Driver tuning: Tickling better performance out of graphics cards

By Philipp Laage Aug 15, 2010, 12:21 GMT

Munich - Hardware runs best only when the right software is in place. This is especially true for graphics cards. They can't really get up to full performance unless the user has the most current drivers installed - not always an easy endeavour.

Current drivers can increase the performance of the graphics card and help eliminate errors. They're also mandatory for using the more exotic functions on the graphics card, such as controlling multiple

monitors or encoding videos. 'Many users don't realise that a card coming onto the market right now will run 20 per cent faster a year from now if the right driver support is in place, and will have ten new features as well,' says Terry Makedon, director of driver development at graphics card chipmaker AMD.

Keeping the cards running at peak speed is primarily of importance for gamers, who want the latest computer games to run smoothly. 'Anyone with just the standard Windows drivers will at least have an image on the monitor to work with,' explains Michael Schmelzle from German computer magazine PC-Welt.

Skip the update to the current and correct drivers and you'll have more than just jerky games to worry about. For computers with multiple graphics cards or chips, the worst case scenario is a situation where only one card works, explains Jens Neuschaefer, product manager at graphic chip maker Nvidia.

The complexity of updating drivers depends largely on which operating system is being used. The process is automatic for Windows 7, Schmelzle explains. The system suggests new graphics card drivers and provides a link to the driver download page. 'The update process is semi-automated for Vista, with more clicks required,' he notes. XP users need to search the internet for the current graphics card drivers on their own.

The golden rule: Old drivers should be removed before the new drivers are installed. 'Otherwise orphaned files can cause problems,' Schmelzle says. This threat is particularly acute if external tools are used instead of system tools to remove the files. In some cases that can lead to a mix of old and new drivers. 'That could lead to crashes in applications and games,' says Schmelzle.

The biggest problem comes when the user installs a new graphics card made by a different manufacturer from the card it replaced, Schmelzle says. In Windows XP, this often causes the monitor to go black, because the system doesn't know how to address the card when it runs through its boot-up process.

To avoid these problems, Schmelzle says you should first delete the old drivers and then restart the machine. Windows then installs the standard graphics drivers. Once that is finished, the old card can be switched out and the new drivers installed. Users running Windows 7 don't have to worry about these procedures, Schmelzle reports.

In a pinch, try starting Windows in 'safe mode' by pressing F8 when the computer boots up. The old graphics card drivers can then be uninstalled, since safe mode loads generic graphics drivers and bypasses any vendor-specific ones, explains Makedon, the AMD developer. The safe mode then allows for the standard VGA drivers and finally the new graphics card drivers to be installed.