Good-day everyone :Alex I ran the http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect prgm.  That's real nice.. and confirmed all my drivers were old but perfect (1019) and correct !
 
Back to the topic : If you take the time to set up your system,  you can have years of running smooth..I know im doing it, but do understand there must be a proper ground up build. Many users here are song writers players, not computer tech's . so its understood they have little clue about making system run/track perfect and I respect that ...most are Artists ! and just wana record their stuff ..
 
Bottom-line : Read very carefully ...ask for support, there are a hand-full of users here that can support any build.. some have passed on Like Charlie .. and some like Alex have come on board .. use the tools at hand !
 
Have  Great  Day !

As a general rule, when it comes to chipset drivers, if you have working ones, you likely don't need to upgrade them.  Usually when the chipset drivers are updated, it's to add additional compatibility to new devices that are added to the same chipset, such as USB3 support being added to a certain motherboard chips, but if you only have USB2 ports, then this added driver would be unnecessary. 
 
That said, I've seen MANY cases where the chipset drivers were not correct to begin with and even though many of the systems seem to work fine, there are things underlying the obvious stuff that really is using fall-back drivers built into Windows or something.  We're talking about things like the bridge from memory to CPU and other less obvious.
 
Video drivers are a slightly different case as new version often bring performance increases.  they also often bring problems! Definitely either have an image of your system or some other way to fall back.
 
Regarding BIOS updates: I agree with the opinion that you generally don't need to update the BIOS unless you ahsve a good reason to do it.  An example is for additional CPU support, such as an i7 being supported in a motherboard that previously only supported an i5, for instance.  In this case, if you are sticking with the same CPU, there would be no benefit to this new chipset driver.  Most of the time, if you don't have a specific reason to update your BIOS, you probably don't need to.
 
Remember that there is ALWAYS a chance when updating something like your BIOS of "bricking" your entire system - i.e. it might never boot again.  Most newer BIOSs have protection against this and ways to recover where older BIOSs had no way to go back.  Just be sure you have the EXACT update you need for your model of motherboard and certainly don't do this willy-nilly or especially at a time when you need your computer to do a project due to the risks.  The optimal time to do something like a BIOS update is when you are building your machine, not when you are looking for a performance boost or something, which you probably won't get from a BIOS change.
 
Hope this helps.

By the way, for those unfamiliar with the BIOS update, here's a good article on the topic: http://www.howtogeek.com/136881/htg-explains-do-you-need-to-update-your-computers-bios/
 

CakeAlexS
> If it aint broke don't fix it.  When it comes to a BIOS even the manufacturers recommend not updating unless it's totally necessary. 
 
Really? Please supply me the link to the manufacturer who recomends not doing BIOS updates? BIOSs nowadays are easy and pretty safe to update and rollback. If you've ever done server support for instance you will probably be doing regular BIOS updates and pushing out firmware like windows update. Even my TV and router has firmware updates pushed out from the manufacturer (automated). I generally wait an extra month though before I do it in case of any issues. In the future (maybe years away) I expect firmware and BIOS updates to be rolled out automatically like any software update), BIOS updates are no big deal any more. There you go.

 Asus, Intel, and planet duh!   Reason are few for BIOS updates.  Upgrading processors, recognizing larger hard drives, fan control, ect.   Most of them have a READ ME file. 

StarTekh
Good-day everyone :Alex I ran the http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect prgm.  That's real nice.. and confirmed all my drivers were old but perfect (1019) and correct !
 
Back to the topic : If you take the time to set up your system,  you can have years of running smooth..I know im doing it, but do understand there must be a proper ground up build. Many users here are song writers players, not computer tech's . so its understood they have little clue about making system run/track perfect and I respect that ...most are Artists ! and just wana record their stuff ..
 
Bottom-line : Read very carefully ...ask for support, there are a hand-full of users here that can support any build.. some have passed on Like Charlie .. and some like Alex have come on board .. use the tools at hand !
 
Have  Great  Day !

 I've been building my own DAWs since the last century.  Let's say I've learned "if it aint broke don't fix it" the hard way.  I'm still using Core2 Q6600 and Phenom X4s with no problems.  I'm waiting for one of these systems to die so I can justify upgrading. 
  If there are any users left on this forum still using M-Audio PCI cards, you know well of finding that driver version that works and sticking with it. 

Continuously updating your chipset drivers is a fools game. I know this because I am a fool. Every time I've played the game, I've lost and ended up with a machine that required professional intervention. My experience has taught me that bios and MB updates are the last option, not the first.

I bought a £300+ motherboard with dual bios and a bios recovery tool, but I never updated the bios...

I lie, I updated it maybe 20+, mostly to try out custom made ones for overclocking. If it fails it fixes easily, Rampage 3 extreme. But it never did fail.

I absolutely hate that I bought that board now though, because I will never again be able to use a non rampage grade motherboard, but then again they are built to last over a decade even when overclocked.

ampfixer
Continuously updating your chipset drivers is a fools game. I know this because I am a fool. Every time I've played the game, I've lost and ended up with a machine that required professional intervention. My experience has taught me that bios and MB updates are the last option, not the first.

It's a fools game if you don't have a backup strategy.

kitekrazy

CakeAlexS
> If it aint broke don't fix it.  When it comes to a BIOS even the manufacturers recommend not updating unless it's totally necessary. 
 
Really? Please supply me the link to the manufacturer who recomends not doing BIOS updates? BIOSs nowadays are easy and pretty safe to update and rollback. If you've ever done server support for instance you will probably be doing regular BIOS updates and pushing out firmware like windows update. Even my TV and router has firmware updates pushed out from the manufacturer (automated). I generally wait an extra month though before I do it in case of any issues. In the future (maybe years away) I expect firmware and BIOS updates to be rolled out automatically like any software update), BIOS updates are no big deal any more. There you go.

 Asus, Intel, and planet duh!   Reason are few for BIOS updates.  Upgrading processors, recognizing larger hard drives, fan control, ect.   Most of them have a READ ME file. 

You said "When it comes to a BIOS even the manufacturers recommend not updating unless it's totally necessary. "
 
I specifically asked for your references (a link) to this specific statement you made. Any motherboard manufacturer will do.
So far you just gave me a list of reasons why to update firmware, nothing to backup your actual statement.
I agree it's important to read the README although FYI BIOS's often contain undocumented bugfixes as motherboard manufacturers are notorious at not updating their changelogs correctly.
 
UPDATE - And I would agree if you aren't comfortable in updating firmware then don't unless you want to, however you should get familiar if you want an optimal system. I don't believe this is the sole domain of "techies" anymore.

 
If your motherboard is recent, there may very well be useful things to be had with a new bios version.
 
I just updated mine yesterday and the new bios had (for example) improved usb 3 handling.  Now, I don't have any usb3 devices, but I may in the future...
 
My motherboard has this neat easy bios update function :  just but the bios on a usb drive, stick in a dedicated port on the back, press a button and wait.... and wait... while the led flashes and you're beginning to wonder if you've just vapourized everything... then turn the system on, hold your breath... and phew, still alive.
 
Updating a bios is not for the faint of heart.  At some point you just have to bet everything, and hope for the best.
 
I then updated all the other drivers that had new version since last year.  Hmm, RSTe or RST ?  Can't remember what that was all about... Go for the RSTe.  Wondered if my hard drives would still be there after rebooting...
 
While I was at it, I disabled a whole bunch of services I didn't like the look of, then experienced all sorts of weird things (like windows not opening and usb drives taking a full minute to be recognized).  I finally gave up and reenabled everything and things work, but when I have more time I'll go about cleaning things up in more organized approach.
 
Data has become so huge it's now impractical to back everything up.