What's in GeForce 621.01
Guru3D reports that NVIDIA has released the GeForce 621.01 WHQL driver for Windows 10 and Windows 11. The release notes say the driver supports Phantom Blade Zero, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, NBA 2K27, Cyberpunk 2077, and Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown. A copy of the notes posted on the Guru3D forums gives the build branch as r620-97-03.
NVIDIA has also put out a separate driver for its RTX Spark devices with the same version number. Users can download the new RTX Spark Game Ready 621.01 WHQL driver through the NVIDIA app, or from GeForce.com.
VideoCardz's compatibility listing covers desktop GeForce RTX 50, 40, 30 and 20 series cards, from the GeForce RTX 5090 (D/D V2) down to the GeForce RTX 2060. That excerpt is cut off, so check NVIDIA's own support list if you run an older or unusual GPU.
Game dates covered by this driver (all October 2026):
| Title / update | Date (per NVIDIA) | Headline tech |
|---|---|---|
| Cyberpunk 2077 update | October 22 | DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 full launch | October 23 | DLSS 4.5, Reflex, Advanced Shader Delivery |
| Phantom Blade Zero | October 28 | DLSS 4.5, path tracing, Ray Reconstruction |
| Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown | October 29 | DLSS 4.5 suite |
The driver came out on October 21, so the Cyberpunk 2077 update and both game launches were all still to come when it shipped. Installing the driver alone won't add those features to your games.
Section summary: 621.01 is a WHQL Game Ready driver for Windows 10 and 11. It prepares RTX PCs for four game launches and updates arriving over the following eight days.
Modern Warfare 4: DLSS, Reflex and staged launch
NVIDIA's announcement says the Modern Warfare 4 campaign went into Early Access on October 16 and DMZ Early Access opened on October 20. The full launch, which adds multiplayer, follows on October 23. What you get depends on your GPU generation:
- All RTX cards: DLSS Super Resolution in every mode, plus NVIDIA Reflex to cut latency.
- RTX 40 series: standard DLSS Frame Generation.
- RTX 50 series: Dynamic Multi Frame Generation, which NVIDIA says offers up to 6X frame multiplication.
That 6X number is NVIDIA's claim, not a result from independent testing. Generated frames also don't respond to input the way rendered frames do. In a competitive shooter, many players will care more about Reflex and a stable base frame rate than about the frame counter.
Advanced Shader Delivery explained
ASD is the most interesting technical item in this release, and Microsoft built it, not NVIDIA. NVIDIA's explainer describes the underlying problem: pre-compiling every possible combination on the developer's side would mean users download terabytes of data with each new game and update, leaving local compilation as the long-standing norm.
Here's how it works, according to NVIDIA's description:
- Developers use DirectX 12, Windows 11 and the Microsoft Agility SDK to record a game's shaders into a State Object Database (SODB).
- Microsoft's cloud precompiles those shaders for a huge range of GPU and driver combinations.
- When you download or update a supported game, a Precompiled Shader Database (PSDB) matched to your hardware comes with it through the Xbox PC app.
- The game launches with shaders already compiled, so there's no compilation screen.
NVIDIA says that with a near-100% cache hit rate, it eliminates mid-game "just-in-time" shader compilation, wiping out CPU spikes and frame stutters in titles like Gears of War: E-Day, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. NVIDIA also says local compilation can take up to 30 minutes when a game launches or updates. Both figures are vendor claims, and real results will vary by game.
ASD requirements
- A supported game. Modern Warfare 4 and Gears of War: E-Day are the two named here. Other games don't get ASD automatically.
- The Xbox PC app must be installed. NVIDIA says ASD works regardless of storefront, including games bought on Steam, as long as the Xbox PC app is on the machine. If you uninstalled it, Steam users included, you won't get the precompiled shaders.
- Windows 11. The driver supports Windows 10, but NVIDIA describes ASD as built on Windows 11 and the Agility SDK. Windows 10 users shouldn't count on ASD even though they can install 621.01.
Some players will dislike needing the Xbox app for a Steam game. In practice, though, the alternative is often a long shader compilation every time the game or driver updates.
Section summary: ASD moves shader compilation from your CPU to Microsoft's cloud. For the full benefit you need a supported game, Windows 11 and the Xbox PC app.
Phantom Blade Zero, Crimson Desert and Cyberpunk 2077
NVIDIA says Phantom Blade Zero, S-GAME's martial-arts action game launching October 28, runs DLSS 4.5 with Dynamic Multi Frame Generation on GeForce RTX GPUs, and uses DLSS Ray Reconstruction to clean up its path-traced lighting. On RTX Spark devices, NVIDIA describes ray-traced lighting and effects instead of path tracing, which suggests a lighter rendering setup on those machines.
NVIDIA says the Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown expansion arrives October 29 with the full DLSS 4.5 suite. The October 22 Cyberpunk 2077 update adds Dynamic Multi Frame Generation and moves the game's existing Multi Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction and Super Resolution to NVIDIA's second-generation AI models.
NBA 2K27 and DLSS 5: what changed
Some early coverage said the driver itself updates DLSS 5 in NBA 2K27. That isn't quite right. Neowin wrote that Nvidia says that it has also updated the DLSS 5 implementation on NBA 2K27 to be more performant. This will reportedly give players a 1.4X increase in frame rates on supported hardware.
NVIDIA's own page says the game's Season 2 update, released the week before, brought in the faster DLSS 5 model. NVIDIA's metadata calls it NBA 2K27 Season 2 with 2X faster DLSS, and NVIDIA says it raises frame rates by up to 1.4X on RTX 50 series GPUs, RTX Spark laptops and GeForce NOW. The two figures measure different things: the AI model is up to 2X faster, while overall game frame rates rise by up to 1.4X. The driver is "Game Ready" for that update, but the faster model came with the game patch.
Fixed bugs in 621.01
The bug IDs below come from NVIDIA's notes as republished by VideoCardz and the Guru3D forum post.
Gaming fixes
- Wuthering Waves: crashes during gameplay with NVIDIA Freestyle filters and DLSS Frame Generation enabled. [5747079]
- Star Citizen: crash when using the Vulkan API. [6680590]
- Surviving Mars: Relaunched: gameplay crashes after updating to R595 drivers. [5965452]
General fixes
- QHD monitors at 360 Hz: occasional black flashes during gameplay. [4846825]
- 360 Hz G-SYNC Pulsar monitors: frame rate can drop to 320 FPS while gaming. [6408986]
- Meta Horizon Link: stream can freeze when connected over USB. [6292679]
- Certain ASUS notebooks: intermittent dimming after updating to R615 drivers. [6807011]
Neowin reports that NVIDIA listed no known issues for this release. That's good to hear, but it doesn't mean the driver has no problems.
Should you install it now?
Who should install now, and who can wait:
- Install now if you're playing Modern Warfare 4 (especially on Windows 11 with the Xbox PC app), plan to play Phantom Blade Zero or the Crimson Desert expansion at launch, or are hit by one of the bugs listed above. Owners of 360 Hz QHD or G-SYNC Pulsar monitors and Quest users on USB Link get the most from the fixes.
- Waiting is fine if your system is stable and none of these games or bugs apply to you. Tech commentator Chris Mizo summed up the release as "Mostly fixes this time around" and suggested waiting a couple of days before updating.
How to install it:
- Open the NVIDIA app and go to the Drivers tab. Or download the 621.01 WHQL package for your GPU (desktop or notebook) from NVIDIA's driver site.
- Run the installer. If you've been having display problems, choose a clean installation.
- Reboot, then check the version in the NVIDIA app or NVIDIA Control Panel's System Information. It should read 621.01.
- To use ASD in Modern Warfare 4, check that the Xbox PC app is installed before you download or update the game, since the precompiled shaders come with the game download.
- If something breaks, roll back through Device Manager (Display adapters, Properties, Driver, Roll Back Driver) or reinstall your previous driver. NVIDIA asks users to report problems on its GeForce.com Driver Feedback Forum.
Bottom line: 621.01 is a solid but routine Game Ready release. Its most useful feature for many players is Microsoft's Advanced Shader Delivery, which can cut out the long shader-compilation wait when a supported game launches or updates.