Nvidia App Causes FPS Drops in Some Games and PCs

The newly released Nvidia app is causing frame rate (fps) drops in some games and on specific PC configurations. This article explores this performance issue stemming from Nvidia's latest game optimization software.

Nvidia App Impact on Game Performance

Framerate Instability Across Games and PC Builds

PC Gamer's December 18th testing revealed performance issues with the Nvidia app in certain games and on various PC setups. Several users reported stuttering. An Nvidia employee suggested a temporary fix: disabling the "Game Filters and Photo Mode" overlay.

Testing Black Myth: Wukong on a high-end Ryzen 7 7800X3D and RTX 4070 Super system at 1080p (Very High settings), showed a slight fps increase (59 fps to 63 fps) with the overlay off. At 1440p, the difference was negligible. However, enabling the overlay and reducing graphics to Medium resulted in a significant 12% fps drop.

Cyberpunk 2077 testing on a Core Ultra 9 285K and RTX 4080 Super system showed stable framerates regardless of overlay status. This suggests the problem is game and/or hardware-specific.

PC Gamer's investigation, prompted by user concerns on Twitter (X), utilized the Nvidia-suggested workaround. Despite disabling the overlay, many users still report unstable performance. Some Twitter (X) users suggested reverting graphics drivers, while others are questioning which games are affected. Currently, Nvidia's only official solution is overlay deactivation.

Nvidia App's Official Launch

Initially launched in beta on February 22, 2024, as a GeForce Experience replacement, the Nvidia app officially launched in November 2024, coinciding with a graphics driver update. It offers enhanced features and a new overlay system without requiring account login.

Despite the improvements, Nvidia needs to address the negative impact on certain games and PC configurations.