[SOLVED] What drivers does my friend need for his new PC?

TheUltraMarine

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Hey everyone! So my friend recently bought all of his parts, a majority came today, while the rest are coming over the next couple of days. So my question is, once he builds his PC, what drivers does he need? The parts list is below:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition 57.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($44.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($94.00 @ Best Buy)
Memory: OLOy WarHawk RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1660 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card ($204.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 550 W ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Walmart)
Wireless Network Adapter: BrosTrend AC5 USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($13.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Acer SB220Q bi 21.5" 1920x1080 75 Hz Monitor
Keyboard: Redragon K551 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($43.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Redragon COBRA M711 Wired Optical Mouse ($21.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $894.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-17 02:25 EDT-0400
 
Solution
First of all, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that he/you/or whoever, NOT make the mistake of choosing those OLOy memory modules. They are cheap garbage and you are very likely going to have nothing but problems with them. Ryzen is particularly fickle about memory selection and configuration, and OLOy is far from the top of the list when it comes to being a respected brand name. They are are a Johnny come lately Chinese memory vendor and while there are only a few actual memory IC manufacturers, the quality of the memory chips and other components used to build the module can vary GREATLY from brand to brand and even series to series. I'd avoid them for a build like this. IF it was a browsing box, or simple office machine, they MIGHT be ok...
He'll primarily need to go to these websites:

1. Motherboard manufacturer website - from here you need to get motherboard chipset drivers, LAN drivers, Audio drivers.

2. Nvidia's drivers website - for the GPU, simply Google nvidia drivers and on their site you'll need to select what GPU and OS you have.

That's all, really. The rest of devices will probably get drivers from Windows update itself, no need for manual downloads for those.
 
First of all, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that he/you/or whoever, NOT make the mistake of choosing those OLOy memory modules. They are cheap garbage and you are very likely going to have nothing but problems with them. Ryzen is particularly fickle about memory selection and configuration, and OLOy is far from the top of the list when it comes to being a respected brand name. They are are a Johnny come lately Chinese memory vendor and while there are only a few actual memory IC manufacturers, the quality of the memory chips and other components used to build the module can vary GREATLY from brand to brand and even series to series. I'd avoid them for a build like this. IF it was a browsing box, or simple office machine, they MIGHT be ok, but I'd avoid them for this type of system. Not worth the potential headache.

If you've ordered them already, I'd cancel those sticks and look to something from G.Skill in a CL16 kit.

I'd also look for something A LOT BETTER than that EVGA N1 series power supply. It's garbage. Straight up.

I've never, ever, heard of BrosTrend when it comes to network adapters, so that's another one you might want to consider either cancelling or sending back. Likely, it too is VERY cheap quality hardware. I'd stick to network adapters made by Trendnet, TP-link, Cisco, ASUS, Intel, Netgear, Rosewill or Linksys.

He needs the chipset drivers from the AMD website located here:

https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-socket-am4/b550

And all of these:

Audio: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_612_realtekdch_6.0.8945.1.zip

Ethernet driver/LAN: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_542_w10_10.038.1118.2019.zip

Graphics card driver: https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/162983/en-us
 
Solution

TheUltraMarine

Distinguished
Sep 24, 2016
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18,715
First of all, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that he/you/or whoever, NOT make the mistake of choosing those OLOy memory modules. They are cheap garbage and you are very likely going to have nothing but problems with them. Ryzen is particularly fickle about memory selection and configuration, and OLOy is far from the top of the list when it comes to being a respected brand name. They are are a Johnny come lately Chinese memory vendor and while there are only a few actual memory IC manufacturers, the quality of the memory chips and other components used to build the module can vary GREATLY from brand to brand and even series to series. I'd avoid them for a build like this. IF it was a browsing box, or simple office machine, they MIGHT be ok, but I'd avoid them for this type of system. Not worth the potential headache.

If you've ordered them already, I'd cancel those sticks and look to something from G.Skill in a CL16 kit.

I'd also look for something A LOT BETTER than that EVGA N1 series power supply. It's garbage. Straight up.

I've never, ever, heard of BrosTrend when it comes to network adapters, so that's another one you might want to consider either cancelling or sending back. Likely, it too is VERY cheap quality hardware. I'd stick to network adapters made by Trendnet, TP-link, Cisco, ASUS, Intel, Netgear, Rosewill or Linksys.

He needs the chipset drivers from the AMD website located here:

https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-socket-am4/b550

And all of these:

Audio: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_612_realtekdch_6.0.8945.1.zip

Ethernet driver/LAN: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_542_w10_10.038.1118.2019.zip

Graphics card driver: https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/162983/en-us
What about SATA drivers? Does he download the ones from AMD or Gigabyte?
 
They are part of the AMD chipset drivers. No need to install ANY storage drivers at all unless they intend to run a RAID array. And we try to discourage that, especially these days.

As far as any programming support libraries, I would not recommend it. Leave off on doing that UNLESS you encounter something that requires it. Mostly these days, you'll be prompted if it's needed.
 

TheUltraMarine

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Sep 24, 2016
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They are part of the AMD chipset drivers. No need to install ANY storage drivers at all unless they intend to run a RAID array. And we try to discourage that, especially these days.

As far as any programming support libraries, I would not recommend it. Leave off on doing that UNLESS you encounter something that requires it. Mostly these days, you'll be prompted if it's needed.
And he only needs to install the chipset drivers from AMD right? Not the Gigabyte specifically for the motherboard?

EDIT: After a little research I found that he should download the chipset drivers straight from AMD since Gigabyte could have older ones. So, thanks!
 
Last edited:
Yes. AMD typically has the latest and greatest drivers. You should check regularly for chipset driver updates though, and if the ones on the product page for your motherboard are NEWER than what is available from AMD, then THOSE should be used until AMD updates with a newer revision. Infrequently the motherboard manufacturer might include something with their chipset driver package that is specific only to their board and needed to be updated more quickly than what AMD could do expediently. Generally though, if you stay up to date with what's available through AMD, since they are the ones who supply MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS, ASRock, Supermicro, Biostar, EVGA, etc. with the driver package to begin with, you are in good shape.

Probably AS or MORE important these days, is making sure you keep the BIOS up to date. Unlike the old days, MUCH of the problems seen regarding stability and compatibility with various hardware, especially newly released hardware, happens at the firmware level and keeping the BIOS up to date is the only way to stay on an even keel. Gone are the days when you "only updated the BIOS if there was a major problem". Now BIOS updates are released, and used, much like driver updates in frequency and importance.