THE CRUNCH
The RPCS3 team has released a workaround for an NVIDIA driver bug that was limiting performance on GeForce cards. The fix reportedly boosts frame rates by up to 37% and cuts VRAM usage in some titles, though gains vary by game and hardware. AMD GPUs are not affected, as the issue is specific to NVIDIA's drivers.
The performance uplift is most striking on high-end hardware, with a Ryzen 7 9850X3D and RTX 5070 reportedly seeing Gran Turismo 5 jump from 107 to 147 FPS. Even older hardware, such as a GTX 1060, saw roughly 10 to 20% improvements in Saints Row titles. The team notes that actual gains will vary significantly and that a proper fix from NVIDIA would be preferable to a workaround.
RPCS3 developers have attempted to contact NVIDIA through developer forums about this and other driver bugs without success. The team is hoping for a more direct line of communication going forward to address similar issues more efficiently.
Why It Matters: This workaround provides a free performance boost for NVIDIA users emulating PS3 games, though it is not a permanent solution. The situation highlights ongoing communication challenges between emulator developers and GPU vendors.