oem drivers vs manufacturer

fpresiado

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Jun 14, 2011
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which is better drivers from hp or drivers from amd.com can some one explain why which is better because i was wondering for a long time now. should i stick with oem or amd drivers. my laptop is hp envy dv7 7230us. i heard that drivers from oem have special drivers made for laptops im not to sure what makes it special, but at the same time getting drivers from manufacturer provides better support for the latest software.
 

Martell1977

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Oct 26, 2010
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If you have a laptop with "switchable graphics" you need HP's drivers. Otherwise get the latest from AMD for best performance.

Switchable graphics is a feature on some laptops to switch between integrated and discreet GPU's dependent of load, to save power. The ones I have seen were all switching from an Intel iGP to an AMD dGPU, And AMD's driver notes specifically say that they are not for those machines.

If this is your machine:
http://www.amazon.com/HP-DV7-7230US-A8-4500M-1-9GHz-750GB/dp/B009A178BO

then you want AMD's drivers as it runs on the IGP only, no discreet GPU.