Find BIOS Version for MSI Board Without Powering it Up?

Hurican7 · May 17, 2019

I am aware that Asus boards ship with a serial number that indicates the BIOS version (although they will sometimes ship with newer BIOS versions that what the SN on the box says). Is there a way to do this with MSI boards? I have a Z370 SLI Plus and I'm trying to see if it shipped with the Intel 9th gen CPU compatible BIOS or if I will need to get it flashed (I do not currently have an 8th gen CPU to power it up/flash it with)

Skiiwee29 · May 17, 2019

Its been 8 months since the launch. Chances of getting a board that doesn't support 9th gen out of the box for a Z370 board is very slim. From what ive read, when they make the board, they have the newest BIOS available on the chip at the time of manufacturing. So if you can find out the manufacture date of the board, you can find out what the newest BIOS was available at that time and should give you an idea of which BIOS should be on the board. Here is a thread from the MSI forums, albeit a few years old, would imagine the same principles apply that helps you find the manufacture date according to the S/N of the board.

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=252516.0

Hurican7 · May 17, 2019

Thank you Skiwee! This is what I was trying to find.

SN is 601-7B46-020B1803001090, indicating a manufacturing date of 2018, March (1st?) ish. The BIOS update for this board for 9th gen CPUs isn't until 2018-07-12. Looks like I've got to go to the shop tomorrow.