BIOS Chip Size Confusion

[melete]

I have an Asus ROG Strix X470-F motherboard. I was curious about my BIOS chip size,. as BIOS chip size has emerged as an issue with BIOS updates for AM4 motherboards. Official Asus specs list the chip as having "256 Mb Flash ROM," which would be 32MB.

 

HWINFO lists the BIOS size as 16MB.

 

I wrote a simple batch script to query Windows, and it reported back 16384KB (which would be 16MB).

 

Is there an explanation for this discrepancy?

 

 

[WereCatf]

5 minutes ago, melete said:

Is there an explanation for this discrepancy?

Does your script and Hwinfo report the size of the installed BIOS, or the size of the chip itself? The installed BIOS could be 16MB and the chip itself could still be 32MB. Could also be that those specs are wrong; you could always pop your case open and check the chip.

[melete]

Just now, WereCatf said:

Does your script and Hwinfo report the size of the installed BIOS, or the size of the chip itself? The installed BIOS could be 16MB and the chip itself could still be 32MB. Could also be that those specs are wrong; you could always pop your case open and check the chip.

I've thought of that too. As far as I know (I didn't write the script myself, just borrowed it) both are just looking up the SMBIOS data Windows has, which could easily be reporting the size of the installed BIOS itself, not the total capacity on the chip.

 

I do notice the BIOS file from ASUS is 13.93MB, which is under 16MB and different from the reported values I am seeing, but again it could be unused capacity at work here. 

 

I don't really understand this stuff well at all. I may have to see if I can take a look at the chip as you suggest and see if it has the capacity printed on it.

[WereCatf]

3 minutes ago, melete said:

I may have to see if I can take a look at the chip as you suggest and see if it has the capacity printed on it.

Just take a picture of it and post here. Make sure the markings on it are readable in the picture, though.

[nick name]

Why are you even asking?

[rcmaehl]

4 minutes ago, nick name said:

Why are you even asking?

Ryzen 3xxx BIOS upgrades can be a bit BIG. Too big for some boards.

[nick name]

57 minutes ago, rcmaehl said:

Ryzen 3xxx BIOS upgrades can be a bit BIG. Too big for some boards.

I understand that.  Twice the size of previous BIOS versions.  However, his board is obviously not one of those boards.  

 

And I says this knowing that previous BIOS versions before ComboPi AGESA versions were half the size of what they are after ComboPi AGESA versions so obviously his board can handle the larger BIOS.  

[paulmohr]

This is why MSI went with a "lite" version of their bios for the ryzen gen 3  updgrades. It gets rid of all the fancy graphics and stuff. In reality though I would think if they list a bios update for your specific board it will probably fit. Otherwise they wouldn't release as being compatible with that board.

[melete]

2 hours ago, nick name said:

Why are you even asking?

Mostly curiosity. I was surprised that HWINFO reported something different than Asus' spec sheet.

 

I couldn't get a good look at my BIOS chip with the motherboard installed, btw. I don't really want to tear the system down to try and get a better look at it so I'll just let this lie for now.