updating BIOS, chipset, & drivers, etc.?????

[Guest]

Bare with me, there are 4 questions: I currently run AMD 1.8Ghz with a Asus
A7V8X/LAN mobo, MSI GeForce3 Ti200 graphics card .

1. When I try to update drivers at the ASUS website there are 2 selections
available: A7V8X-X or A7V8X-MX. All the documentation with my mobo only shows
A7V8X (no -X or -MX), which one do I have? Is there a utility I can run to
check? I think the MX is newer, but I'm not too sure.

2. When I download/ update the BIOS and chipset drivers (which I haven't
done yet), do I just select "open" and have the program do it (automatically)
or "save" (and do it manually)? MSI has an automatic updater that finds the
latest drivers for a system that can update everthing. Can I just use that or
does MSI and Asus not "communicate"?

3. Should I make a "startup" disc b/4 I do anything just in case anything
goes wrong?

4. How often should I get the latest drivers for my system even though my
system, it seems, is FINALLY running smoothly in a long time. What ain't
broke, don't fix? Or do it anyways?

Thanks, in advance!

 

[David H. Lipman]

Your questions are really ASUS questions.

Please repost in the following ASUS News Group... alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus

Dave





| Bare with me, there are 4 questions: I currently run AMD 1.8Ghz with a Asus
| A7V8X/LAN mobo, MSI GeForce3 Ti200 graphics card .
|
| 1. When I try to update drivers at the ASUS website there are 2 selections
| available: A7V8X-X or A7V8X-MX. All the documentation with my mobo only shows
| A7V8X (no -X or -MX), which one do I have? Is there a utility I can run to
| check? I think the MX is newer, but I'm not too sure.
|
| 2. When I download/ update the BIOS and chipset drivers (which I haven't
| done yet), do I just select "open" and have the program do it (automatically)
| or "save" (and do it manually)? MSI has an automatic updater that finds the
| latest drivers for a system that can update everthing. Can I just use that or
| does MSI and Asus not "communicate"?
|
| 3. Should I make a "startup" disc b/4 I do anything just in case anything
| goes wrong?
|
| 4. How often should I get the latest drivers for my system even though my
| system, it seems, is FINALLY running smoothly in a long time. What ain't
| broke, don't fix? Or do it anyways?
|
| Thanks, in advance!

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Bare with me, there are 4 questions: I currently run AMD 1.8Ghz with
a Asus A7V8X/LAN mobo, MSI GeForce3 Ti200 graphics card .

I won't bare with you; I hardly know you. Perhaps you meant bear?

1. When I try to update drivers at the ASUS website there are 2
selections available: A7V8X-X or A7V8X-MX. All the documentation with
my mobo only shows A7V8X (no -X or -MX), which one do I have? Is
there a utility I can run to check? I think the MX is newer, but I'm
not too sure.

I'd ask ASUS support.

2. When I download/ update the BIOS and chipset drivers (which I
haven't done yet), do I just select "open" and have the program do it
(automatically) or "save" (and do it manually)? MSI has an automatic
updater that finds the latest drivers for a system that can update
everthing. Can I just use that or does MSI and Asus not "communicate"?

To update the BIOS, you generally need to boot from a floppy with the BIOS
update. Their setup program may create the floppy for you.

3. Should I make a "startup" disc b/4 I do anything just in case
anything goes wrong?

Just back up your data.

4. How often should I get the latest drivers for my system even
though my system, it seems, is FINALLY running smoothly in a long
time. What ain't broke, don't fix? Or do it anyways?

I don't generally bother with driver updates unless they're really old and
I'm having problems - just remember never to get them from Windows Update -
always get them from the mfr.

 

[Chris Priede]

All the documentation with my mobo only shows A7V8X
(no -X or -MX), which one do I have? Is there a utility I can
run to check? I think the MX is newer, but I'm not too sure.

The difference is that -MX has integrated onboard graphics. You said you
are using a GeForce card; look on the back of your computer -- is there a
second 15-pin VGA connector you could plug your monitor into, next to the
serial and parallel ports? If not, then it's a very safe bet you have a -X
board.

As for utility you can use to check, try this:

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

It's nice to have, anyway.

4. How often should I get the latest drivers for my system even
though my system, it seems, is FINALLY running smoothly in a long
time. What ain't broke, don't fix? Or do it anyways?

Don't fix what isn't broken, with only one exception: if you play games,
you may want to periodically update your graphics card driver, even if it's
not broken.

Both Nvidia and ATI are known to not only fix problems in later driver
releases, but also add substantial performance enhancements -- through
fine-tuning and sometimes even enabling hardware features that were not
fully utilized by the drivers offered at the release time. This has to do
with the very short release cycles of the graphics chipsets and is not the
case with drivers for most other hardware.