Upgrading - quick Bios question

[calnen]

Should be a quickie..

My motherboard (Asus A8V Deluxe) has died, so I'm looking to replace it. But my CPU (AMD Opteron 165) doesnt seem to be compatible with most new motherboards as standard.

If I buy a new mobo, can I update the BIOS using my CPU even though it isnt compatible, or do I need to buy an old CPU to do the update before I can plug my dual-core in?

How do people normally do this?
Ta

 

[calnen]

Any hints?
Basically I want to know if its possible to upgrade a BIOS using an incompatible cpu, and then run the PC normally after the update.

Does it depend on the motherboard? If so, what should I be looking for?

 

[calnen]

Thanks for that Also thanks again for your PSU help - just a shame that wasnt the problem!

I'm basically trying to work out if I buy an older AGP mobo second hand, will I be able to use it or not? Since they wont have opteron support as standard, can i update it and then use it or will it just not boot?