196.75 drivers dangerous, read here

Hey what's that flying out the window?
Answer: The notion that nvidia drivers are far superior to ati drivers:eek:
 
hmm, boy am I glad I've watercooling my videocards :D hope there's nothing else wrong with 196.75 (like the bug in 191.07s killing NF200 chips)
 
this only happens when i play bc2.

when i went to task manager after i exited the game it was still running in the background.
 
so i guess we dont know for sure if its the game or the drivers.

Blizzard already issued a warning to its playerbase because of cards dying using this driver while playing SC2 beta. It is not BC2.
 
Blizzard already issued a warning to its playerbase because of cards dying using this driver while playing SC2 beta. It is not BC2.

thanks, that's all i needed to know.

time to remove the driver.
 
It made my GTX285 heat up real bad, but good thing I have the Arctic Cooling on there. It was hotter than usual but no damage. Still rocking the 192.75.
 
Nvidia has really had their head up their own ass when doing drivers the past 6 months. Seriously what is there problem....
 
Is there any way to tell if damage was done to the card even if things seem ok after downgrading the driver? I couldn't figure out why I was getting extreme hitching in FSX a few days ago and I'm thinking now it was probably these drivers causing it. Everything seems to be running ok now after downgrading, but I'm worried that the card may have been damaged. Card is GTX260 SP216 and I literally just bought it last week...

And to think, I switched because of driver problems with FSX and my old 4870. Does anyone test things anymore?
 
Is there any way to tell if damage was done to the card even if things seem ok after downgrading the driver? I couldn't figure out why I was getting extreme hitching in FSX a few days ago and I'm thinking now it was probably these drivers causing it. Everything seems to be running ok now after downgrading, but I'm worried that the card may have been damaged. Card is GTX260 SP216 and I literally just bought it last week...

And to think, I switched because of driver problems with FSX and my old 4870. Does anyone test things anymore?

Nah, ATI and nVidia just have us consumers do the testing for them.
 
Hmm, where these 'Beta' drivers or actual final-version drivers? If they were final drivers, I'd almost wonder if nVidia is liable for all that hardware they destroyed. Probably not that liable due to carefully worded fine print, but, it makes you wonder if a class action lawsuit could come out of this. If you could find 10,000 people with damaged cards, it might make it worthwhile.
 
Thank goodness I don't upgrade drivers until at least a week or more after release. Still running the 196.21s without a problem.

If nVidia tested 196.75s then they certainly did a piss-poor job of it.
 
Wow, nVidia really needs to get their act together. If Fermi bombs and they continue releasing crap like this, they're in trouble.
 
After the x amount of time it takes for their still no doubt plentiful reserves of cash to run out.
 
I built a new system last week with a Gigabyte motherboard and Phenom 955BE. It ran great for about a week until I updated the videocard drivers to 196.75. I played about 45 minutes of BC2 yesterday before the computer locked up. When I rebooted there was no post, no nothing. All of the fans started and the videocard started "revving" up and down but that was it. I replaced my GTX 280 with a 8400 that's in my wife's computer but the same thing happened. I figured the Gigabyte motherboard could not handle the 955BE but after reading this thread I am not so sure. I ordered another Gigabyte motherboard today from Newegg (I hope its not fake) :) and will be RMAing this motherboard on Monday, but I guarantee that I will be removing those drivers as soon as I get my system up and running again. I guess I will never know for sure, but i sure would be pissed if I did.
 
The 196.75 is just a taste of how fermi will be like! Overheating, random stuttering, gray screen of death...!
 
I built a new system last week with a Gigabyte motherboard and Phenom 955BE. It ran great for about a week until I updated the videocard drivers to 196.75. I played about 45 minutes of BC2 yesterday before the computer locked up. When I rebooted there was no post, no nothing. All of the fans started and the videocard started "revving" up and down but that was it. I replaced my GTX 280 with a 8400 that's in my wife's computer but the same thing happened. I figured the Gigabyte motherboard could not handle the 955BE but after reading this thread I am not so sure. I ordered another Gigabyte motherboard today from Newegg (I hope its not fake) :) and will be RMAing this motherboard on Monday, but I guarantee that I will be removing those drivers as soon as I get my system up and running again. I guess I will never know for sure, but i sure would be pissed if I did.

man, you need to message kyle and let him know, nvidia asked him to forward to them any forum users that were affected by the bad drivers. hopefully they'll replace your dead card!
 
man, you need to message kyle and let him know, nvidia asked him to forward to them any forum users that were affected by the bad drivers. hopefully they'll replace your dead card!

I went to the Nvidia forum and read the official 196.75 driver thread but it was locked by the mods because people were asking for their cards to be replaced and threatening lawsuits. I get the feeling that they are not going to do anything because they are citing the agreement which everyone has to check the box for before downloading drivers. It basically says that they are not liable for anything that goes bad. Here it is.

DISCLAIMER
THE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF ANY KIND INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL NVIDIA OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE MATERIALS, EVEN IF NVIDIA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS PROHIBIT THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES.

Some of the posters said that their cards burned up and others said that their motherboards stopped working. I will never know for sure since there is no way to determine for certain what happened, but I will certainly think twice before buying another videocard from Nvidia. I was waiting on their Fermi release this month before deciding which card to purchase but after this fiasco I can no longer support a company that disclaims liability for their own negligence and locks threads when their loyal customers are asking for support.
 
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Do you know what I really find funny about this situation? Is that it wasn't too long ago in a thread complaining about the noise the 260 emits that everyone here was telling me how impervious it is to heat. Now, where are they to tell those affected that their cards aren't really dead?
 
Glad I don't update drivers for anything MOST of the time.I just wonder if I have done a update for my 275.Some of my games have been acting strange of late.Geez!
 
I guess this is where the extra cash I put out for water cooling my 280 pays off:D
 
It basically says that they are not liable for anything that goes bad. Here it is.

Im not sure how 100% full proof that is. It says they provide the driver with no warranty, implied or otherwise and it pretty clearly tries to free them from responsibility of loss of information(we make your hd die and you lose all your cleitn files, etc), loss of productivity(you can't work due ot bugs in your machine), business information, etc.

I don't see it specifically say in there, 'we are free of responsibility if we destroy your personal property or by downloading this driver, we have permission to do harm to your pc including killing your video card and motherboard and you agree not to sue us.

Since no thread is complete without a car analogy..lemme think for a moment. Ah, here we go. If you have a Mazda car and are sold a Mazda Oil Filter and the Oil Filer malfunctions causing your entire car engine to seize(basically the equivilent of your video card dieing due to drivers), wouldn't Mazda be responsible to some degree? If all the warranty said is if your car dies, they are not responsible for your transporation costs, loss of work due to transporation costs or loss of employment, aren't they still responsible for the damage done to your car as a result of their product?

I could see a Judge possibly letting a lawsuit go through for damages of property since it seems to be maybe the only thing they didn't protect themselves from.
 
Glad I don't update drivers for anything MOST of the time.I just wonder if I have done a update for my 275.Some of my games have been acting strange of late.Geez!

I thought my 275 was doing just fine. Seemed to be stayng cool. Fired up CIV, a 4 year old game. One of my workers disappeared. I could see his sickle moving up and down but he wasn't there. So I rolled back the drivers to the 21s. The first thing I noticed was the processor speed. Was over 700 up from the low 600s with the 196.75 drivers. Went back and tried the game and everything is good now. Oh, and the game crashed on me twice with the new drivers.
 
I had an ironic thing happen this weekend. My 8800GT started artifacting and eventually gave me the BSoD. The fan was still running and when I took it out, it was warm, but not so much it would hurt me. The ironic part is I wasn't running the new drivers...I was still on 196.21. Weird.

BTW, since 196.75 were WHQL certified, doesn't that mean either Microsoft didn't test the drivers or they didn't find anything (including their ass with both hands)?
 
Everyday Nvidia slips more and more, making ATI more and more appealing. Keep digging your own graves, Nvidia.
 
Priceless.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device

Yeah, indeed lol. I guess my "if it ain't broke don't download new drivers" mentality actually pays off? Who would know.

Sorry folks that ended up with grilled cards that blows. Especially, if you are out of warranty.
 
So to clarify, so long as we use rivatuner or something similar to pump up our fan speed manually and keep an eye on our temps we are fine? I get much better performance in BC2 with the new drivers (SLI enabled).
 
After being a die hard Nvidia guy for years, I had to purchase an ATI card over the weekend thanks to these messed up drivers.

My PNY GTX 260 was cooked thanks to a stupid driver issue that never should have made it past QA on Nvidia's part. I totally understand that not everything can be checked before software is shipped out, but anything that directly interfaces with the hardware and can destroy the card should/must be checked.

It's not the first piece of hardware I've had to replace, but it is the first one that a driver update killed.

Big fist-bump to the driver team, thanks for making me shell out the cash on the ATI 5770 just a few weeks before your next card launch.
 
So to clarify, so long as we use rivatuner or something similar to pump up our fan speed manually and keep an eye on our temps we are fine? I get much better performance in BC2 with the new drivers (SLI enabled).

Yes. Many have mentioned using discrete software which offers manual fan speed control is working with these drivers. I haven't used rivatuner myself for about a year. I am using EVGA Precision with these drivers and not only do I not have any issues setting fan speed exactly where I want, my cards are definitely - (I've had enough time now to check many games / benchies) - running, on average, around 2 to 3 degrees C cooler on these drivers than they have on any others. Performance with the 196.75 drivers, for me, is simply extraordinary. These are proving to be, for me, the best performing drivers for my cards of any so far and this by a wide margin. (see my post #52 in the front page news 196.75 thread)
I've purchased BC2 but it's sitting here unopened because of these drivers coming out. I've been somewhat excited by how well they are working for me and have fallen into my "check this - check that - double check this" routine. I'm feeling very lucky that I downloaded them before NV pulled them down. I know that last statement goes against the conventional wisdom of "quick, roll them back before your card melts". Well, I often walk "the road less traveled" and doing so this time has really paid off . You could take these drivers from my cold dead fingers but that's the only way you'd get em. Yes, for me they are that good.
Nvidia put up drivers with a borked fan speed controller. That's atrocious on it's face.
But this is [H] and I certainly believe all here are able to monitor GPU fan speed and temps with no problem and stop any issue from developing to a point where it melts a card.
Why bother?
What if their's a diamond inside that lump of coal?
 
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