How to get a clean driver install

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
H

havoccau

Honorable
May 5, 2012
12
0
10,510
Hi there! I am running an all-AMD rig. I have a FX-8150 8-core processor, a Sabertooth 990FX motherboard running the 990FX chipset, and two XFX Radeon HD6850 2GB video cards in Crossfire. I have multiple driver options that cross over with each other and I'm wondering if someone can give me and others with all-AMD systems a how-to on installing or updating drivers to keep things run smooth and clean?

ASUS has an older 2013 motherboard chipset driver that installs components for things like my USB 3.0 slots, along with Catalyst and a display driver. AMD has a newer 13.9 chipset driver for all 9-series motherboards on their website, along with a 13.9 official driver and a 13.10 beta 2 driver for the video card. What kind of an install order do I use?

Do install the ASUS chipset driver first then my graphics driver? Do I uninstall catalyst and/or my video driver between chipset and video card drivers? Do I use the AMD 9-series chipset driver at all? Do I just uninstall everything and only use the video card driver?

I guess I'm just confused on how to deal with all the crossover.
 
Solution
clutchc
First, you might be able to eliminate some of the "stutter" you see when gaming, with the new beta driver. What you are experiencing is micro-stutter. A very common ailment with dual AMD cards, especially mid range cards like the HD 6850. I have a 2nd rig (i7-875K/2 x HD 7870 OC) and use the 13.10 driver. Its new Frame Pacing does a pretty good job of eliminating most of the stutter.

Just use the AMD uninstall utility: http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/catalyst-uninstall-utility.aspx
(give it plenty of time to work. It will look like it is done, but it really isn't. Be patient. It will let you know when it is finished.)
After a reboot, run the 13.10 beta installer. I didn't lose any of the other drivers when I did it...
Sort by date Sort by votes
clutchc

clutchc

Titan
Ambassador
Apr 22, 2009
43,150
411
131,790
Are you installing fresh to a new rig or do you want to uninstall the old driver(s) before installing new? If the latter, run the AMD uninstall utility to rid the system of the old gfx driver. Be patient. It takes awhile and looks like it is finished or not doing anything. But be patient. It will tell you when it is done.
http://sites.amd.com/US/GAME/DOWNLOADS/Pages/catalyst-uninstall-utility.aspx
Don't worry about it uninstalling the other drivers. Windows will load its generic/AMD drivers so you will continue to run fine. Then you can install the new AMD drivers at your convenience. But before installing the new drivers, I recommend running CCleaner to clean up and fix any Registry errors that may be present.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

havoccau

Honorable
May 5, 2012
12
0
10,510
But I lose some functionality like USB 3.0 even with generic Windows 7 drivers, and no matter which software file I use (ASUS 2013, AMD Chipset, AMD Videocard), I don't install the latest drivers for all my components.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

havoccau

Honorable
May 5, 2012
12
0
10,510
I guess I'm a little confused myself. Do I not use the ASUS chipset drivers from their website, just the USB, audio and other drivers? Then install the AMD 9-series chipset driver and AMD catalyst driver?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
clutchc

clutchc

Titan
Ambassador
Apr 22, 2009
43,150
411
131,790
You can install them in any order. It doesn't matter. The chipset driver doesn't have USB 3.0 functionality. The Asmedia chip on the board handles USB3.0 and has its own driver. If you look at the page I linked you to, you need the following drivers:
Chip set
Audio
LAN
USB SATA

Choose the latest if there are more than one offered. The rest of the junk you can do without unless you feel you want it. These same drivers and utilities will appear on your MB DVD, but they may not be as up to date.

Btw, I'm assuming you are running Win7x64. If not choose the OS you have.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

havoccau

Honorable
May 5, 2012
12
0
10,510
Thanks. That's the install order I used when I formatted and reinstalled my OS (Win7 64) last week. Then I installed my 13.9 video drivers.

But I now want to install my 13.10 beta v2 driver. If I use the uninstall feature that comes with a new catalyst driver, it will uninstall everything even my ASUS version chipset drivers. Do I do that, reinstall chipset and video driver or can I just choose to uninstall the few things the 13.10 drivers impact (would that just be catalyst control center and video drivers in the selection box)?

P.S. Should I use the 13.9 9-series chipset drivers at all or just the ones ASUS provides on their support website? Thanks.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
clutchc

clutchc

Titan
Ambassador
Apr 22, 2009
43,150
411
131,790
First, you might be able to eliminate some of the "stutter" you see when gaming, with the new beta driver. What you are experiencing is micro-stutter. A very common ailment with dual AMD cards, especially mid range cards like the HD 6850. I have a 2nd rig (i7-875K/2 x HD 7870 OC) and use the 13.10 driver. Its new Frame Pacing does a pretty good job of eliminating most of the stutter.

Just use the AMD uninstall utility: http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/catalyst-uninstall-utility.aspx
(give it plenty of time to work. It will look like it is done, but it really isn't. Be patient. It will let you know when it is finished.)
After a reboot, run the 13.10 beta installer. I didn't lose any of the other drivers when I did it. But if you are sceptical, just run the respective driver installation pgms again if it makes you more comfortable.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom