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Networking drivers: Necessary?

AcupunctureSoup
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So I know that I can't use my motherboards on-board ethernet without installing the driver from the driver CD (Right? I need that so it works, please tell me if I'm wrong). Linus said in one of his videos to never download networking drivers though. Why is that? What should I do?

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https://linustechtips.com/topic/322849-networking-drivers-necessary/
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Windows 8 added a "one size fits all" Ethernet and wireless driver that works well enough to get started but not as well as the drivers from the manufacturer. 

I've built 3 PC's, but none for myself... In fact, I'm using an iMac that my dad bought for me as my desktop. Awkward...

Please don't say "SSD drive." By doing so, you are literally saying "Solid State Drive Drive" and causing my brain cells to commit suicide. The same applies to HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express).

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Well I bought Win7 because I despise Win8 so I'll just use the disk.

Yeah, the disk is fine. Feel free to update them once you get connected but it isn't truly necessary and won't impact performance much (if it does at all)

I've built 3 PC's, but none for myself... In fact, I'm using an iMac that my dad bought for me as my desktop. Awkward...

Please don't say "SSD drive." By doing so, you are literally saying "Solid State Drive Drive" and causing my brain cells to commit suicide. The same applies to HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express).

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So I know that I can't use my motherboards on-board ethernet without installing the driver from the driver CD (Right? I need that so it works, please tell me if I'm wrong). Linus said in one of his videos to never download networking drivers though. Why is that? What should I do?

what Linus ment is don't use th cd. Download the latest and greates from the manufares website. The default drivers will be ok but the one designed for your mobo will give you an edge in performance

Btw srry about my spelling. In tired as fuck

i5 4670k / Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 3 / Asus Maximus vi hero lga 1150 mobo / Sapphire tri-x r9 290 OC edition / corsair vengeance pro red 4 x 4 gb 2133mhz cas 9 ram kit / nzxt phantom 530 black / 120gb samsung 840 evo ssd / 240 gb ocz arc 100 ssd / 2x 1tb WD Blue / Cooler Master v850 modular psu / corsair k70 rgb cherry mx Brown / mad catz rat 5 laser mouse / windows 10

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So I know that I can't use my motherboards on-board ethernet without installing the driver from the driver CD (Right? I need that so it works, please tell me if I'm wrong). Linus said in one of his videos to never download networking drivers though. Why is that? What should I do?

 

Windows will often have integrated drivers for the NIC for many motherboards (Especially those that use very common Intel NIC's). These will work "out of the box", and no driver updates are generally needed.

 

With that in mind, it's usually a good idea to go to the Manufacturers website and download the latest drivers anyway.

 

If your motherboard's NIC drivers are not automatically detected by Windows during the installation process, then you will need to manually install those drivers before you can do anything online.

 

@LinusTech was specifically referring to the fact that you should never install drivers off the Motherboard CD, because they are always old drivers. He recommends you toss the CD away, and download the newest drivers from the motherboard website.

 

If you need to (Don't have access to another PC for example), you could install the NIC driver off the CD first, then immediately go online and download updated NIC drivers right away.

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Windows will often have integrated drivers for the NIC for many motherboards (Especially those that use very common Intel NIC's). These will work "out of the box", and no driver updates are generally needed.

 

With that in mind, it's usually a good idea to go to the Manufacturers website and download the latest drivers anyway.

 

If your motherboard's NIC drivers are not automatically detected by Windows during the installation process, then you will need to manually install those drivers before you can do anything online.

 

@LinusTech was specifically referring to the fact that you should never install drivers off the Motherboard CD, because they are always old drivers. He recommends you toss the CD away, and download the newest drivers from the motherboard website.

 

If you need to (Don't have access to another PC for example), you could install the NIC driver off the CD first, then immediately go online and download updated NIC drivers right away.

 

There is absolutely no reason why the LAN drivers of the CD are fine. Let's take by board for example. No revision of the driver has been made since six months after it came out.

 

Windows is by far, well and truly, the worst at hardware support out of the box. Let's take an arbitrary laptop I'm working on. If I decide to wipe the OS and start with a fresh installation, I'd be willing to guess that there's a 80% chance it won't support either NIC on installation.

 

Use the CD if it doesn't work, and let Windows Update handle updates in the unlikely even there is a reasonable excuse for an updated driver.

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There is absolutely no reason why the LAN drivers of the CD are fine. Let's take by board for example. No revision of the driver has been made since six months after it came out.

 

Windows is by far, well and truly, the worst at hardware support out of the box. Let's take an arbitrary laptop I'm working on. If I decide to wipe the OS and start with a fresh installation, I'd be willing to guess that there's a 80% chance it won't support either NIC on installation.

 

Use the CD if it doesn't work, and let Windows Update handle updates in the unlikely even there is a reasonable excuse for an updated driver.

 

I'm not entirely sure why you're quoting me, then arguing what I just said.

 

We're agreeing, friend ;)

 

The only instance where using the Motherboard CD to install the NIC driver is acceptable, is when the driver won't auto-install during Windows Installation, and when the user doesn't have an alternate computer available.

 

Either that, or you're saying something different, in a non-clear manner :P

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I'm not entirely sure why you're quoting me, then arguing what I just said.

 

We're agreeing, friend ;)

 

The only instance where using the Motherboard CD to install the NIC driver is acceptable, is when the driver won't auto-install during Windows Installation, and when the user doesn't have an alternate computer available.

 

Either that, or you're saying something different, in a non-clear manner :P

 

Yeah sorry, I'm disagreeing with Linus' saying "you should never use the CD".

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