Is it really worth the hassle to update your video card driver?

I've always used nvidia geforce cards and they always have little upgrades for the drivers and you have to uninstall the one you have, then HOPE that the other one installs correctly before something gets messed up, etc.... is it really worth it? plus my monitor keeps "flashing" (turning off then back on for a second), how do i fix that?|||If your computer seems to be working fine, then generally speaking it isn't necessary to update the drivers. New drivers usually fix bugs and specific issues that may not even apply to you. In some cases they can also provide overall improved performance or add new features. I've found that you don't have to uninstall the old nvidia drivers before installing the new ones.



If you have a CRT monitor, then the flashing issue you're experiencing may be a sign that it's time for a new one. I've had monitors do that to me before and shortly therafter they died. You may be able to get it to stop by lowering the refresh rate or resolution or both. If you have an LCD, then I suggest contacting the manufacturer for further support.|||maybe with an upgrade, or new monitor|||Absolutely worth updating , Having the Video driver working at optimum lightens the load on the rest of the processing , the whole system will thank you . Always update the components of the system , It helps the components to agree with a wider range of software , and drivers from other hardware.|||No not really, unless you have a software that needs the update. My PC uses the same driver for two years now and i don't notice any problems, it performs well enough compared to a PC with updated drivers (i.e. same applications works well on both PCs). I don't think you don't need to update everytime a new version comes out.



Also the newer drivers do not support older video cards, i use an old Nvidia UDA 61.76 driver for TNT/Riva cards. Newer drivers does not support these cards even though Nvidia claims that they use a Universal Driver Architecture that's supposed to support all GPU models.



Your monitor "flashing" problem might be caused by incorrect or incompatible video drivers. Try uninstalling your driver and remove all traces of it in your registry (using regedit) and manually deleting driver files in c:\windows directory. BE CAREFUL YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING BEFORE YOU DO THIS. Restart your PC and have it detect you video card and install generic XP video adapter drivers. Try installing an nvidia driver which you have previously installed that does not cause "flashing." If that doesn't work your last resort is reformatting and reinstalling your OS for a clean start.