ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-F SLOW BOOT AND RAID CONTROLLER QUESTION

[Selynelar]

Good Day Everyone!

RAID CONTROLLER CONFUSION

I just got my new build with Asus Rog Strix Z790-F Gaming Wifi motherboard. I have installed the windows 11 pro and after the drivers what was downloaded from the support site. When i checked the device manager i realized that i am missing the Raid Controller driver.

I would like to mention that i am using only one SSD for the OS and games , and using one HDD only for storage. So i thought i dont need for this the RAPID STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, that is why in the bios this one is disabled. 

What Do you think should I use RAID configuration (INTEL RAPID STORAGE TECH) or I can leave it disabled? And what else should i disable in bios to dont miss the raid controller? Or do i need the raid controller in my scenario?

Sorry for the stupid question but i am really confused what settings should i use in my case with one ssd and hdd - only for os and storage. If you have any suggestion i will be appreciate it. 

ABOUT SLOW BOOT AND DRIVERS INSTALL

Also I have noticed that boot time is slower than in my previous systems. Approx. 40-45 sec from startup the pc till login into windows. I have read a lot about what can cause it. I have found out that it is regarding to the memory training. So my question that - is this normal? 

I have my last question that when I installed the drivers some of them not even showed the installing process just run in the background but the installed was done. - Is this normal? And also noticed that the audio driver install has took a long time to finish install of it. 

Thanks for your replies.

[JohnAb · Accepted solution]

Just install these drivers to get rid of the error, even if not using RAID. Just leave all RAID options etc on defaults in BIOS, nothing should need to be changed. 

Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology Driver Software V19.5.0.1037 for Windows 10/11 64-bit.(WHQL)

Regarding boot time, I have a different motherboard, but a boot time of 30-40s (before seeing the Windows booting screen) on many boards is perfectly normal. I think mine currently take 35-40s to get to the logon screen. Your time might be a little more or less, but nothing to worry about.  

Some driver packages have a silent install, so again that's OK. Just look for any missing drivers in Device Manager if you aren't sure. Usually best to run the setup program as admin to make sure the install goes smoothly. Any other issues, just ask. If everything seems to be working OK, then all should be well.  

[Selynelar]

Thank You ! So the boot time is normal. 

Is it okay leave IRST disabled in bios as well?  And do you think about the driver issues i have mentioned?

[JohnAb]

The simple answer is that leaving most BIOS settings on defaults is fine and like I said, some drivers have a silent install. You will probably want to enable XMP as a minimum. Yes, the audio drivers do take a long time to complete and eventually the PC will restart. Just give it a few minutes to complete. Sounds like everything is perfectly normal and going well 😁

[Selynelar]

Can you tell me when installing the irst suddenly pop up another drive and installing around like 700mb on it. What is that? 

[JohnAb]

I really don't know - did you change the BIOS settings? Just go back to defaults. If needed, you should be able to remove that extra partition in Disk Management and then resize the existing one. If it's a mess, easiest to go back to BIOS defaults and then install Windows again. I've never had that happen. 

[Selynelar]

Thanks for your reply. No i have not changed anything in bios. Everything is on default. Except xmp I is set.

I have another question for you. I am planning to do bios flash. Does it matter which usb port i use if use the flash through ez flash without using bios flash button or it is better to connect the Usb to the bios flash port? And if I am doing bios flash do i need to do the fimwares updates again(audio, pd update etc) or it will remain either I rollback or update the bios?

And also my case fans are pwm so do i need to set anything in qfan or also everything is fine on deafult(auto detect)? And my cooler is NOCTUA NH-D15. I remember in my MSI board i had to set it tower cooler.

Thanks for your reply.

[JohnAb]

If you want to be fully up to date with drivers, MoKiChU provides all of the latest drivers here:

https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/hardware-build-advice/index-all-my-drivers-firmware-software-threads/m...

But for now, just getting the support page drivers working well will be OK, so I'd suggest doing those updates later if you want to. Also, a really good idea is to backup your OS drive before big changes. That way, if anything goes badly wrong you can get going again in 10 minutes as if nothing happened. Having regular OS backups has saved me many times. I do the backups on a 3 days rolling schedule but save to a different drive. I like Macrium Reflect (free) but many alternatives are available.