Chipset drivers, when do you need them?

[Markbnj]

I'm running an Asus P5P43TD PRO with a Q8500 and DDR3 ram, Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit. I've been having some bsod issues playing 3D games pretty much since install. Tonight I flashed the BIOS and we'll see if that helps. While I was nosing around on Asus' site I noticed the updated chipset INF downloads for all Windows 32 and 64-bit versions, and that got me thinking about the chipset drivers. I never installed any, and everything seemed to work great out of the box. All the devices are detected and show good status in device manager, etc.

So I'm curious, what's the real scoop on chipset drivers or updated INF files? When do you need them?

 

[thescreensavers]

I would update them, W7 has a much larger driver data base, so you prob have a generic driver for your chipset, or you got it from windows update. I always update any driver when there is one more or less.

 

[tcsenter]

Except for bus drivers or standardized interfaces, Microsoft gets its drivers from the device vendors. ALL of the drivers on Windows Update are published by the device vendor and are hardware specific.

The Intel INF does not supply drivers, anyway, but INF (setup) files. The actual drivers used are the default drivers provided by Microsoft.

But you can try the latest INF from Intel:


INF_allOS_9.1.1.1020_PV.exe


INF_allOS_9.1.1.1020_PV.zip (ZIP version)

 

[lopri]

You need chipset drivers for most (all?) south bridge stuff as well as north bridge stuff. That is, SATA, USB, PCI, PCIe,.. and so on. Thankfully there are factors that make things easier for users.

- Each ICH/ICHxR release has been minor incremental upgrades.
- Windows 7 comes equipped with P45/ICH10R drivers (and all previous Intel/AMD/NV chipsets).

You do not need to be alarmed by updated chipset driver releases. Most of the times new versions are released to support new chipsets, and older ones are not really affected. You can also read the release note directly from Intel, to see if any change applies to your board. Barring a significant bug fix or performance enhancement, I wouldn't worry about chipset drivers especially under Windows 7.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

uhm, always?
trick question?

 

[Markbnj]

uhm, always?
trick question?

Yeah I guess if you read the title literally that would be the correct answer 🙂. Probably should have titled it: Chipset drivers: when do you need to apply OEM updates?

Lopri, thanks, I was kind of leaning in that direction, and I did realize that the Intel updates contained INFs and not drivers, but it got me thinking about the question in general.

Thanks for the responses, guys.