New Nvidia driver causes CPU usage spikes
Nvidia has confirmed a bug in its latest GeForce driver update that causes spikes in CPU usage.
VideoCardz was the first to spot the company’s admission in the official Nvidia support forum for GeForce driver version 531.18, rolled out on 28 February 2023.
In addition to optimisation for several recent major releases, such as Atomic Heart and Hogwarts Legacy, the driver added support for Nvidia’s RTX VSR video upscaling software in Chrome and Edge.
But several gamers who installed the driver have recorded spikes in CPU usage of around 10-15% and even higher shortly after quitting a game.
In its update on known problems with the driver, Nvidia listed an open issue with excessive CPU usage from the Nvidia Container that might occur after exiting a game.
The problem was also highlighted by The Verge’s Tom Warren, who recommended that affected users roll back their driver to the previous version until Nvidia patched it.
However, Nvidia senior product manager Sean Pelletier confirmed to VideoCardz that a hotfix for the bug was already on the way and would be rolled out sometime today (Tuesday, 7 March 2022).
That means users won’t have to wait for a larger Game Ready update to resolve the issue.
If you want to see whether your system is affected by the bug, you can open Windows Task Manager and keep an eye on the Nvidia Container process for any abnormal CPU resource consumption.
The screenshot below from Nvidia shows what that unusual CPU usage could look like.
Screenshot showing abnormal CPU usage by Nvidia Container alongside Nvidia Control Panel windows showing what GeForce driver is installed. Credit: Nvidia
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