Do drivers actually boost performance?

[Trooper110]

A good look at drivers from Tom's Hardware.

Do New Drivers Really Boost Performance? : Madness And Myth, Or Hidden Performance? - Tom's Hardware

[Hammy]

Why is it that all these reviews are published in the same format that makes me wonder if they know what they are talking about, or, simply selling the products via the article?

Reference: AnandTech: your source for hardware analysis and news and Sharky Extreme

These two other resources have been doing this since 1997 or before. Very similar presentation. And you know what, they are notorious for featuring articles and comparisons on products you can buy via one of their online stores or vendor-partner referral ads.

~Hammy

[Trooper110]

Eh, I don't pay attention to the products for the most part unless I'm looking for specific information on a specific product, I just like the read on the whole thing.

[juneau]

I read a very interesting insight into drivers a short while ago. When a driver is released that gives minimal boosts it's more than likely that the driver has been optimised since the games released. However, when i game recieves a massive boost, 10FPS or so, it's because they cheat. They manipulate the way the driver handles certain aspects of games to cut corners. This includes reduced texture quality.

Nvidia got hit with this sometime not too long ago iirc.

[Murder Simulator]

Good reading material.