Graphics Drivers for Older GPUs

[Fkemman11]

Sorry if this sounds a little "noobish", but, I was trying to download and install the latest drivers for my two yr old video card. It's an Nvidia model. I tried all the versions going back until one from March of this year worked for me. So, wanting to get the latest driver updates, I did some digging around to find out what I could do. According to the Nvidia site, the updates cover my model of GPU, but when trying to install I get the message "Could not find compatible graphics hardware". Also when I looked in the INF files, I did not find my model numbers being listed. Does this mean that older GPUs are not supported by Nvidia anymore? I mean, do they only support certain builds of graphics hardware for a limited time- meaning the version of drivers I have is the last I will find for my build?

[HeyYou]

I run into that regularly at work. Folks want a cheap graphics card, and we have some Nvidia GT 730's on the shelf. Most of the machines I deal with of late have been windows 10, and the ONLY way I can get drivers updated/installed, is via windows update. Doesn't matter which version of the Nvidia drivers I download from their website, it simply WON'T find compatible hardware. (even though it appears the O/S does indeed know what the card is.) I haven't dug too deeply into it as yet, as for the 730, I seriously doubt updating the drivers really makes any difference in any event.

[TheGreatFalro]

I run into that regularly at work. Folks want a cheap graphics card, and we have some Nvidia GT 730's on the shelf. Most of the machines I deal with of late have been windows 10, and the ONLY way I can get drivers updated/installed, is via windows update. Doesn't matter which version of the Nvidia drivers I download from their website, it simply WON'T find compatible hardware. (even though it appears the O/S does indeed know what the card is.) I haven't dug too deeply into it as yet, as for the 730, I seriously doubt updating the drivers really makes any difference in any event.

The 730 is a Fermi-based card, so any driver after March of this year won't work, since Fermi was EOL'd this April.

[Fkemman11]

 

I run into that regularly at work. Folks want a cheap graphics card, and we have some Nvidia GT 730's on the shelf. Most of the machines I deal with of late have been windows 10, and the ONLY way I can get drivers updated/installed, is via windows update. Doesn't matter which version of the Nvidia drivers I download from their website, it simply WON'T find compatible hardware. (even though it appears the O/S does indeed know what the card is.) I haven't dug too deeply into it as yet, as for the 730, I seriously doubt updating the drivers really makes any difference in any event.

The 730 is a Fermi-based card, so any driver after March of this year won't work, since Fermi was EOL'd this April.

 

Okay, that is what it is. Thank you for the heads up. I got the GT 730 because it was the only card that would work in the tower I have. I didn't know anything about what I should buy a couple of years ago and ended up with a decent little system, but, not good for newer games at all. I read some articles and watched a few vids about modifying the inf files so that you can use the latest drivers. But, I thought there might be a good reason why mine wasn't on the list. I was going to have a new pc built for me this Summer and I just didn't have the money. Shooting for Christmas now. Looking to build with a 1070 series GPU next time around- unless there is a better card that you know of that isn't ridiculously overpriced. Thanks to both of you.

[HeyYou]

 

I run into that regularly at work. Folks want a cheap graphics card, and we have some Nvidia GT 730's on the shelf. Most of the machines I deal with of late have been windows 10, and the ONLY way I can get drivers updated/installed, is via windows update. Doesn't matter which version of the Nvidia drivers I download from their website, it simply WON'T find compatible hardware. (even though it appears the O/S does indeed know what the card is.) I haven't dug too deeply into it as yet, as for the 730, I seriously doubt updating the drivers really makes any difference in any event.

The 730 is a Fermi-based card, so any driver after March of this year won't work, since Fermi was EOL'd this April.

 

And THAT clears up a LOT. THANK YOU very much. :)

[Fkemman11]

as for the 730, I seriously doubt updating the drivers really makes any difference in any event.

You might be surprised at how much I can *squeeze* out of this little card. Of course I have to look for every mod or tweak I can to maintain good visuals and performance. I can run FO4 at medium settings with a average framerate around 25-30 fps. With no mods or anything- I can barely run it at the lowest settings. :smile:

[HeyYou]

I picked up a GTX 1060 AC3, somethingorother 6gb vid card. I didn't want to have to worry about it for a while. :D

[leonardo2]

When I update the graphics driver for my Nvidia GeForce 750 card I always check the latest installation folder I have on my HDD first before doing anything else.

 

Also, in the past when I updated via Nvidia website I always downloaded it into an empty folder then run it from there.