Nvidia has acknowledged an issue where some games may experience “lower performance” after recent Windows updates, particularly with versions KB5066835 (October 2025 Update) or newer. To address this, the company is rolling out a new display driver version 581.94.
The problem arises when installing KB5066835 or newer, which can reduce frame rates in some games. This issue affects PCs running Windows 11 25H2 or 24H2, regardless of whether the update was applied automatically or not.
To check if your PC is affected, open Settings > System > About and look for a Build number of 26200.6899 (OS version 25H2) or newer and 26100.6899 (OS version 24H2) or newer.
Nvidia has released Display Driver version 581.94 to fix performance issues, but other problems remain unresolved. For example, some users have reported that the taskbar may force the display to drop to 60Hz with visible flicker.
This issue has been accompanied by other problems, including localhost issues and BitLocker recovery prompts on affected PCs. Microsoft has also released emergency updates to address these issues, including a fix for WinRE (Windows Recovery) problems.
Source: https://www.windowslatest.com/2025/11/20/nvidia-confirms-windows-11-25h2-24h2-update-is-hurting-gaming-performance-releases-a-new-driver