GA-8KNXP Software

There seems to be quite a bit of software on the CD that came with this
board. Can someone give their opinion as to what software they recommend
installing and what it does?

Thanks,
Bill

Bill,

Only the drivers are needed.

Easy Tune 4 (ET4) - for overclocking and temp monitoring. Requires Admin
privilege to run. If you are security conscious or prefer stable reliable
software then don't install it. Alternative: MBM (Motherboard Monitor).

Face Wizard(?) - editing the splash screen graphics. For kids. Don't bother
installing it. Probably requires Admin privs too.

An MMC Snapin - an alternative to ET4 for temp / fan monitoring etc. - very
poorly written, dysfunctional. Use MBM. It should interface to a service (as
should ET4), provide for event logging and email notification of over temp /
failed fans etc and so not require admin privs.

Easy Updater (?) - many advise not to use this. I did for a while, but gave
up for 2 reasons: 1. Gigabyte is incredibly slow at releasing bios updates
when the market is screaming for fixes so there was nothing to install, and
2. it ceased to work - couldn't find updates when there was one there.
Everyone seems unanimous in saying Don't Use. Even the gigabyte site says
not to use it... I see no reason why this s/w should not be reliable...

Norton's S/w - this is a demo version only and expires quickly. If you want
the real thing then there are cheaper ways to get a full years worth of AV
protection. The firewall I found to be a PIA - it would report problems for
normal activity but provide no mechanism to configure correctly (I run SQL
Server on this LAN, it blocked it), although there are some config options.
The AV can't be installed separately from the firewall for some stupid
reason, but you can disable the firewall to get AV only protection. Stupid!
Huge, slow install on a 3GHz machine!

The first four products mentioned also install hidden device drivers. Many
have reported problems with the products above and considering you have to
be running as Admin (or have huge privileges ~= Admin E.G. Out of Process
Debug, Set Security, and others) I won't have these on a production system.

So, the moral? These are brightly coloured products dreamt up by marketing
which bring the company into disrepute. Get MBM5, use floppy's for bios
updates, etc.

How naive am I? Expecting things to work.

HTH
- Tim



"Bill Preston" wrote in message
news:Vp0Kb.21748$WQ3.7253@lakeread05...
There seems to be quite a bit of software on the CD that came with this
board. Can someone give their opinion as to what software they recommend
installing and what it does?

Thanks,
Bill

"Tim" wrote in message ...
Bill,

Only the drivers are needed.

Tim,
Thanks for a comprehensive response...exactly what I was hoping for. Your
assessment of the GB software is exactly why I sought opinions before
installing. Incidentally, I'm using the BIOS (FB) that came with this board
(Rev. 2) and haven't had any troubles with it (I also have not yet ran any
benchmarks). Is there any real reason to upgrade, and if so, to which BIOS?
In this NG alone, I've read that many are having BIOS issues.

Thanks again,
Bill


Easy Tune 4 (ET4) - for overclocking and temp monitoring. Requires Admin
privilege to run. If you are security conscious or prefer stable reliable
software then don't install it. Alternative: MBM (Motherboard Monitor).

Face Wizard(?) - editing the splash screen graphics. For kids. Don't
bother
installing it. Probably requires Admin privs too.

An MMC Snapin - an alternative to ET4 for temp / fan monitoring etc. -
very
poorly written, dysfunctional. Use MBM. It should interface to a service
(as
should ET4), provide for event logging and email notification of over temp
/
failed fans etc and so not require admin privs.

Easy Updater (?) - many advise not to use this. I did for a while, but
gave
up for 2 reasons: 1. Gigabyte is incredibly slow at releasing bios updates
when the market is screaming for fixes so there was nothing to install,
and
2. it ceased to work - couldn't find updates when there was one there.
Everyone seems unanimous in saying Don't Use. Even the gigabyte site says
not to use it... I see no reason why this s/w should not be reliable...

Norton's S/w - this is a demo version only and expires quickly. If you
want
the real thing then there are cheaper ways to get a full years worth of AV
protection. The firewall I found to be a PIA - it would report problems
for
normal activity but provide no mechanism to configure correctly (I run SQL
Server on this LAN, it blocked it), although there are some config
options.
The AV can't be installed separately from the firewall for some stupid
reason, but you can disable the firewall to get AV only protection.
Stupid!
Huge, slow install on a 3GHz machine!

The first four products mentioned also install hidden device drivers. Many
have reported problems with the products above and considering you have to
be running as Admin (or have huge privileges ~= Admin E.G. Out of Process
Debug, Set Security, and others) I won't have these on a production
system.

So, the moral? These are brightly coloured products dreamt up by marketing
which bring the company into disrepute. Get MBM5, use floppy's for bios
updates, etc.

How naive am I? Expecting things to work.

HTH
- Tim



"Bill Preston" wrote in message
news:Vp0Kb.21748$WQ3.7253@lakeread05...
There seems to be quite a bit of software on the CD that came with this
board. Can someone give their opinion as to what software they recommend
installing and what it does?

Thanks,
Bill

For bios updates, don't update unless you have something that needs fixing &
then, call back to the news group to see what experience others have with
latest bios versions.

IE if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

- Tim



"Bill Preston" wrote in message
newsmjKb.21976$WQ3.8681@lakeread05...

"Tim" wrote in message
...
Bill,

Only the drivers are needed.

Tim,
Thanks for a comprehensive response...exactly what I was hoping for. Your
assessment of the GB software is exactly why I sought opinions before
installing. Incidentally, I'm using the BIOS (FB) that came with this
board
(Rev. 2) and haven't had any troubles with it (I also have not yet ran any
benchmarks). Is there any real reason to upgrade, and if so, to which
BIOS?
In this NG alone, I've read that many are having BIOS issues.

Thanks again,
Bill


Easy Tune 4 (ET4) - for overclocking and temp monitoring. Requires Admin
privilege to run. If you are security conscious or prefer stable
reliable
software then don't install it. Alternative: MBM (Motherboard Monitor).

Face Wizard(?) - editing the splash screen graphics. For kids. Don't
bother
installing it. Probably requires Admin privs too.

An MMC Snapin - an alternative to ET4 for temp / fan monitoring etc. -
very
poorly written, dysfunctional. Use MBM. It should interface to a service
(as
should ET4), provide for event logging and email notification of over
temp
/
failed fans etc and so not require admin privs.

Easy Updater (?) - many advise not to use this. I did for a while, but
gave
up for 2 reasons: 1. Gigabyte is incredibly slow at releasing bios
updates
when the market is screaming for fixes so there was nothing to install,
and
2. it ceased to work - couldn't find updates when there was one there.
Everyone seems unanimous in saying Don't Use. Even the gigabyte site
says
not to use it... I see no reason why this s/w should not be reliable...

Norton's S/w - this is a demo version only and expires quickly. If you
want
the real thing then there are cheaper ways to get a full years worth of
AV
protection. The firewall I found to be a PIA - it would report problems
for
normal activity but provide no mechanism to configure correctly (I run
SQL
Server on this LAN, it blocked it), although there are some config
options.
The AV can't be installed separately from the firewall for some stupid
reason, but you can disable the firewall to get AV only protection.
Stupid!
Huge, slow install on a 3GHz machine!

The first four products mentioned also install hidden device drivers.
Many
have reported problems with the products above and considering you have
to
be running as Admin (or have huge privileges ~= Admin E.G. Out of
Process
Debug, Set Security, and others) I won't have these on a production
system.

So, the moral? These are brightly coloured products dreamt up by
marketing
which bring the company into disrepute. Get MBM5, use floppy's for bios
updates, etc.

How naive am I? Expecting things to work.

HTH
- Tim



"Bill Preston" wrote in message
news:Vp0Kb.21748$WQ3.7253@lakeread05...
There seems to be quite a bit of software on the CD that came with
this
board. Can someone give their opinion as to what software they
recommend
installing and what it does?

Thanks,
Bill

"Tim" wrote in message ...
For bios updates, don't update unless you have something that needs fixing
&
then, call back to the news group to see what experience others have with
latest bios versions.

IE if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

- Tim

Agreed. Thanks again for your responses.

Bill