By Aaron Klotz
Publication Date: 2025-11-22 12:40:00
Nvidia released a hotfix driver recently that fixes performance issues in games, as a result of a buggy cumulative update Microsoft released for Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2. A few X posters, including Sebastian Castellanos, have published benchmark results showing almost a 50% performance boost in games from the new Nvidia hotfix driver in some titles.
The performance issues from Microsoft’s latest update are likely far more egregious than most people were expecting. Sabastian saw a whopping 47% improvement in average FPS in Assassin’s Creed Shadows from Nvidia’s last outgoing stable driver 581.80 compared to its latest 581.94 hotfix driver. Similarly, 1% lows were 46% better on the hotfix driver as well.
Before Update 55 fpsAfter Update 91 fps I had used x4 generation DLSS because I think that 5080 can’t handle that UbiGame xD pic.twitter.com/NlJp9XgenKNovember 21, 2025
Another X poster, Daniel Nowak, also shared similar performance behavior in the same game, but his comparison was made with a slightly older driver. Daniel saw a 65% performance improvement going from driver 581.57 to Nvidia’s new hotfix driver. These performance regressions are massive, but only affect certain games according to Nvidia, so it might not be worth upgrading to 581.94 if you are not experiencing any noticeable performance drops. The 581.94 hotfix driver is considered a “beta” driver, so there may be additional bugs introduced by installing it.
Performance issues started…
