"Don't fix it if it ain't broke..."

[looper]

Should I update my nVidia drivers to the 186.18's? I currently have the 181.22's, and everything is running great....(see our rig specs below). My son and I are gamers.

 

[Eureka]

Follow the advice in the topic title.

I don't update drivers unless I'm doing a reinstall of something, or unless it fixes a problem I need. Newer drivers also sometimes give me hiccups whereas older drivers sometimes work better.

 

[looper]

Yeah, everything is working fine. We are running Call of Duty-WaW at 1600x1200 in high-detail with great frame rates.

"I knew that..."

 

[lavaheadache]

I would update the drivers. They release new drivers for a reason. I've encountered very minimal issues when installing new drivers over the years. besides it's not like you can't undo it if it doesn't work right. I enjoy tinkering with my pc so even if there is a problem, I get to fix it =)


When you update your drivers to the 186's you'll get a better physx driver and amnient occlusion to play with. Definately worth the "trouble"

 

[looper]

lava...

Are you using the 186.18's?? (we have the same vid card)

 

[sandorski]

Chances are that nothing bad will happen, but occassionally something does happen and you'll rue the day you were born.

 

[looper]

sandorski

Been there, done that...HATE THAT...

 

[PurdueRy]

I always update. Always will.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
I always update. Always will.

Me too. Seldom have I ever had things break that were working, but I've definitely had issues get fixed. I used to grab betas too, but now I tend to stick with WHQL unless there is a beta or hotfix that addresses a specific issue that I have.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I follow the title advice for all drives and BIOS updates. If I'm not having a problem, why should I change a working combination?

If driver-new has fixes for some game that I'm playing and having issues with then it falls into the problem category, but going from 80 to 85 fps isn't worth potentially adding new problems.

 

[videogames101]

It's easy enough to safe mode then remove new drivers and install old ones if you run into problems, so I always update.

 

[Eureka]

Its not always a performance increase. Sometimes you may even get performance decreases, depending on the drivers. Not to mention, you have to go through the hassle of uninstalling, rebooting, installing, rebooting, etc.

And if you're not rebooting at every step, you're not doing it properly!

 

[sandorski]

Sometimes things work perfectly fine, but Updates improve Performance for certain Apps one might use. In those cases it's also a good idea to Update.

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
I always update. Always will.

 

[Trevelyan]

Honestly, I think it depends.

I have an X1800XT, so by now its a couple years old, so I don't update drivers for it, unless there is a problem with a game. More than likely there is no way to get more performance, and new drivers aren't going to be optimized for older cards...

 

[lavaheadache]

Originally posted by: looper
lava...

Are you using the 186.18's?? (we have the same vid card)

yeah I'm using them... they work great too. no problems.

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

There was a blog entry or something on the main page of AT where the 181.** drivers had like a 5fps advantage at resolutions of 1680x1050 and lower over the 186.** drivers because of tuning from Nvidia which optimized for higher resolutions. B/C of that (and since I'm not gaming in 90*F ambients anytime soon) I'm still on the 181.**, although I do want to toy with ambient occlusion...

 

[looper]

alkaline...

Hmm...

So, you're saying the new 186's may be better for higher resolutions...(we run at 1600x1200)...?

 

[Atechie]

Originally posted by: Eureka
Its not always a performance increase. Sometimes you may even get performance decreases, depending on the drivers. Not to mention, you have to go through the hassle of uninstalling, rebooting, installing, rebooting, etc.

And if you're not rebooting at every step, you're not doing it properly!

You are doing it wrong.
Install the driver(NVIDIA) and they will unstall the old drivers at the same time....don't spread FUD based on ignorance.

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

I SWEAR I read this on an AT post...I can't find it though so really you'd be going off some guy on a forum saying the new drivers reduce FPS.

Your rez is similar to mine from a total pixels perspective and so most likely would see the reduction, but again there is the option of Ambient Occlusion which has a significant effect in games which use lots of shadows, Crysis in particular. Googling ambient occlusion should give you some nice examples...OH SNAP I FOUND IT.

AT article with mention of new drivers.

From that article it looks like any graphic cards driving a screen that is at a resolution of under 2560x1600 will have a bump down in FPS produced. This *MIGHT* be less present in the 186.** drivers, but this is nonetheless an issue which has made me hesitate before I update.

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

Originally posted by: Atechie

Originally posted by: Eureka
Its not always a performance increase. Sometimes you may even get performance decreases, depending on the drivers. Not to mention, you have to go through the hassle of uninstalling, rebooting, installing, rebooting, etc.

And if you're not rebooting at every step, you're not doing it properly!

You are doing it wrong.
Install the driver(NVIDIA) and they will unstall the old drivers at the same time....don't spread FUD based on ignorance.

He's right if you're swapping video cards, even if changing from an Nvidia to a different Nvidia. Driver updates do however take care of the uninstallation.