New to UEFI - questions re Win10 clean install.

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   I'm getting ready to gut my current system, and build a new one. Components are: Ryzen 5 3600, ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4, 16GB Crucial Ballistix DDR4-3200 (2 x 8GB), RX560 4GB (not a gamer, so current gen vid card not a priority, particularly at this time), WD Blue SN550 1TB NVMe SSD, Antec 650w p.s., Win10 Pro 64 bit. This is my first new build in nearly 10 years, and UEFI is still fuzzy to me, even after watching numerous YouTube videos, and reading quite a few web articles.

Here's my questions. One, with UEFI active, will Win 10 install (via MCT, on USB3 thumb drive) default to GPT on the SSD, or do I need to go to diskpart at the activation screen (Shift + F10), and set the SSD for GPT? Two, am I better off doing the clean install with Rufus, and will that automatically set the SSD to GPT? Three, one of the reasons I purchased this motherboard, is the inclusion of the Nahimic audio enhancement to the ALC1200 audio codec. I've read forums posts on more than a couple manufacturer's websites (including ASRock)that Nahimic drivers are problematic. Am I better off not even installing the Nahimic software? Is my better option going with the PCIe Sound Blaster Audigy FX sound card I currently have?

As I said, I'm not a gamer. I do enjoy listening to music via PC, with a Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speaker set up. My understanding is that the current Realtek driver pkg. doesn't even include an equalizer when packaged with the Nahimic software. Brilliant!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.

Jeff

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Jeff_TH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 02 Feb 2021 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 178	Post Options Post Reply Quote Jeff_TH Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: New to UEFI - questions re Win10 clean install. Posted: 04 Feb 2021 at 9:34am
	I'm getting ready to gut my current system, and build a new one. Components are: Ryzen 5 3600, ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4, 16GB Crucial Ballistix DDR4-3200 (2 x 8GB), RX560 4GB (not a gamer, so current gen vid card not a priority, particularly at this time), WD Blue SN550 1TB NVMe SSD, Antec 650w p.s., Win10 Pro 64 bit. This is my first new build in nearly 10 years, and UEFI is still fuzzy to me, even after watching numerous YouTube videos, and reading quite a few web articles. Here's my questions. One, with UEFI active, will Win 10 install (via MCT, on USB3 thumb drive) default to GPT on the SSD, or do I need to go to diskpart at the activation screen (Shift + F10), and set the SSD for GPT? Two, am I better off doing the clean install with Rufus, and will that automatically set the SSD to GPT? Three, one of the reasons I purchased this motherboard, is the inclusion of the Nahimic audio enhancement to the ALC1200 audio codec. I've read forums posts on more than a couple manufacturer's websites (including ASRock)that Nahimic drivers are problematic. Am I better off not even installing the Nahimic software? Is my better option going with the PCIe Sound Blaster Audigy FX sound card I currently have? As I said, I'm not a gamer. I do enjoy listening to music via PC, with a Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speaker set up. My understanding is that the current Realtek driver pkg. doesn't even include an equalizer when packaged with the Nahimic software. Brilliant! Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have. Jeff
	Jeff Heyen

MadScientist Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 17 Aug 2020 Location: TN Status: Offline Points: 483	Post Options Post Reply Quote MadScientist Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 Feb 2021 at 4:42am
	I have the same MB and CPU as you. I used the Media Creation tool to make a bootable Windows install USB 3.0 flash drive. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 I used the UEFI version of the flash drive in the bios to install Windows. Make sure Fast Boot is disabled. I installed it to a small 240GB SSD. Windows will automatically partition it. I also have a 1TB SSD drive. DO NOT install the Nahimic3 utility. It is a total POS. Read this thread: http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16387&PN=1&title=nahimic-driver-outdated Not sure if it was because I totally uninstalled Nahimic and re-installed the audio drivers but the updated Realtek Audio Console now includes the equalizer and other features the old one had. Also Asrock is bad about updating their MB drivers. The AMD Chipset and Realtek LAN drivers are outdated. You can download the latest ones here: https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-socket-am4/b550 Win10 Auto Installation Program https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/network-interface-controllers-10-100-1000m-gigabit-ethernet-pci-express-software

MadScientist Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 17 Aug 2020 Location: TN Status: Offline Points: 483	Post Options Post Reply Quote MadScientist Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 Feb 2021 at 4:49am
	Last pic was a screen snip. A bit blurry. This one may be a bit better.

Jeff_TH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 02 Feb 2021 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 178	Post Options Post Reply Quote Jeff_TH Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 Feb 2021 at 5:08am
	MS, it's forum threads like the one you posted, and others I've read recently, that prompted me to ask the questions I did re Nahimic. Yuck! We shouldn't be having these kinds of driver issues in 2021. I expected that from Sound Blaster in the 90's. Today, not so much. Thanks for the two links to the chip set and LAN drivers. Appreciate it! Just so I'm clear in my head, as I embark on the B550 Phantom 4 upgrade, are there any Nahimic driver sets out there today that work? If not, I'm inclined to disable the ALC1200 codec, and go w/ my Sound Blaster Audigy FX board. Seems like a waste, as I was looking forward to trying out the ALC1200 (comparing it to the ALC892 on my current Gigabyte board. Jeff
	Jeff Heyen

MadScientist Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 17 Aug 2020 Location: TN Status: Offline Points: 483	Post Options Post Reply Quote MadScientist Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 06 Feb 2021 at 12:52am
	What worked for me before with Nahimic3 V1.5.2 was to first download and install the Realtek audio drivers from here: https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B550%20Phantom%20Gaming%204/index.asp#Download Then download and install Nahimic3 utility ver:1.4.15 from Asrock. Yeah, I know it's outdated but once installed it will update via Microsoft to V1.5.7. It will also update the companion driver. You can give it a try if it works. My problem was when it auto updated to V1.5.7 it would not load.