Upgrading a graphics card in Windows

Changed my graphics card from a GT 1030 to a GTX 1650 Super. Booted into windows and everything was ok with the auto installed driver 591. For better frame rates went to Nvidia drivers page and downloaded 595. Ran the installer - picked clean installation from custom installation.

Installer removed old driver but failed to install 595. Puzzled I asked AI. It suggested DDU (Driver Uninstaller) in safe mode. So did the deed in safe mode and apparently Windows thought my GT 1030 was still installed which DDU cleared. Booted back into Win 11 after DDU did its stuff and was able to install 595 at last.

Looks like I will have to run DDU again when I change my card I recently bought to a GTX 1660 Super. With Linux you just change the card and boot into the desktop. Did I tell you I hate Windows!

It seems to me that your problem was with the NVidia installer, not Windows.

Nice not to have those problems these days with my Mac.

That is one of the reasons and many more I stopped bothering with Windows.

why did you choose v595 when theres 596.21

1. I am not a gamer.
2. Reading the description on the Nvidia site it said for the stable version was 595.

In reply to a post by Banger:

1. I am not a gamer.
2. Reading the description on the Nvidia site it said for the stable version was 595.

If you are a not a gamer, then what do you do on your computer to require a highish end graphics card?
I play a few games on the PC, but nothing really taxing and the video card never made a great deal of difference with video editing and that sort of thing. It did help with 3D stuff, not that I was ever good at 3D stuff.

The Mac now does everything I need apart from games, which is why I keep the old PC. The pc is slightly faster at rendering 3D, due to the video card, but not that much faster and I don't do a lot fo 3D as I am no good at it

Drivers in Linux. My main OS is Linux and the GT 1030 is out of support now so I got the next generation the 1660 and as it was cheap I ordered a GTX 1660 Super more bang for buck so to speak. Went for Asus TUF range as they have a good rep. on hardware longevity wise.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

If you are a not a gamer, then what do you do on your computer to require a highish end graphics card?

i wouldn't call the 1660/50 etc "high end"ish

It's ideal for 1080p Linux screens.

In reply to a post by Taras:

i wouldn't call the 1660/50 etc "high end"ish

I had a look and you are right, I don't look at graphics cards these days. Mine is a Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 5700, well the one in the PC is, still pretty powerful.
https://www.cpu-compare.com/gpu/amd_radeon_rx_5700

Not going to replace it, it works, does what i need it to do.

In reply to a post by Banger:

Drivers in Linux. My main OS is Linux and the GT 1030 is out of support now so I got the next generation the 1660 and as it was cheap I ordered a GTX 1660 Super more bang for buck so to speak. Went for Asus TUF range as they have a good rep. on hardware longevity wise.

Drivers can be a problem, certainly for Nvidia cards.

Well it arrived - two days from Northern Ireland. Am pleased with it does 101 FPS in furmark tests and quiet fans.

Playing a game, War Thunder seems much better under Windows than Linux with in game FPS around 130-142 in Windows and around 60 FPS in Linux, probably driver differences.

Downloaded the Nvidia App which allowed me to update to the latest drivers in Windows 596. Card was running at 67C 100% with around 2000 RPM fans which wasn't too loud after some tuning in Tweak III.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

Drivers can be a problem, certainly for Nvidia cards.

Yet more reasons why Linux as a end user desktop OS is still rare. Most companies don't want to spend the people time (as this is high in cost) and instead provide Windows or macOS machines, when there is a failure they can be swapped out. My GT 1030 is working perfectly at 4K and no issue with drivers; for Windows 11 there was a driver release on 16th April 2026.

We use Linux on ALL our servers, yet for desktop, whilst Ubuntu and Mint and Fedora have made things vastly better than back in 2008 when I had to compile kernel modules to get basic X to start (to host KDE or Gnome or even xfce) the amount of time invested in Linux for desktop use sadly puts it still in the "interested home user" rather than mass market.

Edited by jchamier (Sat 25-Apr-26 10:07:49)

I've trashed a few linux installs in my time. That said usb linux installs and vms helps in testing now.

Talking of drivers, try getting hauppauge dvb cards working alongside tbs cards

The tbs drivers wipes out the drivers for hauppauge

if cinema4d was on linux and a decent photoshop replacement - i'd ditch windows as a daily destktop os.

Maxon was going to bring redshift to blender (but aborted - i wonder why ) and insydium is bringing their fused product to blender.

so i might have to change renderer.

i can really live with linux mint as a daily driver.

In reply to a post by Taras:

i can really live with linux mint as a daily driver.

As could I, but its a different level of having to wrestle monthly with your operating system.

Its okay on something with integrated graphics for an elderly relative, but for anyone wanting to use newer and faster hardware, then its fine if you are happy to learn and go along with it.

In business that "go along with it" is just a cost, in people time, for the person whose desktop/laptop has stopped functioning, or the IT support person. In 2026 there are almost no IT support people as Mac and Windows machines are significantly more reliable than they were 20 years ago.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by Taras:

i can really live with linux mint as a daily driver.

As could I, but its a different level of having to wrestle monthly with your operating system.

Its okay on something with integrated graphics for an elderly relative, but for anyone wanting to use newer and faster hardware, then its fine if you are happy to learn and go along with it.

In business that "go along with it" is just a cost, in people time, for the person whose desktop/laptop has stopped functioning, or the IT support person. In 2026 there are almost no IT support people as Mac and Windows machines are significantly more reliable than they were 20 years ago.

i would not want to do it support for example 20 linux machines. Even with 20x same hardware you just know a device revision will cause issues. Linux software is not an issue anymore its still the flipping drivers - especially dvb-t2 dvb-s2 devices; i know they are rareity.

In reply to a post by Taras:

i would not want to do it support for example 20 linux machines. Even with 20x same hardware you just know a device revision will cause issues. Linux software is not an issue anymore its still the flipping drivers - especially dvb-t2 dvb-s2 devices; i know they are rareity.

And sadly that is why "Linux on the desktop" is still not a majority thing.

oh exactly. Whilst it has improved massivly over the years. A daily driver server under linux is fine but not a desktop.

I hope i find a solution to the tbs drivers madness .