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Software setup questions!

uwshirk
By uwshirk
in Programs, Apps and Websites
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Hopefully this is the right spot for these questions. First a little bit of background, I have been gaming for years and never built my own pc. I also always focused on the hardware and would look up things like is this gpu better than this gpu etc. I would always find good deals/builds but one thing I did not research and therefor did not know about is all the details of the supporting software. I have recently started watching LTT and a lot of the builds and have noticed talks about bios, xmp and overclocking. I have never overclocked or touched really any of those settings but I want to get more involved and pay more attention to these finer details and not just game in ignorance. So I was wondering that when you finish building or get a prebuilt pc what are the other steps to making sure your pc is up to date and you get the most out of the hardware inside as well as some good software to monitor things like temperatures and performance. There are some things I have assumed from the videos such as updating the motherboard bios first? I assume that is done by going to the manufacturer's website and getting it from there? Should the bios then be configured and finally update drivers? Should I do windows updates before any of this? I will also be trying to find threads on this board in the mean time that may have these answers and others such as what bloatware to remove and other useful software such as in the pinned megathread.

TLDR: When building a pc or receiving a new prebuilt pc, what is the proper order to updating/installing and configuring settings to make sure your pc is up to date and is giving you maximum performance. 

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BIOS, chipset, and GPU driver are the key ones to make sure are up-to-date. Hopefully if pre-built they already are, but you never know. Order doesn't really matter, but having the latest BIOS and chipset usually gives you the best overall stability (provided it's not a botched BIOS release).

 

Most every other "standard" driver is fine with the ones Windows automatically installs. Except maybe networking... for whatever reason my onboard LAN driver didn't install, but onboard Wifi did. Had to manually install that one. Pre-built should have that done for you. 

 

HWInfo64 is a really good, powerful monitor for all things. MSI Afterburner is another good one for the GPU specifically, as well as configuring a good OSD for games if you want to monitor temps while gaming. AB also lets you easily adjust the power and temp targets to let the GPU go just a little bit harder if you want without getting into actual overclocking.

 

I would say avoid overclocking initially and just get a good feel for how things run and what sort of temps and performance you are seeing.

 

Depending on the pre-built there will probably be some bloatware, "command center', or "overclock tuning" type software. Those are almost exclusively not needed. If doing a custom build and installing a fresh copy of Windows those won't be an issue. Only thing you would still need (if applicable) would be any RGB control software.

Be sure to QUOTE or TAG me in your reply so I see it!

 

CPU Ryzen 7 5800X3D GPU EVGA 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra MOBO Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming RAM Crucial Ballistix 3600 MHz CL16 32 GB PSU Corsair RM1000x COOLING Noctua NH-D15

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How i do mine:

  1. edit(forgot): If BIOS isn't updated do that first.
  2. Have USB stick
  3. Put (latest downloaded) Windows install and boot on said stick using Rufus.
    (Making sure choosing the right MBR or GPT initialization (MBR for old stuff)).
  4. Remove all drives except the one to boot from.
  5. Boot from USB
  6. Remove partition
  7. Select the empty drive and click next. (Windows makes new partitions automatically, good enough for me).
  8. Click trough all the questions opting out of most if not all.
  9. Once Windows is installed and running.
  10. Install Video card drivers
  11. Set proper resolution if not already on it.
  12. Install chipset drivers (if needed) Those usually go paired with the rest of the motherboard drivers.
    (This step is only needed in certain cases, pretty uncommon now with that Windows update system.)
  13. Go into power settings and turn of any sleep timers (Like screen-off and stand-by etc)
  14. Then let it idle for a while, finding some updates and such.
  15. Install said updates, reboot most likely.
  16. Then i start installing my programs, starting with most used.
  17. Probably reboot for good measure.
  18. Then install the few games i have
  19. Have much success!

    Enjoy. 🙂

When i ask for more specs, don't expect me to know the answer!
I'm just helping YOU to help YOURSELF!
(The more info you give the easier it is for others to help you out!)

Not willing to capitulate to the ignorance of the masses!

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8 minutes ago, uwshirk said:

There are some things I have assumed from the videos such as updating the motherboard bios first? I assume that is done by going to the manufacturer's website and getting it from there? Should the bios then be configured and finally update drivers? Should I do windows updates before any of this?

Bios updates can be done at any time, but they change mobo behavior so it's one of those things that you may just want to leave alone unless there's security/stability issues. For a pc you build yourself bios should only come from manufacturers website, pre-builds may host them on the pre-build site, laptops should be available on manufacturer site, may require special steps with manufacturer.
Usually not to many things need to be changed in bios, set boot mode to uefi for modern operating systems, adjust fan behavior... I do a page by page perusal and change what I feel needs changing.
Then I install windows with cpu and ram still at stock settings.
I get drivers beforehand so I can install them before connecting the interwebs, if I'm feeling extra I'll also install some programs like Malwarebytes.
Then I'll connect internet and go about using the system normally, install any programs that require internet to install and get into overclocking

desktop

Spoiler

r5 3600,3450@0.9v (0.875v get) 4.2ghz@1.25v (1.212 get) | custom loop cpu&gpu 1260mm nexxos xt45 | MSI b450i gaming ac | crucial ballistix 2x8 3000c15->3733c15@1.39v(1.376v get) |Zotac 2060 amp | 256GB Samsung 950 pro nvme | 1TB Adata su800 | 4TB HGST drive | Silverstone SX500-LG

HTPC

Spoiler

HTPC i3 7300 | Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H | 16GB G Skill | Adata XPG SX8000 128GB M.2 | Many HDDs | Rosewill FBM-01 | Corsair CXM 450W

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
  • Author

Thanks everyone for the input! I had stumbled upon another tech youtubers videos who covers a good amount of the questions I asked and they covered a lot of your guys' tips and recommendations. We did purchase a prebuilt for the gf because it was a good bundle deal and it has a 30 series gpu which I do not want to try and buy one on its own right now. I still have an itch to build one for myself by combining parts from my pc and her old pc and buying some new parts. I will be applying your advice to cleaning up the prebuilt and when/if I build my own. 

I was about to talk about hardware but I will make a new thread in the not software section of the forums, thanks again everyone!

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