What are graphics drivers? How to update graphics drivers in Windows 10?
Jun. 16, 2022 / Updated by Gavin to Windows 10
What is a graphics driver?
Graphics driver is the program used to drive the graphics card. It is a software corresponding to the hardware. For better understanding, you can regard the graphics driver as a "system intermediary", which is used to help the Windows operating system to recognize, understand, translate to drive the existence of an external graphics card (known as external GPU card or external video card) to work properly.
How many kinds of graphics card drivers are there?
Generally speaking, graphics card drivers are divided into integrated graphics card drivers and independent graphics card drivers. The most common ones are Intel integrated graphics card drivers and NVIDIA independent graphics card drivers.
NVIDIA graphics drivers can only be used for NVIDIA graphics cards.
Intel graphics drivers can only be used for Intel graphics cards.
The difference between Intel CPU integrated graphics card and NVIDIA external graphics card:
1, CPU integrated graphics card means integrated inside the CPU Chips, such as the integrated graphics card built in the i3/i5/i7.
2, External graphics cards are those that are not welded together with the CPU or motherboard and exist independently, such as the GTX and RTX series.
3, The techs of external graphics card technology are newer than the CPU integrated graphics card, and the the former has far better performance than the latter.
Does the computer come with a graphics card driver?
In most cases, a computer does not have a corresponding driver for external graphics cards. After a Windows operating system is installed, the screen can be displayed normally, but it does not mean that the external graphics chip has been recognized by the system. At this time, the computer is using your CPU driver for displaying , which is just a base driver that comes with Windows, providing only base display functions, with poor color and resolution performance. Not to mention a better performance for playing 3A games.
Is it really necessary to update graphics drivers in Windows 10?
No matter for work or entertainment, no matter what external graphics cards you use, it is necessary to update graphics drivers in Windows 10. Especially every time the official graphics card manufacturers release a new official version of the cards. For the graphics card from the major manufacturers like NVIDIA and AMD, it would be more needful to update graphics drivers right the first time.
What happens if the windows system does not update the graphics card driver?
1. Generally the driver that comes with the system update can not play the full performance of the hardware. You need to constantly update the driver to play the full performance of the graphics card.
2. Within a period of time after the release of a new graphics card, the manufacturer will continue to update the driver. New drivers may solve some bugs, or provide better support and optimization of certain software. So the graphics card can play in a variety of environments to maximize performance.
3. For some high-end graphics cards, driver updates can better support new game patches. Many new games cannot launch successfully without updating the graphics driver, such as the Battlefield series, which requires an update to the latest graphics driver to play.
4. Some players will find that graphics drivers keep crashing when video game is running. That is most likely the driver is not compatible.
The advantage for updating NVIDIA graphics drivers in Windows 10
Normally a new driver version is the result of the hard work of many engineers night and day and the mixture of the new tech coming as time goes by. By updating NVIDIA graphics drivers, you can get:
1. An updated driver version often means fixing many bugs discovered in the last version, even if the bugs do not appear on your computer--they might just be temporary.
2. An updated driver version can further explore the performance of the GPU for smoother FPS(frames per second) and sharper resolution when playing 3A games.
How to properly install and update the graphics card driver in Windows 10?
After re-installing the system, the first thing you should do is to install the correct drivers, including the graphics card driver. However, you may encounter the problem of installation failure, and it happens a lot. The installation of the driver requires certain methods and operating steps, otherwise, it may lead to a failed status.
Manual method:
1. For some graphics cards, you need to set the relevant items in the BIOS to ensure the correct installation of the graphics card drivers.
2. Driver installation needs to be done in a certain order, otherwise it may also lead to installation failure.
3. In some cases, you need to install the motherboard patch to better adapt the graphics card driver.
4. It is worth noting that the graphics card driver installation error may also occur when the graphics card is not installed in place. So when installing the graphics card, be sure to pay attention to whether the graphics card is fully inserted into the corresponding slot or not.
Automated method:
Actually, for many ordinary computer users, we may find out we have neither time nor skills to update graphics drivers including NVIDIA graphics drivers and AMD graphics drivers. Thus an automated method sounds like a good way.
Lets take Driver Talent as an example:
Step 1. Click "Download Now" or go to Driver Talent Official Website to download Drive Talent Newest Edition.
Download and install Driver Talent on your PC.
Step 2. After downloading and installing, run it and click "Scan", then it will check and find out the missing graphics drivers automatically, as well as other drivers needed to be updated.
Step 3. Click “Update”, then wait for Driver Talent to automatically finish the installation job.
Step 4. Restart the computer in "Start Menu" to make the updated driver take effect.
We have known the importance of installing and updating the graphics drivers. In most cases, a driver manage tool can solve 99% of the driver problem easily.
|
ExplorerMax |
|
Driver Talent for Network Card | |
| Smart and advanced file explorer tool for Windows platforms | Download & Install Network Drivers without Internet Connection | |||
| 30-day Free Trial | Free Download |
