Drivers and Computer Performance - Is There a Connection?
Drivers are an integral part of your Windows system and are necessary for the smooth and proper operation of almost all your hardware. However, there is a bit of an urban legend related to drivers, claiming that the latest drivers will also make your computer run much faster. This article will take a brief look at this myth and try to debunk it, at least in part.
The primary function of drivers is to keep all your hardware coordinated and communicating at a smooth pace. Some of your parts will need a driver to function at all, such as your audio board or your GPU. Even if you have not installed a dedicated GPU driver from your card's manufacturer, Windows has already deployed a generic GPU driver that allows your GPU to work and output your monitor's resolution and full color profile.
Driver updates, however, are not usually geared towards improving performance, but rather towards fixing bugs, compatibility issues and any dangerous exploits and security loopholes. This is the general rule of thumb, but there is one big exception.
That exception is your GPU. When it comes to your GPU or video card, your driver will often have a measurable impact on your computer's performance, especially when playing games. This impact will range, depending on a lot of factors - from the release date of the game you are playing to your GPU's raw power and compatibility, but it will almost always be there.
While your hard drive cannot magically start reading or writing faster because of a new driver and your memory sticks cannot miraculously get improved bandwidth because of a driver update, your GPU can perform different tasks faster when it comes to working with both 2D and 3D graphics.
The improvement you will experience with a new GPU driver will be most noticeable with modern games and with driver updates that are focusing specifically on improving performance in those games. Driver patch notes usually detail specific performance improvements on different compatible hardware and will give you a good idea of what you can expect before you even install the new driver.
In this sense, while every driver update means better compatibility and less chance of conflicts, crashes and issues, GPU driver updates in particular will usually bring a measurable performance boost with them. This is why it is always a great idea to check for a GPU driver update every few weeks, especially if you are using a relatively new GPU, as most big performance gains can be seen using modern hardware.
