DO I bios flash or not? (Z68)

RICKST20 · 4 Dec 2013 at 08:36

Ok so iv been running with a standard H61 mobo when i first bought my system a few years ago.
I originally had an I3 2100 installed and changed this after a year or so to an I5 2500k, which is now ripe for a little overclocking.
Obviously the H61 mobo doesn't support overclocking so i picked myself up a Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 for cheap giving me the option to release a little more power to keep me going for a few more years.
Im not looking at going for crazy Oc figures just a little boost is all.

System specs to anyone interested are:

Intel I5 2500k
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo cooler
8gb Corsair vengeance 1600mhz
Coolermaster Gx 650w psu
Asus 7850 2gb
120gb Kingston Hyperx 3 ssd
500gb hdd.

Question is that this comes with the rev 1.0 Bios and i was wondering is there anything to gain with upgrading the Bios? Or should i just leave it?

Cheers for looking.

mickyflinn · 4 Dec 2013 at 11:04

If your motherboard works well then i wouldnt update the bios, here is a list of bios updates and what improvements they bring.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3897#bios

RICKST20 · 5 Dec 2013 at 07:20

mickyflinn said:
If your motherboard works well then i wouldnt update the bios

This makes sense really. Il build it at the weekend see how I get on then. Cheers for the info and link.

maddness · 5 Dec 2013 at 08:03

A flash takes 30 seconds and nowadays can easily be done through bios via a USB flash drive

I would recommend updating to the latest then going ahead with your overclock, if you decide to update your bios later you will need to re-apply the overclock, chances are will unlikely be able to just apply the overclock profile you may have saved...

also if you are on the initial bios, the later revisions iron out the bugs, may allow for better overclocks, stability, compatibility etc...

I always update to the latest unless I would need a specific older bios for overclocking

RICKST20 · 5 Dec 2013 at 08:38

maddness said:
A flash takes 30 seconds and nowadays can easily be done through bios via a USB flash drive

also if you are on the initial bios, the later revisions iron out the bugs, may allow for better overclocks, stability, compatibility etc...

I always update to the latest unless I would need a specific older bios for overclocking

Hhmm options options!!
I can understand the advantages of upgrading the bios but also im a little worried about creating a dead mobo in the process.
Il give it a think over first weigh up the options now i have more info to go on.

Thanks guys!

Phunky · 5 Dec 2013 at 09:27

Updating to the latest AWARD will be fine, but before moving up to the UEFI beta's bare in mind that some controls such as DVID are locked out, also make sure your hardware is UEFI compatible.

I've lost two boards over the last week thanks to them being on UEFI and my HD 7990 not liking them, strangely can't recover either too as there stuck in a boot loop.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18562324

And yes the flash did take fine

on my GA-Z68A-D3-B3 I had been running the UEFI bios for over a year fine with my 670, soon as I swapped to the HD 7990 is when it went down hill.

RICKST20 · 5 Dec 2013 at 09:37

Phunky said:
Updating to the latest AWARD will be fine, but before moving up to the UEFI beta's bare in mind that some controls such as DVID are locked out, also make sure your hardware is UEFI compatible.

I've lost two boards over the last week thanks to them being on UEFI and my HD 7990 not liking them, strangely can't recover either too as there stuck in a boot loop.

Good shout there because it seems my gpu wont take kindly to UEFI bios either.
https://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/HD7850DC22GD5/#specifications
Bad luck with the boards bud! This is exactly why i ask before i do these sort of things. It always pays to get info, even a little helps a lot.

Phunky · 5 Dec 2013 at 09:44

Well it was even more of a shock for me considering it had been working fine, couldn't understand wtf had gone wrong with it.

Picked up the Z68AP-D3 for cheap had it running fine on latest AWARD bios with the 7990 and was like "Surely it can't be the UEFI bios?" so went and upgraded it

and bang it was the bios... Managed to get back in to try flashing back to AWARD but even though it said it was successful it's never booted again.

Went to a Asus P8Z77 Deluxe and straight away it complained about the 7990 in UEFI mode and enabled CSM support, so at least I can use these together.