Msi Z370-a Pro Drivers

[Pascua Gomer]

TheMSI Z370-A Pro Motherboard uses the same Click BIOS 5 we have seen in other MSI reviews as of late. The big difference here with this specific board is the color theme has changed from the more familiar 'gaming' livery we have seen on other models outside of the Pro lineup to a black and white theme here. Otherwise, the setup is the same with an EZ BIOS upon entry and an advanced BIOS as well.

The familiar EZ Mode is informative displaying information in reference to the CPU, memory, motherboard, and other items including the BIOS version and buttons for one-touch overclocking and enabling XMP memory profiles. Users are also able to edit boot order as well as enable HD Audio, AHCI/RAID modes, and others.

The advanced setup keeps the informative top 1/4 of the EZ Mode but then gives six options flanking an image in the middle. There is Settings, OC, M-Flash, OC Profile, Hardware Monitor, and Board Explorer to choose from each having a different set of options and functionality below it.

The settings section includes five subheadings including System Status, Advanced, Boot, Security, and Save & Exit. System status is self-explanatory while the Advanced section has options for configuring PCI Subsystem settings, Integrated peripherals and graphics, USB configuration, as well as power management OS configuration and wake up event options. Most peripheral configurations are found here.

The OC section is where those who would like to overclock will call home. Inside this section are options to edit voltage domains, BCLK, CPU Multiplier, and other options associated with overclocking. By default, the system loads to the normal mode which hides a few options. I find that the most users will not need to get into the expert mode for daily overclocks. Like its non-Pro family, the Z370-A Pro offers users a ton of memory timing options, more than 99% of people will touch, but it is there. MSI's Click BIOS 5 is one of the more ergonomic setups for overclocking with most functions all sitting on one screen. Only power and advanced CPU functions will be needed off this main screen, depending on the overclock.

We skipped the M-Flash screen as that simple reboots and takes us to the M-Flash environment so on to the OC Profile. In this screen is where users are able to save their BIOS profiles. There are six slots and users are able to load from the BIOS chip onboard or from a USB.

The Hardware Monitor section is where users are able to setup and control their fans and fan curves from within the BIOS. Users are able to select from full speed, or manually set up curves to their liking.

Last up is the Board Explorer. This informational screen displays a top-down image of the motherboard with 'hot-spots' on the board users can hover over and will display the hardware attached to it. This includes the back IO panel, DRAM, PCIe, and M.2 slots, SATA and USB ports, and connectivity on the bottom portion of the board.

MSI, like all board partners, includes multiple pieces of drivers and software to get the system up and running in tip-top shape. This typically comes in the form of a driver disk with all the software as well as the support website to download the latest and greatest versions of said applications.

The included driver disk did not want to play nice with my system. Initially, I thought this was bad luck, but seeing as how its the third time it has happened, I am starting to wonder if my optical drive is going bad. The tabs include utilities such as Mystic Light software to the Command Center with several more available including a RAM disk, Latency tuner, and Live Update 6.

The Live Update 6 software is an included utility that sits in the system tray and compares installed software versions with the latest available on the MSI website. The application will let the user choose to download and install the software. The software is useful for those who prefer to be on the latest and greatest drivers and software.

MSI's App Manager is a centralized location for all MSI applications. Users are able to open the software from this screen as well as download and install any applications displayed. What is downloaded and installed is in color and lighter than those that are not.

The MSI Command Center is their Windows-based monitoring and control application with functions to handle the CPU, DRAM, iGPU, and enable OC Genie 4 settings. When clicking on the advanced button, this brings up a menu in that space above with options to adjust multiple voltages, DRAM timings, Fan speeds, as well as monitor onboard temperatures in real-time. Overall it is a fairly complete and robust application for hardware control through windows.

MSI's Mystic Light application controls the LED functions on the board. In the case of the Z370-A Pro, the LED light color (white) cannot be changed, however, it does offer several light effects including breathing, flashing, random, and double flashing. Not quite as many as we have seen with RGB LEDs, but again, its a 'Pro' board so this isn't typically expected from the target demographic.

You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 clicks (and you get full support and a 30-day money back guarantee):

We moved to the i7 board because there was more troubleshooting knowledge available across the web and other resources. At this point we have completely set aside the AM4 machine for this project and are working to get an intel machine running but running into the same issues.

Our current configuration is an intel i78700 on an ASUS Z370-a motherboard with two Quadro M4000 cards + an sli bridge. The machine feeds 7 DisplayPort to dvi outputs to a dvi switcher. The dvi switcher supplies its own edid at 1080p60. The switcher then feeds 7 projectors via HDbaseT.

The intel machine does not see the projectors only the switcher.

We are running an enterprise version of windows 10, known as long-term-service 2016, which does not received feature updates, running v1607. This is the same OS version/edition we had been managing previous sli deployments with over the last two years.

When we were unable to make any progress in our troubleshooting, we took a chance on deploying a brand new lts 2019 [released nov 13 2018] version of this long-term-service windows channel - however, it has absolutely no effect on the behavior of the sli functionality on the machine.

In our testing we have worked through multiple possible issues, including:

updating the bios on the motherboard to the latest available version + checking pcie settings for x8/x8; configured in OS via GPU-z applet

using displayport1.4 to dvi adapters and confirming DisplayPort video signal in nvidia control panel

[in nvidia control panel/systemtopology/edid] saving the edid from output one and then loading the saved edid to all the outputs

tested multiple sli bridges [3] with compatible asus model numbers

attempted the configuration on a second asus z370-a motherboard

additionally, each time that we would reinstall the driver or have to repair the driver in windows 10, we would run the machine in safe mode and use [ddu] display-driver-uninstaller, an nvidia recommended utility, to remove all traces of the old driver each time

windows 10 has been set to never install drivers for hardware automatically/via the internet/updates

I have also run this procedure with drivers as old as v377 and still see the same behavior

In the final deployment of this machine, we maintain the content performance and updates remotely, so we will not be able to remove/re-add the sli bridge if anything goes wrong.

From my troubleshooting with nvidia, i was informed the sli bridge and both gpus should be hooked into the system at all times.

When mosaic is configured successfully, there is a second layer of software that wraps the display to corrects for effects the projection coming down at an angle. Then we run our content in a simple wrapped applet.

We know that, if we complete all the steps without the sli bridge, that everything [warp software + content] does play back correctly per design. However, the performance different between the two GPUs is visible in some light tearing and issues with the displays coming from the second card sometimes flicker.

We see both of these issues as stemming from the lack of mosaic/gpu sync. At this time we cannot use a sync card because the last pcie slot us need for a usb pcie card that supplements other features in the system.

Here are some links specifying the tech we are trying to use here - none of them seems to reflect current cards on the market or feature any updates for windows 10/troubleshooting [or any info at all post-2010]:

-scalable-visualization-solutions.html

-sli-technology-in.html

our hardware does come from an approved list here: Professional Design Visualization Solutions NVIDIA

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