975XBX2 Audio Drivers

[PJ]

Intel lists 2 audio drivers for the 975XBX2: 1. Audio: IDT* 92XX Driver and 2. Audio: Sigmatel* (IDT*) 92XX Driver. Other then the listed differences (the first is only for Windows Vista while the second is for Windows Vista and XP) what are the other differences. I would like to update the audio driver for my Windows Vista Ultimate system and I do not know which driver to use.

• Chassis Coolermaster Centurian 5
  Motherboard Intel D975XBX2 w/ 2674 BIOS
  Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
  Memory 4GB Crucial DDR2-533
  Hard Drive 4(2x RAID 1)-320GB Seagate Barracuda ES
  CD/DVD Burner Plextor 760A
  Floppy Drive Sony MPF-920
  Graphics Card Matrox P650 PCIe
  Power Supply PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 510 ASL

[cyclo]

I downloaded and installed the 19MB file (older) a few weeks ago... works fine on Vista Ultimate. I did remember having to reboot to finally get the sound working properly. It appears the newer Vista specific version has the Includes Intel® Audio Studio. Not sure what that does but the sound drivers appear to be the same for both versions.

I found these latest drivers to be better than the old Sigmatel drivers, especially when using digital outputs (coax or optical) as they now provide Dolby Digital capability which sounds better on a 5.1 speaker system with digital inputs.

[rltkmkc]

I know one thing that was fixed with the newer version (2/25 which I installed this morning) was the headphones front audio output. Now when I plug my headphones in the front headphones jack on my case the rear speakers are automatically cut off. Which didn't happen with the previous version.