For gaming enthusiasts, running every game seamlessly on their PC is the ultimate goal. They go beyond expectations to tune a machine capable of running a game without lags or crashes. However, there are still a few reasons that cause them to fail. Outdated drivers land at the top of that list. It may sound silly, but even a machine with the best GPU and highest RAM might struggle to launch/run a game properly if all the drivers are not current.
That is unfair, but that is just how everything works! Even in life, if your basics aren’t firm, you may be unable to finish the tasks, irrespective of how many resources you have. Similarly, drivers are the basic programs on a PC that must always be up to date to ensure all the resources work fine.
In this post, let’s dig deeper and understand the importance of keeping the PC drivers updated in a gamer’s regime. We will also identify helpful ways that can assist you in achieving an optimal state for your PC to run all the games.
Without further ado, let’s begin!
What Drivers Are Important for Running Games on a PC
Knowing that drivers are fundamentally required to run a PC properly with all the connected peripherals, it should be clear that without proper connectivity and support, you may be unable to make the most of your device.
However, you may be wondering why there are tons of drivers on a PC. Even a flash drive you connect to the system installs its driver to function properly. So, are all the drivers responsible for a proper gaming experience? Or are there any specific ones that you should pay attention to?
In simple words, we say, “Not all the drivers installed on your PC need to be involved in carrying out every heavy task, but then again, the complexity of how your PC works makes it clear that the devices and drivers are interconnected and hence interdependent.”
Some of the drivers that you must pay attention to as a gamer are –
- System Drivers (For system support and compatibility)
- Graphics Drivers/ Display Adapter Drivers
- Audio Drivers (Sound and Microphone)
- USB Controller Drivers (For external gear)
- Network Adapter Drivers (For online games)
Sure, the more devices you are involved in a game, the more drivers you will keep adding more drivers to take care of. However, these 5 are the minimum drivers you must take care of and update regularly.
Several users share issues with respective games that circle back to these drivers. Some such issues are –
- Unable to launch the game
- The game Won’t launch after pressing play
- No audio in headphones while playing a game
- Server keeps disconnecting
- Joystick not responding while playing a game
The list can go on and on. If you have encountered similar errors, you might know why it happens, seeing both the drivers and the error messages that they may trigger together.
What Happens When You Do Not Update the Drivers Regularly
So you know that drivers are important and they should be updated regularly. You are also aware of how drivers play an important role in maintaining the performance of a PC while playing games. So the only logical question is, what happens when you do not update the drivers?
Well, to clear things up for your reference, here are a few things that may bother you if the drivers are not updated regularly –
- Resource Failure – the corresponding resource to an outdated driver is that it may not perform as perfectly as it should, failing to make the most available resources.
- Errors While Launching an Application – A user may encounter errors while trying to launch an application. Sometimes, users may find uninvited issues if the system drivers are not updated.
- Affected Performance – When your drivers have recently gone outdated, they may not fully ruin your gaming experience by interrupting the application. However, it may cause lags and stutters that are even worse.
- Interrupted Features – Suppose you are in the middle of a mission, chatting in the game room, and you lost the connection out of nowhere. Not to the game; the game is working fine, but only the chat is unavailable. These are some terrible telltale signs of outdated drivers!
The issues can become so specific that you may not even realize that a driver’s failure causes them. Needless to say, the consequences of not updating your drivers can be frustrating; hence, it only makes sense to keep them drivers regularly updated. What’s more irritating is that, unlike an application that notifies you when it requires an update, the drivers do not!
There are no specific notifications related to a driver running out of date. This is all the more reason why errors related to drivers are higher.
How to Update a Driver? The Easiest Way!
So, if you do not know when to update a driver, how do you keep track of these updates? More importantly, how to update drivers on a PC regularly?
There are two ways you can go about this process –
1. You can either go the manual route, open Device Manager on your PC, check for updates manually or update them individually if available.
OR
2. You can download the Advanced Driver Updater and let the software do its job.
If you plan to go by the manual method, simply follow these steps –
Step 1 – Press Win + R to bring up the Run search.
Step 2 – Enter the command devmgmt.msc to open the Device Manager
Step 3 – In the Device Manager, you may find all the drivers listed
Step 4 – Right-click on any of them and click on Check for Updates.Step 5 – In the Windows Driver Update Utility, click on Search for updates automatically to initiate the process.
Repeat these steps individually for all the drivers, and you will be able to update the drivers manually.
On the other hand, with Advanced Driver Updater, you only have three steps to take care of –
Step 1 – Download and install the tool via the link below.
Step 2 – Run a scan to identify all the drivers running out of date.
Step 3 – Click on update all at the scan results to install the available updates automatically.
The process is automated, and the tool even allows you to set a timeline through which a series of scans can be scheduled. This way, the tool can look for updates at different intervals and instantly install them!
Surely, the Advanced Driver Updater is the easiest way to update drivers on your PC, and being a gamer, you don’t want to waste your time installing driver updates manually, right? Choose the correct tool and sort your gaming issues! Download the Advanced Driver Updater today.
Read Also: How to Fix Computer Shuts Down When Playing Games On Windows