must we use ArmouryCrate for driver updates?

[enchanter]

Hi All!

I'm a "refugee" from the old, old Asus product forums but I haven't been very active on the ROG forums yet.

I finished a new build with an Asus ROG STRIX B550-F (Wi-Fi) motherboard a few weeks ago and most things have been good. This is my first experience with ArmouryCrate, though, and I have some questions.

1) Is Asus now requiring people to use ArmouryCrate to have access to the latest drivers, like Intel LAN driver, Realtek Audio driver, etc? If I run ArmouryCrate, it can see newer versions of some drivers than what appears if I search the Asus "Support" area for my motherboard. It can't actually install them (I get a "This app can't be run on this PC" message from Windows 10, presumably because of permissions), but it can see them. I would rather just install the drivers directly, but it seems like Asus is trying to force customers away from that. Is that correct?

2) The only reason I even installed ArmouryCrate is because I have 3 CoolerMaster ARGB fans plugged in to the Aura 2 header on the motherboard, and I want to be able to control that lighting. I don't have anything else that I need to manage. Is there some other piece of software that can control lighting that's directly plugged into the Aura 2 header? Perhaps something a bit more robust than ArmouryCrate? I don't have any ARGB hardware controller anywhere in the mix.

Any tips or suggestions people have related to these two items would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Tim

[Jimbo93]

enchanter wrote:
Hi All!

I'm a "refugee" from the old, old Asus product forums but I haven't been very active on the ROG forums yet.

I finished a new build with an Asus ROG STRIX B550-F (Wi-Fi) motherboard a few weeks ago and most things have been good. This is my first experience with ArmouryCrate, though, and I have some questions.

1) Is Asus now requiring people to use ArmouryCrate to have access to the latest drivers, like Intel LAN driver, Realtek Audio driver, etc? If I run ArmouryCrate, it can see newer versions of some drivers than what appears if I search the Asus "Support" area for my motherboard. It can't actually install them (I get a "This app can't be run on this PC" message from Windows 10, presumably because of permissions), but it can see them. I would rather just install the drivers directly, but it seems like Asus is trying to force customers away from that. Is that correct?

2) The only reason I even installed ArmouryCrate is because I have 3 CoolerMaster ARGB fans plugged in to the Aura 2 header on the motherboard, and I want to be able to control that lighting. I don't have anything else that I need to manage. Is there some other piece of software that can control lighting that's directly plugged into the Aura 2 header? Perhaps something a bit more robust than ArmouryCrate? I don't have any ARGB hardware controller anywhere in the mix.

Any tips or suggestions people have related to these two items would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Tim

Hmmm, in my Armoury Crate on the drivers page, it shows two drivers installed/current, that are newer than Armoury Crate shows as the latest. So the other way around I guess. But in answer to the title of the thread, no, certainly you can install drivers with MWHC or is that called whcl drivers.

[enchanter]

Thanks Jimbo, I appreciate the response.

I was certain that at one point Tools->Driver was showing me newer versions of a couple of the drivers than what I could find on the ASUS driver page for my board, but right now everything that ArmouryCrate shows for "Latest version" is also what I see on the web site, so my concern seems unfounded. Thanks for confirming it can still be done "the old way".

Tim