565 release feedback & discussion

Hi, I would like to provide new information about bug ID [4825128] (freezing in games), and also complement my old report:

In the last few weeks, I had the opportunity to test the nvidia 565 further and better understand whether the freezing would still persist or not.

In general, in my Arch Linux - XFCE4 - X11 environment, to play without any problems, I use the nvidia 555.58.02-16 drivers. I play on an external monitor, using optimus-manager in hybrid mode. All steam/proton games runs only in my dedicated nvidia GPU, and browser/discord/any other software runs mostly in my integrated intel GPU. Also, all the nvidia drivers that I have install and testing are from Arch Linux AUR (nvidia aur).

At the beginning of November 2024, I tested the nvidia 565.57.01-2 version and as I previously reported, it made the games freeze. And a quick way for me to check this behavior was through Euro Truck Simulator 2, where it would freeze moments before reaching the start menu.

Last week I was testing with nvidia 565.57.01-8 and to my surprise, the initial freezing that always happens in Euro Truck Simulator 2 no longer occurred. I tested this version more extensively by playing Metro 2033 Redux and Metro Last Light Redux and after hours, the games stills freeze (3 times in my tests) but only if I had something in the background using my GPUs, such as: streaming, video, discord call, etc. I highlight here that I played for long hours without any problems, and the three times it froze were when I was either in an audio call on discord or listening/watching a stream.

Furthermore, I didn’t have the chance to test in games in DX12 (vkd3d), I only tested in DX11 (dxvk) and all with Proton-Experimental [bleeding-edge].

Anyway, I don’t know if this information helps in any way, but I found the behavior of the driver versions in relation to this freezing problem curious. In short, this is what I have noticed happening in my environment:

  • nvidia 555.58.02-16: not freeze. Stable to play without any problems.
  • nvidia 565.57.01-2: freeze. Some games take longer to happen, but in Euro Truck Simulator 2 it is “simple” to reproduce because it happens right from the start.
  • nvidia 565.57.01-8 freeze. But only if you are using the GPUs in the background (watch streaming, discord call).