Solved best drivers for mobo and SSD?

shmu26 · Nov 30, 2024

Should I just let Windows choose the best drivers for my Asus Prime B365M-A mobo, or should I use the ASUS app for that?
I checked and I have the latest BIOS version.

And what about for my SSD -- Western Digital WD_BLACK 1TB SN770 NVMe ? Should I use the WD Dashboard app for drivers and firmware updates?

I am running Windows 11 24H2

werty · Nov 30, 2024

shmu26 said:
Should I just let Windows choose the best drivers for my Asus Prime B365M-A mobo, or should I use the ASUS app for that?
I checked and I have the latest BIOS version.

And what about for my SSD -- Western Digital WD_BLACK 1TB SN770 NVMe ? Should I use the WD Dashboard app for drivers and firmware updates?

I am running Windows 11 24H2

Hi,

For the mobo Asus publishes drivers on their support page - you can use them or the specific vendors of your hardware - chipset, lan etc.

As for the SSD - WD Black SN770 had problems with Windows 11 so it's best to update it's firmware to the latest from WD Dashboard. It's recommended to use it in general to update firmware.

siliconbeaver · Nov 30, 2024

my WD_BLACK SN770 1TB is using Windows 11 default driver, and its driver should be automatically installed/updated when online.
it runs fine.

Google Search

werty · Nov 30, 2024

siliconbeaver said:
my WD_BLACK SN770 1TB is using Windows 11 default driver, and its driver should be automatically installed/updated when online.
it runs fine.

Google Search

Driver - yes, firmware only through Dashboard.

Ghot · Nov 30, 2024

@shmu26

Here's your motherboard drivers... choose: Windows 10 64bit

PRIME B365M-A｜Motherboards｜ASUS USA

Experience the PRIME B365M-A with Aura Sync RGB, DDR4 2666MHz, M.2 support, and HDMI. Transform your daily tech interactions!

www.asus.com

Don't install Armoury Crate or any other motherboard "utility".
Just the drivers.

shmu26 · Nov 30, 2024

Ghot said:
@shmu26

Here's your motherboard drivers... choose: Windows 10 64bit

PRIME B365M-A｜Motherboards｜ASUS USA

Experience the PRIME B365M-A with Aura Sync RGB, DDR4 2666MHz, M.2 support, and HDMI. Transform your daily tech interactions!

www.asus.com

Don't install Armoury Crate or any other motherboard "utility".
Just the drivers.

I should choose Windows 10, even if I run Windows 11?

Ghot · Nov 30, 2024

shmu26 said:
I should choose Windows 10, even if I run Windows 11?

They have no Win 11 motherboard drivers.
That motherboard came out and became an antique, before Win 11 was born.

But the Win 10 drivers will be the same.

SIW2 · Nov 30, 2024

Doubt you need any. Win11 should take care of it.
I am running a b365. Nice motherboards, post fast and do the job without any unnecessary cobblers.
win11 downloaded newer realtek net drivers, the igpu driver for the cpu. And the little text files that make device manager look pretty which some people call chipset "drivers" even though they are not drivers

abactuon · Nov 30, 2024

shmu26 said:
Should I just let Windows choose the best drivers for my Asus Prime B365M-A mobo, or should I use the ASUS app for that?

It doesn't matter.

shmu26 said:
WD Dashboard

1. Install
2. Check everything.
3. Copy the program anywhere, for future use.
4. Uninstall

Don't turn on the gamemode there.

hdmi · Nov 30, 2024

shmu26 said:
I should choose Windows 10, even if I run Windows 11?

Of course not. There exists a reason why Armoury Crate is the only thing that shows up under Driver & Tools after you have correctly selected Windows 11 on the page; I highlighted that reason for you:

Also be sure to check out the BIOS & FIMWARE link on the page.

shmu26 · Dec 1, 2024

hdmi said:
Of course not. There exists a reason why Armoury Crate is the only thing that shows up under Driver & Tools after you have correctly selected Windows 11 on the page; I highlighted that reason for you:

View attachment 118028

Also be sure to check out the BIOS & FIMWARE link on the pag,

hdmi said:
Of course not. There exists a reason why Armoury Crate is the only thing that shows up under Driver & Tools after you have correctly selected Windows 11 on the page; I highlighted that reason for you:

View attachment 118028

Also be sure to check out the BIOS & FIMWARE link on the page.

Armoury Crate does indeed pull in several updates that are not otherwise available. But they don't look too essential, they are about "festive effects" and "dynamic lighting" and things like that.

hdmi · Dec 1, 2024

shmu26 said:
Armoury Crate does indeed pull in several updates that are not otherwise available. But they don't look too essential, they are about "festive effects" and "dynamic lighting" and things like that.

I have seen multiple occasions where it found at least some updates that appeared to be among more important ones. As for their Aura Sync thingy that is one of Armoury Crate's features, on my laptop it lets me easily conveniently turn off the keyboard lighting ("breathing effect" by default) that was turning on and driving me nuts each time when the laptop goes to sleep. Not too long ago Microsoft changed something about the way Windows 11 handles Dynamic Lighting, this change was wreaking serious havoc for a lot of users not only for those who bought an Asus. By the time it began raining online complaints about this, Asus had already published a hotfix through Armoury Crate to remedy the issue. Depending on what specific hardware you have from Asus, Armoury Crate can do other useful stuff besides updates. I am not just talking about performance related settings. To give only one example of how it can help to leverage the full functionality of the hardware, on my laptop it offers an extra feature called Modern Standby Assistant. [Gaming NB/DT] Armoury Crate Introduction (Ver5.0) | Official Support | ASUS Global
So no, Armoury Crate is not bloatware. (Even, if you don't use most of the features that it has.)

Dru2 · Dec 1, 2024

shmu26 said:
Should I just let Windows choose the best drivers for my Asus Prime B365M-A mobo, or should I use the ASUS app for that?
I checked and I have the latest BIOS version.

And what about for my SSD -- Western Digital WD_BLACK 1TB SN770 NVMe ? Should I use the WD Dashboard app for drivers and firmware updates?

I am running Windows 11 24H2

The short answer is yes - If WD has specific drivers for their drives, I would use them. The long-drawn-out rocket science answer is also yes as well.

When I had my Samsung NVMe 950 Drive installed, also used its dedicated driver without issue. The 990's need no such driver, so none there. That said, I still use the Samsung Magician software as well. Again, zero performance issues or otherwise. See my system specs.

Good luck.

bobkn · Dec 1, 2024

My main complaint with Armoury Crate is that it is always loaded.

Seems absurd for something that might be needed pretty rarely. (I'm ignoring any needs to vary RGB settings.)

werty · Dec 1, 2024

bobkn said:
My main complaint with Armoury Crate is that it is always loaded.

Seems absurd for something that might be needed pretty rarely. (I'm ignoring any needs to vary RGB settings.)

In this case you can use G-Helper. Very simple but still has all the options available.

hdmi · Dec 2, 2024

Western Digital hasn't made an NVMe driver in a long time. For the WD_BLACK SN770, if you don't use RAID, stick to the Microsoft StorNVMe (stornvme.sys) system-supplied storage miniport driver. System-supplied = built-in (into Windows 11). Use WD Dashboard to update the firmware of the SSD (and also to run a quick diagnostics test to verify that the SSD is healthy after the delivery guy threw it in the direction of your front porch and ran away).

Armoury Crate does have several background processes, but the app doesn't open automatically, and, with the app closed, these background processes use 0% CPU and ~70MB RAM in total. On a modern PC, 70MB RAM is nothing.

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