Asus AI Suite

[Glendor]

I have SpeedFan, CoreTemp, AMD Overdrive, etc, etc..., but I want a one-stop-shop of controls and information. I have a bunch of AMD Asus Boards: M4A88T-I Deluxe, 990FX Sabertooth (rev2), Crosshair V Forumula (not Z), and a couple I don't recall the name of. I'm probably in the minority here, but I actually like AI Suite from Asus. I like the all-in-one 'dashboard' of AI Suite. The problem is, AI Suite tied the to board version and Windows version and I can't find a version that will work on all models, and I can't even find ANY version for some models running Win10.

I know for a fact that other than some sensors not being available, and thus ignored, by AI Suite II, the software will run on boards it isn't written for. Unfortunately, during the install it detects the model number and says "not for this model" and stops. I know it works because I installed AI Suite II on the CHVF system, then moved the harddrive to the M4A88T computer and it works fine, but AI Suite II won't install directly on the M4A88T system. The ver made for the M4A88T is AI Suite (ver1), but it only available for Win7, so it won't install in Win10 None of my boards support AI Suite iii, but I got it to partial install on the M4A88T, once, but it wasn't fully functional. This has been very frustrating, and I'm about to give up, but I want to post a couple of questions here first.

First, is there a way to spoof the hardware type so I can install AI Suite ii or iii on any board?
Second, Is there an alternative software package that provides all the sensors, monitoring, and fan control of AI Suite in one tool?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

I like using it too and have it running on z87 sabertooth. Should be able to get the 990fx and crosshair boards working with info from here: https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?33367-Asus-AI-Suite-III/page16

hope that helps

 

[nerp]

What is AI suite's performance footprint? I've avoided installing it on my ASUS board mainly because I'm paranoid about resource hogging junk and try to run as minimal a system as possible.

 

[Glendor]

Honestly, I don't know about the footprint. I generally have way more CPU and RAM than I really need considering the games I play and office apps so I don't mind if it uses a few resources. I used to be a purist too and couldn't wait to uninstall the bloatware, but this one I like.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[monkeydelmagico]

I'm paranoid about resource hogging junk and try to run as minimal a system as possible.

You have an i7 6700k with 24gb ram. I would say you've gone beyond paranoia to certifiable.

Part of the awesomeness of uefi bios is getting to do real time adjustments from the comfort of your desktop OS. AI suite is one way to do that.

 

[Glendor]

What I can't figure out is why no one makes a one-stop-shop for control & monitoring. Having to run 5 different applications to monitor all aspects of the PC is a PITA.

 

[nerp]

You have an i7 6700k with 24gb ram. I would say you've gone beyond paranoia to certifiable.

Part of the awesomeness of uefi bios is getting to do real time adjustments from the comfort of your desktop OS. AI suite is one way to do that.

I know man, I know. It's hard breaking old habits.

What I mainly try to avoid are apps that are just poorly written or optimized. But I see your point.

I'll install AI suite and see how it goes.

 

[KentState]

AI Suite is one of the rare software packages that just works without a lot of issues. Now Asus Aura is a resource hog. Constantly using CPU.

Corsair finally got some of their software to that level. The software for the AIO cooler is decent.

 

[Glendor]

No luck on the custom install to work on my Asus M4A88T-I Deluxe.

I followed all the advice in the thread, and even tried to puzzle out the pieces myself. Been at it for hours, and I'm about to give up. Technically, I can get it to install, but it won't run. Keep getting an error about a pebiosinterface32.dll not running. Google hasn't been much help on this.

 

[nerp]

So I installed it. It's OK I guess. I prefer using the BIOS for managing settings, though. And I noticed the cpu temp was reported to be a full 10 degrees lower than all other monitoring tools. Either my CPU has been running cooler than I've realized for a very long time or their software is wrong. It's also kinda clunky of an app and clearly geared toward the gamer crowd. I run stock, so things like VRAM voltage tweaking, etc, is not useful. The app isn't horrible, mind you, but it's a bit ugly and cumbersome for simple things like fan control and temp monitoring. Right now with BIOS fan controls, I've got my system never breaking 60C on the CPU under load and it's silent.

 

[nerp]

I will note -- a problem on many ASUS motherboards, though not really a "problem," is solved by installing AI suite. Turns out there's some realtek audio driver thingy that tries to load on startup and fails on many ASUS motherboards. It's not an actual or noticeable error, but you see the note in the reliability monitor and that pushes your score down. It happens on startup. Installing AI suite makes it go away. I managed to uninstall everything under AI suite except for the innocuous "system information" panel and now I've eliminated that startup error from my logs and I don't have ASUS's EZ-updater and alert stuff in my system tray. So there was a positive aspect to installing this.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

No luck on the custom install to work on my Asus M4A88T-I Deluxe.

Bummer. I think I said above you will have the most luck with your 990FX Sabertooth (rev2) and Crosshair V Forumula. They have UEFI bios with which the AI suite works much better. UEFI debut around 2011 I think. The M4A88T-I is 6 years old so only the first version of AI Suite would, technically, work. Don't bother, the first version was not any improvement over just working in the bios.

It's also kinda clunky of an app and clearly geared toward the gamer crowd. I run stock, so things like VRAM voltage tweaking, etc, is not useful. The app isn't horrible, mind you, but it's a bit ugly and cumbersome for simple things like fan control and temp monitoring. Right now with BIOS fan controls, I've got my system never breaking 60C on the CPU under load and it's silent.

It's a lot like tweaking a GPU with MSI Afterburner. Since it's mostly gamers that buy and use OC'd boxes yes it is geared towards the people who are going to benefit from the program. Not sure why someone running stock would need it; to each their own I guess. All I know is that I no longer need to have 2-3 different apps open at once to monitor every sensor, voltage, fans, etc. AI suite does all that. I also no longer have to restart a million times tweaking the bios. What a pain. With the AI suite I move a slider and press "apply".

 

[nerp]

It's a lot like tweaking a GPU with MSI Afterburner. Since it's mostly gamers that buy and use OC'd boxes yes it is geared towards the people who are going to benefit from the program. Not sure why someone running stock would need it; to each their own I guess. All I know is that I no longer need to have 2-3 different apps open at once to monitor every sensor, voltage, fans, etc. AI suite does all that. I also no longer have to restart a million times tweaking the bios. What a pain. With the AI suite I move a slider and press "apply".

Well, I never used it and was curious how it worked. I mainly am monitoring sensors and stuff since I put in a new CPU cooler. Even if I was overclocking, once everything is stable and running right, I often forget to fire up all the monitoring utilities anyway. It is nice that you can control BIOS settings from within Windows. If I were overclocking, I'm sure I'd find use for it.

In any event, it solved an error message in my logs since the realtek driver pushed out by ASUS for this board triggers a startup run task that generates the error without AI suite. Even with just the barebones AI suite on the machine, the error is gone. It's one of those OCD things since you have no idea there is even an error until you start poking around the reliability monitor and see the note.

 

[Iron Woode]

AI Suite III has a win 10 version for my board but it doesn't function properly using Win 10 version 1607.

when used with 1511 it worked perfectly. In version 1607 it's just causing serious system slow downs and other odd behaviour.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Ah! A recent favorite topic of mine -- Ai Suite.

They customize the software for the motherboard. I avoid using the "Turbo EVO" or whatever it's called now for overclocking, and I adjust all my power and clock settings through BIOS.

But the fan-control is phenomenal. I wouldn't think of building a system with ASUS motherboard without installing it.

I imagine there would be a logistics problem or "dis-economies of scale" for a one-stop customizable-fits-all software that works with several different boards. Ask Alfredo -- the author of SpeedFan. Like the old Stones' song: "It ain't easy . . . "

With my new Sabertooth Z170 board, I'm really stunned by the "Thermal Radar" features. I do not imagine that this aspect is as thoroughly implemented on other board models as with Sabertooth. But I know that fan control and monitoring are respectively stellar and acceptable with AiSuite bundled with other board models.

What they did with Thermal Radar looks as though they copied or borrowed from a "revolving" visual interface I'd only seen with the NVidia control panel "ESA" software that worked with the Silverstone Commander fan controller -- which is now defunct and incapable of being adapted to today's motherboards with Intel chipsets. The ESA software had a beautiful and flexible interface, but didn't realize its full potential for controller the Commander. ASUS Thermal Radar does it all. Absolutely incredible. Absolutely.

 

[nerp]

Is the QFan control setup in your BIOS all that different than what's in AI Suite? I find that aside from some visual effects and other things, it's pretty much the same and they key thing is in place: drawing custom fan speed curves.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Is the QFan control setup in your BIOS all that different than what's in AI Suite? I find that aside from some visual effects and other things, it's pretty much the same and they key thing is in place: drawing custom fan speed curves.

Correct. It looks very much like other ASUS UEFI BIOS's I've seen or worked with.

Keep in mind that I'm coming from Z68 and Z77 boards -- among the household inventory. I can't speak for Maximus VIII, Pro, Deluxe or other models but for what I've seen on various forum posts with posted BIOS screenies. With my old boards, you could set the "fan curves" with the BIOS alone, but there was no graphical depiction of it in BIOS.

The Sabertooth BIOS offers a graphical "fan-curve" configuration feature we'd seen in the Windows interface of "Fan Xpert" and its incarnations. That is, the graphical tool is in the BIOS, no less than you find it in the Windows software.

I'd be willing to bet that they implemented it in the BIOS of other boards. You tell me . . . .

Of course, as you suggest, one could abjure using the Windows software. But configuration changes made in AiSuite are effected and effective without a need to keep the Suite running in the System Tray. You can run it and close it any time you wish. So it's not much of a nuisance. It doesn't have to run on startup. If you use other software for monitoring, it's just a good idea to close Suite down before running the alternative software.

 

[nerp]

Yeah, the BIOS on my H170 PRO GAMING has all the fan curve stuff in the BIOS and it's all graphical, etc.

The AI suite app is OK. As I said, since I have the system running cool and silent, it's not critical for me but I can see the usefulness. I was able to slim it down by not adding all the packages that are part of it, like the auto updater stuff.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Yeah, the BIOS on my H170 PRO GAMING has all the fan curve stuff in the BIOS and it's all graphical, etc.

The AI suite app is OK. As I said, since I have the system running cool and silent, it's not critical for me but I can see the usefulness. I was able to slim it down by not adding all the packages that are part of it, like the auto updater stuff.

Yeah -- some nuisances, you would simply deactivate.

There's a Thermal Radar menu in the Sabertooth BIOS monitoring menu. They have so many sensors and fan ports on the board, I'd call it a smorgasbord. There are two-pin ports for thermistors or thermal sensors. There are enough fan ports and thermally-related features, I cannot use all of them. So I might wonder what I sacrificed in features for the Sabertooth Z170 S, besides the motherboard duct-plate. 16-phase-power design, as opposed to 12? That doesn't seem to matter much but for an extra 100 Mhz in an overclock -- according to my review and forum readings.

Even there, I can't be sure that the CPUs deployed across those different reviews were of identical quality. I only know I chose to purchase one from the "top 17%."

 

[nerp]

Interesting. I think what's confusing about all this is that there are many different versions for specific boards so when you google AI Suite, you get a lot of conflicting user experiences and suggestions. My board has a good number of fan connectors on it but nothing like what you're describing on your Sabertooth.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Interesting. I think what's confusing about all this is that there are many different versions for specific boards so when you google AI Suite, you get a lot of conflicting user experiences and suggestions. My board has a good number of fan connectors on it but nothing like what you're describing on your Sabertooth.

As much as I've evolved from picking budget boards in the 1990s to window-shopping top-tier, I've yet to buy a top-tier board. Suppose I spend $400 on a board? After three to five years, I can hand-me-down the board to a member of my fam-damn-ily. Or I can redeploy it, perhaps for server duty. Or I could sell it. But eventually, it could become so old that it would just get recycled. And, really, I begin to squint at top-tier features I didn't covet in the first place.

I have no idea how ASUS contrives its product line, although it's not much different from the auto-industry -- product differentiation. You get what you pay for.

So that being said, I built a system for my brother almost two years ago with a Z77-A board. The A boards maybe had 8-phase power-design and a modicum of features priced around $130 to $140 -- but lower than the Sabertooth.

You still get a fairly stellar "AiSuite." It gave me all the fan control I needed to give Bro a great system. It was reasonably overclockable: I think I was able to push an i7-2700K to 4.7, although it seemed to be just "on the edge."

We are still cognizant of one major fact: you don't need the software to set up the fan profiles in BIOS, but if you want to change the profiles, you need to go into BIOS to do it.

Somebody in another thread explained something that I'd never tested and which I misunderstood. On some boards (including ASUS), the "4-pin" ports on some or all of the CHA_FAN[N] ports do not provide real PWM control. They provide conventional 3-pin voltage control, even for 4-pin PWM fans.

But on the Sabertooth Z170, for each and every fan port (CPU/OPT, CHA_FAN[N], Assistant Fan 1 and 2, etc.) you can choose in the BIOS whether you want PWM control or voltage control. And PWM control extends to the CHA_FAN ports.

I guess the fact that the Sabertooths meet a "MIL-spec," have a 5-year warranty and so forth was fairly appealing. I'll be able to clock my 6700K to 4.7 Ghz, but the processor would go to 4.8 with a 16-phase power-design; that much is proven in review comparisons of the Deluxe and two Maximus models with the Sabertooth.

There are trade-offs in all of our choices.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Is the QFan control setup in your BIOS all that different than what's in AI Suite? I find that aside from some visual effects and other things, it's pretty much the same and they key thing is in place: drawing custom fan speed curves.

On my Z87 sabertooth there is not an option to draw custom maps. The bios is not really GUI and still resembles older interfaces.

Interesting. I think what's confusing about all this is that there are many different versions for specific boards so when you google AI Suite, you get a lot of conflicting user experiences and suggestions. My board has a good number of fan connectors on it but nothing like what you're describing on your Sabertooth.

Agreed. If every version of AI Suite is semi-custom to the boards I understand how this would be a mixed bag.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

On my Z87 sabertooth there is not an option to draw custom maps. The bios is not really GUI and still resembles older interfaces.



Agreed. If every version of AI Suite is semi-custom to the boards I understand how this would be a mixed bag.

It's just an embellishment to the UEFI-BIOS interface -- but, yeah -- graphical fan curves.

I couldn't know for certain why they don't craft a "one-size-fits-all" ASUS Suite for a generational motherboard line. But with the cooling and monitoring features of the Sabertooth models, I can see why the Suite version is "customized" to the hardware.

There are trade-offs against the warranty and MIL-spec assertions about the Sabertooth -- with or without the duct-plate (the "S" model has no duct-plate, but allows installation of a 40x10mm fan between the I/O plate's ports and the adjacent VRM heatsink. )

You get 12-phase power-design as oppose to the top-tier's 16. So maximum clocks are probably 100 Mhz lower.

But I have to like the board. At least -- for what I paid for it.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

HERE'S AN UPDATE TO THIS DISCUSSION:

If you're running Ai Suite -- any board or version over the last few years -- open Task Manager and its Processes tab. Then look for a process called:

Atkexcomsvc.exe

Tell me if it's grabbing clock-cycles, or otherwise adding to CPU usage by as much as 5%, or "pulsing" between 5% and various lower values. The percentage CPU usage would vary according to the capability of the processor and number of cores.

Because I'm still tuning a 4.6 overclock for i7-6700K, I noticed that the clock speed may spend three to five seconds at EIST 800 Mhz, and then bounce up to 4.6 for a second and repeat the cycle endlessly it seems.

The service is installed with Ai Suite, and references to it in this regard go back to 2011 and Sandy Bridge users. And the service runs even if you disable AI Suite from running at startup, or regardless of exiting the program during your boot session.

This would seem to be a reason for uninstalling the software once you have used it to good purpose with fan curves etc. On my system, it monitors several temperature sensors for "thermal radar." Those temperatures show up in an ad-hoc session with HWInfo, but the names of the components they monitor are not so evident in the latter program.

I think this Atkexcomsvc does this monitoring because AI Suite has alert thresholds that can be set for temperature and voltage, so it is supposed to be of great benefit to you. that's all a matter of probability and risk, which would be insignificant once you have the machine ready for 24/7 usage. I'd rather have my clock-cycles returned to me without the CPU usage from the program.

Also, I think that the startup type for the process can be harmlessly changed, and that further -- the service can merely be disabled. What would changing it from "Automatic" to "Manual" do, except for allowing Atkexcomsvc to be raised only when you open AI Suite?

I'd be interested in hearing any other experiences or anecdotes about this, or observations about Atkexcomsvc and your system's CPU-usage behaviors.