[SOLVED] Chipset driver

Feb 9, 2022
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I never entirely understood why so I need chipset driver. For instance I installed fresh copy of Windows 7. And everything works fine, the CPU, RAM etc. I never installed one, what exactly am I missing?
 
Solution
RAM doesn't have drivers. CPUs sort of do and don't, all the information to communicate to the CPU is stored in the motherboard's BIOS chip and provided to the OS during POST.

The Chipset does have a lot of drivers. That is where you find the storage controllers, network interface, USB controllers, etc. Again very common and more or less universal, but specific drivers matched to a specific computer. Motherboards will also have sound chips, additional USB, Storage, and Ethernet/Wireless chips that also need drivers. Again a contemporary OS will have a lot of generic drivers that will work, but for best results you want the specific and up to date drivers.

jnxzi94

Commendable
Jul 13, 2021
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I never entirely understood why so I need chipset driver. For instance I installed fresh copy of Windows 7. And everything works fine, the CPU, RAM etc. I never installed one, what exactly am I missing?

If you're not missing out on certain features or you don't have any issues, just stay with it. Windows gathers drivers for your system automatically. They might be fine, but they may not be the best either, but I guess there is no harm if you install the latest chipset driver given from your motherboard manufacturer. Either way, you should be fine. But if we look back in time (Windows XP) and so on, you did have to install every driver to get your PC to even work.
 
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Eximo

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RAM doesn't have drivers. CPUs sort of do and don't, all the information to communicate to the CPU is stored in the motherboard's BIOS chip and provided to the OS during POST.

The Chipset does have a lot of drivers. That is where you find the storage controllers, network interface, USB controllers, etc. Again very common and more or less universal, but specific drivers matched to a specific computer. Motherboards will also have sound chips, additional USB, Storage, and Ethernet/Wireless chips that also need drivers. Again a contemporary OS will have a lot of generic drivers that will work, but for best results you want the specific and up to date drivers.
 
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Solution
I never entirely understood why so I need chipset driver. For instance I installed fresh copy of Windows 7. And everything works fine, the CPU, RAM etc. I never installed one, what exactly am I missing?
If you don't install chipset drivers, some devices may not function properly or even not get detected.
Usually those are devices listed under System Devices in Device Manager.
You may find some devices with yellow exclamation marks in Device Manager. Those are unrecognized devices without proper drivers.
 
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