX1080 + AOC AGON AG352QCX (35" 2560x1080 30-200hz)

Absolute butter. No side effects so far, except I can see why variable overdrive would be nice, still, it's very nice the difference between 200hz no vsync and ticking Gsync.

 

[EntropyZ]

GTX 1070 + LG 29UM69-G (29" 2560x1080 40-75hz), works fine. But as soon as I exited Fallout 4 there was a longer black screen to disable Adaptive sync and I got an audible pop from the monitor itself... Yikes! I think it was the overdrive that might have done that. Since I am pretty sure this is a 60hz panel that just happened to be binned to reach 75hz. I think that scared me a lot less because I was drinking wine. Almost gave me a reason to get a Freesync 2 ultrawide as an upgrade.

I tested Fallout 4 since that game that frame-time/rate issues all over the place. It's OK to lock the framerate -2 of max refresh rate, but the renderer still manages to jump over the limit somehow, so tearing is a problem in interiors, the frame-pacing is just trash in exteriors. With Adaptive sync on, aiming is a bit easier and just exploring is easier on the eyes when turning the camera around.

I don't have a Radeon card around anymore, so I can't test out what native Freesync is like on that particular game. I think I had pretty much the same kind of improvements. With the exception of having the monitor nearly blowing up.

Can someone pass me some more wine, please?

 

[noel_fs]

People should be angry at them that it took many years LOL

 

[Slacker]

1080ti + Acer XR382CQK 48-75hz Freesync works great with this driver. I only tested one game. I will test some more tomorrow.

 

[xkm1948]

Nice new driver update. Wish I have a VRR display though

 

[Crazy zookeepster]

How do I turn VRR on? Im confused

 

[EntropyZ]

How do I turn VRR on? Im confused

First you enable Freesync on the monitor itself through the menus, then a G-Sync option should appear in the Nvidia Control Panel which should have your monitor listed as a display option on which you want to enable "G-Sync". You have to put a tick on the box for option 3 if you want to enable Adaptive Sync on a non-G-Sync compatible. VRR should work automatically afterwards. That is if you are talking about Variable Refresh Rate which is part of ASync I guess?

The monitor/graphics card must be connected together with Adaptive Sync compatible outputs with a decent cable which lets Adaptive Sync to work obviously. Display Port is your best bet for making it all work, I don't remember which HDMI version supports FreeSync or whatever. I think the HDMI version on your Alienware monitor is out-of-date to be able to use it. As I said if you are using HDMI with the cable supplied, chances are it won't work. I think mostly FreeSync 2 displays have newer HDMI version that does support FreeSync/Adaptive Sync some later FreeSync 1's might be lucky to have better HDMI.

What is funny is that there is no mention of "Adaptive Sync", they are still keeping the "G-Sync" moniker. So I am guessing Freesync/Adaptive Sync marketing is gonna die out then?

 

[INSTG8R]

GTX 1070 + LG 29UM69-G (29" 2560x1080 40-75hz), works fine. But as soon as I exited Fallout 4 there was a longer black screen to disable Adaptive sync and I got an audible pop from the monitor itself... Yikes! I think it was the overdrive that might have done that. Since I am pretty sure this is a 60hz panel that just happened to be binned to reach 75hz. I think that scared me a lot less because I was drinking wine. Almost gave me a reason to get a Freesync 2 ultrawide as an upgrade.

I tested Fallout 4 since that game that frame-time/rate issues all over the place. It's OK to lock the framerate -2 of max refresh rate, but the renderer still manages to jump over the limit somehow, so tearing is a problem in interiors, the frame-pacing is just trash in exteriors. With Adaptive sync on, aiming is a bit easier and just exploring is easier on the eyes when turning the camera around.

I don't have a Radeon card around anymore, so I can't test out what native Freesync is like on that particular game. I think I had pretty much the same kind of improvements. With the exception of having the monitor nearly blowing up.

Can someone pass me some more wine, please?

Freesync doesn’t even work native for FO4 I’ve fought with and given up on it. My last Freesync monitor was 35-90 and it and locked me to 45fps with no Freesync now my 144 is 72 but again no Freesync same with 76 definitely not a good title to test with.

 

[EntropyZ]

Freesync doesn’t even work native for FO4 I’ve fought with and given up on it. My last Freesync monitor was 35-90 and it and locked me to 45fps with no Freesync now my 144 is 72 but again no Freesync same with 76 definitely not a good title to test with.

I was using an AOC 27" 1080p panel that was 75hz TN Freesync, it worked for the most part but the experience was inconsistent because the RX 460 that was driving the game was a little hit-and-miss for 1080p High.

At the time I couldn't get the hardware that I needed to test something thoroughly. Now I built myself something decent and stopped caring anymore about the improvements that could be made. I think Adaptive-Sync was the only thing that was missing for me because up until now GeForce/NVIDIA cards didn't support it.

 

[INSTG8R]

I was using an AOC 27" 1080p panel that was 75hz TN Freesync, it worked for the most part but was inconsistent because the RX 460 that was driving the game was a little hit-and-miss for 1080p High.

I’ve never gotten Freesync working in FO4 on Fury or Vega or Freesync 1 or 2. Granted it’s really not needed it’s pinned at max FPS all the time except for the places it tanks for everyone. On Vega FO4 doesn’t even fully boost my card it sits at 1000mhz or so because it’s all it needs 76 is a little more demanding. I could go .ini editing and unlock it but we know what happens at high FPS...72 is fine by me.
I’m rather curious if Fast Sync+Adaptive works the same as Enhanced Sync+Freesync does.

 

[Crazy zookeepster]

I cant seem to enable it on my alienware aw2518hf. there is no setting in the monitors OSD or display manager

 

[EntropyZ]

I cant seem to enable it on my alienware aw2518hf. there is no setting in the monitors OSD or display manager

Are you using DisplayPort?

I’ve never gotten Freesync working in FO4 on Fury or Vega or Freesync 1 or 2. Granted it’s really not needed it’s pinned at max FPS all the time except for the places it tanks for everyone. On Vega FO4 doesn’t even fully boost my card it sits at 1000mhz or so because it’s all it needs 76 is a little more demanding. I could go .ini editing and unlock it but we know what happens at high FPS...72 is fine by me.
I’m rather curious if Fast Sync+Adaptive works the same as Enhanced Sync+Freesync does.

Yeah, you could go .ini editing, the thing is you have to pin the physics to a certain value. Which of course will have problems with a variable framerate. I am using a mod/F4SE DLL that edits the value on-the-fly based on framerate so I have no more physics/game speed issues even at 120FPS+.

 

[Crazy zookeepster]

Nope using HDMI 2.0. Must I use display port cable to get it?

 

[EntropyZ]

Yeah guys, most "Freesync 1" monitors require the use of DisplayPort for it to work, especially if there is no OSD option. Then again maybe the Nvidia driver specifically looks up some table in the monitor's firmware to confirm it has Adaptive Sync.

All I had to do was enable Freesync through the OSD, after a few blinks the NVIDIA driver does detect the display and "Set up G-SYNC" shows up in the Control Panel.

 

[Candor]

There's nowhere to enable freesync in my monitor's menus (AOC Agon AG271QX - 30-144hz freesync range).

It's supposed to be enabled when a compatible gpu is connected.

I've enabled g-sync in the nvidia control panel, but I can't tell if it's working.

Gameplay is nice and smooth but it was before anyway.

All my monitor's manual says is:

 

[INSTG8R]

Are you using DisplayPort?


Yeah, you could go .ini editing, the thing is you have to pin the physics to a certain value. Which of course will have problems with a variable framerate. I am using a mod/F4SE DLL that edits the value on-the-fly based on framerate so I have no more physics/game speed issues even at 120FPS+.

Yeah I am or else I’m limited to 100hz via HDMI vs 144 DP also not sure HDR works over HDMI but not tested either. It can do Freesync on HDMI but with that limitations, but FO4 just chops my refresh in half if I do anything over the 60 it actually wants. I’m totally fine with 72 and well this is an engine held together with duct tape and string at this point so I don’t try to fight it. 76 definitely looks better but has all the same issues.

 

[JATownes]

Acer 34" XR341CK appears to work flawlessly. I'll put in a little more time this weekend. Using freesync it had a weird flicker every now and then, so I'm curious if it's still an issue using an NVidia card, but right off the bat it's smooth as butter again. Forgot how much I missed a variable refresh rate.

 

[Crazy zookeepster]

Ahhh, all good though, thank you for your help

 

[EntropyZ]

Yeah I am or else I’m limited to 100hz via HDMI vs 144 DP but FO4 just chops my refresh in half of I do anything over the 60 it actually wants. I’m totally fine with 72 and well this is an engine held together with duct tape and string at this point so I don’t try to fight it. 76 definitely looks better but has all the same issues.

Such is life with the developers just not caring enough about modders and enthusiasts, they just gave us the tools and left us to our devices. Would be nice if they at least had the courtesy of releasing some executable source code for the older games. Because a lot of what has to be done to fix glaring their issues left in the engine since "Morrowind" has to be done through reverse-engineering, then essentially overriding the executeable's values though VC++ plugin DLLs or even just simple .ini edits.

I'm going to sleep guys, have fun testing, and hope your monitors are safe, cause mine had a slight hissy-fit, or really it was a pop without any magic smoke.

 

[INSTG8R]

Such is life with the developers just not caring enough about modders and enthusiasts, they just gave us the tools and left us to our devices. Would be nice if they at least had the courtesy of releasing some executable source code for the older games. Because a lot of what has to be done to fix glaring their issues left in the engine has to be done through reverse-engineering.

Well considering how shaky the engine is it doesn’t surprise me Freesync doesn’t work but it’s not a game that needs it either.

 

[ExplodingCaps]

2080 Ti with LG27UD68W, it seems working fine but after a couple of hour if my FPS below 60, my monitor was like having parkinson lol. The solution is restarting the system

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Working fine on a LG27UD69W. I will say though that some games need special attention like GTA.

 

[Zubasa]

For my Samsung 144hz monitor, I just turn on G-sync in the driver, and every works so far so good.
I can even overlock the montior Freesync range to 30~144Hz with CRU and it still works so far.
HDR also works as normal.
Running off a 2080Ti.