Nvidia has announced that it will end Game Ready Driver support for Windows 10 in October 2026, giving users of its RTX-series graphics cards an additional year of updates beyond Microsoft’s own end-of-life timeline for the operating system.
The graphics chipmaker said it will continue to deliver performance optimizations and bug fixes for Windows 10 users with RTX GPUs based on Turing, Ampere, and Ada Lovelace architectures until late 2026. This extension offers a crucial window for users who have not yet transitioned to Windows 11. Microsoft is set to discontinue support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025.
“We’re giving Windows 10 users with RTX GPUs an extra year of Game Ready Driver support,” Nvidia stated, noting its continued focus on user experience and hardware longevity.
However, support for older Nvidia GPUs will not be extended. The company confirmed that cards based on the Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta architectures including the popular GTX 900 and GTX 10 series will receive their final Game Ready Driver in October 2025. Despite the end of optimization updates, Nvidia will continue to issue quarterly security patches for these legacy GPUs through October 2028.
Industry analysts have said the extended support provides a lifeline for gamers and professionals hesitant to migrate to Windows 11, particularly those concerned about system compatibility and hardware requirements. Yet, the final cutoff in 2026 signals a broader shift in the PC gaming and hardware landscape.
“Once driver support ends, users will no longer receive updates that optimize performance for new games or apps,” said Liam Donovan, a PC gaming analyst. “You can still run older games, but don’t expect peak performance on newer titles.”
The implications are clear: RTX GPU users on Windows 10 have until October 2026 to enjoy full driver support, while users of older GPUs will receive only essential security updates after October 2025. Nvidia is recommending that all users eventually upgrade to Windows 11 to continue benefiting from full driver functionality.
Launched in 2015, Windows 10 has long been a fixture of gaming and enterprise computing. With both Microsoft and major hardware partners like Nvidia shifting focus to Windows 11, the industry is signaling the end of full support for the aging platform.
“It’s the end of an era,” Donovan added. “But it’s also an opportunity for users to transition to more secure and future-ready systems.”
