Which drivers do I really need?

[Galamathooth]

I have just finished building my PC. I have not booted it up yet. I plan on running windows 7. Here are the specs:
ASRock Z97 Pro4
Intel Core i5 4690K
G.Skill Ares 8gb 2133mhz
Sapphire R9 380 Nitro 4gb
Samsung 850 EVO 120gb
Western Digital Green 1tb
Cooler Master G650M
Cooler Master 212X

I checked the motherboard site first and this is what it showed me:
Realtek High Definition Audio Driver - I am sure I need this
INF Driver - I am not sure
Intel Management Engine Driver - I am not sure
Intel Rapid Start Driver - I am not sure
Intel Smart Connect Driver - I am not sure
LAN Driver - I am sure I need this
AppCharger - I don't want bloatware
SATA Floppy Image - I am not sure
Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver and Utility - I am not sure
Intel USB 3.0 Driver - I am sure I need this
VGA Driver - I am not sure

There are also a bunch of 'Utilities' that look like bloatware, but I will list them anyway:
ASRock 3TB+ Unlocker Utility - Bloatware
ASRock A-Tuning Utility - Bloatware
Intel Rapid Start Utility - I am not sure
Intel Smart Connect Utility - I am not sure
APP Shop - Bloatware
Norton Security - I have my own
ASRock XFast LAN Utility - Bloatware

Here is the site link: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97%20Pro4/index.us.asp?cat=Download&os=Win764

In terms of all the other components, I have no idea what drivers I need, apart from the graphics one from AMD. Could I get some help there too please?

Thank you

 

[laviniuc]

win7 will have most of the drivers built into it,
-install the latest - non beta - graphics drivers (latest from amd.com) and update regularly
-intel inf drivers from intel.com for the motherboard is plenty most of the time. (same for usb3 drivers) get them from intel.com

 

[Galamathooth]

Would Windows 7 really have a LAN driver, Audio Driver etc built in? By the way please could you link me?

 

[utroz]

Short version is you need all the drivers if you want to use all the hardware, the vga driver listed on the motherboard makers site is for the built in gpu on your cpu. Go to amd.com for the 380's VGA driver. As for the utilities google them and see if they are of any use to you and install what you will use, the intel utilities are probably a good idea to install. If you are up to it you can usually get newer drivers if you get the intel drivers from intel's web site, the realtek from realtek, ect..

 

[utroz]

Windows 7 was released well before the z97 platform so it probably won't have many built in drivers that will work.

 

[Galamathooth]

I appreciate all the help, but could I get a straightforward answer based on my format above?

 

[WabbitHero]

the essential ones will be management engine, chipset, INF, audio, LAN, VGA (download from AMD site - just google it). everything else is just bloatware unless you have specific use for it eg RAID for rapid storage. windows can install drivers for audio / chipset etc but they may not be the latest versions.

once everything is done just go to device mananger and see if there's anything that's not recognised - which means you have a missing driver somewhere. otherwise you are good to go.

I have just finished building my PC. I have not booted it up yet. I plan on running windows 7. Here are the specs:
ASRock Z97 Pro4
Intel Core i5 4690K
G.Skill Ares 8gb 2133mhz
Sapphire R9 380 Nitro 4gb
Samsung 850 EVO 120gb
Western Digital Green 1tb
Cooler Master G650M
Cooler Master 212X

I checked the motherboard site first and this is what it showed me:
Realtek High Definition Audio Driver - I am sure I need this
INF Driver - I am not sure
Intel Management Engine Driver - I am not sure
Intel Rapid Start Driver - I am not sure
Intel Smart Connect Driver - I am not sure
LAN Driver - I am sure I need this
AppCharger - I don't want bloatware
SATA Floppy Image - I am not sure
Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver and Utility - I am not sure
Intel USB 3.0 Driver - I am sure I need this
VGA Driver - I am not sure

There are also a bunch of 'Utilities' that look like bloatware, but I will list them anyway:
ASRock 3TB+ Unlocker Utility - Bloatware
ASRock A-Tuning Utility - Bloatware
Intel Rapid Start Utility - I am not sure
Intel Smart Connect Utility - I am not sure
APP Shop - Bloatware
Norton Security - I have my own
ASRock XFast LAN Utility - Bloatware

Here is the site link: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97%20Pro4/index.us.asp?cat=Download&os=Win764

In terms of all the other components, I have no idea what drivers I need, apart from the graphics one from AMD. Could I get some help there too please?

Thank you

 

[laviniuc]

and that's why ms delivers drivers using windows update. the ms released drivers offer 99% of the functionality with 0 bloatware.

only exception is the inf drivers for the motherboard which constantly get refined/updated and the graphics card drivers (integrated you can use the built in one, you won't be using it much anyway)

same deal with the graphics and motherboard. you can get drivers from the asrock site or intel - intel will be newer and less bloated, or from saphire's site or amd's. amd will be less bloated

 

[Crixilian]

you built your computer by yourself?? (not buy a built-in computer I mean)
there must be the cd driver installation on your hardware box package, you could install those drivers