Video Drivers and Hardware-Accelerated Graphics

If you are experiencing graphical issues, frequent crashes, or slow processing speeds, you should download and install the latest drivers for your graphics hardware and update to the latest version of DirectX (see below). Many of these problems are known to be caused by older graphics card drivers.

Even on newer computers, it is always recommended that you check that the latest drivers are installed, as manufacturers have been known to rely on default hardware support, instead of installing the appropriate software prior to customer purchase.

Accelerated Graphics

Many programs utilize OpenGL and DirectX to improve functionality on modern computers. When support is available, OpenGL and DirectX use your computer's graphics card to complete many graphics related operations many times faster than they would normally be able to do using the CPU alone. Older drivers often do not support the functionality required to use OpenGL and DirectX effectively. This can slow down the program considerably, produce noticeably incorrect results, and may cause the program to crash unexpectedly.

Issues related to either OpenGL or DirectX can almost always be resolved by making sure you have the most up to date drivers for your computer.

Updating Drivers

It is recommended that you always install the latest drivers on your system to avoid stability problems. Instructions for updating the most common graphics display devices are listed below. If the brand of your computer's device is not listed, please refer to the manufacturer for further help.

NVIDIA

Please visit the NVIDIA Driver Downloads page.

  • Click the GRAPHICS DRIVERS link under Option 2: Automatically find drivers for my NVIDIA products.
  • Follow the instructions on the following page to update your drivers as necessary.
AMD

Please visit the AMD support page.

  • Click the Find Your Driver link.
  • Click the Download Now link under Automatically Detect and Install near the top of the page.
  • Click the Download link for the AMD Driver Autodetect tool.
  • When the download has completed, run the AMD Driver Autodetect tool.
    Please refer to AMD for any help required to use this tool.
Intel

Please visit the Intel Download Center page.

  • Click the Continue link under Intel Driver Update Utility.
  • Click Check your system for updates near the center of the page.
    Please refer to Intel for any help required to use this tool.

Updating DirectX

Please refer to this Microsoft support article for instructions on updating DirectX.