Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

WARNING! NVIDIA 196.75 drivers can kill your graphics card

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | March 5, 2010, 2:59am PST

Summary: I’m getting a steady stream of reports in from NVIDIA users that the latest 196.75 drivers can cause severe cooling problems, even possibly resulting in the death of the hardware.

[UPDATE: Information on updated drivers can be found here.]

I’m getting a steady stream of reports in from NVIDIA users that the latest 196.75 drivers can cause severe cooling problems, even possibly resulting in the death of the hardware.

The problem seems to be related to the fan controller, causing the fans to slow down, and even stop. This happening while the card is in use is a very bad thing indeed, and can cause poor performance (as the GPU tries to cool itself down by reducing power) and possibly even overheat your GPU to the point where the card stops working.

NVIDIA 196.75 drivers were released on March 2nd, and have now been removed from the download site. If you are running these drivers it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you uninstall this driver and immediately downgrade to the 196.21 drivers.

Here’s the official statement from NVIDIA:

We are aware that some customers have reported fan speed issues with the latest 196.75 WHQL drivers on NVIDIA.com. Until we can verify and root cause this issue, we recommend that customers stay with, or return to 196.21 WHQL drivers. Release 196.75 drivers have been temporarily removed from our Web site in the meantime.

If in the past few days you’re upgraded your NVIDIA drivers and your PC has since died (and you’re somehow reading this …) then this could be the cause of your problems. I’ve already received several reports from gaming enthusiasts who claim that their systems died shortly after installing these drivers, which while not conclusive, is certainly enough indication to me that these drivers could be very toxic and should be avoided.

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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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RE: WARNING! NVIDIA 196.75 drivers can kill your graphics card

DrMuzic Updated - 15th Jun 2010

My eVGA Nvidia 7600 GT Superoverclocked GPU just up and failed just the other day while in Win 7 Ultimate 32B, installed drivers were 197.13. But who is to say what version M$ updates may have pushed onto my machine. I have seen M$ install 3-4 year old drivers over newer installed driver numerous times. There wasn't any sign of any physical damage. Unlike my dad's eVGA Nvidia 6600 GPU which popped 4 or 5 capacitors on the card the 2nd time. The first time he popped 3 which I repaired with my old identical card. I recall smelling something like 'electrical burning' on mine before the failure. I feel there is an issue with the driver from any version of 196.75 or higher, but who is to say this is just where the problem was noted but exactly at what version did this really started taken place?

Though this seems to be typical of eVGA to have a high fail rate being as my household has gone through 4 of them in the past 5 years. I have an old GF4 Ti 4200 that is over 10 years old and still kickin' butt. This was a time when Nvidia was the leader in graphic technology. When Nvidia came out with the 5000 series, they started cutting corners to save money and it backfired on them. They were trying to land production one of the console games, either Playstation or XBOX, to use their N35 GPU chipsets. Maybe now is the time to go with ATI which is now owned by AMD. :-/

I filed an RMA to eVGA in getting my Video Card Replaced, 2-3 days have past, still NO reply!

I am PC Consultant since 91, recently trained Network Administrator Professional in 2002 and carry most certifications in the industry. NO MCSE Certs, not worth the $$$ or effort. I am a Unix / Linux supporter who is forced to use M$ and support the POS for clients who swear up and down by M$.

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Yikes

Cylon Centurion 5th Mar 2010

That's a hell of a problem!

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Nvidia

LostValley@... 6th Mar 2010

That would explain a lot of oddities. They also make chipsets and maybe GigaByte mobos. Haven't melted anything but have noticed other issues. thanks

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Thanks for the warning

CobraA1 5th Mar 2010

Thanks for the warning. I'm currently on the 196.21 drivers. I guess I'll be skipping this version.

"and your PC has since died (and you?re somehow reading this ?)"

There's an ever-increasing number of people with more than one computer in the home.

Especially with gamers (nVidia's primary target market), who may have a laptop for trips and a "monster" desktop for gaming at home. It's still the case that you can fit a lot more horsepower in a tower than in a laptop.

Also especially with the popularity of netbooks, which serve as a very affordable way to have a second computer.

Also, it's very common for public areas like shopping malls to have computers.

Also, especially with ZDNet's tech audience - most people who read ZDNet very likely are very interested in computer and own several.

So don't be surprised if a lot of people with already fried video cards are indeed reading this!

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RE: WARNING! NVIDIA 196.75 drivers can kill your graphics card

johnjeffrey@... 5th Mar 2010

I'm running 196.75 without issues. (I'm one of the lucky
few for whom Windows 7 BSODs regularly, so I'm always
looking for updated drivers hoping to fix the problem.)

I have a GTX260.

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Win7 BSOD (Somewhat off topic...)

owner@... Updated - 5th Mar 2010

I think it may be related to a software issue where .NET 3.5 (or maybe an earlier version...not quite sure yet) has been corrupted. I just did a fresh install withthe retail version of 7 Ultimate (64 bit) and there are a few programs that rely on .NET 3.5 that won't install(Curse client, Family Tree Maker 10, etc...). I have been getting frequent BSODs as well. When these programs install fine, no BSODs. I hate .NET hehehe.

I think it is another software package...I am thinking maybe the Roxio software that came with my burner or some other free package that came with one of my pieces of hardware that may be causing the problem. I wish I could narrow it down so I know not to install it.

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I second that.

914four 5th Mar 2010

I hate .NET too.

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Same thing on a couple client systems

Dr. John 5th Mar 2010

A couple of my clients were having the same issues. A third, with an identical machine, wasn't. The only differences? Nero and Microsoft Security Essentials on the machine without problems. Roxio and McAfee on the machines with. So, you may be on the right track.

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Don't use Nero. Or McCrappy.

Horus418 Updated - 5th Mar 2010

CDBurnerXP is far better and a very intuitive gui, Avast, AVG are fantastic for free AV software. If you need to pay then go get the best Nod32. McAffe is about as good as using Flash on an Apple.

.Net well let's not go there. Nearly as vile as iTunes, iPod, iPad and the rest of the out of date shite from Apple.

They should not worry about this update though as this will obviously be a push the on/off button to sort it all out resolution. LOL

Take care all.

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HA! Good one Horus!..

JCitizen 6th Mar 2010

I'm not particularly an Apple hater, but I still see mirth in criticism of such!

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Re: Win7 BSOD (Somewhat off topic...)

johnlgalt@... 5th Mar 2010

Yeah, I can easily see Roxio screwing things up - they always have on every system I have had the displeasure of having them pre-installed on.

You can always DL the latest .NET (3.5) from M$ and reinstall it - that should fix all of the issues that you were running into, provided that it was indeed *just* a .NET issue.

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re: Win7 BSOD (Somewhat off topic...)

5ft24 8th Mar 2010

Roxio was crashing my Vista 64 AND Win 7 installs... removed it and the crashes/BSOD's went away

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Win7 BSOD

satovey@... 5th Mar 2010

I was having that problem until I turned off the Power management stuff.

I first set hard drive sleep to never, and the system would still crash. It would crash when the screen went black or while it was at the user prompt screen.

I set the the monitor sleep to never on February 24th and my system has not crashed since.

I'm running Win7 x64 on an E-machine that's about a year old.

I upgraded to Win7 Pro x64 from the 32 bit XP home that came with the system and added a gig of ram. The system runs much smoother with Win7 Pro 64 bit than it did with XP home.

Hope this little tidbit helps someone.

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Re: Win7 BSOD

johnlgalt@... Updated - 5th Mar 2010

I am running Windows 7 64bit (clean install) and my system sleeps all it wants to - and I *purposefully* enable screen blank out within 10 minutes to help preserve my pair of Acer 2" widescreen LCDs.

I'd say the *real* problem (in your case) is that you upgraded from Windows XP - bad mojo for everyone I have seen try it, even with the 'official' Microsoft way.

I bet you get better results from a clean install (and you can obviously try it without sacrificing your current install - just make a new install using ~20 GB of your HD, the installer will assist you in partitioning it on the fly).

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BSOD on Windows 7?

ryanstrassburg Updated - 8th Mar 2010

Odd, I've been running Windows 7 since Beta testing early last year without a single BSOD except when I forced 1066 mode on my memory.

As for this fan issue, I would be interested to know which vendor cards seem to be affected (i.e. ASUS, BFG, EVGA, etc..) or if this is indeed a driver issue explicitly.

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How about a DDOS...

randysmith@... 5th Mar 2010

Hey, does someone out there want to volunteer to do a DDOS on www . paypalshops .us ? These criminals keep coming back and messing up the Talkbacks!

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...

Coogol Updated - 5th Mar 2010

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RE: WARNING! NVIDIA 196.75 drivers can kill your graphics card

michael.tindall@... 5th Mar 2010

Software that can destroy hardware; it's like the POKE that could jack up the clock speed on the old Commodore VIC-20 and permanently burn it out....I wonder how long before someone turns this into a malware payload? I suppose it's mostly all about money for organized crime now, rather than nihilistic cyber vandalism, but if (and when) a full-scale cyberwar breaks out, what better way to win than to burn out the most expensive single component of your enemy's computer? Especially as high end GPU's are starting to be themselves linked into supercomputing networks?

Note: a hardware update might not even read as MALWARE to security programs.

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Not so sure it can be easily done...

Wolfie2K3 5th Mar 2010

Especially with Windows Vista and 7. Both have a serious preference for WHQL tested and approved drivers. The 64 bit version won't even install a driver if it isn't WHQL signed.

Secondly... Why would the black hats want to do that? There's NO payoff. At least, with a compromised system, they can use it to spam the universe or they can run DDOS attacks on sites. And there's big money in that - or so it seems.

Given the choice of taking over a computer and using it to make money or burning out a component and killing it, I'm sure most of the bad guys would rather take it over and make some money with it.

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The 64 bit version won't even install a driver if it isn't WHQL signed.

satovey@... 5th Mar 2010

I wonder if that's the reason that the Epson Scan setup.exe program will not run correctly and install the drivers.

You have to do an update drivers in order to install the scan drivers on the all in ones and apparently some scanners as well.

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Wrong... it will install 64-bit drivers even if not signed

Lerianis10 6th Mar 2010

I install a lot of NVidia drivers that are not WHQL certified with absolutely no problems.

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re: Not so sure it can be easily done...

5ft24 8th Mar 2010

I've installed non WHQL signed drivers on my Win 7 64 system... It prompts me with a warning, but installs it.

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I think I still have a trail of emails circa late 90ies...

914four 5th Mar 2010

...arguing with CIAC that this was a potential threat. It took a bit of explaining to get them to acknowledge that this was possible. At the time I was explaining how the BIOS of the integrated video card on PC with flashable BIOS could be used to overdrive the flyback on a CRT screen and cause it to overheat. Some manufacturers such as HP had a hardware switch to prevent unauthorized BIOS flashing but others did not. It was also demonstrated that the motherboards could be disabled by downloading a corrupt BIOS.

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re: Hardware as Malware

johnlgalt@... 5th Mar 2010

hardware, especially for 64bit drivers, requires digital signatures that ain't easy to fake. If the drivers ain't signed, x64 warns you like crazy.

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RE: WARNING! NVIDIA 196.75 drivers can kill your graphics card

lassarina 5th Mar 2010

I'm not sure I find 196.21 trustworthy, either, since Dragon Age: Origins appears to have managed to kill my graphics card, which was using that driver. (And yes, my graphics card was better than the recommended spec.)

Clearly time to switch to ATI.

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I am using that driver with D A O

Baer 5th Mar 2010

Hmmm, I am playing Dragon Age Origins with a GTX 285 and the 196.21 driver with all settings maxed. I have not had any issues yet. I will look at temps however the next time I play over the weekend.

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Clearly time to switch to ATI...

JCitizen 5th Mar 2010

HP tried to switch me to Nvidia until they discovered they couldn't get HDMI pass-through to work on it, despite wiring it correctly in the lab, and using the correct driver!

I suspect they forgot that you need even more addons to RealTek HD digital audio driver packages to get that scheme to work, but why bother? You'd think they would have learned from all the OEM burned out Nvidia cards they've had to replace recently!

I finally got my new ATI card and am happy as a lark; or should I say "Skyraider" in deference to my ATI card designation?

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You should really say...

johnlgalt@... 5th Mar 2010

That you're trying to start a flame war?

Sorry, but Catalyst drivers suck, and always have, since M$ made the move to Vista. Until ATI can fix those driver issues that plague all of their cards and 2 of the most recent OSs from M$, I think I'll pass on your ATI plug.

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Your satisfied...

JCitizen 6th Mar 2010

so I am as well. ATI does not sit idle like the used to, I have a hard time keeping up with all the driver improvement now days!

I say one should suit one's self. Ever read Ayn Rand?

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ATI cards

5ft24 8th Mar 2010

My old ATI card was working under Win 7, but was super slow.
I decided to upgrade to NVIDIA after suggestions from several friends. I removed ALL ATI drivers and all reg entries for them. Powered off, installed the new NVIDIA 285, powered up and loaded in the CD.
Installed the drivers, rebooted, BSOD while booting.
Continually gave the BSOD and would not even get to windows in safe mode. Thought the card was bad and took it back and exchanged it... same issue.
Pulled the card and exchanged it for an ATI HD-4550 with 1GB GDDR3. Booted right up. Loaded the catalyst drivers, and I have had no issues. Card runs extremely fast, gaming has no issues etc.
for some reason, even though my MB uses an Nvidia chipset, it doesn't like the NVIDIA cards

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Not a bit surprising to me...(nt)

JCitizen 12th Mar 2010

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Color me puzzled...

ghstwolf@... 5th Mar 2010

Since around AD 2000, I've never used the motherboard video or audio hardware/software; mainly because Realtek (audio) and video (usually Intel) did not meet my requirements, particularly since many (if not most) of them use system memory, and back then, memory was rather expensive.

I've always gone with add-in video and audio cards, and have never had any problems. Well... one problem; my XFi 7.1 card sounds FAR better than my 7.1 Sony system in the living room!

Wolf

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I'm not a RealTek fanatic...

JCitizen 6th Mar 2010

or an ATI one for that matter either; but DRM keeps me using the embedded chips in this custom factory build because of cable ready system rules.

If I tried to install an express sound card with an optical or digital coax port on it, the operating system would shut me down.

So far only OEMs are allowed to market these systems. I can't move so I can't switch to satellite, so I'm stuck with this situation, thanks to MPAA and the other dirt bags. I don't mind DRM as long as it works and doesn't crimp my style. Of course that ain't happening, but I live with it none-the-less.

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Nvidia since day one

Crestview 5th Mar 2010

Ain't switchin' now...everybody, I mean EVERYBODY (ALL manufacturers) eventually has troubles, only whiners switch. Never had a single issue in all those years. That's hard to find. Yet another reason I will never get the latest and greatest of anything, you could get burned.

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I switch to whoever has the hardware..

JCitizen 6th Mar 2010

that works; tomorrow that may be Nvidia, today it ain't.

I think one of the best moves Nvidia made recently was enabling on board embedded Nvidia graphics GPUs to work with add-on cards as if they were SLI coupled. Now that is genius! But I haven't talked to/or read from any gamers that report on how successful this mode is(yet).

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"SLI"

justanitguy 9th Mar 2010

Check out the ATI 5xxx series; they have something called "Hybrid Crossfire"; On my Gigabyte board, with onboard graphics and 128 mb DDR3, in addition to my Radeon 3870 w/512 mb DDR3, allows me to run both in Hybrid Crossfire. I will shortly be upgrading to an XFX Radeon 5770 w/1 gb GDDR5, and I suspect that I won't be using the Crossfire mode then; but it has enabled me to wring a bit of extra life out of my 3870.

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Cool! ...

JCitizen 9th Mar 2010

I figured ATI would be competitive with this kind of technology!

I've had way better luck with clients that have ATI embedded graphics. I've even been surprised at the performance of my old HP laptop(2006) compared to many of the PCs now being sold.

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Wow, thanks

Baer 5th Mar 2010

Thanks. I usually update drivers as soon as I see them, especially NV drivers as I have not had a problem with them in years. This week I was very busy so I did not even see the new drivers at first and I had not installed it yet.
Thanks Adrian!!!!

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May have happened to mine

jscott418 5th Mar 2010

I upgraded my GeForce 9400GT and a couple of days later I was getting lot's of noise like a failure was imminent. Its a passive cooling card anyway.

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RE: WARNING! NVIDIA 196.75 drivers can kill your graphics card

Tiquor 5th Mar 2010

My Card overheated and died after installing 196.21. I thought it was a coincidence.. but I'm not sure now.

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NVIDIA overheating

Jim Johnson 5th Mar 2010

It seems thermal troubles with nvidia chips continues - even if the reason changes.

In late 2006 I purchases a notebook using the nvidia 6100 GO GPU (Averatec & Everex labels for this Twinhead notebook were popular in the U.S.). MANY of these notebooks mysteriously semi-died, requiring motherboard replacements ... speculation was a BIOS failure, but (after going through 3 units) I ran an applet that reported various component temps, not just the CPU temp. I spotted that the 6100 GO GPU was quickly flirting with the redline, but the notebook fan ran based on CPU temp.

Long story shortened ... the factory cooling scheme sucked. I removed the semi-functional thermal tape over the GPU, inserted a copper shim to account for the tape's thickness with a quality thermal paste, slipped in a copper piping cap between the copper heatsink and the case to improve pressure on (and therefore contact with)the GPU. I saw GPU temps drop by 15C on average. My current modified notebook seems to have FAR outlasted other owners' units based on user forums, runs upwards of 16 hours/day, every day, and has travelled extensively.

My opinion is nvidia engineers don't pay enough attention to heat dissipation specs for their products, and subsequent product designers do the best with what they are provided.

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nVidia or the mobo manufacturer

owner@... 5th Mar 2010

Is that really nVidia? They didn't make the mobo or the laptop...just the gpu. THe laptop manufacturer should have applied the shim as you did or taken some other measure to ensure that the gpu didn't over heat. nVidia may have sold them the gpu, but that is where their responsibility for design defects on the machine ends. Even witht he cards, many people forget that nVidia only makes the chips...not the cards themselves, so any cooling or other features are up to the card manufacturer (ie BFG, EVGA, etc...or in this case Averatec and Everex and whomever manufactured the mobos for them) and that is really who you should be complaining to in to, not nVidia or blaming nVidia engineers. GPUs are one area where you really do get what you pay for. If you go cheap, expect poor quality parts to be used and don't expect a long life. Get a higher end card and you will get great performance and longer life...this is true whether it is nVidia or ATI (who also only makes the chips and other companies manufacture the boards). It's just like if you build a PC and don't put adequate cooling on your CPU and then you call up AMD or Intel to complain when your CPU fries.

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And, just as he pointed out....

johnlgalt@... Updated - 5th Mar 2010

nVidia and ATI make the chips. It's up to other manufacturers to make the boards that run those chips.

Even if you get a 'high end' GPU the quality of the board that it is on is always suspect - I would bet my eVGA GTX260s against most other manufacturers b/c I know of the quality of eVGA - and the fact that they stand behind their products in case of failure. I would never dare to buy, say, a no-name brand of a GTX260. That would be sheer madness.

yet, for some people, it is all about "Wow, look at this, I just got a 295 OC edition for half the going price!" "Who makes it?" "I dunno, some company I have never heard of, but still, it's a 295!"

Yeah. You go with your no name company. Like he said above- you get what you pay for.

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Well, that depends...

johnlgalt@... 5th Mar 2010

Did nVidia make your laptop?

I am betting...no.

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RE: WARNING! NVIDIA 196.75 drivers can kill your graphics card

d_handler@... 5th Mar 2010

To late, I am already looking at dead card. Now waiting to see if I get a replacement or repair.

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warranty?

gnesterenko 5th Mar 2010

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RE: WARNING! NVIDIA 196.75 drivers can kill your graphics card

tentaro@... 5th Mar 2010

This is why I wait for at least 2 weeks before I install new drivers for anything happy

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Cooking computers is nothing new with NVIDIA

NJSteveK 5th Mar 2010

My wife's HP Pavillion laptop that we bought a few years ago got cooked by its NVIDIA GPU. HP even extended the warranty period on these units and we had to ship it to them for a repair. Even after the repair, little by little, functions controlled by chips located near the GPU started to fail, including the WiFi chip. Eventually the unit completely died.

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no an nVidia problem...

owner@... 5th Mar 2010

That sounds like an HP problem. nVidia only supplied the chip...HP then buys modified mobos from the mobo manufacturers...I have an older HP that has a modified ASUS mobo with the AGP slot removed. nVidia makes GPU chips and chipsets and a couple of motherboards (I don;t think they make any laptop mobos...but I could be wrong). So unless you have an actual nVidia motherboard, you really need to complain to HP and the folks that manufactured the motherboard for not providing adequate cooling.

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Wrong: older NVidia chips are a problem,

Rick S._z Updated - 5th Mar 2010

and it's been thoroughly analyzed and discussed-to-death on the Internet. (Google is your friend.) That's why NVidia and their OEM partners (HP, Dell, etc.) worked out deals to extend the warranty on many laptops in which the NVidia graphics can't be replaced after the chip burns out. NVidia and the OEM's share some of the pain of the defect, which involves something about the bumps on the substrate --

IN THE CHIPS, not on the motherboard. Your Talkback postings (here and in 10.1) are absolutely, totally wrong. And why are you spamming the same falsehood twice, anyway?

Fried GPU's from last fall and earlier, especially on notebooks in which the graphics chip is difficult/impossible to replace, are SLIGHTLY off-topic with respect to the software defect being discussed in this article. What makes the parent post relevant, in spite of it probably relating to a different KIND of failure, is the fact that yet another NVidia buyer ended up "burned" (literally and figuratively). There's been a LOT of angry NVidia customers lately.

(BTW, I own and use NVidia, as I write this post. But it's a cheapo, low-power card, passively cooled by an excellent aftermarket heatsink. Fan Speed software is irrelevant to my own box, but I understand the pain and anger of other NVidia graphics users.)

You're spamming and clueless, both.

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Again, this is not nVidia's fault.

johnlgalt@... 5th Mar 2010

HP made you laptop, not nVidia. HP decided to use the nVidia chip in the system. HP decided not to provide adequate cooling for a GPU that had that much power.