RealTek

[okstatefan69]

If evrybody was like RealTek We wouldn't be havin' no driver problems. They Put out new drivers like Wh****. D*** there good and quick to bad Nvidia can't do that.

 

[Cutthroat]

Actually Nvidia releases more drivers than anybody else by far with their almost daily betas.

But I have noticed Realtek releases a lot of drivers as well, Windows update usually wants to install about 1/month I'd say.

However, I can't figure out why Realtek releases so many drivers for a NIC, something like that when you get a good working driver you shouldn't need to ever update it.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Cutthroat
Actually Nvidia releases more drivers than anybody else by far with their almost daily betas.

But I have noticed Realtek releases a lot of drivers as well, Windows update usually wants to install about 1/month I'd say.

However, I can't figure out why Realtek releases so many drivers for a NIC, something like that when you get a good working driver you shouldn't need to ever update it.

Yeah, I've noticed they push our NIC drivers like there's no tomorrow. The only reasonable thing I can guess is that they're constantly adding product IDs to the table, I doubt they're making any changes under the hood.

 

[ShawnD1]

What other companies make good drivers? I'm starting to think driver support is easily the #1 deciding factor when looking at certain hardware. My motherboard's integrated Realtek HD audio works great with the drivers from windows update, meanwhile my Creative Soundblaster 7.1 is barely functional when it's using driver's from Creative's own website.

 

[Peter]

As if release frequency was a measure for quality.

The opposite is true - get it right the first time, and you'll have zero update releases.

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: Peter
As if release frequency was a measure for quality.

The opposite is true - get it right the first time, and you'll have zero update releases.

People are conditioned to expect drivers over time to improve performance, such as BIOS updates and graphics card drivers that increase FPS. Perhaps they're conditioned by some hardware companies who have a tendency to work the kinks out after a product's release.

 

[Peter]

Yes ... people expect product on the shelves just about the minute the silicon is finished. If things were actually engineered properly all the way through - chip first, then boards, then software - there'd be a noticeable amount of time inbetween.

The driver update frequency with the audio codecs is of a different nature though: Board support. Basically every single new mainboard that uses an audio codec from Vendor X will mandate an update to the generic X audio driver ... not for new features and not for bug fixes either, just to add more mainboard IDs for correct jack layout support.

 

[Bateluer]

Even with a solid product at launch, having periodic updates over its life time in essential. No piece of hardware is bug free, and firmware/bios/drivers can increase performance, add features, and fix bugs.

I wouldn't consider buying a motherboard, for example, if there were no BIOS updates after a month of release.

 

[toadeater]

Originally posted by: okstatefan69
If evrybody was like RealTek We wouldn't be havin' no driver problems. They Put out new drivers like Wh****. D*** there good and quick to bad Nvidia can't do that.

If everyone was like Realtek we'd all be deaf and blind, because Realtek drivers, no matter how many they release every month, still do not support audio channel mixing in games properly, and still do not support 3D audio positioning (EAX or any other). If you notice, Realtek *claim* they support EAX, but try running just about any game with EAX enabled. The Realtek driver removes the 3D positioning and occlusion data, resulting in what sounds like an elephant taking a dump in an echo chamber.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: toadeater
If everyone was like Realtek we'd all be deaf and blind, because Realtek drivers, no matter how many they release every month, still do not support audio channel mixing in games properly...

LoL! and... AND...

I was just on the Toshiba Support site and the latest Realtek Vista audio drivers are 42 MB!!!

Thank goodness for broadband...


EDIT


Um...

Actually, to be exact, the download was 41,671,576 bytes, which equals 39.7411 MB

Some ppl are sticklers in this forum...

 

[The Keeper]

Actually Realtek bundles Windows XP UAA update with their drivers (required for HD audio codecs to work), and the update is slightly over 30MB. Which means that the Realtek drivers and software are no bigger than 10MB.