In the grand pantheon of GPU history, we usually remember the titans and the disasters. We remember the GTX 480 (Fermi) for being a nuclear reactor, and the GTX 970 for its memory controversy. But rarely does anyone talk about the middle children—the mid-range chips that actually populated the majority of PCs in the early 2010s.
card, finding the "sweet spot" driver from circa 2018 is often better than trying to force the absolute last version released. Verdict: A Maintenance-Only Tool
Legacy Status: NVIDIA ended regular performance updates for Fermi-based GPUs in 2018. Critical security updates were provided through April 2020. Where to Download
The most critical fact about the GF106 driver is that NVIDIA has moved the GF106 to Legacy (End-of-Life) status.
"This graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware" If you get this error, it means the installer doesn't recognize your specific card ID (common if you are using a re-branded OEM card from Dell/HP).
Desktop: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 440 (OEM). Mobile (Laptops): GeForce GTX 460M, GT 445M, and GT 435M. Professional: NVIDIA Quadro 2000 and Quadro 2000M. Official Driver Support