NVIDIA Ends Support for Older GTX GPUs, Shifts Focus to Modern Hardware
NVIDIA has announced it will discontinue full driver support for its older Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta GPU architectures, marking the end of an era for GeForce GTX 7-, 9-, and 10-series graphics cards. The final major driver update for these GPUs is scheduled for October, after which they will only receive quarterly security patches until 2028. Beyond that, support will cease entirely, leaving these cards functional but without optimizations for new games or protection against emerging security vulnerabilities.
The company highlighted that its 11-year support for these aging GPUs exceeds typical industry standards. For gamers still using GTX cards from a decade ago, this signals a clear push toward upgrading to newer hardware, such as NVIDIA’s RTX lineup, to stay current with modern gaming demands.
In related news, NVIDIA confirmed that Game Ready Driver (GRD) support for Windows 10 on all RTX GPUs will continue until October 2026—one year beyond Microsoft’s official end-of-support date for Windows 10. While this provides a temporary reprieve for users hesitant to upgrade to Windows 11, continuing with an unsupported OS poses security risks, as critical updates will no longer be provided by Microsoft.
The latest GRD release includes optimizations for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the upcoming Mafia: The Old Country, along with expanded compatibility for 62 new G-Sync displays. This update ensures smoother performance for newer titles but also underscores the growing divide between legacy hardware and modern gaming requirements.
For long-time GTX users, the writing is on the wall: upgrading to newer GPUs will soon be necessary to maintain optimal performance and security in an evolving gaming landscape.
