Driver question

[Brandon00000]

when they release new drivers it somtimes will say 15% gain farcry 2 28% gain crysis does that continue on to the next driver or if you want that performance boost do you have to install that certain driver?

 

[r_manic]

Well, these new drivers are claimed as modified to make certain games run better, but I think that's mostly marketing IMO. Here's an article that covers the subject in more detail:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/GeForce-Catalyst-overclocking,2037.html

 

[mactronix]

when they release new drivers it somtimes will say 15% gain farcry 2 28% gain crysis does that continue on to the next driver or if you want that performance boost do you have to install that certain driver?

There is no hard and fast about it. As strangestranger says they shouldnt go backwards but unfortunatly sometimes marketing gets in the way and they will concentrate on one issue to the detriment of others.
Obviously the ideal driver would be optimised for every game that existed. That is plainly just impossable so it may turn out that last month a new game came out that used textures or shaders differantly to the top game a couple of months ago and while optimising for the here and now the older game could loose a few FPS due to the optimisation.
Its also very hard to make a driver that will get the maximum out of differant cards even if they are the same basic chip, there are differances between the HD 3 series and the HD 4 series for example which while not alot make a differance.
just take a look at the release notes on some of the drivers some claim gains with 3 series and 4 series cards while other games only see gains with the 4 series cards.

Mactronix

 

[r_manic]

Seldom do new drivers actually decrease performance. But it's happened. What would be a good rule-of-thumb guys? Personally, I only update when a game or two stop working and I find out it's because driver updates are needed.

 

[EXT64]

I normally update to the newest driver just for fun (and the placebo effect) except when I hear horror stories about the new one. For example, I heard several people having trouble with Cat. 9.4 and some games I play, so I decided to skip it at least for now.

 

[mactronix]

I treat Driver updates the same way i treat Bios updates for my motherboard.
The rule is that unless it will fix a specific problem i am having, or it brings a new feature that i feel would benefit me then i leave it well alone.
Both updates usually dont cause any issues, but they can do and i for one dont feel the need to put a perfectly stable system that is running all i want it to perfectly well at risk for the sake of a few FPS.
I have spent days in the past swapping and tweaking various drivers in search of either FPS or image quality, sometimes with startling results, but always with a reason, never just because its there.

Mactronix

 

[RazberyBandit]

+1 Mac.

I'm the same way. It's definitely a good idea to actually read driver patch notes to see if the changes address you specifically, whether it be game, DirectX, or OS related.

 

[r_manic]

I treat Driver updates the same way i treat Bios updates for my motherboard.
The rule is that unless it will fix a specific problem i am having, or it brings a new feature that i feel would benefit me then i leave it well alone.
Both updates usually dont cause any issues, but they can do and i for one dont feel the need to put a perfectly stable system that is running all i want it to perfectly well at risk for the sake of a few FPS.
I have spent days in the past swapping and tweaking various drivers in search of either FPS or image quality, sometimes with startling results, but always with a reason, never just because its there.

Mactronix

Or if ain't broke, don't fix (or "fix") it