Latest Realtek HD Audio Driver Version [archive]

pillainp said:

Where can I get drivers for the ALC1150 codec on my Maximus VII Formula, please?

Always start with the drivers on the computer or m/b vendor website. Asus driver support for MAXIMUS_VII_FORMULA. Select the most recent driver release

ComputerGeek said:

@CountMike, @f14tomcat et al

I might help explain some things
1. Realtek HD Audio device vs a Realtek Audio Codec
The High Def (HD) audio standard requires both HD controllers and HD devices. The HD audio controller connects to the PCI bus. One or more HD audio devices will connect to the HD controller

PCI Bus <====> HD audio controller <=====> one more HD audio devices

• Starting with Win 8, MS includes a generic driver for the HD audio bus controller
• Realtek (and other vendors) provide drivers for their HD audio devices that connect to an HD audio controller
• Vendors may also provide their own driver for the controller but have rarely seen this occur

The Realtek HD Audio device drivers are for their devices that connect to controllers. If you have HD audio, you can see device relationships on your own PC using Device Manager. Click View->Devices by Connection
Attachment 111899
Showbiz has a Realtek Audio Codec (its name first appeared when first posted the driver details snapshot). The codec is not an HD audio device. It would appear the codec works with / augments the onboard Intel SST audio . (Given the architecture, Hardware names and IDs I see from showbiz, i also don't believe showbiz's PC is HD audio.) You can find the Realtek relationship defined in showbiz's Speccy
Attachment 111902 @Showbiz
You had problems installing the EXE file from Dell. The Dell EXE includes more then just the files needed for the driver (see below) If all is working now, leave it as is. Don't bother with the EXE
2. The word "driver" is an ambiguous term
It's commonly used by everyone to refer to the "driver package" as well as the "driver installation app". The "driver package" is the set of files needed to implement the h/w interface. The driver package always includes an INF file. The INF tells Windows how to install the driver files. Only the driver package files are saved in the Windows DriverStore.
An EXE file is a driver installation app. It will always include the package but can also include software apps, it might provide the user a GUI interface, and more that wouldn't be in the package. Catalyst Control Center is an example of a s/w app that gets installed by the EXE along with the driver package. When uninstalling a driver, one should always first check Programs and Features because if the driver was installed by an EXE file, the vendor may have also provided an uninstaller for you.

As said before, your audio device may be based on Realtek audio codec, but it is not 100% compatible. That is why you can install the Realtek drivers (are accepted, not rejected as incompatible) but do not work as expected. You have Intel Smart Sound Technology audio device and the proper drivers are here. Try these and you should be OK.

DooGie said:

The fact that it didn't install build 7993 just means that it hasn't been enabled as an automatic update yet. I bet if you wait a couple of days and run update again it would grab 7993 and install it.

I have another explanation but I may be wrong here. When choosing "Automatically install the best driver", Windows doesn't search the entire disk(s) but only some registered places. 7993 was not in a such place, while 7989 was (probably in the driver cache because it had been installed before, and not explicitly uninstalled with the delete files checkbox). I suppose the "Search Windows Update" option would have downloaded and installed 7993 automatically, or "Install manually" and selecting the downloaded driver directory.

DooGie said:

Must say I'm surprised Microsoft decided to put 7993 up when 8000 is available.

Especially since it has been signed by Microsoft already...

Hi,

If the Realtek HD drivers are installed from a .cab file they are retained in the driver store but if they are installed from the Realtek setup.exe then it not only removes the previous version but also all previous versions from the driver store. So if you update the driver from a .cab file you can roll back a driver to the previous one but if you update using the Realtek setup then you can't roll back.

I checked this out using RAPR. After using .cab files for 3 consecutive updates RAPR showed all three drivers present. After installing build 8000 using Realtek install.exe the only build RAPR shows is 8000.

Indeed, good info to share here too because this driver store can become quite huge.

Cheers,