NVIDIA has released a GeForce Hotfix driver labeled 581.94 to address performance regressions that appeared after Microsoft pushed the Windows 11 KB5066835 security update. The fix targets systems running the latest Windows 11 build and is not intended for Windows 10 users.
The company says the hotfix restores performance that some GeForce GPUs began to lose after the KB5066835 update. This driver is narrowly scoped to the Windows 11 issue, so users on Windows 10 can skip installing it. The underlying Windows patch is a security update, so it remains recommended for Windows 11 users even if it introduced the regression.
At the moment NVIDIA has not said whether the performance drop affected GPUs from other vendors. Users who recently moved to Windows 11 and noticed lower frame rates or stuttering should try the new hotfix and confirm whether it improves their system performance.
Download the hotfix from the NVIDIA hotfix download page. If installing drivers gives pause, remember the Windows update in question is a security patch so it should remain installed while using the hotfix driver to recover performance.
NVIDIA has published several targeted hotfix drivers over the last year to address regressions and hardware-specific bugs quickly. For a look at the previous hotfix that fixed crashes and visual glitches, consult the earlier hotfix 576.66 coverage to see how these rapid fixes are handled in practice. If anyone wants to test this on different GPU brands or share benchmarks after installing the hotfix, that information will be helpful in the broader community.
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