Sadly when you use the website drivers and install the Realtek audio drives, the Soundblaster EAX doesn't seem to work. All you get is the Realtek hardware, unless I am missing some sort of step here.

epx998 wrote:
Sadly when you use the website drivers and install the Realtek audio drives, the Soundblaster EAX doesn't seem to work. All you get is the Realtek hardware, unless I am missing some sort of step here.

Seems like I've heard the EAX thing doesn't really work anyway, but nonetheless, how about getting your G53 back to its OEM configuration with a factory restore? Whatever THX or EAX features it's supposed to have would be installed.

Honestly, the best way to get all the drivers is to go to the ROG page for the G53SX and download the drivers from there. For the nVidia driver, you can use the latest reference drivers, which support the G53SX. I would advise getting the graphics card driver from nVidia, as the ASUS drivers are quite out of date, and there are apparently some significant performance tweaks in newer releases.

I used the ROG driver CD, but there is little worth to it. An ISO would be about 700 MB, which would take quite a while to download. All other drivers besides the nVidia ones can be easily downloaded from ASUS website. That way, you can install only the drivers, without the junkware, unless you want that.

Some of the ASUS utilities are cute (Rotation Desktop), but they do not provide any real benefit.

Zygomorphic wrote:
Honestly, the best way to get all the drivers is to go to the ROG page for the G53SX and download the drivers from there. For the nVidia driver, you can use the latest reference drivers, which support the G53SX. I would advise getting the graphics card driver from nVidia, as the ASUS drivers are quite out of date, and there are apparently some significant performance tweaks in newer releases.

I used the ROG driver CD, but there is little worth to it. An ISO would be about 700 MB, which would take quite a while to download. All other drivers besides the nVidia ones can be easily downloaded from ASUS website. That way, you can install only the drivers, without the junkware, unless you want that.

Some of the ASUS utilities are cute (Rotation Desktop), but they do not provide any real benefit.

All very true, but it sounds like the OP would like (at least) some of the utilities. If he wants to start from the OOBE, a factory restore is the only way to get there. It'll have every last utility, installed exactly the way Asus originally configured them.

FWIW, @exp998, not even the Drivers Disk can do that. It's usually missing a little of the added-value software.

What is the value-added software? I bought my G53SX new, and it did not come with anything for pay that I could tell. If there is, please list it, as it may be available on the ASUS FTP site.

Zygomorphic wrote:
What is the value-added software? I bought my G53SX new, and it did not come with anything for pay that I could tell. If there is, please list it, as it may be available on the ASUS FTP site.

Nothing I ever want.....but things like Office or Word Starter. Asus doesn't post things like this on their FTP site. I don't think they post the AV trials there anymore, though those usually are on the Driver's Disk.

I'm not sure what you mean by "anything for pay." I wasn't talking about anything extra that you pay for, just all the bloatware that Asus installs that's supposed to add "value" to the machine. I use none of that stuff, but my point was simply that, if someone does want the OEM setup, a factory restore is the one sure-fire way to get there. You cannot reconstruct that exact configuration yourself from downloaded software.

I just want the Sound Blaster EAX audio device recognized again. That doesn't seem to happen with the Realtek drivers. Maybe I am missing something.

epx998 wrote:
I just want the Sound Blaster EAX audio device recognized again. That doesn't seem to happen with the Realtek drivers. Maybe I am missing something.

There's no actual "device," per se......like THX, it's just some audio processing presets....an emulation program. Try installing the Creative Audigy program....I'm not positive, but I think that might have the emulation processing you're looking for.

(As I hinted earlier, though, it may not be worth it. I remember a couple owners who went to a lot of trouble trying to get the EAX stuff working and were very disappointed to find that it (1) didn't work with the laptop speakers, and (2) didn't offer the kind of surround emulation they'd hoped. Personally, I think its inclusion is mostly a marketing gimmick.)


EDIT: I just took a look at a couple of the THX installers. They include (in their "Audio" folders), a separate setup program for an EAX gadget. I can't tell you whether this is the EAX processing software itself, or just a desktop gadget, but perhaps you could take a close look at your THX installer and find what you're looking for there.)