System drivers

[PhilB66]

I was wondering how do you guys go about keeping your system drivers - motherboard, graphics card, mouse, etc., up to date? Do you use a third party scanners to download updates or visit the manufacturer web site to do so?

[f0dder]

I don't bother too much unless I have problems with my system, which I usually don't. The only driver I upgrade on a regular basis is my graphics driver, since those tend to have speed improvements now and then, or bugfixes for games (that I don't have time to play, but hey).

MSI has a pretty decent tool for detecting driver updates, but I'm mostly using ASUS boards nowadays.

[Carol Haynes]

I check every now and again on the mobo manufacturer's website - but I only update if there is a specific issue causing problems (ditto BIOS). Graphics I update from the nVidia website.

I used to try to use the ASUS update utility but it seemed very unstable - and updaters (IMHO) should be rock solid - esp. if it is looking at BIOS updates!

[cranioscopical]

I used to try to use the ASUS update utility but it seemed very unstable - and updaters (IMHO) should be rock solid - esp. if it is looking at BIOS updates!

It's a source of wonder to me that something so critical can be so unreliable. 
I figured it had to be me (usually is) and gave up on it. 
Now that I know it's not only me... I've given up on it. 

I don't bother to update any BIOS without very good cause.
As for the rest, I've had more nuisance conflicts from updating drivers than from leaving them alone.
I just go looking when I think I need something.

[Armando]

I don't bother either. Only if I run into problems. Or if I'm trying to squeeze more performance out of a device for very specific reasons.

[Carol Haynes]

IME motherboard and graphics drivers seem to get slower (as do BIOSes) over time. The trouble is that they fix bugs (and often seem to introduce a new batch) but it isn't worth their time to increase performance on older hardware. In the initial flurry of driver writing when new stuff comes out then speed is obviously important but after a year or so this just isn't true any more.

A good example of this was my old ATI RADEON AIW card. ATI produces a combined driver pack called CATALYST (in case you didn't know) but before a finally said goodbye to my Radeon card the driver updates specifically said they fixed bugs and worked with my card BUT even ATI pointed out that they are optimised for the latest cards and will actually run slower than previous versions on older cards.