Nvidia graphics driver 551.23 does not function properly with Darktide

Issue Type (Required):

Performance

Issue Description (Required):

2 cases here, me & my friend.

Mine:
I can still log into the game and play, but I suffer significant GPU temp increase compared to Nvidia graphics driver 546.65 on identical settings, going from 65~72 Celsius to 70~82 Celsius post-update. The worst performing moments are Hab Dreyko (final event around Nurgle’s tree) as well as every other intense horde (I play primarily Damnation).
My device specs: Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 6 (laptop)

  • Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
  • AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
  • 16gb RAM (8gb VRAM) / 512gb SSD

My friend:
He has the same GPU as mine, but he’s on a desktop instead of laptop.
He cannot play the game at all as the Darktide mini launcher’s “PLAY” button is greyed out for him.
He has not been able to play since updating the driver.
He has multiple mods active:

  • weapon_customization
  • weapon_customization_mt_stuff
  • contracts_overlay
  • creature_spawner
  • ENLocalizationFIXBlessings
  • WhatTheLocalization
  • ShowMeRealWeaponStats
  • reveal_blessings
  • name_it
  • more_characters_and_loadouts
  • FullAuto
  • for_the_drip
  • AfterGrenade
  • debuff_indicator
  • ForTheEmperor
  • NumericUI
  • Ration Pack
  • Spidey Sense

[PC] Do You Use Mods? (Optional):

No, I don’t use mods

Reproduction Rate (Required):

Constant (100%)

Platform (Required):

Steam (PC)

I think the issues are separate. For your buddy, it sounds like his Anti-Virus is quarantining part of the Darktide installation. I expect this is the Darktide.exe, and he is using Avast, based on similar reports I’ve read recently.

I understand you have some overheating issues which is usually hardware-related. Have you experimented by rolling back to the previous driver?

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I tried rolling back to 546.65 which slightly improved the heat issue, but it reset my Nvidia control panel settings which I can’t remember what I did.

I had modified my “user_settings” config file to try to maximize performance a while back, and pre-update I was looking at around 60~70 Celsius in the vast majority of my gameplay. I don’t know if it’s a setting in that config file I changed that is causing the excess heat. Would deleting the “user_settings” config file be able to reset everything to default?

Adding to this

With Nvidia control panel enabling Nvidia Image Scaling, Darktide has options for 1477x831 and 1632x918 as fullscreen resolution settings (both I used to improve performance and reduce GPU strain because 1080p was having some performance issues) on top of DLSS in-game

Could this be the cause of the high GPU temp?

Certainly try deleting your user_settings.config if you’ve manually edited it.

You will need to disable Steam Cloud Saving to start with, otherwise it will automatically restore the user_settings.config:

  1. Navigate to your Steam library
  2. Right-click Darktide
  3. Select ‘Properties’
  4. On the ‘General’ tab, scroll down to ‘Steam Cloud’
  5. Disable ‘Keep game saves in the Steam Cloud for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’

Assuming you’re using DLSS, there is no need to use NIS, from what I understand.

1 Like

Issue Type (Required):

Performance

Issue Description (Required):

My device specs:
Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 6 (laptop)
Windows 11
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
16gb RAM (8gb VRAM)
512gb SSD (261gb free)

I play Darktide in a lower resolution than 1920x1080p to have a lower strain on GPU, and primarily play Damnation.
In my previously submitted report, I thought the overheat was caused by the newest Nvidia game ready driver 551.23, but after rolling back and trying both 546.65 and 546.33, I am still experiencing very high GPU temperatures while having normal GPU utilization values indicated by Nvidia Overlay (30~40%).
In December 2023 I could play the game on 720p DLSS Balanced with relatively good visuals and low GPU temperatures (60~72 Celsius, usually <70), but that has went up drastically in the recent days.
I also did a very thorough system check and updated everything I could to the newest except the Nvidia game ready driver.

The following 2 tests are both done on Nvidia game ready driver 546.33
Test 1:
Nvidia Image Scaling: On, 50% sharpen (activated through Nvidia Control Panel specifically for Darktide)
1477x831 resolution (option appears after Image Scaling is turned on from Nvidia Control Panel)
DLSS: Performance
Low Latency: Enabled + Boost
No in-game sharpening, very low graphics & texture quality
Everything set to lowest or off except gibbing & enemy wounds
Ray Tracing completely disabled through user_settings config file
No Nvidia game filters applied

  • 63~65 Celsius in Mourningstar & Meat Grinder
  • 70~85 Celsius in Hab Dreyko, fluctuating (80+ for the final event scanning around Nurgle tree)
  • Both CPU and GPU utilization were around 30~40%

Test 2:
NIS not activated, same settings everything else except resolution is set to 1280x720 with DLSS Balanced, and in-game sharpen is turned on

  • 67~70 Celsius in Mourningstar, somehow even higher than Test 1’s results
  • slightly lower utilization values than Test 1 (but temp is higher??)

I’d like to be able to play the game without having to worry if my laptop would crash & burn at any minute.

[PC] Do You Use Mods? (Optional):

No, I don’t use mods

Reproduction Rate (Required):

Constant (100%)

Platform (Required):

Steam (PC)

I tried deleting the user settings config file and all the video settings were reset to default (keybinds were saved fortunately), so I went to config again and manually disabled RT related settings as well as lowering all texture settings from 2 to 0

As for the reason I use NIS on top of in-game DLSS:
Without NIS, the game only offers 1280x720 and 1920x1080 for 16:9 aspect ratio

  • 1080p proved a little too much for my GPU if I wanted to maintain stable framerate with low GPU temp
  • 720p doesn’t look nearly as good and can be a bit blurry at times

That’s why I thought of the NIS method to try to bridge a resolution between them for slightly better visuals without much added strain on GPU (going from 1280x720 to 1477x831 with NIS active can’t be that much of an impact on GPU strain, it’s only a 15% increase), except for some reason right now that’s not working properly as before.

Even without NIS active my GPU temp has noticeably went up:
Previous: 720p DLSS balanced, 64~72 Celsius
Now: 720p DLSS performance, 70~80 Celsius

I don’t know what went wrong.

I think this might be outside of what we can help with unfortunately - I would recommend contacting NVIDIA as they will be best equipped to advise on next steps.

2 Likes