Question Chipset firmware/drivers from manufacturer or intel?

[sebastianskk]

In light of many recent security issues regarding hardware and such, I thought I'd take the issue seriously and make sure all my CPU and chipset related firmware and/or drivers are up to date.

(Asus Maximus VIII Hero, Z170 chipset, i7 6700k)

However.. going to the motherboard manufacturers site I noticed the most recent available drivers/firmware were from mid 2017.

Should I turn to Intel for these updates instead?
(when nothing recent is available from the manufacturer?)

I know manufacturer specific versions are usually recommended since they might contain custom additions to support specific functionality, etc.

Is it too much of a sacrifice/potential risk of system performance/stability when not going with manufacturer versions?

Just returned to a fresh Windows 10 install, and I am going for as stable and safe of a system as possible, and would rather not lose out on performance or functionality either..

I tried to formulate the question in a general sense, since I am sure there are lots of people with the same or similar question.. so a more general answer is perfectly fine.

If there is no clear answer I can always benchmark each option along with some load/stability tests.. (the manufacturer versions as baseline ofc.)


Appreciate all input,
Thanks in advance.

 

[jay32267]

I don't have a clear answer other than....I always go with the manufacturer's drivers (on many many machines over the last few decades) and I can't recall any situation where I regretted it and wish I went with Intel.

 

[sebastianskk]

thats mostly what I have done as well, havent given it much thought before.. but noticing Asus not providing updates for over 2 years now made me question security a bit..

though it does seem like Asus provides updates for the latest significant security issues with a bios update from early 2018, as well as intel ME update adressing INTEL-SA-00086 from November 2017 (the latter which I coincidentally had missed x_x'' ).

so as long as security is adressed ill stick with the manufacturers.