How to

How To Install Or Update NVIDIA Drivers

Driver installation was always necessary but, thanks to technological advances, this technique has fortunately gotten a great deal easier. The majority of the time, Windows 10 (and some earlier versions) will automatically start the installation wizard upon booting the PC with new hardware, but if you prefer to have more control over the process, this guide is for you.

With just how Nvidia has been consistently dominant over their chief competitor AMD, it’s no real surprise that an average user would want an Nvidia graphics card for his or her PC. Although things might be changing, Nvidia is still a safer choice.

Even though the appeal of purchasing a new GPU is real, there’s more to it than simply setting up the case, plugging in the card and playing your chosen game.

Also read: How To Fix NVIDIA Control Panel Missing Issue

Exactly like AMD, Nvidia offers two alternatives for how to install or update your graphics card drivers :

  1. GeForce Experience – A less strenuous choice involving the two. It’s interesting to note this Nvidia GPU companion software doesn’t only keep your drivers up to date, but provides a host of additional options, specifically created for gamers.
  2. Manually Installing The Drivers – Most modern PC users won’t be acquainted with this method, but older gamers will surely remember how many times an in-game graphical glitch was solved by searching the state website for drivers and learning they haven’t been updated for a while.

GeForce Experience

Even though GeForce Experience is relatively straight-forward and easy to use, there are still some prerequisites when installing your drivers by using this software.

Before installing your Nvidia drivers in this way, you’ll need to know if you’re upgrading from an AMD card or an Nvidia one. This really is important because sometimes different drivers will leave certain excess data in the system’s registry, that could cause some issues.

Step 0: Uninstalling The Previous Drivers

If you’re switching from an AMD GPU, it’s necessary to delete its drivers. You can certainly do this by going to Control Panel, then click Add or Remove Programs. When the brand new window opens up and the set of programs is displayed, you should select AMD Software.

It is recommended that, furthermore to deleting AMD software in this way, you still download a helpful app called Display Driver Uninstaller and run it from Safe Mode.

This may ensure that every last little bit of AMD software that may mess with your Nvidia drivers is wholly taken from your PC. When utilizing DDU, you may use the Clean and Restart option as lagging drivers will be automatically wiped off your PC before restarting it.

At this point, your machine will run in a low resolution and you will have to install drivers like that. The good news is that at the least now, you have ensured a clean installation.

If you’re upgrading upon an Nvidia card, then uninstalling the prior drivers won’t be necessary.

Step 1: Preparing For The Installation

This probably goes without saying, in order to install drivers for the GPU, you’ll need to have the executable files on your PC. The best way to get the newest Nvidia software (or specific drivers for that matter) is to go to Nvidia’s website.

In this, we’re looking at the driver installation via the GeForce Experience program which you may get here.

When you have downloaded GeForce Experience, fire it up and you may get started.

Step 2: Installing The Drivers

After starting Nvidia’s software, you’ll first be asked to join to your Nvidia account. 

Of course, if you do not have an account you can create one making use of your social media marketing credentials or inputting your details manually. Either way, after having a simple registration section, you’ll be taken to the home page of Experience.

There, you will dsicover a list of games you have installed on your PC and you will be given the choice to optimize their performance by altering visual specifications after clicking the ‘Details’button.

However, we are more interested in the ‘ Drivers ‘tab in the top of left-hand corner of the window. After clicking it, you will be given the choice of an express installation or even a custom one.

The Express Installation will ask no questions and take no prisoners. It will automatically find out what drivers you’ll need and will install them without prompt. It’s important to note that through the installation process your screen will turn black for a couple of seconds and there’s no reason to worry – this really is standard display driver-installing procedure.

On another hand, the Custom Installation will offer you additional options, but they’re created for stuff that isn’t necessary for the smooth running of one’s graphics card. You will also be offered a ‘clean installation‘ option which restores all settings to default and removes any profiles that you may have created.

After the process (which is identical to the express installation process) is completed, you will have your Nvidia graphics card drivers create and will be able to play your chosen video games. 

Manually Installing The Drivers

The method of deleting your previous card’s drivers is the identical here. As it was explained step-by-step within the last section, we won’t be explaining it again.

The difference between both of these installation methods is that here you will have to manually pick the drivers for the graphics card from the Nvidia website.

The selection of the right driver is simple enough, but let’s undergo it really to be safe.

The ‘Product Type’you most likely want is ‘GeForce ‘, but if you’re planning to game on a Titan card, you should choose that. The ‘Legacy’option will provide you with access to display drivers from 20 years ago, which we assume you’d only want out of pure academic curiosity.

‘Product Series’will decide which actual product options you are certain to get in the next thing, so it’s important to know where series your GPU comes from.

Side note: ‘Product’refers to the particular name of one’s graphics card. Also, if you got a GPU with an alternative manufacturer prefix, say MSI or EVGA, you simply need to find the particular model name and you’re good to go.

‘Operating System’should be your operating system, provided you will find it in the drop-down menu. Or even, then there is possible your PC won’t be able to run the drivers , in that case you employ a different problem on your hands. 

The ‘Language’option simply refers to the language you wish to use through the installation.

The important option is the ‘Download Type ‘. Here you’re offered either ‘Game Ready Driver ‘or even a ‘Studio Driver ‘.

GRD is better if you intend to use your graphics card on the newest games so you may get the newest driver updates. SD is intended for people who use their graphics cards for more professional purposes like 3D modelling or video rendering. Because case, that you don’t really need the newest drivers as they turn out and you is only going to use stable updates.

When you’ve found your graphics card’s driver , you’ll be taken to a download page from where you are able to download and install the drivers from the executable file from your own file system.

When you run the file, you will be prompted with a destination location for the installation and the default path will already be selected. After you decide on your desired path, the installation wizard will run and install your drivers and you’re all set to play your video games.

How To Reinstall Nvidia Drivers

Many people believe the necessity for driver re-installation is just a relic of a bygone era, but it’s best to cover your bases in the event you’re experiencing slowdowns or stuttering in your games.

Just like the installation process, you have two options on how to reinstall the drivers.

With all the GeForce Experience you will be offered the choice in the ‘ Drivers ‘tab. It’s never as obvious as we’d have liked, but it’s not too hard to find.

In the top of left-hand corner of the tab, you will dsicover a notification that you have the newest drivers installed and the precise version of the driver displayed immediately below it. On the best side of the driver’s name, you’ll notice three dots, indicating additional options available. When you select them, you will be given the choice to reinstall the drivers.

From there, you’ll be taken to the exact same screen you saw once you installed the drivers and were offered the ‘Express Installation’or ‘Custom Installation’options. We’ve already described the process of selecting each one of these earlier, to help you refer to that part for these steps.

If you’re looking to manually reinstall the drivers , you will have to feel the same driver uninstallation process which we’ve already described. Again, it’s best to use Display Driver Uninstaller and fully remove any driver leftovers in your system.

The method of selecting the matching driver for the graphics card is crucial. Although we have explained it earlier, we truly need to stress that it’s possible that the key reason why you have experienced stuttering or similar issues arrives to having an inappropriate driver. Therefore, it’s very important to know precisely what graphics card you have to help you install the best driver for it

Jessica Fletcher

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