MSI MPG B550 - Update BIOS without CPU installed?

[Murasaki]

I'm planning on upgrading and im looking at this motherboard to pair with a R7 5700X. Checked compatibility with pcpartpicker and it mentioned not supporting this CPU with older BIOS revisions.

Mobo does have a flash button and MSI motherboards seem to have this feature of putting a usb stick in and a button push updates the thing without a CPU installed. I would like to confirm this, is this true or not?

 

Thank you~

[mMontana]

MSI MPG B550  users manual is best source for info about the mainboard features

[Murasaki]

1 hour ago, mMontana said:

MSI MPG B550  users manual is best source for info about the mainboard features

Oh my god I've actually read it before and didn't find the info I wanted but now I took a look again and

Connect the power supply to CPU_PWR1 and ATX_PWR1. (No need to install CPU
and memory.)

I need to RTFM harder thank you!

[CommanderAlex]

1 hour ago, Murasaki said:

I'm planning on upgrading and im looking at this motherboard to pair with a R7 5700X. Checked compatibility with pcpartpicker and it mentioned not supporting this CPU with older BIOS revisions.

Mobo does have a flash button and MSI motherboards seem to have this feature of putting a usb stick in and a button push updates the thing without a CPU installed. I would like to confirm this, is this true or not?

 

Thank you~

 

2 minutes ago, Murasaki said:

Oh my god I've actually read it before and didn't find the info I wanted but now I took a look again and

Connect the power supply to CPU_PWR1 and ATX_PWR1. (No need to install CPU
and memory.)

I need to RTFM harder thank you!

Yeah you can flash the new BIOS according to the procedure found on the PDF version of the manual on MSI's website at page 46 (technically page 33 in text). The motherboard does support BIOS flashing without the CPU installed.

 

 

If the motherboard was manufactured recently, the BIOS they flash may be new enough that it already supports the 5700X right out of the box and no update is required without the CPU installed. 

[Outta_Hwrw]

On 9/1/2023 at 6:31 AM, CommanderAlex said:

 

Yeah you can flash the new BIOS according to the procedure found on the PDF version of the manual on MSI's website at page 46 (technically page 33 in text). The motherboard does support BIOS flashing without the CPU installed

 

 

If the motherboard was manufactured recently, the BIOS they flash may be new enough that it already supports the 5700X right out of the box and no update is required without the CPU installed. 

But how would you know if BIOS update is required or not, without the CPU installed ?

 

I'm planning out my first build, and will also need to update the BIOS on an MSI B550 board, and presume that I'll just go ahead and do it anyway.

[CommanderAlex]

7 hours ago, JaySonic said:

But how would you know if BIOS update is required or not, without the CPU installed ?

 

I'm planning out my first build, and will also need to update the BIOS on an MSI B550 board, and presume that I'll just go ahead and do it anyway.

Sometimes, on the motherboard's box with the tag that lists the model/serial number, they will tell you what BIOS version is on the motherboard. Motherboard manufacturers do not keep flashing the same release BIOS revision months or years after being produced. Also for some B550/X570 motherboards, they will put a tiny decal on the outside of the box saying its Ryzen 5000 series ready. It just depends on when the board was manufactured.

[Murasaki]

47 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

Sometimes, on the motherboard's box with the tag that lists the model/serial number, they will tell you what BIOS version is on the motherboard. Motherboard manufacturers do not keep flashing the same release BIOS revision months or years after being produced. Also for some B550/X570 motherboards, they will put a tiny decal on the outside of the box saying its Ryzen 5000 series ready. It just depends on when the board was manufactured.

I'm hoping mine comes out of the box supporting 5000 series. Not a problem but less hassle.

[CommanderAlex]

13 minutes ago, Murasaki said:

I'm hoping mine comes out of the box supporting 5000 series. Not a problem but less hassle.

Exactly. If it doesn't work out of the box, no problem just do the BIOS flash without the CPU installed. 

 

The only CPU I could see needing a BIOS update out of box would be the 5600X3D/5800X3D as they were released later than when 5000 series officially launched in 2020. But YMMV here.

[Outta_Hwrw]

10 hours ago, CommanderAlex said:

Sometimes, on the motherboard's box with the tag that lists the model/serial number, they will tell you what BIOS version is on the motherboard. Motherboard manufacturers do not keep flashing the same release BIOS revision months or years after being produced. Also for some B550/X570 motherboards, they will put a tiny decal on the outside of the box saying its Ryzen 5000 series ready. It just depends on when the board was manufactured.

That makes sense. Thank you.

The board I chose (MSI B550-A Pro) was released in 2020, and there have been 17 BIOS updates, the most recent being July 2023. And the Ryzen 7 5800X was released in 2020, so it's very likely that the BIOS has been updated at least for CPU compatibility. But if the board isn't tagged with the current version, I may as well do it anyway, seems like a straightforward process, even for a newbie,

 

[CommanderAlex]

1 minute ago, JaySonic said:

That makes sense. Thank you.

The board I chose (MSI B550-A Pro) was released in 2020, and there have been 17 BIOS updates, the most recent being July 2023. And the Ryzen 7 5800X was released in 2020, so it's very likely that the BIOS has been updated at least for CPU compatibility. But if the board isn't tagged with the current version, I may as well do it anyway, seems like a straightforward process, even for a newbie,

No problem!

 

That motherboard also has the BIOS flash button so if, for some reason, the BIOS is older and doesn't support the newer CPU, you can simply just flash a newer one. Also just depends on how long the motherboard has been sitting at the retailer on the shelf. 

[Outta_Hwrw]

30 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

No problem!

 

That motherboard also has the BIOS flash button so if, for some reason, the BIOS is older and doesn't support the newer CPU, you can simply just flash a newer one. Also just depends on how long the motherboard has been sitting at the retailer on the shelf. 

I would be very surprised if the store I'm buying from is holding three year old stock. They seem like a major retailer for PC gear in Australia, and have six branches across the country, so I would imagine products move in and out of there quite rapidly. 

[Murasaki]

11 hours ago, CommanderAlex said:

No problem!

 

That motherboard also has the BIOS flash button so if, for some reason, the BIOS is older and doesn't support the newer CPU, you can simply just flash a newer one. Also just depends on how long the motherboard has been sitting at the retailer on the shelf. 

11 hours ago, JaySonic said:

I would be very surprised if the store I'm buying from is holding three year old stock. They seem like a major retailer for PC gear in Australia, and have six branches across the country, so I would imagine products move in and out of there quite rapidly. 

It is a few years old now and it is quickly vanishing so its expected whatever was left to be newer stock. Atleast thats what I think.

[Outta_Hwrw]

38 minutes ago, Murasaki said:

It is a few years old now and it is quickly vanishing so its expected whatever was left to be newer stock. Atleast thats what I think.

Taking a closer look at the board you're looking at, and the one I have shortlisted (B550-A Pro), they seem to be identical in almost every way on the spec sheet, except for a different heatsink design. And the last BIOS update for both models was even released on the same day !

Seems like a sneaky way to charge more money for the same product, by calling it a 'gaming board'.

[Murasaki]

1 hour ago, JaySonic said:

Taking a closer look at the board you're looking at, and the one I have shortlisted (B550-A Pro), they seem to be identical in almost every way on the spec sheet, except for a different heatsink design. And the last BIOS update for both models was even released on the same day !

Seems like a sneaky way to charge more money for the same product, by calling it a 'gaming board'.

Yeah its not really what I initially look for but somehow end up with it because it has features/ports I want and its not too ridiculously decorated. I've been with a H170 "PRO GAMING" mobo for nearly a decade, now its' gonna be B550 "GAMING PLUS". A small upgrade I suppose!

[Outta_Hwrw]

10 hours ago, Murasaki said:

Yeah its not really what I initially look for but somehow end up with it because it has features/ports I want and its not too ridiculously decorated. I've been with a H170 "PRO GAMING" mobo for nearly a decade, now its' gonna be B550 "GAMING PLUS". A small upgrade I suppose!

For my own interest, I wanted to look further into the similarities between the B550-A Pro and the B550 Gaming Plus.

All technical specs seem exactly the same, per the documentation.

So I took screenshots of the manual diagram for both. Then I overlaid them, reduced the opacity of the top layer, and shifted the position down a few pixels so I could see if there were any different sockets.

Nope. These boards are 100% identical !

Yet, in my country at least, there's a 15% difference in price (the GamingPlus is more expensive).

This *is* good to know, though, because I'll now monitor BOTH models across several retailers, to see if either of them go on sale during September. And am confident that if I end up with the GamingPlus instead, all the research and compatibility data I've been logging will apply equally to this product.

.

[Murasaki]

Just an update - mobo arrived and came with bios revision 7C56v13 which is too old to run my 5700X which needs v19. I updated it with no cpu/ram with the flash drive method and to v1E (newest) and it all works! Took like 5-6 minutes.