Usually not. The supplied
<literal>GENERIC
</literal> kernel contains the drivers an ordinary computer will need.
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>freebsd-update
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8
</manvolnum></citerefentry>, the FreeBSD binary upgrade tool, cannot upgrade custom kernels, another reason to stick with the
<literal>GENERIC
</literal> kernel when possible. For computers with very limited RAM, such as embedded systems, it may be worthwhile to build a smaller custom kernel containing just the required drivers.