SOLVED A BIt of confusion with my MOBO

[lonewolfmage]

Greetings all ~

Im having a bit of confusion even after talking with my MOBO Mfg..

According to Piriform Speccy I have this ..

Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Model Z87-A (SOCKET 1150)
Version Rev 1.xx

HOWEVER .. what I have is the NFC EXPRESS edition ...

When I look on Asus site for up to date drivers and BIOS and such .. there are 2 different sets of drivers and BIOS .. i was told by ASUS that I should not get the drivers and such for the NON NFC express version .. just wondering if it would make that much of a difference..

The NON nfc express versions of drivers are for windows 10 . where as the ones for the NFC express dont have a selection to get drivers and such for windows 10

Would it make THAT MUCH of a difference with drivers ?? and bios ??

if you need any other information to help .. i'll gladly supply it

thank you in advance .
~LoneWolf

 

[clifford_cooley]

Damn! I've never run into that before. Good luck in your search. Wish I could help.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi lonewolfmage,

first rule if your PC is running fine and doesn't have any strange quirks, don't touch the BIOS!. I am running a couple of PC's which the BIOS are still the original and I have no need to update them!.

The second rule is not to rely on 3rd party tools like Speccy, always try and find a tool from the Mfg which will often have an BIOS upgrade tool.

Check here:

https://www.asus.com/uk/supportonly/Z87-A(NFC EXPRESS EDITION)/HelpDesk_download

Currently for example, there is a need to upgrade BIOS for certain boards running Ryzen 3 and this is known even before you buy a mobo and a Ryzen 3 CPU! ( X370, B350 and A320 chipset).

I hope it helps.

 

[davehc]

I would not put Speccy in the "Tool" class. It is an excellent means of having a thorough look at the computer specs. - Nothing to do with Bios upgrade.

Like wolfie, I have never, in my computer experience, found it necessary to update my Bios, unless I have been specifically advised it will introduce a new , but needed, function.

 

[bassfisher6522]

just wondering if it would make that much of a difference..

Yes....makes a very big difference. As the drivers are for the embedded components of the mobo. You go mismatching drivers for wrong hardware can cause damage do to mobo or render it useless.

where as the ones for the NFC express dont have a selection to get drivers and such for windows 10

Correct....which means it doesn't support windows 10....that is on the driver side. This doesn't mean you can't run windows 10 on that mobo. You have 2 paths for that: 1 is download drivers for windows 8.1 (bit type specific) and install them in compatibility mode which may or may not work. Or just install windows 10 and let it use windows 10 generic drivers....again which may or my not work.

Would it make THAT MUCH of a difference with drivers ?? and bios ??

Again yes as that has been explained by others

Personally, I would start to consider upgrading that mobo to something that is developed for windows 10. You may be lucky enough to keep your current CPU but might need new RAM because of DDR2/DDR3/DDR4. But I would upgrade all 3 to a more modern setup.

 

[lonewolfmage]

Hello~

I'll address certain things as best i can here ( not necessarily in specific order) ... that I didn't originally post my apologies for not being super specific..

There IS a "quirk" my NFC (dongle) is NOT working at all even with the Asus software (apparently the Asus suite is not compatible with with Win 10 ) i've installed and run the 'gamut' of the software .. . right now the NFC Express.. it's just working as a computer powered USB hub (at least that aspect is working )...

I would like to get this working the way it's supposed to work .. and was hoping that I could get this working ... with BIOS upgrade .. or possibly general software upgrade..

Considering, the most recent "flaw" in Intel and AMD processors,,I want to make sure im all up to date and protected..

The NFC ( using the dongle to log into log into my computer) WAS working in Windows 8 Pro now not working Win 10 Pro which is what I want got get working .. and why I Bought the motherboard to begin with.

With regards to Speccy.. ( and Piriform in general) it's an awesome tool and they have great programs (in my opinion) I have not had a issue with ANY of their software(CCleaner, Defraggler, Recuva) i even at one point had their 'Pro' versions of all software . i now have the 'lite' versions of them installed on my personal as well customers computers.

 

[lonewolfmage]

Bassfisher~

My confusion is more the fact that the NON NFC version shows drivers and BIOS updates .. (more recent updates than the drivers and BIOS that i have now) . .. for Windows 10. its the EXACT SAME MOBO either way .. just without the NFC express..

 

[bassfisher6522]

my NFC (dongle)

What is that?

The NFC ( using the dongle to log into log into my computer)

Again...what is that and what does that mean?

With regards to Speccy.. ( and Piriform in general) it's an awesome tool

I prefer HWiFO64....it's much more accurate and detailed.

My confusion is more the fact that the NON NFC version shows drivers and BIOS updates .. (more recent updates than the drivers and BIOS that i have now) . .. for Windows 10.

Again board specific. Yes...if there are updated drivers from mobo vendor, by all means install them.

its the EXACT SAME MOBO either way .. just without the NFC express..

No it's not....if it was there wouldn't be 2 versions of it. So there is some physical differences with the boards along with OS and driver support.

As for a BIOS update....as stated, only if needed. Those needs may be that a new CPU will be installed and then the latest BIOS is required as the chipset drivers are different from CPU to CPU.

I have a Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 mobo and the default BIOS is F7. There is a new F8 BIOS for it that is for a 5th Gen Intel CPU. I have a 4th Gen CPU installed so I don't need the latest BIOS. There is a BIOS description explaining what the latest BIOS update is for. Some are for system stability, CPU upgrades, a known bug and on and on.

 

[Trouble]

Bottom line

i was told by ASUS that I should not get the drivers and such for the NON NFC express version

Which would seem to be logical, practical and reasonable as well as the general concensus of comments.
Just like if you had a different Revision number for your motherboard, you wouldn't want to attempt a BIOS update for the wrong REV. #

Something of an aside but an important note.....
This is likely to become very consequential as manufacturers try to patch recent issues with Meltdown and Spectre through firmware updates.

 

[Wolfie]

There IS a "quirk" my NFC (dongle)

Do you have a driver disk for the dongle?, if you do, select the Win8 drivers and install them in compatibility-mode: https://www.windows10forums.com/articles/compatibility-mode.7/

If the dongle didn't come with the mobo, you won't need to update BIOS!.

Check the website for the dongle to see if they have Win10 drivers.

 

[lonewolfmage]

Bassfisher, Trouble and Wolfie~


The NFC dongle is the the yellow and black 'key fob/dongle'... matter of fact ... this is the EXACT model i have.. it came with the MOBO... as a package deal (no longer available on newegg) . It would allow me to unlock and login to my computer without having to type in my password all the time,

Above is my mobo

Below is the same mobo without the NFC .

they physically look EXACTLY alike ..


The mobo DID come originally come with a Driver disk .. i think i still have it somewhere not 100% sure where at this particular point .. there are NO drivers available specifically for the the dongle here is a list of drivers and BIOS downloads direct from ASUS but they ONLY have UP TO windows 8.1 64-bit OS with the NON nfc version they up to and including Win 10 64-bit



I have downloaded and ran the ASUS suite of software .. but it doesn't seem to have worked correctly since my upgrade to Windows 10 pro 64-bit( fully updated) I have since uninstalled the software.

It's not that really that big of a deal if i can't get it to work totally .. if nothing else i got 2 extra USB ports so that s a plus in a way .. just a bit of an annoyance more than anything else that i can't get the darn thing working ..


Thank you all for your help. Again not a MAJOR issue .. but would just like to get this thing thing to work... properly ..

Bassfisher .. ill check out that program you mentioned .. and report back as to my results if i like it or not ,, if it gives results what I get from Speccy and then some .,.i may change programs..

 

[lonewolfmage]

Bassfisher..~

Reporting back on that software .. and YOWZA i like it .. lots more information than anyone could ever want or need on their system .. will take some time for me to tinker with it and see exactly what is what with it ..

I still like Speccy tho .. seems a lot more "user friendly" than that software you recommended...

thank you tho

 

[bassfisher6522]

I was discussing the dongle thing w/a buddy online....we figured out what the dongle and box is and what it's for. Personally I have no need for such devices.

As for your driver/bios issues....asked and answered.

I found NFC Express driver.......here you go. It only supported for windows 8/8.1. If you're running windows 10 you can try to install it in compatibility mode.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard-Accessory/NFC_EXPRESS/HelpDesk_Download/

 

[ram1220]

I was discussing the dongle thing w/a buddy online....we figured out what the dongle and box is and what it's for. Personally I have no need for such devices.

As for your driver/bios issues....asked and answered.

I found NFC Express driver.......here you go. It only supported for windows 8/8.1. If you're running windows 10 you can try to install it in compatibility mode.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard-Accessory/NFC_EXPRESS/HelpDesk_Download/

Don't feel bad. I had no idea what the dongle was or what it was for either. I have never heard of such a thing. I learn something new every day. Thanks for asking what it was

 

[lonewolfmage]

I'm marking this thread as solved for now .. thank you all for you all for assistance.