Regularly updating graphics card drivers
Updating graphics card drivers is something that many internet cafe owners forget or neglect to do. If something’s not broken, why fix it, right? If you are operating a business that relies on computers, especially an internet cafe, it is a bit risky to tinker with it. That’s why most problems you see being posted in Help Forums are about non working computers. Most internet cafe owners only take action when a computer only breaks down.
So don’t follow that old motto all the time. If an internet cafe computer is not broken, tweak it!
There is almost zero chance that you can wreck your graphics or video card due to the updating of drivers. Specially if you use the official drivers available at their respective sites — see links for AMD or Radeon and for GeForce or NVIDIA. It’s also very easy to do with just 3 basic steps. Step 1: Download the correct driver , Step 2: Install the downloaded driver, Step 3: Reboot.
Why Bother? Why update your graphics card driver
How about a performance increase of anywhere between 10% to 20%? Is that enough motivation for you? I recently updated two units with NVIDIA GT 1030 graphics cards. Both units have AMD Processors and 4GB DD3 memory. Computer # 1 has an A4-6300 APU and Computer # 2 has an A6-3500 APU. I stalled Novabench on both computers to record the GPU scores before and after updating the drivers. You can download Novabench HERE.
Before Updating, below are the Novabench results for GPU testing.
Any performance increase specially for an aging unit is worth the effort. An increase in performance specially for graphic cards can spell the difference between a lag infested game and a smooth game play. Before do a hardware upgrade by buying additional RAM or installing a higher model graphics card. I suggest that you update all the drivers first so that you can squeeze the maximum mi-ultimo performance from your computers.
A bit of a side note: I was not able to run FortNite on my A4/A6 GT 1030 units. The game loads up to the air drop sequence but hangs during the first minute of actual gameplay. Now, after updating, FortNite actually runs semi smoothly — still not an gamer worthy experience. But, that’s clear evidence that driver updates do make a difference (sorry I forgot to take screenshots on the before and after game play).
You’ve never updated a computer driver? Need help in updating your graphic card drivers? Here’s a simple step by step guide for your first Do It Yourself driver update.
STEP 1: Identify your Graphics Card or GPU. This can be done multiple ways. You can download and use a 3rd party software like Speccy or GPU-Z. You can also utilize Window’s DXDIAG function. To access this, click on the Windows button or ribbon on the bottom left of your screen. Look for the search bar then write DXDIAG. Click on the program and it will show you the GPU details.
STEP 2: Now that you have the GPU model. Look for the latest drivers online.
That’s it! I hope this helps.
Updating graphics card drivers is something that many internet cafe owners forget or neglect to do. If something’s not broken, why fix it, right? If you are operating a business that relies on computers, especially an internet cafe, it is a bit risky to tinker with it. That’s why most problems you see being posted in Help Forums are about non working computers. Most internet cafe owners only take action when a computer only breaks down.
So don’t follow that old motto all the time. If an internet cafe computer is not broken, tweak it!
There is almost zero chance that you can wreck your graphics or video card due to the updating of drivers. Specially if you use the official drivers available at their respective sites — see links for AMD or Radeon and for GeForce or NVIDIA. It’s also very easy to do with just 3 basic steps. Step 1: Download the correct driver , Step 2: Install the downloaded driver, Step 3: Reboot.
Why Bother? Why update your graphics card driver
How about a performance increase of anywhere between 10% to 20%? Is that enough motivation for you? I recently updated two units with NVIDIA GT 1030 graphics cards. Both units have AMD Processors and 4GB DD3 memory. Computer # 1 has an A4-6300 APU and Computer # 2 has an A6-3500 APU. I stalled Novabench on both computers to record the GPU scores before and after updating the drivers. You can download Novabench HERE.
Before Updating, below are the Novabench results for GPU testing.
- Computer #1 A4-6300 with NVIDIA GT 1030 – the GPU Score is 323 and the Frame per Second (FPS) count is 31.
- Computer #2 A6-3500 with NVIDIA GT 1030 – the GPU Score is 307 and the Frame per Second (FPS) count is 29.
- Computer #1 A4-6300 with NVIDIA GT 1030 – the GPU Score is 347 and the Frame per Second (FPS) count is 34.
- Computer #2 A6-3500 with NVIDIA GT 1030 – the GPU Score is 379 and the Frame per Second (FPS) count is 38.
- Computer # 1: Increase of FPS from 31 to 34 represents a 8.8% increase
- Computer # 2: Increase of FPS from 29 to 38 represents a 23.6% increase
Any performance increase specially for an aging unit is worth the effort. An increase in performance specially for graphic cards can spell the difference between a lag infested game and a smooth game play. Before do a hardware upgrade by buying additional RAM or installing a higher model graphics card. I suggest that you update all the drivers first so that you can squeeze the maximum mi-ultimo performance from your computers.
A bit of a side note: I was not able to run FortNite on my A4/A6 GT 1030 units. The game loads up to the air drop sequence but hangs during the first minute of actual gameplay. Now, after updating, FortNite actually runs semi smoothly — still not an gamer worthy experience. But, that’s clear evidence that driver updates do make a difference (sorry I forgot to take screenshots on the before and after game play).
You’ve never updated a computer driver? Need help in updating your graphic card drivers? Here’s a simple step by step guide for your first Do It Yourself driver update.
STEP 1: Identify your Graphics Card or GPU. This can be done multiple ways. You can download and use a 3rd party software like Speccy or GPU-Z. You can also utilize Window’s DXDIAG function. To access this, click on the Windows button or ribbon on the bottom left of your screen. Look for the search bar then write DXDIAG. Click on the program and it will show you the GPU details.
STEP 2: Now that you have the GPU model. Look for the latest drivers online.
- For NVIDIA or GeForce GPUs, check their HERE.
- For AMD or Radeon GPUs, check their HERE.
- For Intel HD GPUs, check HERE
That’s it! I hope this helps.
