Friday, May 18th 2018

EVGA Says Goodbye to Driver DVDs

by
Chino
 Discuss (45 Comments)
Jacob Freeman, Global Product Management Director at EVGA, has confirmed via a Tweet that future EVGA motherboards (H370 Stinger included) will no longer come with a driver DVD. Instead, the consumer will receive a sleek 8 GB USB 2.0 flash drive with all the necessary drivers and software. While some users might argue that it's good practice to get the latest drivers from the motherboard support page, you still need to install the network driver to access the internet after a fresh Windows installation. EVGA's decision is a well thought-out one as not all system builders include an optical drive in their builds or want to spend $15 on one just to install a driver. The included flash drive is re-writeable, so users can store other things on it if desired. Jacob commented that the cost of including a standard 8 GB USB 2.0 flash drive is about twenty times that of an old-school DVD. Nevertheless, EVGA motherboard prices will not increase to cover the cost.
Source: Jacob Freeman's Twitter

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45 Comments on EVGA Says Goodbye to Driver DVDs

#26
Bill Cliny
You don`t need internet connection to install windows. Windows 10 have the drivers for 99.9% network adapters, and even some UEFI bios can download the drivers before the instalation. We dont need a cd or dvd with drivers anymore. Even in the worst case scenario you can always download the drivers in your phone or another computer.
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#27
InVasMani
dj-electricCool stuff, and yeah, even a 2GB one could do just fine if it means cutting costs
Unacceptable if they aren't raising MB costs to compensate I want at least 1TB! I'm just disappointed AOL isn't sending me these in the mail.
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#28
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
thebluebumblebeeOD's are still the only option for long term storage. Storage on a mechanical HDD can fail due to a mechanical or electrical failure. SSD's can fail and there is no recovery. Online or cloud storage is only good if the company stays in business and you make those regular payments. And tape, well...
And optical disc's suffer disc rot...
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#29
Pings
About time. I still have one computer that still has a DVD drive and have used that to make driver ISOs.
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#31
PR0PH3CY
Honestly not bad branding / swag kind of thing either. Because it becomes useful even after you use it for the drivers. Every company should do this that did discs previously.
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#32
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
thebluebumblebeewww.mdisc.com/ Good for 1000 years.
And cost like $3 a disc and require special burners. Yeah, I'll just stick to trusty ol' hard drive archiving. It's cheap, more convenient, and just as reliable if done right.
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#33
kastriot
Who cares really they always make money from end users, don't worry about manufacturers, we always lose and they always win..
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#34
Valantar
you still need to install the network driver to access the internet after a fresh Windows installation.
Are you still using Windows XP? 'Cause I haven't had to do that myself since before Vista. And that's across a minor heap of desktops and a bunch of laptops. Install windows, connect ethernet cable if it isn't a wifi-equipped PC, done. I believe the phrase is "it just works". I've only had to sideload drivers for some truly obscure stuff. Windows 10 is essentially bulletproof when it comes to drivers.
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#35
Parn
xkm1948Still have and love my BD-ROM. All my new builds still have optical drive.

Why? Because I have over 400 blank DVD-RW/DL I need to use!
Same here. They cost near nothing. So it doesn't hurt having one in the system when you need it.
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#36
Valantar
ParnSame here. They cost near nothing. So it doesn't hurt having one in the system when you need it.
Uhm, the cheapest BD-ROM (not writer, just reader) on Newegg is $45. DVD writers? Sure. But definitely not blu-ray.
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#37
FordGT90Concept
"I go fast!1!11!1!"
If there's no public drivers available at launch, they should include the disk; otherwise, I'm fine without it because I always assume drivers direct from NVIDIA/AMD are better.
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#38
InVasMani
It's not particularly even needed with UEFI these days, but it's a nice throw in and talking point for EVGA either way. I think they did this most likely just for the free publicity stir it would cause.
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#39
Prima.Vera
Win 10 installs and works just fine with the default drivers. Even for RAID.
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#40
bug
I remember having a blast back in the BluRay vs HD-DVD war days. People were getting so emotional (think AMD vs some else today) about which one is better and I was like "who cares? no matter who wins, these are dead as a storage solution: in part because of flash drives and in part of studios' carefully stuffing the drives with DRM."
And here we are today.
ValantarAre you still using Windows XP? 'Cause I haven't had to do that myself since before Vista. And that's across a minor heap of desktops and a bunch of laptops. Install windows, connect ethernet cable if it isn't a wifi-equipped PC, done. I believe the phrase is "it just works". I've only had to sideload drivers for some truly obscure stuff. Windows 10 is essentially bulletproof when it comes to drivers.
Iirc, USB ports added through 3rd party chips (AsMedia and such) typically need some drivers Windows doesn't have. Or at least this was the case a while ago. Some clueless user will find a way to stick their drive into one of those ports and get stumped on that.
But hey, we ditched floppy disks, it's about time optical disks followed.
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#41
Space Lynx
Astronaut
EVGA just won my future business, long live the free markets, and those companies that are actually self-aware of the markets.
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#42
hapkiman
You had a good run OD's. RIP.
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#43
Valantar
bugIirc, USB ports added through 3rd party chips (AsMedia and such) typically need some drivers Windows doesn't have. Or at least this was the case a while ago. Some clueless user will find a way to stick their drive into one of those ports and get stumped on that.
But hey, we ditched floppy disks, it's about time optical disks followed.
I used two different USB 3.0/3.1 AICs on my old PC (Core2Quad rig, used till Ryzen arrived last year), and didn't need any drivers. Outside of needing to shut the PC to insert them, they were entirely plug and play. That was an already established W10 install with an internet connection, but IIRC they worked from the moment the PC booted up. I believe they both used ASMedia controllers, but don't quote me on that.
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#44
Ubersonic
Meh, I just download the drivers from the web, they're usually more up to date. Will be cool to get free USB sticks with EVGA stuff though ^^
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#45
Ruru
Trepie
I'd need a 5.25" bay only for ROG panel.

Haven't used an optical disc in my gaming rig for over 5 years except some blu-ray movies.
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