Z77 Extreme4 - can extra USB3/SATA3 controllers be disabled?

[Sweetz]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to build an Ivy Bridge system and the Z77 Extreme4 seems like the mid-range motherboard to buy, if the number of Newegg reviews is any indicator. I've been reading up on the board and I understand it has extra ASMedia controllers for additional SATA3 and USB3.0 connectivity. I'm never going to use more than 2 devices for either of those. Provided the motherboard supports it, I always like to disable any extra device controllers I'm not using from the BIOS; less chance for problems and less drivers loaded in Windows that way.

Every other motherboard I've owned has allowed extra controllers to be disabled, but it's been 2 years since I built a system and I have no experience with ASRock boards or these new UEFI BIOSes, so I don't want to assume. Is it possible to disable the extra controllers from the BIOS on this board?

[parsec]

Sure you can, but not all of them in the BIOS/UEFI. BTW, I have two of these boards and IMO they are great.

The ASMedia SATA controller can be disabled in the Storage Configuration section of the UEFI. The extra ASMedia USB 3.0 chip can be disabled in Device Manager, and just don't install its driver. That's it.

Also, if you don't like extra "stuff", don't just load everything from the boards driver disk. You don't really need it at all, just download some things from the boards download page to a USB flash drive and use that to install drivers and programs. All you really need is:

Intel INF installer.
Intel IME software
Intel IRST driver (optional, but I suggest using it)
Broadcom LAN driver (Must have or no Internet!)
Intel USB 3.0 driver.
Intel VGA driver (If using onboard video.)
ASR AXTU utility (optional, but useful.)

[Sweetz]

Cool, thanks for the info. Would prefer that I could disable the extra USB controller from the BIOS, but certainly not a deal breaker.

I've had a really tough time picking out a motherboard, I've never seen so many different models on the market for the same chipset. The last two mobos I've owned were EVGAs but their Z75/Z77 offerings are too pricey and higher end than I need. Extreme4 seems like a great mid-range board.