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I just unboxed my PC or laptop. What should I do next?

Our PCs and laptops can generally be purchased both with and without Windows pre-installation. Therefore, we first differentiate between two categories here:

With Windows pre-installation

When building our systems, we always make sure to already install the latest firmware and drivers. If you buy your PC or laptop with Windows, you already have all drivers installed and can pretty much start working immediately. However, NVIDIA releases new drivers almost every week, so an update might already be available at the time of unboxing. Such updates can be installed automatically via the NVIDIA App or downloaded manually from geforce.com.

Without Windows pre-installation

If you order your PC or laptop without Windows, you get an empty SSD, but all firmware (BIOS, EC, etc.) is already up to date. So you can start right away and install Windows + drivers.

Even if you already have an older Windows installation medium (DVD, USB stick, ISO file, e.g. from the university or the employer): it is better to first create a cutting-edge medium – then all Windows updates are already included from the beginning.

A current USB stick for the Windows installation can be created directly with a tool from the vendor:

The drivers for your PC or laptop are delivered on a USB thumb drive in the shipping box. These USB sticks are mass produced and therefore might not always be fully up to date. Driver updates and corresponding changelogs can be found in our download portal:

The guiding principle is thus: unpack the ZIP files and install each driver one by one. If the ZIP files are numbered, you can follow this order. If they are not numbered, you should tend to install the drivers of the CPU manufacturer (Intel or AMD) first - starting with the chipset driver. Otherwise, the order of driver installation won't matter.

See also: Do I need *all* drivers or is it enough to just install the most essential ones?

After installation: Internet connection and Control Center

After you are done with your driver installation, you should connect your new PC or laptop to the internet. This may download various further updates. Some applications that belong to the drivers (such as Soundblaster, THX or Nahimic audio apps) are only downloaded from the Microsoft Store once connected to the internet.

Meanwhile, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the Control Center. This only applies to laptops, not PCS. Virtually every laptop has such a Control Center, which can be used to adjust features like the performance profiles and keyboard illumination. The offered performance profiles cover the entire range from whisper-quiet to ultimate performance. The profiles can also be further adjusted manually in some models. We generally recommend the profiles "Entertainment" or "Balanced" for everyday use. These profiles are set up for an optimal balance between system performance, temperatures and fan noise.