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Have a few (mostly driver related) questions

C

CloudGray

Junior Member
MB - ASRock Z77 Extreme 4
CPU - 3570k
SDD - Samsung 840 Pro
PSU - Seasonic X650
No GPU (yet!)

Just put that stuff together, which comprises my first built. One of the first things I would like to do is get the latest drivers. Unfortunately, it was somewhat difficult to dig through the pile of stuff listed on the motherboard manufacturers website.

List of stuff I am not sure about:
SATA Floppy Image (floppy...?)
Intel Rapid Storage (this is for SSD/HDD setups, yeah?)

List of crap I know I don't need:
Intel Rapid Start (I don't use hibernate)
Intel Management Engine (I don't use remote access)
Intel Smart Connect (computer is asleep, why would I care if something like email is updated...)
Appcharger
Lucid Virtu (no GPU)
VGA driver (will be using Intel's integrated graphics driver, so, don't need it)
CIR driver
Pretty sure I don't need any of the utilities.

What are the benefits of using the motherboard specific driver rather than a generic? For example, the Realtek/Broadcom drivers. I could probably find newer ones on their websites, why use the ones on ASRock's site, which are from 2012?

Any point to getting the ASMedia SATA3 driver if I'm using the Intel SATA ports? Is there an Intel SATA3 driver?

I don't know why ASRock decided to make half the SATA ports ASMedia, but they did the same with the USB 3.0 ports. Does Intel have a driver for their USB ports?

Finally, could I find a more recent INF driver on Intel's site?

Unrelated to drivers:

I haven't noticed any glaring issues related these mentioned, but they concern me nonetheless.

I get an A6 (SCSI Detect) on my motherboard debug LED when (and only when) I am in the BIOS. What is this?

POST will only make one short beep when I go into the BIOS, but not when I load straight to the OS. Why's that?

When starting up, I get an ASRock splash, then the screen has a seizure for a split second before loading up Windows. Is this normal? I don't remember it doing it the first few times I booted up.
 
Hello and welcome to the forums CloudGray.

1. You don't need the floppy image unless you want the OS to recognize a virtual floppy drive AFAIK.
2. Intel Rapid storage is something you want to install.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/rapid-storage-technology.html
3. The VGA driver and Lucid Virtu are for the onboard video, so you would want these.
4. Depending on what OS you are running, you may not need the Intel USB drivers, as they will be automatically installed.
4. In my opinion, disable the items you don't want from the BIOS, verses simply not installing the drivers (the Asmedia SATA controller, for example). You will have a better experience with this method.
5. I wouldn't worry about the debug LED. It stops when you enter the BIOS, so the SCSI Detect was the last thing the BIOS did before entering the BIOS.
6. The POST beeps have evolved over the years, so I wouldn't worry about the POST beeps, unless you are having a problem. I believe, if you do have a problem, the debug LED is really going to be your helper here.
7. Drivers: I generally install the drivers off the manufacturer site, then let Windows update install any newer versions that are available. I used to go out and search for the latest drivers of everything, but this really isn't necessary. This is more of a "last resort" when a device is not performing as it should.

Hope this helps!
 
ketchup79 said:
7. Drivers: I generally install the drivers off the manufacturer site, then let Windows update install any newer versions that are available. I used to go out and search for the latest drivers of everything, but this really isn't necessary. This is more of a "last resort" when a device is not performing as it should.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

That ^^^

I would selectively install the drivers off the ASRock install CD, and then update them as you go.

I will caution you, however, getting the latest driver isn't All That... I updated the Intel iGPU driver on my G3220 to the latest version and there are issues with it; I had to uninstall it and reinstall the older driver. Just because it's not the latest driver doesn't mean it won't work for you.

I just built a PC with an ASRock board (Desk2 in sig) and, yes, most of the X- utilities in the install disk are unnecessary... just choose not to install them, but the basic drivers you need.
 
And, yes you do need to install the Asmedia drivers. The reason for the split between SATA and USB3.0 ports is that the Intel chipset only supports a limited number of each. It isn't unusual for enthusiast motherboards to include a 3rd party chipset (quite often Asmedia) to support additional SATA and USB3.0 ports.

Also, if you don't install the motherboard utilities, make sure you do install some sort of monitoring software such as Speedfan or HWmonitor so that you can monitor system temps (always a good idea for a new build even if you aren't planning to overclock).
 
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Thanks for the responses everyone!

Will Windows disable the basic drivers it came with? Or do I need to uninstall them manually?

According to this RST is mostly for RAID setups?

Are you sure about Lucid Virtu? Everything I have read in regards to it suggests it's for computers that have a GPU. This particular version acts more as a power saver than performance booster - benchmarks on Tom's showing that it actually reduces FPS by a notable margin with the benefit of less power draw by the GPU. The other Lucid software Virtu MVP moves display output from the GPU to the CPU, or something like that.

Not second guessing you, just trying to figure out what this software actually does. I prefer a more thorough explanation than the "this improves performance, download me" provided by their respective websites.

I did not ask this in my first post, but has anyone used Intel SSD Toolbox, or Samsung Magician? What was your experience with them?
 
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I have both of those SSD toolboxes, they are both very good and provide useful tools. I also have the Plextor toolbox... it's pretty much worthless. Understand many of the features are proprietary for that brand SSD.

IRST does some other things in non-RAID setups, I recommend installing it.
 
I have each of those drives in different machines, but the Samsung Magician has a nice benchmark utility that I use on all machines.
 
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