Chris F Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 Being a mod in the Computer Forum, this may seem odd that I'm actually turning to other people for computer help here... How necessary are chipset drivers these days? I reinstalled Windows XP w/SP2 last night. And as per usual, the first thing I install afterwards are the official chipset drivers for my i875P based ASUS mobo. Everything was working (mouse, keyboard, etc.) after Windows was installed, but as soon as I rebooted after installing the chipset drivers, I lost my mouse. Mouse cursor was there, but I could not movie it. I tried using the other USB ports, and it was not recognizing them. I tried installing the Mouseware drivers for my MX510, and still nothing. Is there anything included in the chipset drivers that AREN'T included in Windows XP Pro w/SP2? USB 2.0 drivers? SATA drivers? Anything? I get no hardware conflicts, missing drivers or anything in Device Manager when just Windows XP is installed, so are these chipset drivers really necessary? Any ideas or thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whooter Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 I treat mobo drivers like BIOS updates. If you're not having any specific problems that are noted as being fixed by them, I don't mess with 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris F Posted August 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 Well afterwards I reinstalled WITHOUT using the chipset drivers, and everything seemed ok. I didn't notice any decreases in performance, or conflicts or anything. My next questions are: 1. Is there anything I can use to verify my USB ports are running at 2.0? 2. Is there anything I can use to verify my SATA drives are running at their best, and not being hindered by not using the chipset drivers (WHich come with SATA drivers I believe)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelley Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 Originally posted by Whooter@Aug 26 2004, 12:26 PM I treat mobo drivers like BIOS updates. If you're not having any specific problems that are noted as being fixed by them, I don't mess with 'em. I will agree with Joel here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris F Posted August 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 So even when your first install WIndows, you guys never put the chipset drivers in? I've been doing it for years, but that was because at one point in time, I was getting really bad graphics performance out of my i810 Intel graphics card (this was a LONG time ago) and when I put the chipset drivers in, it raised the performance to what it was prior to me reformatting. Bear in mind this was a LONG time ago, so thins may have changed since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 Originally posted by Ruffneck@Aug 26 2004, 02:24 PMHow necessary are chipset drivers these days? As necessary as they've always been Ever used a VIA chipset before? With an 875 chipset (or any other chipset for that matter) the mobo drivers will have the necessary files for your particular manufacture. Even though you have an Intel 875 the manufacture (Asus, Abit, etc) may have done tweaks to it, so installing them will enable the board to perform the way it should. But, XP w/ SP2 most likely has the drivers for the 875 chipset (before you'd need SP1 for USB2.0 support), so installing over top of them shouldn't have affected anything. Did you install XP and then SP2 or did you slipstream SP2 with XP and re-burn it? The other question is, did you re-install for SP2? If yes, why? Have you tried doing a driver rollback or while booting hitting F8 and selecting Last Known Good Configuration? Is there anything included in the chipset drivers that AREN'T included in Windows XP Pro w/SP2? USB 2.0 drivers? SATA drivers? Anything? USB2.0- Yes SATA- Doubt it (did you have to provide the drivers when installing?) Anything?- Yes, I guarantee it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris F Posted August 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 Scott, this was a brand new installation of Windows XP Professional w/SP2 streamlined into it already. My two primary drives are SATA, and WindowsXP installed fine without prompting for any drivers for it. Same went for my previous streamlined version of Win XP Pro w/SP1. The drivers ASUS provide, are the Intel reference chipset drivers. No modifications or anything. It was never a problem when I was using the same hardware on SP1 though, which lead me to believe that perhaps it's an SP2 issue. Tonight I'm hoping to reinstall Windows XP w/SP2, then try the chipset drivers again, and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 If you didn't have any issues with the Windows provided drivers stick with those and run SiSoft Sandra to benchmark it. If you notice unusually low numbers then worry about the Asus drivers. On my Abit I had to install the disk controller drivers to reach full speed on my HDD's and an updated driver for USB2.0. Other than that the XP drivers seem to work fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris F Posted August 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 It's not just the SATA drivers I'm worried about. It's also the other stuff that's included with those chipset drivers that I may be missing by not installing it. Maybe it was just a fluke last night. I'll try again tonight, and see what happens. Windows SP2 + chipset drivers = No mouse (possible no USB support). Windows SP2 by itself = Everything works fine. Unsure how system performance is affected by not having chipset drivers installed. Windows SP1 + chipset drivers + SP2 installed = No issues. I'll test tonight, and see what happens. The more I think about it, the more I think it's a possible incompatibility between the latest i875P chipset drivers and SP2. Bear in mind I'm NOT using RAID for my drives, so I don't need to worry about those drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris F Posted August 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 I think I know what I'm going to do: 1. Install Windows XP w/SP2 Streamlined 2. Use the .zip file of the latest version of the INtel i875P chipset drivers 3. Manually update each of the 6 components, as per the Readme.txt file. I figure, if it's NOT the right driver, there will ver a version number, or some prompt that tells me it's not the latest version, or something to that effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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