Report: Nvidia Driver Hurts CS:GO Performance

If there's anything Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players hate more than being quick-scoped with an AWP from across the map, it's dropping frames, which is why today's Windows Latest report about frame drops on the Nvidia Gamescom Game Ready Driver could frustrate some players.

Nvidia released the GeForce Game Ready 436.02 WHQL driver on August 20 to (as its other name suggests) coincide with Gamescom 2019. The driver introduced a variety of new features, including an Ultra-Low Latency Mode for reduced input lag and GPU Integer Scaling for better-looking pixel graphics on high-resolution displays, among others. It also offered performance increases in games like Apex Legends and Forza Horizon 4.

Unfortunately, the driver might have led to decreased performance in CS: GO, The Witcher 3 and other popular titles. Nvidia users have complained of performance issues on Reddit, as well as the company's official forums since the 436.02 driver's release. Tom's Hardware community members have reported similar problems, too; although, in some cases it appears to be a combination of the Nvidia driver and some Windows 10 updates.

As we've noted in the past, complaints on social platforms aren't reliable metrics against which the severity of a problem can be measured. It's possible (but admittedly unlikely) that everyone who's experiencing problems with this update has posted on one of these forums. It's also possible that near everyone with an Nvidia graphics card has been dropping frames quicker than the attacking team can drop a bomb in CS:GO. We don't know for sure.

But we've reached out to Nvidia for more information about the situation and will update this post if the company responds. Anyone who doesn't need access to the beta features introduced with the Gamescom Game Ready Driver might want to consider holding off on installing it until these issues are resolved. For those anxious to experience sweet, sweet pixel graphics, just know that performance in certain games might suffer as a result.