How do you know when to update?
Friday, June 30th, 2006 - 11:29am
The other night I was graphics having problems with Guild Wars. After it happened a few times I decided that I should start things off by seeing if my video card drivers needed to be updated. Sure enough, they were due. My old drivers were over a year old.
That leads us to the title of this here thread. How do you know when to update?
My method is obviously to not pay any attention until something starts going screwy. I'm guessing that there might be a better way though.
Semper Delectatio
Xbox Live - Cannibal GWJ XFire - cannibalcrowley
Strawberry Shortcake bricked my 360 on December 17, 2008.
You could be anal and check everyday for updates like some people I know.
Go for their eyes boo
Your method is the most widely used and has worked for me all these years. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I'm not lost. I'm locationally challenged.
Spore Profile
Same here. Unless something stops working (or stops working well), I'm not going to risk updating my drivers. Half the time it causes more problems than it fixes.
IronClad Online: PurEvil
Amen and halleluiah brother. The worse is when I update windows.
Go for their eyes boo
Amen.
One of the essential laws. It's like gravity - eternal and absolutely infallible.
Panem et circenses
"You really need to smoke a tree first to appreciate that one." - Sanjuro
I'm doing it right after all then. I guess laziness does pay off sometimes.
Semper Delectatio
Xbox Live - Cannibal GWJ XFire - cannibalcrowley
Strawberry Shortcake bricked my 360 on December 17, 2008.
Yep. Particularly with Windows machines, changes always carry a certain amount of risk. Typically, the only updates you should make are security updates to keep your machine from being compromised. Other than that, only update when you have a problem. Also, starting at the current level with a new install is a good idea - skip the drivers on the CD that came with your card.
Remember: this conversation is just between you and me ... and the NSA.
MaverickDago wrote:
Why not try new drivers when they come out? I mean its not at all difficult to re-install the old drivers if things go oddly. New drivers also are usually released with optimizations for big name new releases, so its a good thing to stay on top of. Staying on top of it also isnt too hard if you keep your ear to the ground....its the little things that count.....you know, like noticing this site has a Tech Help forum
. Seriously I think last time the new NVidia drivers rolled out they were posted and linked with first hand impressions from around a dozen different goodgers in less than 24 hours. The thread is also one of the top 5 there now I believe.
But if you arent into new games (which I'm not saying is a bad thing), then you are probably just fine with older drivers.
Warrior Asherr
Hunter Ghorin
I agree with the principle of not fixing something that aint broke but nowadays drivers seem to get updated with each new big release game: This version fixes bugs in FEAR, the next version fixes bugs in Oblivion and so on. If you install a recent release game then it is worth checking to see if there are updated drivers.
On a related note - recently I have been having more problems with sound card drivers than with graphics card drivers particularly in FEAR and in the PREY demo so it is worth checking those too.
When I had my old and trusty Geforce2 GTS doing my GPU work for me, I installed every new driver wich came out. Because with every new version, the performance went up a little. It made some very nice leaps from time to time. But nowadays, with the ultra fast graphics cards and highly streamlined drivers I don't update that often under the "not broken" argument. But I do always check the changelog for the new drivers to check if there are improvements or fixes for my favorite games.
I don't watch, I interact!
We have a tech forum?
*goes and checks forum list*
By Jove he's right!
Does the Tech forum not display on the main page or something because I swear that I've never seen a single one of those threads?
My old drivers have worked just fine until Guild Wars: Factions. In the meantime I've played plenty of newer games without problems, including FEAR, Oblivion, Half Life 2, and Hitman: Blood Money.
Semper Delectatio
Xbox Live - Cannibal GWJ XFire - cannibalcrowley
Strawberry Shortcake bricked my 360 on December 17, 2008.
The tech forum doesn't get listed in the 'active threads' on the main page. I think it did for a time but threads moved off of it too fast for all forums to be useful.
Do you ever walk alone like a drifter in the dark?
Because, a good portion of the time, new drivers also break things, especially with older games. And re-installing Nvidia drivers isn't nearly as trivial as you might think -- sometimes they need to be removed by hand, because despite what the Device Manager and Add/Remove Programs says, things get left behind. Yes, I have experienced this directly, both at work and at home. Trust me, you do not want this to happen.
Remember: this conversation is just between you and me ... and the NSA.
MaverickDago wrote:
http://www.drivercleaner.net/professional.html
XBox Live|Tshirts|xfire | Last.fm
OK, for new games, you should always update to the recommended drivers. ALWAYS. Mainly because... well, they're there because the game needs them. So if you don't update, you might as well expect problems. Whereas, if you do update, you'll probably still have problems, just not with THAT game.
Now, back to my first point. I decided to update to the forceware drivers posted in the tech forum. I did that at 1820 this evening. I rolled it back at 1830. KotOR II decided it didn't like the new driver, and wasn't going to display its textures correctly. Thus proving our point, and making me feel like an idiot for updating for no good reason.
IronClad Online: PurEvil