Windows 7 audio driver and Asus M3A78-EM

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coolpurplefan

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Mar 2, 2006
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It indicates after installing Windows 7 for the first time that the audio driver is version 6.1.7601.17514 from 11/19/2010.

The Asus web site shows newest date for the audio driver is 2009/10/05. So, does anyone here think I would be better off installing the Realtek audio driver on top of the Microsoft driver? It looks like the "Update Driver" button is grayed out.

Also, I already had the Internet when I installed Windows 7 (could not understand that since I've always used X). Then I picked a Realtek LAN driver from the optional updates. Is this an OK way of doing it? Would it be better to delete the previous driver before installing another one?
 
ninaholic37

ninaholic37

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2012
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Sometimes different/newer drivers work better and sometimes not, and sometimes it doesn't seem to make a difference. It's all kind of hit and miss with many underlying factors at work. Usually you can install both the Manufacture and Windows drivers and choose the one you want as default (I think).
 
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G73S

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Mar 14, 2012
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denis280 said:
Yes. and as mention by G73S always get the drivers from the manufacturer.
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indeed, no question about that. a driver isn't just a normal program that you install the new version on top and expect it to work properly! Always uninstall the previous driver, reboot, install the new driver, reboot
 
mikeymikec

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
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G73S said:
1) Never install Windows update drivers, they are generic drivers that are just meant to get you started but don't have the manufacturer optimizations that they put in their drivers
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Re: first text in bold - Massive exaggeration.

Re: Second bold text - not true. Windows Update drivers are from the respective manufacturers, example: AMD's SATA driver is from AMD, Nvidia's graphics driver is from Nvidia, etc.

However, I would modify this advice in the following way:

The drivers that ship with Windows are unlikely to be as good as the latest drivers from either the board manufacturer or the chipset manufacturer. In the case of LAN drivers, especially Realtek ones, the default drivers tend to have issues relating to sleep mode. In the case of audio drivers, Windows will install the default 'High Definition audio driver', which rarely works quite as well as say the Realtek HD audio driver. Occasionally I have used the default Windows driver as a fallback when the manufacturer's driver doesn't work as well, but that's pretty rare.

Personally, I would try the motherboard manufacturer's drivers first and if they're in some way unsatisfactory, then go for the chipset manufacturer's drivers.

I've seen issues caused by modifications to a motherboard manufacturer's implementation of (e.g.) audio which made it so that the motherboard manufacturer's drivers worked better than the audio chipset manufacturer's driver.

However, In the case of more popular mainstream stuff (like say an nvidia/AMD graphics driver) I would go straight to the respective chipset manufacturer first.

These days, the reason for a newer driver being made available on Windows Update is because an issue has been found in an older driver which is for some reason not considered a good driver to use (presumably for functionality/stability reasons). I've seen this umpteen times for wireless adapter drivers for example, and the WU driver not only worked but fixed an issue I was experiencing with the adapter (eg. authentication/encryption issues).

One thing I wouldn't ever do is replace a driver unless I had a good reason to (with the exception of drivers that come with the Windows installation). "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Windows Update drivers had a rep for some time of breaking functionality, that's where I think G73S has their opinion from. However, it has been some time since I last saw this happen (and I've done a lot of driver updates this way).

With regard to driver improvements and WU, I posted this thread semi-recently:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2373354

Coming back to the OP topic, I have reasonable confidence that downloading drivers from the Realtek site should work fine. I would expect them to work better than Microsoft's standard HD audio driver.
 
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G73S

Senior member
Mar 14, 2012
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mikeymikec said:
Re: first text in bold - Massive exaggeration.

Re: Second bold text - not true. Windows Update drivers are from the respective manufacturers, example: AMD's SATA driver is from AMD, Nvidia's graphics driver is from Nvidia, etc.

However, I would modify this advice in the following way:

The drivers that ship with Windows are unlikely to be as good as the latest drivers from either the board manufacturer or the chipset manufacturer. In the case of LAN drivers, especially Realtek ones, the default drivers tend to have issues relating to sleep mode. In the case of audio drivers, Windows will install the default 'High Definition audio driver', which rarely works quite as well as say the Realtek HD audio driver. Occasionally I have used the default Windows driver as a fallback when the manufacturer's driver doesn't work as well, but that's pretty rare.

Personally, I would try the motherboard manufacturer's drivers first and if they're in some way unsatisfactory, then go for the chipset manufacturer's drivers.

I've seen issues caused by modifications to a motherboard manufacturer's implementation of (e.g.) audio which made it so that the motherboard manufacturer's drivers worked better than the audio chipset manufacturer's driver.

However, In the case of more popular mainstream stuff (like say an nvidia/AMD graphics driver) I would go straight to the respective chipset manufacturer first.

These days, the reason for a newer driver being made available on Windows Update is because an issue has been found in an older driver which is for some reason not considered a good driver to use (presumably for functionality/stability reasons). I've seen this umpteen times for wireless adapter drivers for example, and the WU driver not only worked but fixed an issue I was experiencing with the adapter (eg. authentication/encryption issues).

One thing I wouldn't ever do is replace a driver unless I had a good reason to (with the exception of drivers that come with the Windows installation). "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Windows Update drivers had a rep for some time of breaking functionality, that's where I think G73S has their opinion from. However, it has been some time since I last saw this happen (and I've done a lot of driver updates this way).

With regard to driver improvements and WU, I posted this thread semi-recently:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2373354

Coming back to the OP topic, I have reasonable confidence that downloading drivers from the Realtek site should work fine. I would expect them to work better than Microsoft's standard HD audio driver.
Click to expand...

Very good advice, but not entirely.

Example, the Realtek Audio Driver from Microsoft would not make my mic work in apps like Skype. Additionally, it does not have the MAXXX Audio which some laptops are supposed to have that greatly enhances the sound quality. On my Alienware, it has the Dolby Digital app which again, is only included in the DELL drivers not even the Realtek Drivers as again, those are generic drivers that would work on every computer/laptop.

One thing I have learned as well, never update drivers unless you are having issues. Newer drivers may or may not enhance your experience. Manufacturer drivers are best, and when I say manufacturer, I mean your computers' manufacturer.

Example, my laptop has an nVIDIA Graphics Chipset. But the Dell flavor of the nVIDIA Drivers have given me better performance than the latest and greatest on nVIDIA's site.

On a side topic Mr. Mikey,

My Alienware 18 has drivers for both Windows 8.1 and Windows 7

Now let's say I want to install Windows 7, shall I stick to the drivers that they put for Windows 7? or shall I Install the Windows 8.1 Drivfers onto Windows 7 because they are newer?

Some examples:

INF :
Windows 7 = Intel Chipset Drivers 9.4.0.1017
Windows 8.1 = Intel Chipset Drivers 9.4.0.1027

Audio:

Windows 7 = 6.0.1.6876
Windows 8.1 = 6.0.1.7055

Intel Management Engine Interface:

Windows 7 = 9.0.2.1323
Windows 8.1 = 9.5.15.1730

those are just a few examples.

I have tried the Windows 8.1 drivers and they worked, but I want a second opinion from a pro which you seem to be
 
mikeymikec

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
20,016
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G73S said:
Very good advice, but not entirely.

Example, the Realtek Audio Driver from Microsoft would not make my mic work in apps like Skype.
Click to expand...

Microsoft does not supply a Realtek Audio driver. They install the standard HD audio driver for anything that appears to be a HD audio device. I also said that I would go for Realtek's over Microsoft's almost every time (assuming of course that the audio chipset manufacturer is Realtek).

Also, AFAIK, because HD audio these days follows a standard that ensures that a standard HD audio driver should basically work (like how one expects a USB flash drive to be PnP), there isn't any way for the OS to tell whether the audio chipset is a Realtek one or some other manufacturer's. If one uses the standard HD audio driver, I doubt that one would ever see any updates delivered through WU for it. However, if one has a manufacturer-specific (e.g. Realtek) driver installed, one may see optional updates available for it via WU. I haven't seen this before for Realtek (I have for Conexant).

On a side topic Mr. Mikey,

My Alienware 18 has drivers for both Windows 8.1 and Windows 7

Now let's say I want to install Windows 7, shall I stick to the drivers that they put for Windows 7? or shall I Install the Windows 8.1 Drivfers onto Windows 7 because they are newer?
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I would probably go for the Win7 drivers even though there's probably little difference, then follow the usual advice of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

AFAIK the audio implementation hasn't had any significant improvements between Win7 and 8, but there could be some obscure issues in 7 that Windows 7 manufacturer drivers take care of but Windows 8 has had those issues fixed already, so the fix isn't in the Win8 manufacturer drivers.
 
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G73S

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Mar 14, 2012
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mikeymikec said:
I would probably go for the Win7 drivers even though there's probably little difference, then follow the usual advice of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

AFAIK the audio implementation hasn't had any significant improvements between Win7 and 8, but there could be some obscure issues in 7 that Windows 7 manufacturer drivers take care of but Windows 8 has had those issues fixed already, so the fix isn't in the Win8 manufacturer drivers.
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thanks a lot mate. I value your opinion
 
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coolpurplefan

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2006
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G73S said:
I don't know where on earth are you looking but..

1) Never install Windows update drivers, they are generic drivers that are just meant to get you started but don't have the manufacturer optimizations that they put in their drivers

2) here are the latest drivers for the components you listed:

Realtek Audio Driver v6.0.1.7179

Realtek LAN Driver v7.079.0108.2014
Click to expand...

Do you mind showing how you found those links? Because I have the 32-bit version of Windows 7 in my computer with 2GB of RAM.
 
mikeymikec

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
20,016
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I would find them by googling for 'asus m3a78-em support', which should get you to the official support page (though you may need to click on 'support' to the right of 'gallery' first, then 'driver and tools') on the Asus website, then you need to pick your OS and it should serve up the correct files.
 
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G73S

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Mar 14, 2012
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