the Nvidia App application can drag down your performance

Launched last month, the replacement for GeForce Experience has so far been received quite lukewarmly by gamers.

While most gamers are delighted that Nvidia has grouped the control panel and GeForce Experience into a new simplified application that does not require an account to use, it turns out that the brand still has some adjustments to make. According to some, simply installing the software would cause a “significant” drop in performance. Info or fake?

Up to 12% less performance

Rumors spread on the forums, so the specialized press takes up the subject. The Americans from Tom’s Hardware carried out the investigation and carried out tests on various popular and demanding games such as Black Myth: Wukong, Baldur’s Gate 3 or even Assassin’s Creed Mirage. It is indisputable: the use of the Nvidia App does indeed have an impact on performance (the number of frames per second) in-game.

For certain titles, the impact is negligible (2 to 4%), but for others, notably Assassin’s Creed Mirageit can reach 12% in 1080p resolution and with all settings at full setting. However, it appears from these tests that all games react very differently to the installation of the Nvidia App and that the selected resolution (1080p, 1440p or 4K) seems to be the most determining factor in the equation.

Despite everything, we should not automatically crucify the application. According to the YouTube channel Hardware Unboxed, it is less the application than the superimposed interface (the overlay, allowing access to additional graphic options in the game or to add filters to the image) which causes a loss of fluidity. On average, its activation causes a drop in performance of around 4 to 5%.

Nvidia is on the case

So things are not as simple as saying “Nvidia App is bad for your performance, uninstall it immediately”. If we stay away from overlay and don’t overuse Nvidia filters or features like instant replay (which records your game while you play – quite logical that this has an impact on performance) , we should not be affected.

However, Nvidia is not turning a deaf ear and assures that it is working on deploying a patch to reduce the load of its application on the computer components. “We are aware of a reported performance issue related to game filters and are actively investigating this mattersays Nvidia in a press release. You can turn off game filters in the Nvidia app settings: Settings > Features > Overlay > Game Filters and Photo Mode, then restart your game. »

There is no doubt that the brand is taking the problem all the more seriously as it will launch its new generation of graphics cards, the RTX 5000, next month. Unthinkable that it would leave a program in the wild that could boost their performance to the bottom.