NVIDIA Investigates Display Freezes with Latest Driver
NVIDIA has acknowledged a new issue affecting its GeForce Game Ready Driver 621.01, which was released this week. Users report that video playback in web browsers and media players can cause the display to freeze or temporarily go black. The company has registered the problem as a bug and is collecting additional diagnostic information from affected users.
According to reports from Gazlog, users have described freezes while watching videos in Chrome, Edge, and VLC. In some cases, launching a game while a browser video is playing can trigger the problem. The display typically recovers after several seconds without requiring a system restart.
RTX 5080 Users Hit Hardest
Several reports involve the GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card, although at least one RTX 4090 user has also described similar behavior. Affected systems sometimes record Event ID 153, which is associated with the nvlddmkm driver. One user also reported Windows LiveKernelEvent 141 and 117 errors, which indicate GPU timeout and recovery events.
NVIDIA representative Manuel confirmed that the company had filed a bug report and requested watchdog crash dumps from affected users to investigate the freezes. NVIDIA has not announced when a fix will become available.
The Workaround: Roll Back to 617.42
Multiple users report that reverting to GeForce 617.42, released on October 6, resolves the video playback freezes. This suggests a regression introduced with 621.01, which belongs to NVIDIA’s newer R620 driver branch. However, the exact cause has not been confirmed.
If you’re experiencing these issues, rolling back to 617.42 is currently the most reliable solution. NVIDIA has not yet provided an official workaround or a timeline for a fix.
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What This Means for Gamers
Driver bugs are an unfortunate reality of PC gaming, but this particular issue is a reminder of the importance of driver stability. For users who rely on their systems for both gaming and media consumption, the freezes can be disruptive. Until NVIDIA releases a fix, affected users have two choices: roll back to the previous driver or wait for an update.
NVIDIA has a strong track record of addressing driver issues quickly, so a fix is likely on the way. For now, if you’re experiencing video playback freezes on driver 621.01, consider reverting to 617.42 and keep an eye out for an official announcement from NVIDIA.