NVIDIA GPU Driver 576.02 Offers Major Performance Improvements for RTX 50 Series Graphics Cards: Up to 7% Boost on RTX 5080

In a significant development for NVIDIA users, the newly launched graphics driver version 576.02 offers more than just critical bug fixes; it brings substantial performance enhancements for RTX GPUs.

Enhanced Performance for GeForce RTX 5080: A Comprehensive Boost Across the Board

NVIDIA’s recent update, driver 576.02, aims not only to rectify severe issues, including the bricking of RTX GPUs, but also delivers noteworthy performance improvements. Following the problematic NVIDIA driver series 572.xx, which left many GeForce RTX users facing numerous bugs, this new version has efficiently addressed various concerns while optimizing performance metrics.

Increased Efficiency and Power Savings

Recent reports highlight that the RTX 50 series has observed remarkable enhancements in power efficiency with this driver. For instance, the RTX 5070’s idle power consumption has plummeted from around 180 MHz down to just 22 MHz, while the RTX 5060 Ti has achieved an astonishing low of 7W in idle mode. This is indicative of a significant leap in power management for these graphics cards.

Performance Boosts in Synthetic and Real-World Testing

The RTX 5080 has notably benefitted from the 576.02 update, achieving an impressive score increase in synthetic benchmarks. One user reported a 4.3% uptick in performance on the 3DMark Steel Nomad test, recording 9215 points, compared to 8832 points previously. Another user experienced an even more substantial improvement, with a 7.5% gain, hitting 9033 points from 8400 points.

RTX 5080 576.02 1 — Image Credit: Reddit.com

Real-world gaming benchmarks also reflect notable improvements. Players testing Marvel Rivals with an RTX 5080 paired with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D reported frame rates exceeding 150 fps, up from the previous 140+ fps, indicating a performance boost of approximately 5-7%.Notably, users from a Reddit discussion reported similar gains across different RTX 50 series models, with some RTX 40 series owners also experiencing minor improvements of 3-4%.

Understanding the Underlying Issues

This substantial performance gain suggests that prior restrictions may have stemmed from driver-related throttling rather than hardware limitations. Additionally, certain users have observed the possibility of unlocking higher VRAM clock speeds with this update, although this requires manual overclocking.

While recent NVIDIA drivers have frustrated many users, especially with the persistent issues surrounding the RTX 50 series hardware, software updates like 576.02 demonstrate that improvements can be implemented more rapidly in software compared to hardware. Our coverage has extensively documented the various fixes and enhancements offered with this release.

Stay Informed

For ongoing updates about new NVIDIA driver releases, consider following expert sources. Notable references include @unikoshardware, Guru3D, and various YouTube discussions.

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