Looking for 870a-UD3 chipset driver

[Heimdall]

Can somebody explain to me why the chipset driver for this motherboard that I have downloaded from Gigabyte's site turned out to be a ATI Catalyst Driver? Did somebody from Gigabyte made a mistake by uploading this file? I just finished this build today (see signature below) and hesitated using this driver in fear that it will mess up this motherboard which doesn't even have integrated graphics in the first place. 

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

Certainly sounds like somebody made the proverbial cock up! I would say to report it to GGTS


Just enter your email address and click on the language of choice.
GGTS   http://ggts.gigabyte.com/

Please expect several days for a reply.

If you are in urgent need of it try the TweakTown Forum Site and see if they have them.

http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/

[Ripshod]

Are you sure you haven't just panicked at the ATI Catalyst splash, or the Catalyst Install Manager. The chipset driver installer is identical to the graphics driver installer, you only really see the difference if you opt for the custom/advanced install option. Certainly wouldn't hurt to let the installer go through the whole process, if it is the graphics installer it won't install much unless you have ATI graphics.

[absic]

Hi there,

On the AMD Motherboards the Chipset drivers are installed via ATI's Catalyst Control Centre, just to confirm what Ripshod has already stated and if you are new to this it can be confusing as it does look like it is going to install Graphic Drivers. But, rest assured, it doesn't!

[Heimdall]

Thank you guys for your assistance.

Yeah, that Catalyst splash screen really scared me a little bit, but I did try going further by way of 'custom install' as advised and it showed this:

AMD USB Filter Driver 1.0.15.99
   Current Version not Installed
   Filter driver for USB 1.0/1.1 Audio device

North Bridge Filter Driver 1.3.1.49
   Current Version not Installed
   Filter Driver for ATI NorthBridge Device


At this point, I'd hate to pull the trigger, not knowing what's gonna happen next.

Care to explain what a filter driver is? Can it speed up my 7200 rpm sata2 hard drive? I already enabled write caching under 'properties' and it's still very slow -- CrystalDiskMark : 50-ish.

This is currently what is showing under Device Manager on my machine:

IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers
        ATA Channel 0
        ATA Channel 0
        ATA Channel 1
        ATA Channel 1
        Standard  Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
        Standard  Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller

Config'n 1) Hard drive connected to SATA3_0 and DVD burner to GSATA_6: CrystalDiskMark = 50+.

Config'n 2) Hard drive connected to SATA3_0 and DVD burner to SATA3_1: CrystalDiskMark = 40+.

As you can see, it's not even close to Absic's 100+ mark.

[Ripshod]

I'm not sure the 'filter' term refers to but those are definitely the drivers you are wanting. On my mobo (890FXA-UD5) the installer states the USB filter driver has something to do with the USB Audio card I have installed.
Do you have the AMD SATA controller set to AHCI in the bios? If you have the 'Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller' should correct itself after you install the driver.
Pull the trigger mate, these Catalyst drivers are wonderful in that they only install the drivers you need for the hardware they detect.

[Ripshod]

After just a little research:
From Microsoft:

Filter drivers are optional drivers that add value to or modify the behavior of a device. A filter driver can service one or more devices.

Bus Filter Drivers

Bus filter drivers typically add value to a bus and are supplied by Microsoft or a system OEM (see the Possible Driver Layers figure). Bus filter drivers are optional. There can be any number of bus filter drivers for a bus.

A bus filter driver could, for example, implement proprietary enhancements to standard bus hardware.

For devices described by an ACPI BIOS, the power manager inserts a Microsoft-supplied ACPI filter (bus filter driver) above the bus driver for each such device. The ACPI filter carries out device power policy and powers on and off devices. The ACPI filter is transparent to other drivers and is not present on non-ACPI machines.

Lower-Level Filter Drivers

Lower-level filter drivers typically modify the behavior of device hardware (see the Possible Driver Layers figure). They are typically supplied by IHVs and are optional. There can be any number of lower-level filter drivers for a device.

A lower-level device filter driver monitors and/or modifies I/O requests to a particular device. Typically, such filters redefine hardware behavior to match expected specifications.

A lower-level class filter driver monitors and/or modifies I/O requests for a class of devices. For example, a lower-level class filter driver for mouse devices could provide acceleration, performing a nonlinear conversion of mouse movement data.

Upper-Level Filter Drivers

Upper-level filter drivers typically provide added-value features for a device (see the Possible Driver Layers figure). Such drivers are usually provided by IHVs and are optional. There can be any number of upper-level filter drivers for a device.

An upper-level device filter driver adds value for a particular device. For example, an upper-level device filter driver for a keyboard could enforce additional security checks.

An upper-level class filter driver adds value for all devices of a particular class.

So I assume the North Bridge Filter Driver will give you the AHCI functionality you are looking for. I can't verify this cos as soon as I've installed an OS I go straight to install the drivers.

Google is your friend

[Heimdall]

Do you have the AMD SATA controller set to AHCI in the bios? If you have the 'Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller' should correct itself after you install the driver.
Pull the trigger mate, these Catalyst drivers are wonderful in that they only install the drivers you need for the hardware they detect.

No, mate.  I had it set to Native IDE so was the GSATA. I went ahead and installed those 2 filter drivers, but nothing has changed under Device Manager -- still the same 'standard' thing. Also, CrystalDiskMark results were in the upper 40s (0-Fill read/write). I'll go ahead and try your suggestion going AHCI and re-install Windows 7 x64. Probably gonna have to stick with IDE on GSATA (I have heard optical drives don't react too well to AHCI), and use Windows' standard AHCI drivers instead of Gigabyte's. Is it alright if I disable CoolnQuiet in the BIOS? How about EFI Boot?

Thanks.

[Ripshod]

I have heard optical drives don't react too well to AHCI

By experience that is correct.
I've been running without cool n quiet since I can remember with no problems.
EFI on AHCI should work just fine.As for microsoft's AHCI drivers I can't comment, always used the manufacturer's drivers - I'd like to see how that turns out!!
You may be lucky like I was, I had my main drive as IDE. When I realised my error I changed it to AHCI and booted straight into Windows, saved a lot of work. Double check the boot order in the bios too, I've noticed that changing between IDE/AHCI/RAID messes with the priorities.