NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready Driver 531.26 Hotfix Now Available For Download, Addresses CPU Usage Bug

NVIDIA responded to an issue of heightened CPU usage on specific systems with its latest driver update (version 531.18). In that update, one of the stated known issues by the company with CPU usage. Within a few days of installation, users were coming forward on the internet on several public social media platforms and the NVIDIA forums that their systems were experiencing higher-than-normal CPU usage issues. Today, the company issued a hotfix to fix the problem temporarily.

NVIDIA wants users to understand that the current hotfix driver (version 531.26, the link will download the EXE file) is in its "beta" stages and is not considered a final fix by the company. With this new hotfix, the following issues have been addressed:

This hotfix addresses the following issues:

The company responded with an official statement in their NVIDIA forums about the higher CPU issue reported and a "random bug check" happening to certain NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10/MX250/350 series graphics cards.

A GeForce driver is an incredibly complex piece of software. We have an army of software engineers constantly adding features and fixing bugs. These changes are checked into the main driver branches, which are eventually run through a massive QA process and released.

Since we have so many changes being checked in, we usually try to align driver releases with significant game or product releases. This process has served us pretty well over the years but it has one significant weakness. Sometimes a change that is important to many users might end up sitting and waiting until we are able to release the driver.

The GeForce Hotfix driver is our way to trying to get some of these fixes out to you more quickly. These drivers are basically the same as the previous released version, with a small number of additional targeted fixes. The fixes that make it in are based in part on your feedback in the Driver Feedback threads and partly on how realistic it is for us to quickly address them. These fixes (and many more) will be incorporated into the next official driver release, at which time the Hotfix driver will be taken down.

To be sure, these Hotfix drivers are beta, optional and provided as-is. They are run through a much abbreviated QA process. The sole reason they exist is to get fixes out to you more quickly. The safest option is to wait for the next WHQL certified driver. But we know that many of you are willing to try these out.

These HotFix drivers represent a lot of additional work by our engineering teams, I hope they provide value for you. We’ll try it out and see if people like the idea and want us to continue.

As recommended by NVIDIA, it might be wise for users to wait for the official WHQL-certified driver than install this current hotfix from the company. However, as the reader, it is up to you how long you will wait. As we have stated numerous times before, if you choose to install this update, please ensure that you back up your system so that you do not lose data or render your system inoperable.

Here is the list of product compatibility for this update:

News Sources: VideoCardz, NVIDIA