Pros and Cons of Updating Motherboard BIOS

[Ninja_Mo]

the topic title says it all.. i have been meaning to update my Asus Maximus V Formula Bios (0804 version) to the latest (1802 version) but i am bit skeptical about doing it because i took into consideration things i might loose when updating (installed software, saved game data, etc.) and in the worst case scenario, my computer as a whole!

 

is it worth it or am i going to cry in the end? and if anyone is willing to help me through with the updating processes, how do i do it?

 

:mellow:

[FireFox]

the topic title says it all.. i have been meaning to update my Asus Maximus V Formula Bios (0804 version) to the latest (1802 version) but i am bit skeptical about doing it because i took into consideration things i might loose when updating (installed software, saved game data, etc.) and in the worst case scenario, my computer as a whole!

 

is it worth it or am i going to cry in the end? and if anyone is willing to help me through with the updating processes, how do i do it?

 

:mellow:

 

If you are having no problems with your PC then I personally would advise against it

[felixbearpig]

i alway update my bios, the only con i have to say is it wipes your overclock setting away  

[blknight88]

You won't lose any of your files on your hard drives. Just your bios settings will be restored to default, so take note of any overclocking settings or other settings you may have.  

 

 

Pros are any stability/fixes or improvements they have made you will now have.

Check the change log on Asus support page on all of the versions after 0804 to see what the you will get by updating.

 

As far as cons are considered the worst thing would be if the power went out during the update and it killed the board, but your board has bios flashback which

should still allow you to flash the bios again without the system on which would fix that potential issue.

 

As far as updating procedure you can just open the Ai suite and go to update and you should be able to update the bios from there.

[Levent]

if you have dual bios motherboard(which you have) upgrade it since if you corrupt your primary bios backup bios will restore main bios

[felixbearpig]

if you have dual bios motherboard(which you have) upgrade it since if you corrupt your primary bios backup bios will restore main bios

That board has a replaceable bios chip , not dual bios

[Levent]

That board has a replaceable bios chip , not dual bios

weird i dont think dual bios system is that expensive or they have reasons to not have thanks for correcting me

[Ninja_Mo]

You won't lose any of your files on your hard drives. Just your bios settings will be restored to default, so take note of any overclocking settings or other settings you may have.  

 

 

Pros are any stability/fixes or improvements they have made you will now have.

Check the change log on Asus support page on all of the versions after 0804 to see what the you will get by updating.

 

As far as cons are considered the worst thing would be if the power went out during the update and it killed the board, but your board has bios flashback which

should still allow you to flash the bios again without the system on which would fix that potential issue.

 

As far as updating procedure you can just open the Ai suite and go to update and you should be able to update the bios from there.

would it be advisable to download and update the bios with all the updates that come after the 0804 version or can i just jump straight to the latest one there is.. i just saw on the website the different fixes that the other versions fix! 

[Fetzie]

BIOS updates are cumulative.

[ALXAndy]

If your bios is OK leave it alone. Case in point - I killed a motherboard recently.

 

I was using an older bios and having some small memory issues (couldn't get my clocks to stick) so when I saw a bios that said "Improves memory support" I thought awesome !

 

Sadly my 106 stable bus all of a sudden wouldn't even run at 101mhz and when I tried to flash it back Mflash failed and I ended up with an £80 brick that cost me £18 to send back to the Netherlands,only for MSI to perform f**k up after f**k up and take nearly two months to send me back a working board.

 

By which time I'd had enough and just bought myself a AM3+ board and new CPU.

[FireFox]

If your bios is OK leave it alone

 

Agreed

[Ninja_Mo]

BIOS updates are cumulative.

you kind throw me off right there, a bit of explanation please

 

If your bios is OK leave it alone. Case in point - I killed a motherboard recently.

 

I was using an older bios and having some small memory issues (couldn't get my clocks to stick) so when I saw a bios that said "Improves memory support" I thought awesome !

 

Sadly my 106 stable bus all of a sudden wouldn't even run at 101mhz and when I tried to flash it back Mflash failed and I ended up with an £80 brick that cost me £18 to send back to the Netherlands,only for MSI to perform f**k up after f**k up and take nearly two months to send me back a working board.

 

By which time I'd had enough and just bought myself a AM3+ board and new CPU.

the computer is working fine and everything is up to date (software) except the BIOS.. which is kind of a concern to me. 

[Akula]

Updating your bios isn't like it used to be, nowdays its painless and the chances of something going wrong, slim.

Go for it :)

[Scia]

Pro:

Potential bugfixes, sometimes even better GPU performance.

 

Con:

Losing OC

Might brick

[FireFox]

except the BIOS.. which is kind of a concern to me. 

 

You'll be fine mate, you update BIOS's when problems start arising with the computer otherwise it's recommended to leave it alone, in the middle of flashing it and the power goes out and you ruin your board because of performing an unneccessary update, I doubt you'll be very happy.

[blknight88]

would it be advisable to download and update the bios with all the updates that come after the 0804 version or can i just jump straight to the latest one there is.. i just saw on the website the different fixes that the other versions fix! 

Yes you can just download the latest version and flash that one over unless other special instructions are specified by Asus

[Ninja_Mo]

You'll be fine mate, you update BIOS's when problems start arising with the computer otherwise it's recommended to leave it alone, in the middle of flashing it and the power goes out and you ruin your board because of performing an unneccessary update, I doubt you'll be very happy.

i might as well leave it the way it is for now!! i guess the update will be for later on when things do start getting shaky.. 

[FireFox]

i might as well leave it the way it is for now!! i guess the update will be for later on when things do start getting shaky.. 

 

Exactly, I've updated BIOS's in the past with perfectly fine boards which in the end caused problems, a brand new BIOS update doesn't mean anything in my opinion unless you have a Z68 board like me and decide to install an Ivy Bridge CPU then updating the BIOS might be needed.