AGP Driver and Bios Questions For XP

[Kevin]

I want to install Windows XP on a computer with a 4 year old ASUS P3V4X
motherboard. I checked the ASUS website for latest motherboard driver
updates. The motherboard drivers for IDE, AGP etc. are the 4-in-1 VIA
chipset drivers, or single AGP driver for 98/ME /2000, but they are not
specifically for XP.

I think XP has its own IDE drivers, but my understanding is that it is
necessary to install motherboard AGP drivers to get full functionality of
the graphics card. Is it advisable to go ahead and install the 98/2000 AGP
driver, even though it doesn't say it is for XP?

Also, the ASUS bios is about 4 years old, but there is a newer beta bios,
about a year old. Is it a good idea to install the newer beta bios, or keep
the old "released" version?

thanks, Kevin

 

[neil]

I think the VIA chipset is supported by XP anyway but the 4in1 drivers from
viaarrena will update what is necessary. I don't think you need worry about
squeezing performance out of a board that is 4 years old.
And the bios, I doubt it would be worth updating unless its not working
properly.

Neil

 

[Jerry]

The usual procedure was to use the Win2K drivers for XP.

 

[Nathan McNulty]

Neil is right on. The BIOS update is probably unecessary, but should
not be harmful if you were to update to it anyways. As for the drivers,
the VIA 4in1 Drivers are actually designed for XP and here is a link to
the latest drivers for you:
http://downloads.viaarena.com/drivers/4in1/via_hyperion 4 in 1_v453v.zip