In the realm of computers, graphics refers to the display system of a computer. A graphics card, also known as a video adapter, video card, or graphics controller, is a card that plugs into a computer to create the signals that are displayed on a monitor. Graphics drivers are the software that runs graphics cards and connects them to the operating system. They are different for each graphics card and are usually provided by the graphics card manufacturer. It is important to keep these drivers up to date to get the best performance from your computer.
A graphics card.
The usual way to update graphics drivers is to go to the manufacturer’s download site. Here you will usually 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 in a computer if no one knows right away. This information will be processed and provide a list of downloadable driver updates. You can also find archived drivers for older cards, as well as beta versions of drivers for testing. When someone finds the right drivers for your system, they download them, uninstall the old drivers, and install the new ones.
A graphics card can be used to improve gaming performance.
NVIDIA®, one of the most popular graphics card vendors, offers an alternative method of obtaining graphics drivers: a “smart scan” service. The web-based service checks the user’s hardware and software to determine the appropriate graphics drivers for a specific computer configuration. Drivers are suggested based on information about the 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® Integrated Graphics Drivers (IEGD) in chipsets based on Intel® Embedded Architecture, it provides updates for drivers. They can be found on the Intel® website or the Integrated Design Center website.
