RTX GPUs Archives

Winsage

May 27, 2026

Nvidia kills Windows XP-era Control Panel “after 20 years of dedicated service”

Users of RTX Pro, RTX, and Quadro GPUs still rely on the Nvidia Control Panel, as essential professional features have not yet been transferred to the newer Nvidia app. The Nvidia Control Panel was introduced in February 2006 with the ForceWare 83.60 driver package and remains compatible with graphics cards dating back to the GeForce 2 MX from 2000. Its aesthetic has changed little over the years, maintaining a Windows NT-style dialog box. Users express frustrations about feature regressions and difficulties with the new Control Panel, often preferring the old version.

Winsage

May 18, 2026

Why Your Windows 11 PC Doesn’t Get AI Features

Several hundred million Windows 11 users are experiencing frustrations due to the absence of Microsoft features like Recall and Cocreator, which are only available on Copilot+ PCs. Microsoft has divided Windows 11 into two tiers, with the latest AI functionalities requiring specific hardware known as Copilot+ PC. To qualify, a device must have: - An NPU capable of at least 40 TOPS - A minimum of 16 GB of RAM (DDR5 or LPDDR5) - At least 256 GB of SSD storage - Windows 11 version 24H2 or newer - A processor from specific families: Qualcomm Snapdragon X series, Intel Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake), or AMD Ryzen AI 300 series Many PCs lack these features due to missing NPUs, insufficient TOPS ratings, unsupported processor generations, outdated Windows versions, rollout delays, or regional limits. Features locked behind Copilot+ include Recall, Click to Do, Cocreator in Paint, Windows Studio Effects, Live Captions with Translation, Improved Windows Search, and Auto Super Resolution. To check for Copilot+ compatibility, users can verify the presence of an NPU in Task Manager, ensure they have Windows 11 version 24H2 or newer, and confirm their processor against the approved list. While some workarounds exist to enable features on unsupported PCs, they are often unstable and not recommended for primary use. Most users may not need to upgrade their laptops unless they require on-device AI features or their current device is significantly outdated. The AI feature gap is not currently critical for most users, as many features are optional or not essential.

AppWizard

May 6, 2026

Review: Pragmata PC Review: Path Tracing Is A Game Changer

Path tracing scalability is maximized on the RTX 5090 with 4K DLSS quality mode, while the RTX 5070 can achieve a commendable experience using optimized settings at 1440p DLSS balanced mode. The RTX 5070 is the most prevalent Blackwell GPU according to the Steam Hardware Survey, indicating that path tracing is becoming mainstream. Optimal performance in Pragmata on an 8GB GPU requires selecting the lowest texture quality setting due to bugs and potential stuttering with medium settings. Higher mesh quality settings may reduce geometry on 8GB cards. Optimized settings for Pragmata include various configurations for ray tracing, texture quality, and shadow quality, closely mirroring developer settings for current-generation consoles. Enabling the shadow cache option significantly improves frame rates by reusing existing shadow data.

Winsage

March 13, 2026

Microsoft DirectX Gears Up For ML Era On Windows, Advanced Shader Delivery Solves Game Stutter & Load Times, DXR 2.0 Teased

At GDC 2026, Microsoft announced the introduction of ML-Powered DirectX and Advanced Shader Delivery. The ML-enhanced DirectX includes Cooperative Vectors within Shader Model 6.9, facilitating neural rendering techniques such as Neural Texture Compression and Neural Radiance Caching. DirectX Linear Algebra is introduced to support matrix-based ML workflows, and the DirectX Compute Graph Compiler enables full model graphs to run with native GPU performance. Advanced Shader Delivery allows game developers to provide precompiled shaders to reduce load times and stuttering. New APIs, App Identity API and Stats API, have been introduced to support this feature. NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm have expressed their support for these advancements. Additionally, Microsoft is developing DXR 2.0, which will support Shader Model 6.10 and is expected to roll out in late summer 2026.

AppWizard

September 21, 2025

Nvidia invests $5bn in Intel

Nvidia has announced a substantial investment in Intel, focusing on collaboration in consumer-grade PC products and enterprise technologies, including data centers. The partnership will integrate Nvidia's NVLink technology with Intel's chip architectures to enhance product performance. Intel plans to develop x86 system-on-chips incorporating Nvidia's RTX GPUs for improved graphics and processing capabilities. Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, highlighted the partnership's potential to transform computing, while Intel's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, expressed confidence in combining their strengths to drive industry breakthroughs.

Winsage

September 14, 2025

Windows 10 is almost dead — here’s my top 5 Windows 11 picks to get before the deadline

The end of Windows 10 support is on October 14, 2025, prompting users to transition to Windows 11. Users can enroll in Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for an additional year of security updates if they wish to retain Windows 10. Lightweight options like Tiny11 Build can help older PCs, but Windows 11's hardware requirements may prevent some users from upgrading. Installing Windows 11 on unsupported devices risks missing essential security updates, making hardware upgrades advisable. Recommended devices for Windows 11 include: - Laptop: Acer Aspire Go 15, featuring an Intel Core i3-N305 CPU, a 15.6-inch display, priced under 0, with up to 10 hours of battery life. - Desktop: Dell XPS 8950, suitable for office use and gaming, especially with Nvidia RTX GPUs. - Gaming Desktop: Acer Predator Orion 5000, known for performance and value, often available for less than ,799 during sales. - Mini PC: Geekom A5 2025 Edition, priced around 9, supports up to four monitors, and has upgradeable components. - All-in-One PC: MSI Modern AM271P 11M, featuring a 27-inch display, suitable for everyday tasks, bundled with a keyboard and mouse. - 2-in-1 Laptop: Microsoft Surface Pro 11, equipped with a Snapdragon X-series chip, designed for both casual browsing and intensive tasks.

Winsage

August 6, 2025

OpenAI’s New Open Models Accelerated Locally on NVIDIA GeForce RTX and RTX PRO GPUs

NVIDIA has partnered with OpenAI to enhance the gpt-oss models for NVIDIA GPUs, enabling rapid inference and supporting millions of users on NVIDIA RTX AI PCs. The gpt-oss-20b and gpt-oss-120b models, trained on NVIDIA H100 GPUs, feature open-weight reasoning and can handle context lengths of up to 131,072 tokens. Users can utilize these models through frameworks like Ollama, which provides a user-friendly interface for experimentation. The models are optimized for RTX GPUs and support applications such as web search and coding assistance. Developers can also access the models via Microsoft AI Foundry Local and other frameworks, with NVIDIA contributing to open-source projects to enhance performance.

Winsage

August 2, 2025

Nvidia extends Windows 10 support, adds G-Sync monitors

Nvidia has released a new GeForce Game Ready Driver that enhances support for Windows 10 devices and optimizes select games and G-Sync compatible displays. This driver extends support for GeForce RTX GPUs until October 2026, coinciding with Microsoft's end of support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Nvidia is also extending support for older GPUs, with Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta-based GeForce cards receiving quarterly security updates until October 2028. The update introduces support for 62 additional G-Sync compatible monitors and performance improvements for games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Mafia: The Old Country, releasing on August 8th.

Winsage

August 1, 2025

NVIDIA announces end-of-life support for many of its GTX cards — but it’s not all bad news

NVIDIA will issue one final major driver update for its Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta graphics card architectures in October 2025, after which these cards will only receive quarterly security updates. Regular "Game Ready" updates will cease, although support for these architectures will continue until October 2028. The Pascal architecture, launched in 2016, remains popular, with the GTX 1060 being used by 2.15% of PCs as of June 2025. NVIDIA will extend Game Ready driver support for its newer RTX GPUs on Windows 10 until October 2026.

Winsage

August 1, 2025

Nvidia says it’s game over come October for GTX 10, 9 and 7-series graphics cards driver support but RTX owners running Windows 10 are getting an extra year of grace

Nvidia has confirmed the end of support for its Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta graphics architectures, with one final major driver update scheduled for October 2025. After this, users will receive quarterly security updates for these architectures until October 2028. Nvidia will continue to provide Windows 10 Game Ready Drivers for all RTX GPUs until October 2026. Maxwell includes the GeForce GTX 7 and 9 series, while Pascal is for the GTX 10 Series. The GTX 1650 and GTX 1660 are based on the Turing architecture, which is not affected. Volta is primarily for enterprise use and does not have gaming GPUs. Users will no longer receive "Game Ready" optimizations after the final driver release.