The decade old NVIDIA GPUs have now been dropped in the latest Linux drivers as well.
NVIDIA Drops Maxwell and Pascal GPU Series in the Latest Linux Driver 590.44.01
NVIDIA's Maxwell, Pascal and Volta GPUs continued to get latest Game Ready drivers till October 2025, but have finally transitioned to just quarterly security updates. This was specifically for Windows, but NVIDIA has reportedly dropped GPU driver support for the Maxwell and Pascal GPUs for Linux as well. According to the latest beta Linux Driver 590.44.01, both the GTX 900 and GTX 10 series are now excluded from the supported GPU list.
While NVIDIA didn't yet release any Game Ready 590 driver for Windows, it has rolled out one for Linux. With the exclusion of these decade old GPUs from getting frequent driver updates, these will now transition to just security updates. It has been a long time since these two series came out, and while previously NVIDIA was ending support a bit earlier, it continued offering some more updates till the end of this year.
It was expected that the Linux Driver support will end with the GPU driver branch 580 as well, but NVIDIA extended this to branch 590 (it jumped straight from branch 580 to 590 and a single v580 Linux GPU driver exists). So, if you are boasting any of these GPUs, you won't be getting Game Ready drivers that offer day-one game support and optimizations for the upcoming titles. However, there should be no issue in using them for how long you wish. Still, users should keep an eye on the quarterly updates as these are essential.
The latest Linux Driver 590 includes Turing series and up, including both desktop and mobile variants. The new driver also brings several bug fixes, and improved compatibility. Nonetheless, most users have now transitioned to much newer GPUs and we no longer see most of the Maxwell and Pascal series in the latest Steam Hardware Surveys. In case you are still boasting these GPUs and want to have day-one game support, then we recommend upgrading to the latest RTX 50 series now, considering the GPUs are now cheaper than ever and may see a price hike in the near future due to higher VRAM costs.
News Source: Videocardz
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
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