questions about updating the drivers on the G73JH A1

hi people,
i purchased my laptop 1 month ago, but my friend came back to Europe from the States only yesterday and delivered it to me. So it's got BIOS 206 in it and i still haven't installed any games so i don't know if my unit has any problems or not.
I've spent time reading this forum and decided that it's better to ask you guys and gals before i attempt to do any bios or driver updates and risk regretting it afterwards.

my questions are:

1. should i update to Bios 211, or to 209, or just remain on 206 and wait for a BIOS that actually fixes the big problems (problems i'm not sure i will have anyway).

2. which sound/video/etc drivers should i really update and which should i just leave be until a better version comes along?

3. is there anything i should remove besides the bloatware? as i understand there's some kind of problem with the Creative software? I don't use Steam so will it bother me?



here are the newest versions i found online:

Creative Audigy Driver V1.0
File Size 98.45 (MBytes) 2010/08/03 update

Realtek Audio Diver V6.0.1.5978 for Win 32 (btw isn't the G73 windows 64?)
File Size 50.29 (MBytes) 2009/12/28 update

Graphics Driver V8.683.0.0
File Size 199.99 (MBytes) 2010/01/25 update

and from the AMD site: Catalyst Software Suite v10.7,
File Size 1.1 MB, 7/26/2010 update

 

Update to Bios 209 (if you have been reading the forums then you should already know why, and why not 211).

Uninstall current Realtek drivers and update to the new ones.

Update your synaptics touch pad drivers.

No need to update creative drivers as there are no updates (AFAIK).

Opinions are still divided about Creative software preinstalled on your machine. I for one have deleted both app straight away. However, if
you want to avoid the crashes, all you have to do is disable bass boost and it should get rid of the lockups.

With GPU drivers, make sure you download the mobility drivers from AMD's site. There is a 10.7a going around which is a full package including AVIVO and Hydra. 10.6 has been stable for me as well.

However, if you face GSODs on the newer drivers from Amd then its time to download the old 10.1s from Asus G73 download page and use those until a fix is provided by Asus (on its way I hear!).

Goodluck.

 

hey thanks for the advice, i updated those today but how about updating Power4Gear ?
i remember reading in this forum that updating Power4Gear helps to keep the temps low and prevents crashing during gameplay, is this true?

also, you say there are no new Creative drivers, but this one seems like it's from July:
Creative Audigy Driver V1.0
File Size 98.45 (MBytes) 2010/08/03 update

altho it says V1.0, so i guess there must be a typo either in version or the date...

 

No, the date is different because, Asus did not upload it to their database before July. The Version 1.0 is not a typo, its the exact same software that came bundled with your G73.

Power for gear does not keep your temps down. Pure lunacy. It adds a bunch of power profiles to your existing windows ones (and a nifty On screen display), which I for one never needed. And it toggles twin turbo on/off, which essentially slows down your pc (yes, yes, I know the irony).

If you like the extra profiles, and want to reduce the chances of GSOD, you could try the updated P4G, but really, it doesn't have much use (especially given the inept Twin turbo gimmick).

 

Does Twin Turbo merely slow down for programs that perform better with quad core or does it also slow down programs that perform better dual core-wise?

 

TT essentially increases the FSB slightly, hence giving a maximum of 2 cores up to 2.9 Ghz (AFAIK), but at the same time it lowers the CPU multipliers. The net effect is no noticeable gain (for programs using 2 cores), and a slight performance drop for programs using multiple cores.

 

hum... if I read Hasib1522 correctly, this means... TT is better off! (ok, I read the one above as well... it does not help)

I like p4G only because of the on-the-fly change. I'll keep turbo off from now on. I did find that 1.1.37 was more stable than the one that came installed. I downloaded 1.1.38 but since everything is working fine, I didn't install.