Asus site for the RVE10

[EaglePC]

Would anyone happen to know which ones of the utilities and drivers on the Asus site for the RVE10 are actually useful for use on Windows 10 (and Linux, for that matter)? I have to wonder if the majority of the driver packages and utils only add cruft, compared to just letting Windows 10 Pro grab their own drivers when required? Likewise, which of the Asus utilities and whatnot are actually useful/worth keeping installed?

Chipset - do we really need Intel Management Engine , MEI, or Chipset drivers?

Audio - Seems like there are 2 required drivers, Realtek package for most of the features, plus a separate SupremeFX HiFi driver for the special front bay device. I assume both packages are necessary/useful. Comparing some of the specs and features, it looks like the audio on this board, especially the SupremeFX HiFi, is close to or equal quality to Asus discrete sound cards like the DX, D2X, Xense, STX etc...?

LAN - Any advantage to using the Intel Gigabit Ethernet driver package over the ones Win10 will pull down?

USB - Any benefit/necessity to the Asmedia USB 3.1 / 3.0 driver package versus the default ones?

SATA - Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver is listed here. Useful for anything or basically not worth it these days on a modern OS?

Wireless - I'm guessing this driver for the built-in, 3-pole WiFi chipset is probably useful? I know that Win10 on install is not able to see this by default (though perhaps this would change if hooked it up via ethernet and let it search) , so maybe these are useful/required. Also out of curiosity, what chipset is the board using anyway? Broadcom, Atheros, Intel etc..?

Bluetooth - I am guessing that it is a feature of the same chipset as WiFi, but it seems to have a separate driver. Is it worth using or just leave it up to WIndows?

Utilities - Lots and lots listed under this category. I'm sure that "Aura" is worthwhile as it handles all the RGB lighting compliance. "GameFirst IV" seems to be a networking utility for teaming and other features; useful, or a waste of resources? "DIP5" - I think this is the "Dual Intelligent Processors 5", but I thought that was a page under the AI Suite utility? In any case, it seems to be an OC tool so perhaps useful if you're going to tweak from within Windows before locking things in permanently via BIOS? "Asus Intel Extreme Tuning Utility" - the version listed here is older than those direct from Intel's site; it seems to be an OC/stress testing/benchmark program. "Intel Turbo Boost MAX Technology 3.0" - I'm to understand this is a new feature of Broadwell-E and newer chips and is of questionable use for overclockers anyway, so it won't be any use to me with a Haswell-E chip which still uses Turbo Boost 2.0? "Asus TurboV Core" - Is this the "Turbo Core App" they mention on the overview page, that seems to be an OC/tweaking utility? "Keybot II " - Seems to be a macroing utility; anyone use it? "ROG Connect Plus" - Not sure about this, best I can tell googling is its something that allows OCing from another PC/device? "ROG CPU-Z" - Old version here, others better direct or from Asus page "RAMdisk" and "RAMcache" are self explanatory; does anyone use these? "Mem TweakIT" - memory tweaking utility; useful? "AOHelp" and "HomeCloud" both seem to be of not much use, as there's better ways to find help and make a local share/cloud . "AI Suite 3" - Isn't this yet another OC tool or "control panel"?

There seem to be a lot of utilities, including those for system monitoring or overclocking. How many of them are redundant or conversely, require others to be installed (ie does AI Suite 3 require DIP5? Does DIP5 require TurboV) essentially managing the other tool?

Thanks!

Edit: Finally, I thought it was neat that Asus offered a USB drive with all the utilities, manuals, drivers and the like on it with the RVE10. Did they ever update it however? It would have been nice if they would have created an image file or whatnot every few months, replacing all the items with their latest versions and whatnot. Seems like a great way to dispense drivers on a high end mobo like this, but of limited use as soon as there are updates!
Edited by Xaeos - 6/25/17 at 4:04am

[Qoto159]

I noticed you found the USB with the auto runs. Well it's up to you, if you are a benchmark number nut. Like me... And want profiles for 24/7 stability. You are SOL. The 6850k is a voltage endless pit every time you alter the clock. And if you touch XMP, you are in for a whole day of memtesting.
1503 which I flashed back to keep it stable. Without tinkering shedding, clock timing etc. I wish it was 2 taps. XMP, hit profile F10. Speaking of builds. Fresh install of windows 1703 RS2.... COMPLETELY broken. Do not do it. The chipset drivers don't install correctly. If you get the 10.XX.86 you basically have to use a - overall command for root bus's and dmi to actually function normally. You can avoid this entirely by installing a few builds back. Install the Asus suite from the USB and than software upgrade to RS2. I got a free 1703 OEM disk and decided to do a clean install.

I so not advise!! The chipset INf files are currently so out of date its sad. I THINK ABOUT 8 solid revisions out of date
The entire driver and software page for a 600$ 1 year old MSRP motherboard is as you found just a mess. If you want to install RS2. HERE'S the link for the current Intel drivers. But do not install if you've already built out your current system with the USB. You'll be in for slot of INf and event viewer verifying. Here's what they current offer on that joke of a support site.


Now the v10 uses what they call wellsburg, a highly customized reworking of the paths to build out x99 changes to support Broadwell-E out of C10 if I'm correct. Which at basic level works. Here Chino got a block diagram

This explains all the of the cluster.... Fugery I imagine things have been so slow. But come on.... RS3 is arround the corner and look how far back they are. Just abandoned it. It's a shame. They push back and say just install windows update drivers. HOW many gamers just let windows does update take total control of hardware. I sure as heck don't know any. Well windows update installs a freaking mess in the INfs of you don't disable "auto device installation". It will be a mess in a months time.


They (Asus support) say that's a generic one. Contains no wellsburg files or INfs. Well if you do a snift cmd setupchipset. Exe -extract ( destination) you'll find the entire library of matching hardware Id's. Which you then in devmgr have a to point to for each line item. Jfjriejejeb. 4th time installing windows 10 to figure this one out. Oh also... The nice are basically the same. One has more pro features for vlans. Etc. Just stick with nic#1

Just get your base INFs solid and OC through the bios. It has the power checking systems as you make changes to keep things clean. Such as cycling certain power delivery areas. Software does not.

[Qoto159]

I know I didn't go into depth regarding your initial question. Page 2. I made a thread called 211-at VS 1218v. That will have all the info you're looking for

https://downloadmirror.intel.com/26859/eng/releasenotes%2010.1.2.86%20-%20pv.htm

Take a look for yourself. They rushed x299 so fast they bailed half way through the revisions.

Current joke of a driver being offered? 10.1.2.19....

To an extent Asus is correct. Using the OEMs can cause issues. But the neglect and lack of any updates from them while Intel does or almost monthly far outweighs the couple prorirtary things they layer in

[Chino]

1. Chipset, yes. MEI only if you plan to use AI Suite III. IF not, I wouldn't bother.

2. Audio, the Realtek one is a must. The Supreme FX HiFi Driver only if you plan to use the DAC.

3. Not that I know of. Always install the latest if you're paranoid.

4. USB, nope. I roll with the default ones from Windows.

5. Nope.

6. Intel.

7. Up to you.

8. Read the descriptions. Install the ones you plan to use. Don't overcomplicate things. 🙂

[Korth]

Network drivers have to be manually installed if, of course, the computer can't connect to any networks so it can automatically download drivers. Install LAN or WiFi, whichever you use.

Base (X99) chipset drivers are necessary. Intel IME isn't strictly necessary, I wouldn't install it unless something else complains about it being absent.

Windows "WQHL" drivers/versions have to go through a validation process (which takes time) to ensure the drivers are "fully" debugged, etc. So Windows drivers are always slightly outdated (and never beta), but they (almost) always work.

The latest-and-greatest driver versions can always be downloaded directly from Intel, ASMedia, Realtek, etc. The ASUS sites of often outdated and messy. But the differences between driver versions are typically insignificant in terms of real-performance (unless they state otherwise). Many driver revisions are in fact only minor version-control features or documentation or organizational updates, not the actual code itself. But, all other things being equal, newer is usually better.

ASUS embellishes the onboard audio with extra software you don't really need to install if you're happy with basic (ALC1150) audio. You don't even need to install the ALC1150 if you're using a dedicated audio card/device instead of onboard audio.

You don't really need to install any ASMedia drivers if you're not connecting anything to ASMedia-controlled SATA ports or USB ports.

No need to install Bluetooth or iGPU or whatever other features might be clumped into the download pile (especially when no such hardware is even present). Windows will prompt you to install drivers whenever you install new GPU or BT (or whatever) hardware.

The ASUS utilities are very hit or miss. I usually install *everything* on a clean WinOS, try it out, play with it - useless cruft can be discarded immediately, somewhat useful cruft takes a few days longer to identify, whatever's left (which tends be very little, if anything, lol) is worth keeping.

AURA controls LED lighting, colours, effects, etc. Don't need it unless your have the LEDs and wanna look pretty.

GameFirst is basically a tool to segment and prioritize network traffic. So you can download torrents while keeping good pings in your fps. Don't need it.

Stuff like DIP5, AI Suite, Extreme Tuning, Fan Xpert are for configuring and controlling overclocks, hardware/temp monitoring, etc. They can be used to automatically "smart" configure everything for you. Good for quick-and-easy testing and good to use as a reference "baseline". But then they're no longer needed and can be uninstalled. Better overclocking with more options and finer controls can be user-configured directly in BIOS, and they don't require installed (sometimes buggy or problematic) software to be running all the time.

KeyBot is indeed a keyboard macro utility. You don't need it unless you really want to use macros and you utterly lack macro functions on your keyboard.

ROG GPU-Z is just GPU-Z with a ROG-branded skin.

RAMDisk and RAMCache can be useful, if you have tons of unused RAM.

If your mobo came with "free" antivirus or game codes or whatever then you might as well use them up before they expire.