Nvidia Adds Ultra-Low Latency Mode Beta to GeForce Driver – Update

Nvidia has released a new GeForce driver that includes a beta of a new low latency mode. Here, a frame is passed just in time to the GPU for rendering, which should reduce input latency by 33 percent.

The mode in the new driver lowers input latency on Nvidia’s test system in Apex Legends from 29ms to 19ms, in The Division 2 from 33ms to 22ms, and in Far Cry 5 from 27ms to 21ms. The feature is available in beta and will work on all Nvidia GPUs that are still supported, but only in DX9 and 11 games. The setting can be found in the Nvidia Control Panel.

According to Nvidia, the effect is most noticeable in games that are GPU-limited at frame rates between 60 and 100 fps. The option has three modes: off, on and ultra. The former is standard and 1 to 3 frames are placed in the render queue. Enabling the feature limits that to a maximum of 1 frame, which is equivalent to the Max_Prerendered_Frames feature already included in previous Nvidia drivers. Ultra activates the new mode and every frame is transferred to the GPU at exactly the right time to be rendered.

Furthermore, the driver GPU brings integer scaling to the RTX video cards and the cards from the GTX 16xx series. It uses a hardware scaling filter to ensure that low-resolution pixel art games still look good on high-resolution monitors. Games like FTL, Hotline Miami and Terraria benefit from this. As a result, the magnified pixels on the screen are still pixelated, so with sharp corners. This function must also be enabled in the Nvidia Control Panel.

Also, there are optimizations for specific games included in this driver. For example, on the RTX 2080 Super Apex Legends does almost 24 percent better, according to the video card maker. There are further optimizations for Battlefield V, Forza Horizon 4, Strange Brigade and World War Z. The improvements vary by game and video card.

There is also the introduction of a more economical Freestyle Sharpening Filter, which should also provide better results compared to the existing Detail Filter. In addition, the Asus VG27A, Acer CP3271 and Acer XB273K GP are added to the list of ‘G-Sync Compatible’. Finally, the Game Ready Driver now also has support for 30bit color, which the Studio Driver already had. The driver, version number 436.02, is available for download immediately, also through GeForce Experience.

Update, 20:33: Nvidia has temporarily withdrawn the driver due to an error that caused GeForce Experience to be installed on all users, even if they indicated they did not want it. Nvidia says it will soon come up with a new driver.