AMD chipset drivers: where to get them and how to install them

New AMD build? Better get some chipset drivers installed - Here's where to find them

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AMD chipset drivers are one of the most integral pieces of software you can possess in your gaming arsenal, and we’re going to show you exactly where to find AMD chipset drivers and how to install AMD chipset drivers. If you’re lucky enough to possess an AMD Ryzen CPU, then we suggest taking a quick read through this helpful guide.

Chipset drivers are the driving force behind your CPU’s operation efficiency and considering how integral they are, it’s a surprise that they’re so often neglected.

If we’re going to get pedantic, chipset drivers are primarily for your motherboard. Chipset drivers are software packages that tell Windows how to communicate instructions properly to your motherboard and the subsystems your motherboard contains.

However, there is CPU performance to be had from AMD chipset drivers due to components like power schedulers and CPU core management packages contained within. Explaining drivers can get pretty complicated very rapidly so that’s as in-depth as we’re going to get, for now. So where do I get these AMD chipset drivers?

Where to get AMD Chipset drivers

AMD chipset drivers can actually be found in a variety of different places but you should always download software like this from the manufacturer’s website exclusively. There’s absolutely no need to pick it up from anywhere else. The software hosted on other sites could be modified to contain malicious software or in a way to cause harm to your system or files. This is a danger clearly outlined in most software vendors’ terms of service.

There are a couple of ways to obtain AMD’s chipset drivers. The easier method consists of navigating to AMD’s driver page **https://www.amd.com/en/support** and clicking the first ‘download now’ button, to get AMD’s auto driver detection software. This software will detect what CPU you currently have installed in your system and download drivers and PSP plans accordingly.

The second method is a little more involved but simple nonetheless. You do, however, need to know what motherboard you have. If you don’t know, check out our ‘What motherboard do I have?’ article.

Now you simply navigate to your motherboard manufacturer’s website and type in the motherboard’s name in the website’s search box. Somewhere on the motherboard’s page, you’ll find a ‘support’ tab, and within that, you’ll get the option to download chipset drivers. The option may be contained within another download subcategory.

What are chipset drivers? 

Chipset drivers are nothing if not complex.

As previously stated, chipset drivers are more for your motherboard than they are for your CPU, hence the name chipset. And it’s important to first understand what a driver does. 

Imagine a car, where you’re a passenger but not the driver. You’ll need a driver to get the car moving – it simply won’t work without one (shhh, Tesla). This is an incredibly simple analogy but works perfectly. So, in essence, your CPU (or any component that requires a driver) is the car – the (software) driver is the driver, and you need this to make the component function. 

Chipset drivers are instruction sets that tell the operating system how to properly communicate with the components in the PC. In this case, since we’re discussing chipset drivers the components involved are the motherboard and CPU. 

Even if you haven’t installed chipset drivers already you still have some. Windows 7/8/10/11 all have a more basic and outdated chipset and graphics drivers baked into the operating system so you can effectively operate the PC. These drivers aren’t intended to be the drivers you use forever but are more of a placeholder to keep everything working. 

Chipset drivers are integral to overall system health and have a slight impact on the performance of your PC, so you should go and update them now. 

How to install AMD chipset drivers

1

Install AMD chipset drivers via AMD’s auto installer

Step

1

Run the auto-installer

You’ll be asked to choose a destination folder, keep it as default for simplicity. This is going to extract the installers files to a location temporarily so it’s able to install the chipset drivers.

Step

2

Checking for hardware

The AMD auto-installer is now going to scan your PC for hardware compatible with it’s driver packages.

Step

3

Select driver packages

You may now select any driver packages you wish to install and select the install button on the bottom right when you’re ready to continue.

Step

4

Restart your PC

You may now restart your PC, make sure you save any work prior to the restart. Once the restart has been applied, the chipset driver installation process has been completed.

2

Install AMD chipset drivers via motherboard manufacturer

Step

1

Navigate to your motherboard manufacturers website

When you’re on your motherboard’s product page, click on the support link and it’s there you’ll find drivers for your motherboard. We want the “Chipset drivers”

Your download will consist of a .Zip file instead of a .exe. you’ll need to extract the file to be able to run it.

Step

2

Run the extracted .exe file

A familiar window will appear, this is the same package te auto installer will install, the only difference is this method ONLY contains the AMD chipset driver.

Click install when you have chosen a file path.

Step

3

Just wait – grab a warm beverage

The AMD chipset driver will now install on your PC. Sit back and relax, you’re not needed here.

Step

4

Restart your PC

Exactly like the previous method, you’ll be required to perform a system restart upon completion. Restart your PC and the AMD chipset drivers are now successfully installed.

There you have it – your battle station is now equipped with AMD’s latest and greatest chipset drivers.

Final word

It’s important to remember to install drivers of all kinds when building a new PC or installing a new OS. Drivers help your PC run smoothly and with every iteration make operations slightly more efficient and secure. If you download AMD chipset drivers through the auto-detect tool it tacks on a host of useful packages such as PSP security patches, SMBus drivers, PCI drivers, and newer power plans too. The software can be just as important as the hardware running it, especially when that software is governing operations and communication between your motherboard and CPU.