Can I update a Motherboard BIOS without a CPU?

[BananaBoyxD]

Hi, I'm looking at getting a Ryzen 7 5800X and a B550 board, pcpartpicker says that the bios will need to be updated and I was wondering if I could update the bios with just the board. Also, if you can I would like to know if it's easy.

[Pixelfie]

Depends on what B550. If it has BIOS flashback yes. It's as simple as putting a file on a USB, plugging it in and pressing a button. But the board has to support it.

[IkeaGnome]

If you get one that supports it, yes. The ones that do will have a button on the rear IO that says BIOS Flash or Flash Back etc depending on brand.

As long as you follow the directions for the particular brand of motherboard, yes it's easy.

[YoungBlade]

Given that it's been almost two years since the release of the Ryzen 7 5800X, the odds of you getting a new B550 board today that doesn't already have out-of-the-box support for that chip is basically zero. If you go with a refurb or open box or used board, then maybe it wouldn't have 5000 series support, but otherwise, I don't think a BIOS flash will be needed. That said, as mentioned above, if you get a board with BIOS flashback, then you're guaranteed to have a way to get the board working with that CPU. And frankly, I'd recommend getting a board with BIOS flashback in general, as it's a very useful feature to have in case something ever goes wrong with the BIOS.

[mariushm]

14 minutes ago, BananaBoyxD said:

Hi, I'm looking at getting a Ryzen 7 5800X and a B550 board, pcpartpicker says that the bios will need to be updated and I was wondering if I could update the bios with just the board. Also, if you can I would like to know if it's easy.

PC Part Picker doesn't update those warnings often.

 

You can go to that motherboard's page on the site of whoever makes it and look at CPU compatibility list. There, it will say the minimum version required to support Ryzen 5800x

You can then go to the downloads page for that motherboard, and scroll down to the bios downloads and see when that bios version was released.

 

If the BIOS was released at least 6 months ago, there's a very high probability the motherboard will come with that bios or a newer bios. A popular motherboard model doesn't sit on shelves a long time, but it does take 2-3 months from when it's made until it actually reaches the store (because it goes on ship containers, spends time in customs, then from distributor to shop etc)

 

As an exercise, let's say you want Gigabyte B550M Aorus Pro-P 

You go to the website page for this model, and click on the Support link in the menu : https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B550M-AORUS-PRO-P-rev-10/support#support-dl-driver

On that page, you have a CPU Support link and you click on that and you get a table, and you look there for 5800x : https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B550M-AORUS-PRO-P-rev-10/support#support-cpu

Scroll down and you see there the minimum version required is F10

 

Now you can go back to Downloads and expand the BIOS section and you'll see the F10 bios was released in 2020/09/18   so unless you're extremely unlucky, the motherboard will most likely come with a BIOS released in 2021 or 2022, not one from 2020.

 

But yeah, look for motherboards that have BIOS Flashback if you are paranoid.

 

[cat milker]

Bios flashback is a very useful feature, so if the board has it, your golden. You can also use the usb method of updating the bios, assuming the board supports it.

[Kisai]

29 minutes ago, BananaBoyxD said:

Hi, I'm looking at getting a Ryzen 7 5800X and a B550 board, pcpartpicker says that the bios will need to be updated and I was wondering if I could update the bios with just the board. Also, if you can I would like to know if it's easy.

It's unlikely that will be the case unless you are buying NOS (New Old-stock) parts that someone just sat on for the last two years. You can also just avoid the situation entirely by picking a brand that didn't cheap out on the size of the bios firmware to begin with.

 

Note that the BIOS update is relevant for the B450, not the B550. However there may be later stepping levels of the CPU which do require the BIOS to be updated, like the 5800X3D in all likeliness. 

 

https://www.asus.com/news/qccufpijbaobykxo/

 

For the record, pcpartpicker is about picking compatible hardware, it has no way to know if a vendor is selling NOS, previously-used/open-box, or brand-new parts, which is why you typically need to double-check amazon links.