Flashing new BIOS to accommodate GTX970? (P67A-GD53)

FlyingPig · 5 Jan 2015 at 19:37

I have a shiny GTX970 on the way but my enthusiasm has been curbed by the realisation that I will probably have to update my BIOS.

My specs:

Motherboard P67A-GD53 (MS-7681)
i5 2500K CPU
OCZ PSU 700W Stealth Xtreme
8GB RAM

Bios version is v.1.19 (used the MSI LiveUpdate a few times over the years, never flashed using a USB key)

From what I can see on https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=79d8d649aae45941a705dd8a7fdd38cb&topic=184286.0 I'm in a similar boat as this guy, and the instructions he was given were:

>>Use the MSI HQ Forum USB flasher<<
A.) Download the attached archive and place it on your desktop. Do not decompress.
B.) Download and install the Forum flash tool.
C.) Insert your FAT32 formatted usb stick.
D.) Make sure that all win 8 options are disabled. (Fast Boot etc) Also make sure the legacy USB is enabled.
E.) Start the forum flash tool and select option 1. Then point the tool at the compressed archive we downloaded earlier. Then to your USB Flash Drive.
F.) Boot to the USB
G.) Now follow the directions and let the tool flash
H.) After flashing reinstall ME drivers in Windows: http://download.msi.com/dvr_exe/intel_amt81_win78_xp.zip

Does this sound about right? Is there really no simpler way?

FlyingPig · 5 Jan 2015 at 22:48

Yeah, it's a bit of a weird one, isn't it. Been googling this for the last few hours but I'm still not really clear on what to do. Might just try without flashing. I created an account on the MSI forum and posted the question there too, so let's see what comes out of this.

FlyingPig · 5 Jan 2015 at 23:20

Hmm the plot thickens. Now it seems flashing to the 4.* bios causes problems for Sandy Bridge CPU's.

Lecture over! Options are to take the system to a pc shop that has an SPI flash programming device, or send the board to an MSI Service Center. If no intention of ever installing an Ivy CPU, DO NOT have the board flashed to an Ivy support UEFI/BIOS.

Keep in mind in the future never flash to 4.x BIOS for Ivy CPU if you're going to be using Sandy CPU. On that MB with Sandy CPU use only BIOSs 1.x for Sandy as the 4.x with ME8 is only for use with Ivy CPU.

(from MSI forums in other threads)

If this is true then I'm not sure what to do. This motherboard was pretty decent when I bought, surely it can't be that outdated yet?

FlyingPig · 6 Jan 2015 at 20:09

As far as I know I have the plain version indeed. Contacted MSI support but they were not much use. However, on their forums the admin is quite clear and is saying:

For P67-GD53 bios 4.3 (covers P67A-GD65, P67A-GD55 and P67A-GD53) will add ME8 firmware and enable the board to use latest gen vgas. With an ME7 bios it will not work. There is no way to run a GTX970 with an old ME7 bios like 1.19.

Think I'll just try it anyway without flashing and if it doesn't post I'll just have to bite the bullet and hope for the best. He's saying overclocking should still be possible on my version.

FlyingPig · 9 Jan 2015 at 22:34

Update: in the end I decided to just go for it and I flashed the BIOS. Main hurdle to overcome turned out to be making the bloody USB key bootable, but I got it sorted in the end. All went fine and I'm the happy owner of a GTX 970! On an apparently ancient motherboard but I reckon I can squeeze another 3 years out of this rig, which will have been great value.