Components like the CPU and motherboard don't require drivers in the same way a GPU does, but there are drivers for CPUs and motherboards called chipset drivers. These drivers often contain important updates to keep the core functionalities in check, and it's recommended that you keep them updated to ensure smooth functionality of your PC. Here's how you update chipset drivers for Intel and AMD PCs.

How to install Intel chipset drivers?

Unique to the motherboard you have

Strangely enough, Intel hasn't offered a general chipset driver for years, and instead you will find chipset drivers through whatever company manufactured your motherboard, or your PC if your motherboard was made by a company like HP or Dell. While you can download drivers from each company's website, many of these brands also have dedicated apps for installing their respective drivers, which might make things a bit easier to manage.

Asus motherboards

1. Find the product page for your Asus motherboard. A simple Google search should turn it up.
2. Click on the Support button on the page. It should be towards the top of the page next to other buttons like Tech Specs.
3. Click on Driver & Utility then Driver & Tools. Select your OS.
4. Find the Chipset drop-down menu, and here you have two options: download a general chipset driver that may be out of date, or download all these individual drivers to ensure you're up to date. I would recommend installing the general chipset driver, which is usually called the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility. It may be out of date, but that's okay.
5. Download the driver(s), run it, and follow the installation wizard. This part should be straightforward. Only install each driver one by one.
6. You'll likely need to restart your PC to finish installing the drivers.

ASRock motherboards

1. Find the product page for your ASRock motherboard. A simple Google search should turn it up.
2. Click on the Support button on the page. It should be towards the middle of the page next to other buttons like Specification.
3. Click on Download. Select your OS.
4. ASRock doesn't seem to offer a bundle of chipset drivers and instead requires you to install each component separately. Download everything that has Intel in the file name, plus anything that mentions Graphics or VGA or Thunderbolt.
5. Download the driver, run it, and follow the installation wizard. This part should be straightforward. Only install each driver one by one.
6. Restart your PC if prompted to do so.

Gigabyte motherboards

1. Find the product page for your Gigabyte motherboard. A simple Google search should turn it up.
2. Click on the Support button on the page. It should be towards the top of the page next to other buttons like Specification.
3. Click on Download if you aren't already on that page. Select your OS.
4. Find the Chipset drop-down menu, and you'll see a few individual drivers. Gigabyte doesn't seem to bundle these up into one single driver, so you'll have to install all of these one by one.
5. Download the driver, run it, and follow the installation wizard. This part should be straightforward. Only install each driver one by one.
6. Restart your PC to finish installing drivers.

MSI motherboards

1. Find the product page for your MSI motherboard. A simple Google search should turn it up.
2. Click on the Support button on the page. It should be towards the top of the page next to other buttons like Gallery and Specifications.
3. Click on Drivers & Downloads if you aren't already on that page. Then click on Driver. Select your OS.
4. Click on System & Chipset Drivers if you aren't already on that page. You should see a download that says Intel Chipset Driver.
5. Download the driver, run it, and follow the installation wizard. This part should be straightforward.
6. Restart your PC to finish the process if prompted to do so.

How to install AMD chipset drivers?

A fairly straightforward process

Updating AMD chipset drivers is fairly simple, as it doesn't involve searching for different drivers based on your motherboard manufacturer. To update AMD chipset drivers:

1. Go to www.amd.com/en/support.
2. Under Find Drivers and Support by Selecting your Product, search the list of products and select Chipsets.
3. On the next list to the right, select your motherboard's socket, such as AM5.
4. On the next list to the right, select your motherboard's chipset, such as B650 or X670E.
5. Click the Submit button.
6. Click the drop-down menu for your OS.
7. Find the box that says Auto-Detect and Install and click Download.
8. Run the downloaded utility and follow the installation wizard.
9. Your chipset drivers should be installed now.

Follow this simple guide to keep your chipset drivers up-to-date

While the installation process for AMD chipset drivers is pretty much as simple as it gets, Intel chipset drivers are honestly a mess. You can't get a general chipset driver from Intel directly since the 400 series, and half of the most popular motherboard manufacturers don't even offer a full chipset driver and require you to individually install each component. Despite the installation process sometimes getting tedious, we recommend installing chipset drivers whenever possible.