Sorry, was distracted by IRL issues.
Okay so it is most likely not a direct bug in the driver. (Or it is possible that the performance degradation in the later NVIDIA driver was so large that it has an effect larger than the issue this driver version having 😀)
It is an interesting issue because it seemingly affects D3D games but not the OpenGL ones. (Or at least D3D works better) If it would be only Carmageddon 2, then I would say Carmageddon 2 is a game kind of famous of not having the most stable FPS (You can search for "carmageddon 2 low fps" and get quite a few results), but if multiple D3D games are affected then there is most likely something else in the equation.
I will still think about this issue, but now I don't really have an exact idea what to do.
Two ideas that still can be tried out:
1. Install a different version of the driver from for example https://www.vogonsdrivers.com/index.php?catid … &menustate=14,1 (This site as it is mentioned at the bottom of it is not officially associated with vogons.org), I would try some of the other lower ones like 06.31, sometimes NVIDIA drivers did increase performance, just usually after a while the cards were released performance would fall with later drivers.
2. If you have the original, non-steam release of Half-Life, then you could try installing that and see how it performs when configured for d3d, I have played it on a very similar configuration back then and it did not have any noticeable FPS issues, so if that also has issues, then it is basically confirmed to be a global problem with D3D on that system.
cydvog wrote on 2026-05-11, 14:44:Also which chipset driver should i use ?
I don't remember this chipset having any particular problems with Geforce 2s, and you have written that the issue is mostly affecting D3D games, so I find it unlikely to be the root cause there, but a try with a different driver version can be made, you can find some drivers for the chipset here:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/gigaby … ga-6bxc-rev-2-0
I have used this site multiple times, and I have not yet got a virus or any kind of malware from it, obviously it is always good to err on the side of caution and do a Virus check with anything downloaded.
That site also have different BIOS revisions on it, flashing the BIOS always have a small chance of doing something bad, especially if you don't have a UPS and a power outage happens just as luck usually have it, so I only recommend flashing the BIOS if you have a UPS and willing to take a small chance at bricking the motherboard.
"A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it." - Dune
