Nvidia’s new Geforce 497.29 WHQL driver should fix your Microsoft Flight Simulator crashes

Nvidia’s latest WHQL driver fixes bugs and adds optimal settings for ten more games

Nvidia has launched what could be their last new WHQL driver for 2021 (Geforce 497.29 WHQL), delivering Geforce Experience optimised settings for 10 new games and updated optimised settings for others. 

What is more noteworthy for some PC users, this new driver fixes multiple annoying bugs that were present within Nvidia’s prior driver releases, including crashing issues with Microsoft Flight Simulator, black screen issues with multi-monitor configurations and desktop stutter when a mouse courser is moves under certain circumstances.

Below are the release notes for Nvidia’s Geforce 497.29 WHQL driver. 

What’s New in Version 497.29 WHQL

GeForce Game Ready Driver

Game Ready Drivers provide the best possible gaming experience for all major new releases. Prior to a new title launching, our driver team is working up until the last minute to ensure every performance tweak and bug fix is included for the best gameplay on day-1.

Game Ready

This new Game Ready Driver provides the best day-1 gaming experience for the latest new tittles including GTFO as well as the latest update for Horizon Zero Dawn which utilizes NVIDIA DLSS to improve performance by up to 50%.

New Games Supported By GeForce Experience’s Optimal Settings

GeForce Experience’s one-click optimal settings enable you to instantly configure game options for your system’s hardware, giving you smooth, optimized gameplay. Over 1000 titles are supported, and since our last driver release we’ve added support for 10 more:

– Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition
– Grand Theft Auto III
– Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
– Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
– Chorus
– Wartales
– World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
– EVE Online
– The Elder Scrolls Online
– Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition
– Thunder Tier One

Fixed Issues

– [Microsoft Flight Simulator]: The game may crash to the desktop during gameplay. [3454519]
– [Microsoft Flight Simulator]: Purple/blue artifacts appear on ground textures in the game. [3454530]
– [Supreme Command:Forged Alliance/Supreme Commander 2]: Performance drop occurs when there is mouse movement. [3405920]
– Desktop may stutter after extended period when mouse cursor is moved. [3443235]
– In multi-monitor configurations, the screen may display random black screen flicker. [3405228]
– [NVIDIA Control Panel]: Spelling error in the German language NVIDIA Control Panel -> Manage 3D Settings -> Shader Cache Size default option. [3442310]

Windows 11/10 Issues

– [Deathloop][HDR]: TDR/corruption occurs in the game with Windows HDR enabled. [200767905] If this issue occurs, toggle the Windows HDR setting.
– Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed may crash on courses where players drive through water. [3338967]
– [HDR][G-Sync]: Mouse pointer gets stuck after turning on HDR from the Windows Control Panel or after toggling G-Sync from the NVIDIA control panel. [200762998] To work around, click the mouse (right or left button). The mouse cursor will be sluggish for a few seconds before returning to normal operation.
– [NVIDIA Advanced Optimus][NVIDIA Control Panel]: After setting the display multiplexer type to “dGPU”, the setting is not preserved across a reboot or resume from S4. [200779758]
– [NVIDIA Image Scaling][Desktop]: The screen moves to the upper left corner on cold boot when Image Scaling is applied to the desktop. [3424721] Do not apply NVIDIA Image Scaling to the desktop. It is intended only for video upscaling or for games which do not run with a scaling resolution unless the same Image Scaling resolution is applied on the desktop.
– [NVIDIA Image Scaling][DirectX 11 video apps]: With Image Scaling enabled, video playback is corrupted or results in a system hang after performing an HDR transition. [3431284] If HDR is required to be toggled from the Microsoft Control Panel, be sure to switch to a different Image Scaling resolution.

Product Compatibility (Desktop graphics cards)

You can join the discussion on Nvidia’s Geforce 497.29 Game Ready Driver on the OC3D Forums.