NVIDIA has released a fresh beta update to its Linux display driver lineup, version 590.44, now available for 64-bit Linux systems, introducing updated compatibility requirements and several targeted fixes affecting Wayland, Vulkan, and system stability.
The new driver raises the minimum supported Wayland protocol version to 1.20. Alongside that change, NVIDIA has fixed a regression in the PowerMizer preferred mode selector within the nvidia-settings control panel, which previously failed to operate correctly under Wayland.
The release also increases the minimum supported glibc version to 2.27 and updates the minimum X.Org server requirement to version 1.17, corresponding to video driver ABI 19.
On the Vulkan-related updates side, NVIDIA has improved the performance of recreating Vulkan swapchains, which helps reduce stuttering when resizing application windows. The driver also resolves several issues that previously prevented Vulkan applications from running on the Venus VirtIO virtual GPU stack.
Display-related corrections are included as well. A bug that resulted in incorrect DPI reporting on certain monitors—such as Samsung’s Odyssey Neo G9—has been fixed. NVIDIA notes that this issue affected configurations where monitors exposed unusual EDID data or scaling characteristics.
Finally, the update addresses a stability problem that could cause system freezes on PREEMPT_RT kernels, improving reliability for latency-tuned, real-time Linux environments.
Visit the release notes for a complete list of changes and downloads. While NVIDIA recommends keeping drivers up to date, users should note that this is a beta version and thus may not be suited for production environments.
