Confused about GPU drivers-

Hey I'm a bit ashamed to say this, but I don't really understand all the issues surrounding graphics cards and drivers. In my experience with computers, you got the GPU that came with the computer, loaded up a game, and off you went. What I don't understand is why many people keep talking about 'installing new drivers' for their computers. Is it simply because they have obsolete GPUs and are trying to optimize them through newer, updated drivers?

In my case, I am awaiting the arrival of my Sager NP5790. It is coming with a Go 7950 GTX GPU. I am assuming that the computer will have all the necessary drivers for this GPU, correct? Or will I have to manually scavenge the internet to find the appropriate driver? Mind you that this will be on Vista OS, if that makes any difference. I'm hoping that I'm just being too anxious, and that the laptop will arrive ready to go, as with all my prior computers!

Any help is greatly appreciated, and do excuse my computer noobishness.
Thanks,
GEJ.

 

If you don't have drivers you won't be able to use the device. For example, if you don't have audio drivers, you will get no sound. The drivers for the video cards are constantly updated online and you will want the latest ones cause they significantly affect new games on the market as the engineers at Nvidia and ATI are developing new ways to optimize code to run games run more efficiently using the specified hardware.

 

OK. That makes sense. So in the future, say in 3-6 months, I will search the internet for updated drivers for the 7950 GTX.

But when the computer arrives, will graphics and audio drivers be installed? Or will I have to install them myself? And then from where should I find the drivers, because I presume only Nvidia will have an official driver for their video cards...

 

You can read over the wikipedia article on it to get more information about it.

Your computer needs to have the drivers installed to recognize the device you're trying to use. Like Destin said, if you have a sound card installed without the drivers your computer won't know how to use it.
This is true for most things that your computer connects to.

Your new computer from Sager will come with the drivers for the video card installed. The thing to remember is that it might not be the most up to date drivers. Keep in mind that companies that make video cards (Nvidia and ATI) are always working on newer drivers. This is to optimize the performance of the device. This is especially true since Windows Vista is a new operating system and Nvidia is trying to write the best drivers for it.

So once you get your computer it will run fine and you'll be able to play games on it. It is worth looking for the newest drivers (you can just look on Nvidia's webpage for them) to see if yours are up to date. The most up to date drivers will give you the best performance.

Drivers will be installed for everything in your computer. Your computer will be ready to run once you take it out of the box.
You'll find the drivers on Nvidia's webpage. A quick google search will usually give you a link to the drivers for any device. You can also check Sager's website, since they have a section where you can download the drivers they use on new machines.

 

Hey thanks a lot for your help guys. I will go driver searching after I finally get my laptop!

 

No problem.
Enjoy your new laptop when you get it. It'll be a great machine.

 

i dont know if i am adding useful information or not- but i would just like to note that most drivers are released with much less frequency than gpu drivers. you will probably end up changing them a lot. you will always want to have the newest drivers, as each new driver tends to increase both stability and performance, especially in newly released games.

drivers, quite simply, dictate how the hardware interacts with software.

 

Also keep in mind that newer drivers are not always the best, and can sometimes negatively impact performance. It really depends on what you are trying to run.

Updating any driver can be a "hit or miss" thing.