It's rare when Nvidia releases a hotfix driver, and when it does, usually there are only one or two fixes that are addressed relating to supercritical bugs that need to be patched before the next major driver release occurs. This time, however, Nvidia has released a more wide-ranging hotfix driver — version 551.46, featuring four bug fixes in total mostly related to stuttering issues. On top of this, Nvidia has also quietly added support for the RTX 4080 Super to this driver, despite it being a branched-off version of driver 551.23.
The first issue is a fix related to V-Sync gamers: according to Nvidia's patch notes, it has rectified an issue that caused intermittent micro-stuttering in games with V-Sync enabled. We aren't sure if this is specific to Nvidia's driver V-Sync, Fast Sync, in-game V-Sync, or all of them, but based on Nvidia's wording it seems like it affects all forms of V-Sync.
The other three rectified issues include stuttering problems surrounding web browser scrolling on certain system configurations, a stutter observed on advanced Optimus laptops in Red Dead Redemption 2, and a stability issue in Immortals of Aveum. (Immortals was one of the first games to support FSR 3.)
If you have any of these issues Nvidia listed, this new hotfix driver should fix them. It's worth mentioning though that Nvidia considers these hotfix drivers as "beta" drivers. Hotfix drivers are rushed out the door as soon as possible, bypassing most of Nvidia's quality and control channels that are dedicated to game-ready driver updates. If you find that you don't have any of the issues related above, it might be worth sticking with the latest Game Ready driver, just in case there are any stability issues with Nvidia's latest hotfix driver.
Additionally, Nvidia's new RTX 4080 Super is supported under the new hotfix driver. Nvidia did not confirm this, but our GPU reviewer Jarred Walton was able to verify it with an RTX 4080 Super he had on hand. It might seem silly that Nvidia would not support its shiny new Super GPU with its latest driver, but the patch notes did suggest that the new Super GPU might not have been supported. The new hotfix driver 551.46 is a branch of driver 551.23 which came out before the RTX 4080 Super launched. This is why the RTX 4080 Super received its own dedicated 551.31 driver on launch day.
