diff --git a/doc/variables.xml b/doc/variables.xml
index 5e504146..54cf910e 100644
--- a/doc/variables.xml
+++ b/doc/variables.xml
@@ -1454,12 +1454,25 @@
 		</term>
 		<listitem>
 			Nvidia graficcard support for the XNVCtrl library.
-			Each option gives back one integer value:
-			(threshold): the thresholdtemperature at which the gpu slows down
-			(temp): gives the gpu current temperature
-			(gpufreq): gives the current gpu frequency
-			(memfreq): gives the current mem frequency
-			(imagequality): which imagequality should be choosen by OpenGL applications
+			Each option can be shortened to the least significant part.
+			Temperatures are printed as float, all other values as integer.
+			<simplelist>
+				<member><command>threshold</command>:
+					the thresholdtemperature at which the gpu slows down
+				</member>
+				<member><command>temp</command>:
+					gives the gpu current temperature
+				</member>
+				<member><command>gpufreq</command>:
+					gives the current gpu frequency
+				</member>
+				<member><command>memfreq</command>:
+					gives the current mem frequency
+				</member>
+				<member><command>imagequality</command>:
+					which imagequality should be choosen by OpenGL applications
+				</member>
+			</simplelist>
 			<para></para>
 		</listitem>
 	</varlistentry>
diff --git a/src/conky.c b/src/conky.c
index c53063f2..e432aef8 100644
--- a/src/conky.c
+++ b/src/conky.c
@@ -4022,24 +4022,11 @@ static struct text_object *construct_text_object(const char *s,
 			}
 #ifdef NVIDIA
 		END OBJ(nvidia, 0)
-			if (!arg){
-				CRIT_ERR("nvidia needs one argument "
-						"[temp,threshold,gpufreq,memfreq,imagequality]");
-			} else {
-				if (strcmp(arg, "temp") == 0)
-					obj->data.nvidia.type = NV_TEMP;
-				else if (strcmp(arg, "threshold") == 0)
-					obj->data.nvidia.type = NV_TEMP_THRESHOLD;
-				else if (strcmp(arg, "gpufreq") == 0)
-					obj->data.nvidia.type = NV_GPU_FREQ;
-				else if (strcmp(arg, "memfreq") == 0)
-					obj->data.nvidia.type = NV_MEM_FREQ;
-				else if (strcmp(arg, "imagequality") == 0)
-					obj->data.nvidia.type = NV_IMAGE_QUALITY;
-				else
-					CRIT_ERR("you have to give one of these arguments "
-							"[temp,threshold,gpufreq,memfreq,imagequality");
-				strncpy((char*)&obj->data.nvidia.arg, arg, 20);
+			if (!arg) {
+				CRIT_ERR("nvidia needs an argument\n");
+			} else if (set_nvidia_type(&obj->data.nvidia, arg)) {
+				CRIT_ERR("nvidia: invalid argument"
+				         " specified: '%s'\n", arg);
 			}
 #endif /* NVIDIA */
 		END {
@@ -6321,13 +6308,14 @@ head:
 			}
 #ifdef NVIDIA
 			OBJ(nvidia) {
-				int hol = (strcmp((char*)&obj->data.nvidia.arg, "gpufreq")) ? 1 : 0;
-				if(!(obj->data.nvidia.value = get_nvidia_value(obj->data.nvidia.type, display, hol)))
-					snprintf(p, p_max_size, "value unavailible");
+				int value = get_nvidia_value(obj->data.nvidia.type, display);
+				if(value == -1)
+					snprintf(p, p_max_size, "N/A");
+				else if (obj->data.nvidia.print_as_float &&
+						value > 0 && value < 100)
+					snprintf(p, p_max_size, "%.1f", (float)value);
 				else
-					spaced_print(p, p_max_size, "%*d", 4, "nvidia",
-							     4, obj->data.nvidia.value);
-
+					snprintf(p, p_max_size, "%d", value);
 			}
 #endif /* NVIDIA */
 
diff --git a/src/conky.h b/src/conky.h
index 21728775..ba429f30 100644
--- a/src/conky.h
+++ b/src/conky.h
@@ -449,11 +449,4 @@ char *get_apm_battery_time(void);
 #include "hddtemp.h"
 #endif /* HDDTEMP */
 
-/* in nvidia.c */
-#ifdef NVIDIA
-
-int get_nvidia_value(QUERY_ID qid, Display *dpy, int highorlow);
-
-#endif /* NVIDIA */
-
 #endif
diff --git a/src/nvidia.c b/src/nvidia.c
index 432ce3ea..59659a55 100644
--- a/src/nvidia.c
+++ b/src/nvidia.c
@@ -28,16 +28,44 @@
 
 #include "nvidia.h"
 
-int get_nvidia_value(QUERY_ID qid, Display *dpy, int highorlow){
+int get_nvidia_value(QUERY_ID qid, Display *dpy){
 	int tmp;
 	if(!XNVCTRLQueryAttribute(dpy, 0, 0, qid, &tmp)){
-		return 0;
-	} else if (qid == NV_GPU_FREQ){
-		if (highorlow == 1)
-			return tmp >> 16;
-		else
-			return tmp & 0x0000FFFF;
-	} else
-		return tmp;
+		return -1;
+	}
+	/* FIXME: when are the low 2 bytes of NV_GPU_FREQ needed? */
+	if (qid == NV_GPU_FREQ)
+		return tmp >> 16;
+	return tmp;
 }
 
+int set_nvidia_type(struct nvidia_s *nvidia, const char *arg)
+{
+	if (!arg || !arg[0] || !arg[1])
+		return 1;
+
+	nvidia->print_as_float = 0;
+	switch(arg[0]) {
+		case 't':                              // temp or threshold
+			nvidia->print_as_float = 1;
+			if (arg[1] == 'e')
+				nvidia->type = NV_TEMP;
+			else if (arg[1] == 'h')
+				nvidia->type = NV_TEMP_THRESHOLD;
+			else
+				return 1;
+			break;
+		case 'g':                              // gpufreq
+			nvidia->type = NV_GPU_FREQ;
+			break;
+		case 'm':                              // memfreq
+			nvidia->type = NV_MEM_FREQ;
+			break;
+		case 'i':                              // imagequality
+			nvidia->type = NV_IMAGE_QUALITY;
+			break;
+		default:
+			return 1;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/nvidia.h b/src/nvidia.h
index 9dfffe9b..9b2fe2ae 100644
--- a/src/nvidia.h
+++ b/src/nvidia.h
@@ -27,12 +27,12 @@
  */
 
 
-#include <X11/Xlib.h>
-#include <NVCtrl/NVCtrlLib.h>
-
 #ifndef NVIDIA_CONKY_H
 #define NVIDIA_CONKY_H
 
+#include <X11/Xlib.h>
+#include <NVCtrl/NVCtrlLib.h>
+
 typedef enum _QUERY_ID {
 	NV_TEMP = NV_CTRL_GPU_CORE_TEMPERATURE,
 	NV_TEMP_THRESHOLD = NV_CTRL_GPU_CORE_THRESHOLD,
@@ -43,9 +43,11 @@ typedef enum _QUERY_ID {
 
 struct nvidia_s {
 	int interval;
-	int value;
-	char arg[20];
+	int print_as_float;
 	QUERY_ID type;
 };
 
+int get_nvidia_value(QUERY_ID qid, Display *dpy);
+int set_nvidia_type(struct nvidia_s *, const char *);
+
 #endif