Personal statement (dated 15th July 2010):
As you probably know, I cannot test any NVIDIA nForce driver myself, because I don't have an appropriate PC anymore. Nevertheless I am willing to continue my work as long as
- you are demanding for it,
- I get enough feedback from nForce users and
- no other nForcersHQ Forum member is willing to overtake my task.
Meanwhile I got a lot of PN's from users, who asked me for new nForce driverpacks, which are usable for Win7 and Vista (32/64bit).
Since I got some positive reports from users, who had tested my new Win7/Vista driverpacks v8.0 successfully (big thanks!), I decided to offer them for everyone within this start post.
All users of these brandnew sets should keep in mind, that they have not yet been tested with all nForce chipsets and SATA configuarations (IDE/AHCI/RAID).
That is why I need your special feedback! Please don't forget to mention your nForce chipset, the OS, the used driver set name and the SATA configuration (IDE/AHCI/RAID).
As soon as I get a new information regarding the compatibility of any of my driverpacks ("works" or "doesn't work for me"), i will add it into this start post. So your report will be very helpful for many other users too.
Please remember:
- Although I have done my very best while creating these new sets, I cannot guarantee, that all components of my "Optimized Win7/Vista Driverpacks" will work flawlessly with each special nForce chipset and hardware configuration.
- Don't bother me with questions like "Which is the best driverpack for me?". Please read the "Compatibility" informations of the sets and find out yourself, which is the best for your individual hardware configuration and usage preferences.
- As always: If you are using my driverpacks, you will do it at own risk.
Fernando
Preliminary notes
Many users with an nForce chipset mainboard, who are running or going to install Win7 or Vista (32/64bit), are searching for actual nForce chipset drivers, which are suitable for their special chipset and will give them the best possible performance and stability of their system. NVIDIA itself doesn't offer them.
This was the reason why I started this thread.
For whom are these driverpacks suitable?
The installation of my driverpacks makes sense for owners of an nForce chipset mainboard, who ran into problems with NVIDIA's official packs (for example NF4 users) or who are searching for a driverpack combination, which gives them a better performance (owners of all NF4-7 series chipsets).
Important:
- Only my "Actual nForce Driverpacks" are optimized for the advanced AHCI features, which are supported by the newest nForce chipsets from MCP65 up. Users, who want to run their SATA hdd(s) in full "AHCI Mode", but avoid to install any modified driver, may take NVIDIA's official driver sets.
- All my packages contain the untouched original NVIDIA drivers (that are the files with the extension ".SYS"). The customization of my "modded" driverpacks concerns just the associated text files (with the extension ".INF") to make the original drivers compatible with other nForce chipsets and has no negative impact regarding the function of the drivers (= .SYS files).
- If you are running the installer of any nForce driverpack, you must not expect, that all nForce drivers of your OS will be updated by the drivers, which are within the set. Maybe the installer will give you just the option to install 1 or 2 of the set drivers. This is absolutely normal and may have one of the followng reasons:
- not all nForce chipsets will need all included drivers of the package (example: nForce4 chipsets don't have any device, which is supported by the SMU driver) or
- the installer believes, that the OS has already the "best" driver for the related device (not always the truth, but you can always try a forced manual driver update from within the Device Manager by using the "Have Disk..." option)
- You won't find a NAM folder with NVIDIA's "Network Management Tools" within my packages, because they are useless for nearly everyone and may cause problems. Big advantage: The download is much quicker due to the small package size.
- Before you are going to install a new nForce Ethernet driver, you should uninstall the previously running one (exception: the in-box drivers cannot be uninstalled).
Here are my actual nForce chipset driver packages for Win7/Vista x86/x64:
Last update: 03/11/2012
Changelog:
- new: "Special nForce2-4 LEGACY Driverpack for Win7Vista 32bit" and "Special nForce3-4 LEGACY Driverpack for Win7Vista 64bit"
- updated: "Actual nForce Driverpacks for Win7Vista 32/64bit" (now with NVIDIA HDAudio driver v1.3.12.0 WHQL)
- updated: "Special MCP65-67 nForce Driverpacks for Win7Vista 32/64bit" (now with NVIDIA HDAudio driver v1.3.12.0 WHQL)
- updated: Links to 32/64bit Realtek HDAudio drivers (actual Version: R2.67 WHQL)
- removed: optional IDE driver registry cleaner (not needed/not used)
A. WHQL Driverpacks for Win7/Vista:
- "NForce4 WHQL Driverpacks for Vista/Win7/Win8"
for nForce4 AMD chipset users, who prefer or need WHQL certified drivers
(especially for/after a fresh OS installation onto an nForce4 RAID system)
Changelog:- Support of Windows 8 (since all included drivers are WHQL certified)
- removed: optional IDE driver registry cleaner (not needed/not used)
Users with an nForce4 RAID system will run into problems, when they try to get Win7 or Vista installed, because neither the in-box nor the actual nForce SataRAID drivers, which are offered by NVIDIA, do work with this "LEGACY" mode RAID configurations.
This is the reason why I still offer these special WHQL signed Win7/Vista driverpacks for users with an nForce4 chipset mainboard.
Here are the download links to my "NForce4 WHQL Driverpacks" (with multilingual installer):
32bit driverpack v9.0 for Win7 x86 and Vista x86:
>Download Link<
64bit driverpack v9.0 for Win7 x64 and Vista x64:
>Download Link<
These are the components:- Code: Select all
Ethernet Driver (v67.89) WHQL
SATAIDE Driver (v9.98) WHQL
SATARAID Driver (v9.98) WHQL
RAIDTOOL Application (v9.99) "Sedona"
SMBus Driver (v4.69) WHQL
Realtek AC'97 Codec Audio Driver (v63.05) WHQL
Installer (v8.36)
Informations regarding these driverpacks:- Compatibility:
- Contrary to NVIDIA's officially offered nForce chipset driver sets these packs are fully supporting nForce4 AMD RAID systems. Users with such hardware configuration can use the included WHQL certified nForce IDE drivers v9.98 even from scratch by loading them during the Win7/Vista installation. For further details you may look into >this< (for Win7) or >this< (for Vista) installation guide.
- Although these "NForce4 WHQL Driverpacks" will support all RAID and non-RAID systems with an nForce4 AMD (=CK804), nForce 430/410 (=MCP51), nForce 590/570/550/680i/650i/780i/750i (=MCP55) and nForce 430/405/400 (=MCP61) chipset, I only recommend them for users with an nForce4 RAID system, who are going to do a fresh installation of Win7 or Vista or ran into problems with another nForce driver pack.
- Performance:
The included nForce IDE drivers v9.98 will give you a stable system, but not the best possible performance. That is why I do not recommend to take the "NF4 RAID WHQL Driverpacks" unless you have an nForce4 AMD system and want to get Win7 or Vista installed onto your nForce4 RAID array. - Driver update via Windows Update:
It is highly recommended to disable the automatic Windows Update option, because otherwise you risk, that you get nForce drivers installed, which are broken or worse than those you had previously installed yourself. If Windows Update is offering any new nForce chipset driver, you should only accept it, if you are sure, that the update is useful and safe. - AC'97 Codec Audio driver:
Since Win7/Vista do not natively support the Realtek AC'97 Codec Audio chips, which are the most common ones on nForce4 mainboards, I have added the actual AC'97 Codec Audio drivers from Realtek to these special nForce4 driverpacks.
The Realtek Audio driver may not be installed automaticly by running the installer of the package. So the users probably have to do a manual driver installation from within the Device Manager.
B. Modded Driverpacks for Win7/Vista:
Although this thread was started by me with the strong intention not to present any Win7/Vista packages with modded drivers, I decided to add them.
Reason:
Unfortunately NVIDIA didn't yet present WHQL certified Vista nForce IDE drivers, which are running flawlessly with all NF4-7 chipsets. That is why there obviously is still a need for "modded" drivers. A lot of users are wanting the best suitable drivers for their nForce chipset and don't set a high value on their WHQL certification.
General informations regarding the use of unsigned drivers:
- The presence or absence of the WHQL stamp has no influence at all on the function of the drivers.
- It is not true, that Win7/Vista's built-in "Driver integrity check" does not allow to install any modded/unsigned drivers. It is no problem to get my "modded" nForce drivers installed onto a running Win7 or Vista x86/x64 system (nForce RAID users should comply with my special nForce RAID driver update instructions).
Only disadvantage of unsigned drivers is the installation procedure:- They cannot be loaded from scratch, if users are booting off the Win7 or Vista DVD. But once Win7/Vista is up, even the "modded" drivers of these driverpacks can be installed by running the installer.
- The manual installation of a customized/unsigned driver from within the Device Manager has to be forced by using the "Have Disk..." method (otherwise you get the message, that the "best" driver has already been installed).
Here are my actual "modded" Win7/Vista packs with the currently fastest/newest nForce drivers for NF2-7 chipsets:
- "Non-AHCI nForce Performance Packs for Win7Vista"
recommended for all users with a non-AHCI nForce system, best choice for nForce4 and MCP51/55/61
(probably the nForce driver combination with the best performance)
Changelog:- removed: optional IDE driver registry cleaner (not needed/not used)
Here are the download links to these driverpacks:
32bit driverpack v9.0 for Win7 x86 and Vista x86:
>Download Link<
64bit driverpack v9.0 for Win7 x64 and Vista x64:
>Download Link<
These are the components:- Code: Select all
Ethernet Driver (v73.35) customized and corrected by Fernando
SATAIDE Driver (v9.99.09) customized by Fernando
SATARAID Driver (v9.99.09) customized by Fernando
RAIDTOOL Application (v9.99.0.9) "Sedona"
SMU Driver (v1.71) customized by Fernando
SMBus Driver (v4.69) customized by Fernando
Installer (v8.36)
Informations regarding these driverpacks:- Compatibility:
- Since I have added all required HardWareID's, these "modded" Performance Packs should support all nForce chipsets from nForce4 up to MCP79 (inclusive all Intel based ones) and work fine with all non-AHCI SATA and SataRAID systems.
AFAIK these driverpacks are the best choice for the following nForce chipsets:- nForce4 AMD (CK8-04) and nForce4 Intel Edition (MCP04)
- nForce 430/410 (MCP51)
- nForce 590/570/550 AMD and nForce 680i/650i/790i/780i/750i Intel Edition (MCP55)
- nForce 430/405/400 (MCP61)
- Contrary to NVIDIA's actual nForce chipset driver sets these driverpacks can be installed onto nForce4 (inclusive AMD Ultra-D) RAID systems without any problems (thanks to Drago for his reports).
My advice for NF4 RAID users: If you are doing a fresh install of Win7 or Vista, you should load the WHQL signed nForce IDE drivers v9.98, which are part of my "Special nForce4 WHQL Driverpacks". Once Win7 resp. Vista is up, you can update to the IDE drivers v9.99.09 by using this package. - Attention: Since these nForce IDE drivers v9.99.09 are modified (to make them suitable with all NF4-7 chipsets), they cannot be used from scratch, that means while installing Win7 or Vista.
- Since I have added all required HardWareID's, these "modded" Performance Packs should support all nForce chipsets from nForce4 up to MCP79 (inclusive all Intel based ones) and work fine with all non-AHCI SATA and SataRAID systems.
- Missing Audio driver:
Many nForce chipset mainboards have a Realtek HDAudio or AC'97 Codec Audio Chip. Since the suitable drivers are not from NVIDIA and the complete Audio driverpacks have a big size, I didn't add them to these nForce driverpacks. Users, who want the suitable Realtek HDAudio or AC'97 Codec Audio Driver and Software for Win7/Vista, can grab them from here:
>32bit Realtek AC'97 Audio Driver v63.05 WHQL for Win7/Vista x86<
>64bit Realtek AC'97 Audio Driver v63.05 WHQL for Win7/Vista x64<
>32bit Realtek HDAudio Driver vR2.67 WHQL for Win7/Vista x86<
>64bit Realtek HDAudio Driver vR2.67 WHQL for Win7/Vista x64<
- "Actual nForce Driverpacks for Win7/Vista"
designed for the nForce chipsets MCP72/73/77/79/7A/89
(newest Win7/Vista nForce driver combination with full AHCI support)
Changelog:- updated: NVIDIA HDAudio driver (now v1.3.12.0 WHQL dated 01/17/2012)
- removed: optional IDE driver registry cleaner (not needed/not used)
Here are the download links to these actual Win7/Vista Driverpacks:
32bit driverpack v9.0 for Win7 x86 and Vista x86:
>Download Link<
64bit driverpack v9.0 for Win7 x64 and Vista x64:
>Download Link<
These are the components:- Code: Select all
Ethernet Driver (v73.35) customized and corrected by Fernando
SATAIDE Driver (v11.1.0.44) customized by Fernando
SATARAID Driver (v11.1.0.43) customized by Fernando
RAIDTOOL Application (v11.1.0.43) "Sedona"
SMU Driver (v1.71) customized by Fernando
SMBus Driver (v4.69) custmized by Fernando
Away Mode Driver (v6.0.6000.115) WHQL
HD Audio Driver (v1.3.12.0) WHQL
Installer (v8.36)
Informations regarding these driverpacks:- Reason for publishing these drivers:
Look >here<.
The brandnew nForce IDE and Ethernet drivers seem to run well with different nForce chipsets. - Compatibility:
- The drivers of these actual Driverpacks have been customized by me to make them usable with all NF4-7 chipsets. Nevertheless they will not work with all nForce chipsets.
- These driverpacks definitively do work with MCP51 (nForce 430/410), MCP55 (nForce 590/570/550/680i/650i/780i/750i), MCP72 (nForce 780a/750a), MCP73 (nForce 630i/620i/610i), MCP77 (nForce 730a/720a/710a) and MCP79 chipset mainboards.
- Since the included nForce IDE drivers of these "Actual nForce Driverpacks" do not work with nForce 560/520 (MCP65) and nForce 630a (MCP67) chipsets, users with such system should take one of my 32/64bit "Special MCP65 & MCP67 nForce Driverpacks" (see below).
- Note: Users with an AHCI supporting chipset from MCP65 up will only be able to get any nForce SATA driver installed, if they have set the SATA Controllers to "AHCI" or "RAID" mode. This is not an ussue of my driverpacks. None of NVIDIA's nForce SATA drivers will support an AHCI capable nForce chipset, if the SATA Controllers are running in "IDE Mode". The only driver, which can be used in this case is the generic in-box MS IDE driver named PCIIDE.SYS.
- Warning: Users with a CK804 (nForce4 AMD) or MCP04 (nForce4 Intel) chipset should not try to install the nForce IDE drivers of these driverpacks. They probably will get a BSOD!
New: As a precaution I have removed the DeviceID's of the nForce4 AMD/Intel SATA and RAID Controllers. So the driver update will not been offered by the installer anymore.
This issue has nothing to do with my work, but with the structure of the new nForce IDE drivers v10.x.x.xx and v11.x.x.xx series, which obviously are not compatible with nForce4 (AMD/Intel) systems. Affected users should take the modded "NF4-7 Performance Pack" or the "Special NF4 RAID WHQL Driverpack" (for nForce4 RAID users, who are planning a fresh install of Vista/Win7). - The nForce IDE drivers v11.1.0.44 do fully support the AHCI features (precondition: AHCI Mode is enabled within the BIOS)
- Performance details:
According to the first test results the new nForce SATA driver v11.1.0.44 seems to be give the system even more performance than the v9.99.09 one. - Included HDAudio Driver:
The included HDAudio driver is from NVIDIA and designed for actual NVIDIA graphics cards. This driver does not work with Realtek HDAudio and AC'97 Codec audio chips. If you are searching for Realtek Audio drivers, you can use the links from within the informations regarding the "Non-AHCI nForce Performance Packs".
- "Special MCP65-67 nForce Driverpacks for Win7/Vista"
designed just for nForce 560/520 (=MCP65) and nForce 630a (=MCP67) chipsets
(newest working Win7/Vista nForce driver combination for MCP65/67 AHCI and RAID systems)
Changelog:- updated: NVIDIA HDAudio driver (now v1.3.12.0 WHQL dated 01/17/2012)
- removed: optional IDE driver registry cleaner (not needed/not used)
Here are the download links to these special Win7/Vista Driverpacks for MCP65/67 chipsets:
32bit driverpack v9.0 for Win7 x86 and Vista x86:
>Download Link<
64bit driverpack v9.0 for Win7 x64 and Vista x64:
>Download Link<
These are the components:- Code: Select all
Ethernet Driver (v73.35) customized and corrected by Fernando
SATAIDE Driver (v10.3.0.46) WHQL
SATARAID Driver (v10.3.0.46) WHQL
RAIDTOOL Application (v10.3.0.46) "Sedona"
SMU Driver (v1.71) customized by Fernando
SMBus Driver (v4.69) WHQL
Away Mode Driver (v6.0.6000.115) WHQL
HD Audio Driver (v1.3.12.0) WHQL
Installer (v8.36)
Informations regarding these driverpacks:- Compatibiliy:
- Since NVIDIA's newest nForce SATA and RAID drivers v11.x.x.xx series do not support MCP65/67 chipsets at all, users with such system have problems to find the latest appropriate nForce driver set at NVIDIA's download pages.
- These 32/64bit sets do fully support MCP65/67 chipsets with on-board NVIDIA SATA Controllers, which have been set to AHCI or RAID mode within the BIOS.
- Users with another nForce chipset should not install one of these special MCP65/67 nForce chipset driverpacks.
- Note: Users with an MCP65 or MCP67 chipset will only be able to get any nForce SATA driver installed, if they have set the SATA Controllers to "AHCI" or "RAID" mode. This is not an issue of my driverpacks. None of NVIDIA's nForce SATA drivers will support an AHCI capable nForce chipset, if the SATA Controllers are running in "IDE Mode". The only driver, which can be used in this case, is the generic in-box MS IDE driver named PCIIDE.SYS.
- Included HDAudio Driver:
The included HDAudio driver is from NVIDIA and designed for actual NVIDIA graphics cards. This driver does not work with Realtek HDAudio and AC'97 Codec audio chips. If you are searching for Realtek Audio drivers, you can use the links from within the informations regarding the "Non-AHCI nForce Performance Packs".
- "Special nForce2-4 LEGACY Driverpacks for Win7/Vista"
designed for LEGACY mode nForce2-4 AMD and Intel Edition chipsets
(with support of PataRAID and SataRAID systems)
Changelog:- new packages within this thread
Here are the download links to these special LEGACY Driverpacks:
32bit nForce2-4 LEGACY driverpack v9.0 for Win7 x86 and Vista x86:
>Download Link<
These are the components of the 32bit package:- Code: Select all
NVIDIA AC'97 Audio Driver (v4.66)
Audio Utility (v4.51)
Ethernet Driver (v65.65) customized by Fernando
PreNRM Ethernet Driver (v4.36) WHQL
LEGACY mode SATA/PATA and RAID Driver (v6.99) composed and customized by Fernando
RAIDTOOL Application (v6.95) "Sedona"
SMBus Driver (v4.69) customized by Fernando, with nForce4 support
Installer (v8.36)
64bit nForce3-4 LEGACY driverpack v9.0 for Win7 x64 and Vista x64:
>Download Link<
These are the components of the 64bit package:- Code: Select all
REALTEK AC'97 Audio Codec Driver (v63.05) WHQL
Ethernet Driver (v65.65) customized by Fernando
LEGACY mode SATA/PATA and RAID Driver (v6.99) composed and customized by Fernando
RAIDTOOL Application (v6.95) "Sedona"
SMBus Driver (v4.69) customized by Fernando
Installer (v8.36)
Informations regarding these driverpacks:- Compatibiliy and Usability:
- The drivers of these packages do support all LEGACY mode nForce2-4 (32bit OS) resp. nForce3-4 (64bit OS) chipsets inclusive PataRAID and SataRAID systems.
- Since the Operating Systems Vista and Windows 7 do contain newer and probably better in-box GART and MemCtl drivers, I did not add the old NVIDIA ones to the packages.
- Users with an nForce2-4 chipset mainboard, who want to install Vista or Win7 onto a RAID array, should look into the start post of >this< (Vista) resp. >this< (Win7) thread.
- Included NVIDIA/Realtek Audio Driver:
Since Vista/Win7/Win8 have an in-box AC'97 Audio Codec Driver, users probably will not need the Audio Driver of my Special nForce2-4/3-4 LEGACY Driverpacks. Nevertheless I have added them for users, which are not satified with the Vista/Win7 in-box Audio Driver.
Good luck and much fun with my driverpacks - any feedback is much appreciated!
Regards
Fernando
