Eli5: what do graphics drivers do?

505 views

and should i be updating them?

In: 3

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Every piece of hardware in your computer speaks a different “language”. Even the same component (like a graphics card) across two different brands or generations speak slightly different languages, because they have different physical components in different places. Your drivers are the translators between all of those components. So when your computer wants to draw a game for instance on your screen, it doesn’t have to know exactly what inputs to turn on on the card and for what duration in order to get that specific brand of card to draw what it wants to draw. Instead it gives a generalized request to the driver, and then the driver translates that into the specific set of instructions for your card.

The reason to update them, is because that instruction interpretation layer gets updated semi regularly by developers, can do things like fix bugs or increase the performance of specific requests. Or even add additional instructions for specific games.

You are viewing 1 out of 4 answers, click here to view all answers.