Is it important to always have the latest graphics drivers?

[l0st]

I'm wondering, i have 29.42 driver versions for my nvidia gforce graphics card and the latest are 30.82 should i update? I dont really have any game problems...only get low fps sometimes in new generation games, so i tho maybe if i updated i'd get better fps and better performance. I have an so-so-old gforce 2 mx400 64mb...it runs any game but i cant put everything on max or it lags like a bitch. Tnx.

[ooo yahh]

no! since those lame companies dont fix bugs only.. they fix bugs and make more bugs at the same time! just try them all, and pick the one you see that it gives you best results... from 23.11 to 40.71

[Registered Abuser]

Originally posted by l0st
I dont really have any game problems...only get low fps sometimes in new generation games, so i tho maybe if i updated i'd get better fps and better performance.

Call me thick, but I have never, ever noticed a difference with framerate with different drivers (to my eye). Outside of enthusiasts who constantly feel the need to upgrade, benchmark & compare, I say it will bring you no noticeable benefit in everyday use (without busting out the benchmarks, that is).

So stick with what's working if you are having no problems. It isn't worth the time/effort most of the time, especially since Nvidia is publically releasing Detonator 40 beta revisions, officially using their customers to help fix bugs now.

[l0st]

ok tnx guys, i'm not wasting time 2 upgrade the drivers then.

[Big D.]

Well, actually guys, I do run benchmarks and tests 24/7 (estimated time only), but I still think it's good to upgrade the video drivers. But!...Having the newest ones doesn't necessarily mean having better frame rates.

There were tests done by some people which show the performance difference between a lot of diff. detonator drivers. They tested them in OpenGL and D3D games and benchmarks.

Off the top of my head, I remember that the 23.something were the best for D3D...and I think 26.something for OpenGL...I'd give you the URL with the results, but I have no idea what it was...Anyway, if you really wanna know about that, just do a little search...

In my case, the 40.71 beta drivers not only improved the vertex and pixel shader test results by a lot, but also, my frame rate is better in everyday games. In Q3, in some demo, I used to get around 127fps (1024x768x32 with everything on max) for an average, and now I get about 160 or so...So yeah, the performance went up a bit there for me, but I have a GF4 Ti, not a GF2 MX--Well, technically, I "do" have a GF2 MX, but I'm not using it anymore.

Anywho, I hear people's frame rates in D3D games actually went down with these drivers, but I'll have to check that for myself.