 You know how every time there's a new graphics card release that doesn't quite perform up to the expectations of the fans of graphics card maker A or graphics card maker B? The immediate response is, well, the drivers haven't matured yet, so, yeah, it's gonna be like way better later. We decided to quantify using our trusty GTX 480 just how well Nvidia supports its products and therefore its customers in the long term. Actually, we've got another really cool graphics-centric video coming soon, so slam that like button if you want to know how the GTX 980M stacks up against the GTX 980 in a truly apples-to-apples comparison with both running the same desktop 4790K processor. Wowza! So let's start by saying that there are a number of ways that graphics card manufacturers can support end-of-life products. They can add new features. Here's a great example where Nvidia brought DSR support to Fermi-based graphics cards like our 480 over four years after the product's release. They can address compatibility issues, whether it's a rendering bug in a new game or a new operating system that requires a specific driver for your older hardware to work, or, and this is the one we'll be focused on today, since it's the easiest to empirically measure, they can improve performance of the product over time as their driver team gets better acquainted with the microarchitecture being used, similar to how developers will unlock more of a game console's potential over time. So let me introduce you to our methodology. We used our standard test bench, a Core i7-5930K with 16 gigs of DDR4 memory on an Asus X99 Deluxe motherboard because, while that hardware didn't exist at all, at the time that people were buying GTX 480s, we wanted to eliminate potential bottlenecks and avoid changing any variables other than the one being tested, which is the graphics card driver. We ran through a limited but hopefully fairly representative test suite of games at 1080p, two AAA titles that were current when the GTX 480 came out, Just Cause 2 and Metro 2033, to see if there's any improvement in those, and then two more modern AAA titles, Far Cry 4 and Witcher 3, to see if the owners who sometimes go to great lengths to obtain their graphics cards right on launch day, can expect better performance not only in the games that are being actively optimized, but also in future hypothetical games that will definitely be awesome and not disappointing ever. Which brings us to the last key piece of the puzzle, the drivers. We picked out five drivers ranging from a month after the release of the GTX 480, so April 2010, to the most current driver as of August 20th, 2015, with a span of approximately 16 months in between each of them. So then how did Nvidia do? Well, in our first game, Metro 2033, there doesn't appear to be a strong argument for waiting for driver improvements to get better performance out of your graphics card. I mean, yes, that's a 10% improvement, which isn't insignificant when you consider that we base our initial purchase decisions off of less at times, but for a demanding game like this, it isn't going to be the difference between it limping along and running butter smooth at 60fps. In our second game, Just Cause 2, owners of GTX 480's got a 16% performance improvement just from waiting 16 months, with an additional 10% for waiting another 16 months for a total of over 25%. From there, whether it's because the software team had just extracted as much as they could from the hardware, or whether they were simply focused on newer things, the improvements taper off. But not shabby. In Far Cry 4, our first modern title, we gained some insight into the optimization process for older cards, with the 2014 driver outperforming the 2010 driver by an excellent 20%, but, interesting note here, while a game-ready driver was released for Far Cry 4 later on that year, at least for this older card, it doesn't appear to have been focused on performance. When we jump forward to our 2015 driver and see that it performs exactly the same. Finally, we get to Witcher 3, more evidence for what looks like it's ultimately the conclusion here. The improvements being made to your older graphics card seem to come pretty fast and hard in the first three years after release. A massive 30% for Witcher 3, by the way, with support beyond that being more focused on bug fixes and compatibility enhancements. Which doesn't mean they aren't there. I mean, seeing the same piece of hardware change so much, we're talking measurably and often noticeably to the naked eye, better gaming experiences over its usable lifespan is pretty darn impressive. Which I guess leads us pretty well into the inspiration for today's How Have They Supported Us Over the Years episode. A video that TD Bank made about how they surprised some of their customers with a beautiful look back at the important milestones and changes that they'd gone through since first opening their accounts at TD Bank. They're actually finding this out for the first time when they're watching this video, but my parents actually co-signed and helped me open my first bank account when I was 11 at Canada Trust, which merged with TD Bank back in 2000. And while that video is definitely a touch sentimental, it really made me reflect back on everything that I've gone through in that time. So give it a watch by clicking the little i in the top right corner or at the link in the video description and drop a comment on that video letting them know who sent ya. LinusArmyUnite. So thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know what to do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit that like button, or even consider supporting us directly by using our affiliate code to shop on Amazon. Instructions up there. Buying a cool t-shirt like this one or with a direct monthly contribution through our community forum. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering what to watch next. So click that little button in the top right corner to check out this wicked video where I give away a sick top of the line gaming rig.