Graphic card and main board manufacturer EVGA has announced it will replace its driver DVDs with 8GB USB sticks. The move is likely motivated by the fact that more and more computers no longer contain an optical disc drive.
No more driver DVDs in future EVGA motherboards including the new H370. Instead you get the drivers on this small 8GB flash drive 🙂 pic.twitter.com/3ACXv3snFp
— Jacob Freeman (@EVGA_JacobF) May 17, 2018
Global Product Management Director at EVGA, Jacob Freeman, announced the change on Twitter, “no more driver DVDs in future EVGA motherboards including the new H370. Instead you get the drivers on this small 8GB flash drive.”
The new way of distributing drivers gets a warm welcome on Twitter, but some users are suspicious. One user asked whether EVGA will also increase the price of its products to make up for additional costs of the USB sticks. According to Freeman that's not the case. Another user asked whether the USB drive was writable and not just read-only. Freeman answers that the USB stick isn't read-only and that users are also able to store their own data on the stick.
When one Twitter user writes other manufacturers should follow suit, Freeman isn't so sure other manufacturers will also distribute their drivers on USB sticks.
“I highly doubt that other manufactures will switch to USB drives anytime soon considering the cost is about 20x that of a DVD. Even for a small 8GB USB 2.0 one, but it’s about time someone sets the standard for 2018,” he writes.
The first product that comes with the EVGA branded USB stick with drivers will be the EVGA H370 main boards.
