Graphics cards create signals displayed on a monitor. Graphics drivers link graphics cards to the operating system and should be updated for optimal performance. Manufacturers provide updates on their download sites, but NVIDIA offers a “Smart Scan” service. Intel includes IEGD drivers in embedded chipsets and provides updates on their website.
In the computer realm, graphics refer to a computer’s display system. A graphics card, also known as a video card, display card, or graphics controller, is a card that is connected to a computer to create the signals displayed on a monitor. Graphics drivers are the software that runs graphics cards, linking them to the operating system. They are different for each graphics card and are often provided by the graphics card manufacturer. It is important to keep these drivers updated to get the best performance from your computer.
The usual way to update graphics drivers is to go to the manufacturer’s download site. Here you will typically enter information such as product type, product series, product name, operating system and language, and most of this information can be found in the system profiler on your computer if you don’t know it right away. This information will be processed and will provide a list of driver updates for you to download. You might also be able to find archived drivers from older cards, as well as beta versions of drivers for testing. When you locate the appropriate drivers for your system, you download them, uninstall the old drivers, and install the new drivers.
NVIDIA®, one of the most popular graphics card vendors, provides an alternative method of obtaining graphics drivers: a “Smart Scan” service. The web-based service scans a user’s hardware and software to determine the appropriate graphics drivers for their particular computer configuration. Drivers are suggested based on information about CPU and its speed, operating system, amount of RAM (Random Access Memory), graphics and sound cards, etc. The system works with Windows® and Mac® computers and a variety of browsers.
One exception to the general rule that manufacturers provide graphics drivers for every graphics card they make is Intel®. Because Intel® includes Intel® Embedded Graphics (IEGD) drivers in embedded Intel® Architecture-based chipsets, it provides updates for the drivers. They can be found via the Intel® website or the Embedded Design Center website.
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