How NVIDIA driver profiles work, and how NPI edits them

The one-minute model: four layers

Every setting has an address, a hex ID such as 0x10835002↗Copied for Frame Rate Limiter V3. The value behind it can come from four places, stacked from weakest to strongest:

1. DEFAULT (NVIDIA driver default) the driver’s built-in default, used when nothing sets the value.
2. GLOBAL (Global profile) the Global profile, which covers every program that has no value of its own.
3. NVIDIA (NVIDIA's predefined game profile) NVIDIA’s predefined value in a game’s profile, shipped with the driver.
4. YOURS (Changed by you) a value you set yourself, in the Global or a game profile.

Your value and NVIDIA’s predefined value live in the same game profile: when you change a predefined value, yours replaces it there. Use the toggle to see how the picture changes when a game has an NVIDIA profile.

The values in this diagram are an illustration: the driver default of the limiter is 0 (off), and the predefined and Global values are examples. The same four colours and labels appear across the site.

Which value does the game actually use?

NVIDIA documents the order the driver follows: the application’s profile first, then the current global profile, then the Base Profile, then the driver default. OFFICIAL · NVIDIA NVAPI docs In NVIDIA’s terms these are the locations CURRENT_PROFILE, GLOBAL_PROFILE, BASE_PROFILE and DEFAULT_PROFILE. We did not measure this in a game, so read the table as what NVIDIA’s API says, not as a benchmark.

When changes take effect

Apply Changes writes the values into the driver database. CODE · NPI 2994194 The driver picks a program’s profile when the program starts, so close a running game fully and start it again. We could not test this in a game, and NVIDIA does not document the timing in detail, so treat a restart as the safe habit rather than a measured requirement.

Global profile vs Base Profile

The database has one top profile named Base Profile. The driver also has a current global profile, which on GeForce drivers is normally the Base Profile; NVAPI can point it at another profile, which workstation drivers use. OFFICIAL · NVIDIA NVAPI docs In the old NVIDIA Control Panel, Global Settings edited the current global profile. In NPI the profile box starts on “GLOBAL DRIVER PROFILE”, and the globe button (Navigate to Global Profile) takes you back there from any game. LAB · UI · F12

Predefined, modified and custom profiles

• Predefined: a profile NVIDIA ships with the driver, with values NVIDIA chose. Driver 621.14 ships 6,563 of them covering 10,181 executables. LAB · DRIVER PACKAGE · F42
• Modified: a predefined profile in which you changed a value. NPI lists these under View Modified Profiles.
• Custom: a profile you created with New. Restoring it to defaults deletes it, because there is no predefined version to return to. CODE · NPI 2994194

12345

1. Search filter. The list is filtered by the word dlss. NPI matches names and hex IDs, so this finds every DLSS row.
2. Setting name. NPI's label for the setting. Our Settings Explorer explains each one.
3. Value in words. The current value as NPI names it: Preset M (Transformer Gen 2).
4. Raw hex value. The number NPI writes and the driver stores: 0x0000000D. A .nip file stores the same number in decimal.
5. Profile count. After the imports, the status bar counts 5 profiles. View Modified Profiles lists them.

Predefined values are widespread. NVIDIA’s package sets Frame Rate Limiter V3 in of its profiles and Resizable BAR in 74. Export decides what you carry along: “Export current profile only” saves just your changes, and “including predefined” saves every stored value. See the .nip files page.

How NPI talks to the driver

On Apply, NPI opens a session with the driver, sets the values and saves the session. If NVAPI is missing, the program stops with a clear message, because without a driver there is no database to edit. LAB · UI · F07, F08 Our lab confirmed that NVIDIA’s own NVAPI library cannot be used without an NVIDIA GPU. LAB · DRIVER PACKAGE · F40

Where the database lives

The files are in C:\ProgramData\NVIDIA Corporation\Drs. nvdrsdb0.bin and nvdrsdb1.bin hold the global and program-specific settings, and update.bin is NVIDIA’s over-the-air profile update. Dell’s support note says that renaming both database files makes the driver rebuild a default database. OFFICIAL · Dell KB 000214379

C:\ProgramData\NVIDIA Corporation\Drs\
  nvdrsdb0.bin
  nvdrsdb1.bin
  update.bin

Over-the-air profile updates

NVIDIA can refresh its predefined profiles between drivers. NPI’s status bar shows “OTA” and the time of update.bin, or “OTA unknown” when it cannot read the file. CODE · NPI 2994194 The profile changes between recent drivers are tracked on the driver updates page.

Hidden and internal settings

NPI shows more than the NVIDIA App because it reads the whole database. It pulls setting names from five sources (Common, Driver API, Driver Constants, Reference and Predefined Scan) and by default shows only the Common list. LAB · UI · F14 928 setting IDs are known to NPI and 117 are named in its common list: see the Settings Explorer. A few values NVIDIA stores in an obfuscated form are decoded by NPI so its export and scan show the real value. CODE · NPI 2994194

Who else changes your profiles

The NVIDIA App edits the same database. Its DLSS override pages (model presets, frame generation, multi frame generation) arrived with driver R570 in January 2025, and NVIDIA’s own header names the settings behind them, for example 0x10E41E01 and 0x10E41DF3. OFFICIAL · NVIDIA NVAPI header Users report the App resetting or overriding values NPI set. COMMUNITY Because both tools use one database, whichever wrote last wins; NPI vs the NVIDIA App goes through it. A normal driver update generally keeps your changes while NVIDIA refreshes its predefined profiles; a clean installation resets them. See keeping settings after a driver update.

Reading a profile in NPI: a guided example

The picture above is a populated game profile (a test file, not a recommendation). The profile box is a display state to remember: after an import it can still read “GLOBAL DRIVER PROFILE” while the rows show the imported profile. Select the profile again or press Refresh before judging what changed. LAB · UI · F27 Back in the how-to, step 4 shows how to apply a change, and the frame rate limiter page is the worked example used throughout.