The Golden Rule of Drivers: If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It
Before you go obsessing about up-to-date drivers, you should note that, while we always recommend you keep your software updated for security and stability, drivers are another matter. While you should keep an eye on any security updates that pop up, different driver versions can introduce stability problems, so if your hardware is working as expected, you're better off notupdating, since you never know when it might cause problems. You'll rarely get big speed or feature boosts from a driver update, so unless you see in the release notes that there's something big, you're usually okay to just ignore it.
Instead, only update your drivers if you're having a problem with your hardware. Say your ethernet connection drops occasionally, or your printer isn't printing properly. In this case, one of the first troubleshooting steps you should take is to update the driver, since these issues may be fixed in a new update.
The main exception to this rule is video drivers. Unlike other drivers, video drivers are updated often and usually with big performance increases, especially in new games. Heck, a
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Log in or register now. increased Skyrim performance by 45%, and the
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Log in or register now. increased its performance by another 20%. If you're a Skyrim player, that's a huge boost. So, when you see that your video card has a new driver available, see what improvements the driver offers—if it offers system-wide performance improvements or improvements in a game you're currently playing, you'll definitely want to update. If it doesn't, stick with the current driver.