when to update

Saturday, January 21, 2006 by BluDrgnBoi | Discussion: Personal Computing

i have read different articles thru time about when to update various drivers such as for graphics, chipset, etc., and i notice on a few of the sites it says not to update if you are not having issues..at what point would you consider a situation an issue..for some performance is considered an issue and how would you know what to compare to to know if newer drivers would be better (or worse in some cases)? i would appreciate any opinions as to how others go about their research in updating drivers and where to go find benchmarking results for various cases? thanks for any feedback!
3 Reply 4 Referrals
Island Dog
Reply #1 Saturday, January 21, 2006 2:20 PM

You are going to get different answers for your question.  Me personally I always update my drivers, bios, etc. because you never know what fixes and tweaks they put in that they do not post.


Adamness
Reply #2 Sunday, January 22, 2006 8:44 PM
I'd say the updates that are available within nine months to a year of the product release are the most important. After that, they are usually more specific bug and conflict fixes. If it affects you, then definately get it, but otherwise, just ignore it. If it's not broken, don't fix it.

Keep in mind that some new drivers can have conflict issues too. We've seen that here with some graphics cards, which need to have older drivers. If you do need to get a new driver, wait a couple weeks or a month to see if anyone has any issues.

Corky_O
Reply #3 Monday, January 23, 2006 12:11 AM

Another viewpoint.....

It will depend on a few items:

1 - Have you changed any hardware since installing the drivers, bios, etc. - that came with said hardware?

2 - Have you installed any new programs that require more functionality than is offered with the original drivers, bios, etc.?

3 - Does the "read-me" or "release notes" indicate that there has been an issue resolved that (a) affects your computer/software directly, or ( is "strongly" recommended by the manufacturer.

If you answered "No" to all three items, then updating is really not necessary, and may cause issues depending on how old the hardware is in your system.

If you answered "Yes" to any or all of the items above, then updating is a reasonable option.

The only update that must be done with caution is the "BIOS" update, where loss of power during the update will basically toast your MoBo (or at least the CMOS, which is not something that can be changed out).


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