NVIDIA shipped the GeForce 580.97 WHQL driver bringing targeted DLSS 4 optimizations and a couple of long-awaited display fixes, but the release also confirms that one notorious bug—a Cyberpunk 2077 Photo Mode crash when using path tracing—remains stubbornly unresolved after six months of investigation.
The new Game Ready driver, weighing in at approximately 805 MB and built from the r580_92 branch, is intended for Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems. Its headline features are performance tunings for two titles that recently adopted DLSS 4: Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Enhanced and Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced. Alongside those gaming optimizations, NVIDIA has addressed a flicker and underflow issue that plagued the Samsung 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9 when the desktop was idle, as well as a dimming problem on some notebooks connected to external HDR displays while running in “NVIDIA GPU only” mode.
However, the driver’s “Open Issues” list—a catalog of bugs NVIDIA acknowledges but hasn’t squashed—includes a handful of high-impact regressions that may give pause to anyone who relies on Cyberpunk 2077’s Photo Mode, plays Counter-Strike 2 at non-native resolutions, or exports video using Premiere Pro’s hardware encoding.
What’s New in 580.97
The driver’s main game-ready focus is clear: squeeze more performance out of DLSS 4-enabled titles. For players diving into Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Enhanced or Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced, version 580.97 should deliver higher frame rates without a noticeable hit to image quality when DLSS 4 is active. NVIDIA hasn’t published exact percentage gains, but the optimizations are typical of a day-one or near-term Game Ready driver.
Display Fixes
Two specific monitor-related headaches got patched. Owners of the massive Samsung 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9, who had been reporting flicker and a “black hole” underflow effect while the desktop sat idle, should finally see stability improvements. NVIDIA explicitly calls out this fix in the release notes, indicating it’s a targeted correction rather than a general display fix.
Laptop users who attach an external HDR monitor also get a remedy. In some configurations—specifically when the system was set to “NVIDIA GPU only” mode—the notebook’s internal panel would appear excessively dim. The 580.97 driver resolves that mismatch, restoring proper brightness to the built-in screen.
Open Issues: The Bugs That Still Sting
Despite the positive tweaks, NVIDIA’s public open-issues list for this driver contains three known regressions that affect a broad swath of users. The firm has not provided timelines for fixes.
Cyberpunk 2077 Photo Mode Crash with Path Tracing
This issue has been festering since at least February 2025. When players attempt to take a Photo Mode screenshot while path tracing is enabled, the game crashes without warning. Not only does this interrupt the experience, but it can also wipe out unsaved progress—a particularly painful consequence given that one of Cyberpunk 2077’s missions actually requires the use of Photo Mode.
Initially, the community suspected a game-side bug, but CD Projekt Red pointed to NVIDIA’s drivers as the root cause. NVIDIA acknowledged the problem in its driver documentation—it appears as [5076545] in the release notes—yet after six months and multiple driver revisions, a fix remains elusive. A staff member on the NVIDIA forums, identified as Manuel, explained that the team has been actively investigating but has struggled to pinpoint the root cause. The PC Guide reported on the ongoing saga, noting that the bug has been “difficult to debug.”
Community reports on Steam and Reddit confirm the crash is reproducible across RTX 40 and 50 series cards. The only reliable workaround for now is to disable path tracing before entering Photo Mode or use an external screenshot tool like the NVIDIA overlay.
Counter-Strike 2 Text Distortion at Non-Native Resolutions
Competitive Counter-Strike 2 players often run the game at lower-than-native resolutions (e.g., 1280×960 stretched) to maximize frame rates and visibility. Under driver 580.97, UI text appears slightly distorted or “wonky” when the in-game resolution doesn’t match the monitor’s native output. The issue is subtle but distracting enough to affect gameplay for those who depend on clean overlays and readable in-game text.
NVIDIA’s release notes list the bug as [5278913] and confirm it as an open item. Community speculation points to driver-level scaling and pixel-format handling as the likely culprits. Until a fix is delivered, affected players may find temporary relief by setting the desktop and in-game resolutions to the same native mode or toggling anti-aliasing settings in the NVIDIA Control Panel.
Premiere Pro Freeze During Hardware-Accelerated Export
Content creators using Adobe Premiere Pro or Media Encoder have encountered full application freezes when exporting with hardware encoding (CUDA/AV-1 hardware encoders) enabled. The freeze is severe enough that the application cannot be terminated without a system reboot. Reports on Adobe’s community forums suggest that newer RTX 50 series GPUs are particularly affected, though the problem may extend to other hardware configurations.
Adobe staff have acknowledged the incompatibility in forum threads and have recommended switching to software (CPU) encoding or toggling the renderer to “Mercury Software Only” as a temporary workaround. NVIDIA lists the issue as open but offers no further details on its underlying cause.
Should You Install 580.97? A Practical Decision Guide
The decision hinges on your hardware and primary workloads. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Senua’s Saga or GTA V Enhanced players: Install immediately. The driver is tailored for DLSS 4 in these titles, and you’re unlikely to encounter the listed open issues in those games.
- Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 owners with flicker: Install, then reboot and verify the fix. The idle-flicker cure is specific to this monitor, and early feedback from the community is positive.
- Competitive CS2 players using stretched resolutions: Wait. The text distortion can throw off your experience; hold off until NVIDIA ships a hotfix.
- Cyberpunk 2077 photographers using path tracing: Do not upgrade expecting a fix—it isn’t coming yet. If you rely on Photo Mode with path tracing, stay on an older driver or use the overlay workaround.
- Premiere Pro users who depend on hardware encoding: Delay the update or test in a non-production environment first. A frozen export can be catastrophic for professional workflows.
Workarounds and Mitigations for Open Issues
While awaiting official patches, the community has developed several reliable workarounds:
- Cyberpunk 2077 Photo Mode crash: Disable path tracing before entering Photo Mode, or capture screenshots via the NVIDIA overlay (Alt+F1) or Windows Game Bar. Some users have reported success by switching to standard ray tracing instead of full path tracing when using Photo Mode.
- CS2 text distortion: Set your desktop resolution to match your in-game resolution before launching CS2, or experiment with GPU vs. Display scaling options in the NVIDIA Control Panel. For some, forcing FXAA or switching to “Application-Controlled” anti-aliasing reduces the distortion.
- Premiere Pro freezing: Export using software encoding (select “Software Encoding” in the export dialog) or change the project renderer to “Mercury Software Only.” Check Adobe’s community forums for the latest driver-specific hotfixes; some users have found that disabling hardware decoding in Preferences can also reduce the likelihood of a freeze.
Installation Best Practices
If you do decide to install 580.97, take these precautions to minimize any fallout:
- Create a system restore point and ensure critical work is backed up before updating.
- Consider a clean installation: Download the full driver package (~805 MB) and select “Perform a clean installation” during the custom install option. For notebook users, grab the appropriate DCH package.
- Verify display settings after installation: HDR, color space (RGB vs. YCbCr), and scaling mode can all shift after a driver update. Double-check these in the NVIDIA Control Panel.
- Have a rollback plan: Keep a copy of your previous stable driver installer on hand, or be prepared to use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) in Safe Mode to revert to an older version if problems arise.
The Bigger Picture
NVIDIA’s decision to ship a WHQL driver with known high-severity bugs is not unprecedented, but it underscores the balancing act between delivering new features and maintaining stability. The addition of DLSS 4 support for Hellblade II and GTA V is a clear priority, and the display fixes for the G9 and HDR notebooks address long-standing user pain points. Yet the persistence of the Cyberpunk Photo Mode crash—after half a year of investigation—raises questions about the complexity of modern driver debugging, especially when path tracing and game-specific rendering pipelines intersect.
For now, the 580.97 driver is a mixed bag: excellent for its intended gaming targets, but risky for anyone caught in the crosshairs of its open issues. NVIDIA’s next hotfix or Game Ready driver will be closely watched by the communities affected by these regressions.