stuipd noob question

[shelbyGT]

So I have never once updated my driver's for my video card or audio card. Is this something I need to do?

Do I need to update the firmware as well? Anything else? Motherboard???

I really have no clue! Just thought I'd see what you all do. This current computer is only about 4 months old, but my second one is now at a year and I want to keep it going healthy.
Thanks.

[lumis]

if its running fine, then i would leave it alone.

i'm sure there are updated drivers for my video card, but i used the ones windows provided.. i dont play PC games, so getting the best performance out of my video card isnt an issue for me.

i havent had any problems installing pci cards or memory (irq conflicts, etc), so i havent messed with the motherboard firmware..

if it aint broke, dont fix it.

[Gildas]

Hardware-wise, there is no need for any updates unless you are having problem with something. The saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is true.

Usually you will update software way more often than hardware drivers.

You can always go on the manufacturers' web sites for your harware pieces and check if thay have firmware updates that would add features to your hardware. But other than that, if everything works fine for you, you're better off doing nothing.

[shelbyGT]

The only time I updated firmware was for my dvd-writer so it could write to more media.

And no, it isn't broke. But I do play a lot of games and always see forum posts about "xxx new driver out". I just was curious.

[pfh]

Well gaming performance or lock-ups and such can often be corrected with driver updates. I've even had success with these problems by updating the BIOS and/or MoBo.

But if you are not experiencing any problems then the need is not totally justified.

[ViRaL1]

Your best best is to download the driver updates that you MIGHT need and review the release notes to see if any improvements apply to you. While I don't knock the whole 'if it ain't broke' philosophy, many times there is something to be gained without any real investment other than a couple minutes of your time.