Gamers are experiencing performance issues with NVIDIA’s new software, the NVIDIA App, which may lead to a decrease in game performance by up to 15%. This discovery emerged after Sebastian Castellanos reported it, prompting an investigation by Tom’s Hardware. Their findings indicate that the performance loss can vary widely depending on both the game being played and the hardware used, complicating the detection of the issue during gameplay.
NVIDIA app performance issues prompt investigation and workaround advice
The NVIDIA App transitions from the previous GeForce Experience software and recently exited beta after months with minimal reported problems. Despite the smoother transition, the performance drop appears to be associated with specific features of the new app, notably the “Game Filters and Photo Mode.” The issue reportedly affects games differently, with titles like Assassin’s Creed: Mirage showing some of the most significant drops in frame rates on systems utilizing the RTX 4060. Other games such as Black Myth: Wukong and Flight Simulator 2024 also indicated performance hits when tested at 1080p with medium settings.
Tom’s Hardware noted that while some users experience a drop in performance, others report no noticeable change or even improved performance with the NVIDIA App installed. This inconsistency may explain why the reduction in performance went largely unnoticed until now. It remains unclear whether the app’s overlay feature, which is enabled by default, is solely responsible for the impacts on game performance.
Sebastian Castellanos found a temporary workaround for those affected: disabling the “Game Filters and Photo Mode” function within the app. NVIDIA has since acknowledged this recommendation in their official statement, suggesting that the app itself might not be fundamentally flawed, but rather some features within it may need to be adjusted.
Given the straightforward nature of the identified issue, a swift hotfix driver release seems feasible. This could involve modifying or even disabling certain features of the app to alleviate the performance drops gamers are experiencing. For users noticing similar performance issues, temporarily uninstalling the app and performing a clean installation of the latest NVIDIA drivers is currently advised.
NVIDIA’s decision to replace GeForce Experience with the NVIDIA App has raised concerns among gamers who seek optimized performance during gameplay. Following user reports and further testing, the ongoing investigations may shed light on how best to address the app’s performance-related shortcomings. The overall clarity on the impact of various app features will likely emerge in future updates from NVIDIA, as they work to resolve the inconsistencies reported by users across different gaming environments.
Featured image credit: Nvidia
