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Asus starts rolling out Spectre BIOS fixes for Z97 Motherboards

jimithebear
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As of today Asus have started rolling out BIOS updates to fix the Spectre flaws on their Z97 series motherboards. At least in some regions such as in the UK.

 

e.g.

https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z97A/HelpDesk_BIOS/

https://www.asus.com/uk/supportonly/SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 2/HelpDesk_BIOS/

 

Someone needs to tell their support staff. B|

 

Quote

Received Tue, Apr 17, 2018 from Asus Support:

 

Dear Asus Valued Customer,
Regarding the below described case, we kindly inform you that the responsible department of our HQ is informed about this issue and currently examining the possibility of a new BIOS release update.
Furthermore, we would like to inform you that at the moment, Asus officially will release vulnerability fixes only for 6th, 7th and 8th generation processors.

Source

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?98738-SPECTRE-and-MELTDOWN-Bug-rocks-Intel-ARM-CPUs/page60#post715845

 

Anyhow, these are currently in beta so update at your own risk.

 

I've successfully updated my Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2. InSpectre confirms my Haswell CPU is finally protected. xD

 

InSpectre.png.619f77ec316767e095770003398c54aa.png

 

Just need Microsoft now to supply a decent Meltdown patch for Windows 7 that doesn't hamper performance.

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Posted

Always good to see your system is protected and running well

spectre.JPG.5da4197405b51e0d8fdb5d70899c1755.JPG

AMD Ryzen R7 1700 (3.8ghz) w/ NH-D14, EVGA RTX 2080 XC (stock), 4*4GB DDR4 3000MT/s RAM, Gigabyte AB350-Gaming-3 MB, CX750M PSU, 1.5TB SDD + 7TB HDD, Phanteks enthoo pro case

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Honest question, if I don't care about the data on my computer, is it even worth doing the update? I mean it's confirmed to slow down the CPU, so if I'm purely a gamer why bother with the patch?

Gamma v2.2 | i7 6700k @ 4.6ghz| Dark Rock TF | ASRock Z170 OC Formula | G-SKILL TridentZ Royal 2x16Gb 3200mhz | MSI GTX 1070 Ti Titanium | Sandisk 120Gb SSD | WD Black 1Tb HDD | Corsair RMx 850w | Corsair Spec Alpha | MSI Optix G27C2/2x19" monitors/34" Insignia tv

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Secondary rig status: Blendin Blandin | Xeon E5 2670 E3 ES | Noctua L12s | ASRock X99 OC Formula | 48Gb Ram Smoothie | EVGA 980ti Superclocked+ | ADATA SU800 | SFFTime P-Atx | 

 

 

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That's good news they're going back further. I've got one low end Z97 board from them so I don't expect it'll be high up on their priorities. Even on my Z170, I think there's only the bugged microcode update bios available, they haven't done the re-release for it yet.

Gaming system: R7 7800X3D, Asus ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming Wifi, Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB, Corsair Vengeance 2x 32GB 6000C30, RTX 4070, MSI MPG A850G, Fractal Design North, Samsung 990 Pro 2TB, Acer Predator XB241YU 24" 1440p 144Hz G-Sync + HP LP2475w 24" 1200p 60Hz wide gamut
Productivity system: i9-7980XE, Asus X299 TUF mark 2, Noctua D15, 64GB ram (mixed), RTX 3070, NZXT E850, GameMax Abyss, Samsung 980 Pro 2TB, random 1080p + 720p displays.
Gaming laptop: Lenovo Legion 5, 5800H, RTX 3070, Kingston DDR4 3200C22 2x16GB 2Rx8, Kingston Fury Renegade 1TB + Crucial P1 1TB SSD, 165 Hz IPS 1080p G-Sync Compatible

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asus do my z77 thank you 

Ryzen 5 3600 stock | 2x16GB C13 3200MHz (AFR) | GTX 760 (Sold the VII)| ASUS Prime X570-P | 6TB WD Gold (128MB Cache, 2017)

Samsung 850 EVO 240 GB 

138 is a good number.

 

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Yay, now to let the "beta" testers ascertain what kind of performance hit this fix entails before deciding whether to update.

My eyes see the past…

My camera lens sees the present…

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30 minutes ago, porina said:

That's good news they're going back further. I've got one low end Z97 board from them so I don't expect it'll be high up on their priorities. Even on my Z170, I think there's only the bugged microcode update bios available, they haven't done the re-release for it yet.

Here is Asus list of motherboards with updates incoming. The Z97 line only appeared recently?

https://www.asus.com/News/V5urzYAT6myCC1o2

 

Your Asus Z170I Pro Gaming is among them. Was released a few weeks ago?

https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z170I-PRO-GAMING/HelpDesk_BIOS/

 

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44 minutes ago, mr.squishy said:

Honest question, if I don't care about the data on my computer, is it even worth doing the update? I mean it's confirmed to slow down the CPU, so if I'm purely a gamer why bother with the patch?

yes.

 

The slowdown is not going to be noticeable when it comes to gaming. Any slowdown that was mentioned will only noticeable in specific workloads and maybe benchmark numbers.

🌲🌲🌲

 

 

 

◒ ◒ 

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15 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Yay, now to let the "beta" testers ascertain what kind of performance hit this fix entails before deciding whether to update.

The Spectre BIOS fix supplied by Asus doesn't appear to affect performance?

 

Disabling_Meltdown_Protection.png.a1ee017f9587eab25985b6313e96c957.png

 

Notice I disabled Meltdown protection (via a registry setting) and restarted. The Meltdown fix is software based and was provided by Microsoft (in my case for Windows 7). That's what causes the slow down (although I haven't noticed it?). I can't comment for Windows 8.1/10 though.

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The Meltdown fix crippled my X79 Win 7 machine so badly, I had to remove it to be able to continue using the machine. My next machine is going to be an X99. Sadly, ASUS appears to be picking nd choosing which MOBOs they are going to apply the Spectre fix to. In X99, the last time I checked, they had done only one X99 MOBO (of course, not the one I already have).

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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26 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

The Meltdown fix crippled my X79 Win 7 machine so badly, I had to remove it to be able to continue using the machine. My next machine is going to be an X99. Sadly, ASUS appears to be picking nd choosing which MOBOs they are going to apply the Spectre fix to. In X99, the last time I checked, they had done only one X99 MOBO (of course, not the one I already have).

why x99, cant you get the same perf for less on am4, (considering that x99 mobos are quite expensive even though the cpus are cheap)

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10 minutes ago, cj09beira said:

why x99, cant you get the same perf for less on am4, (considering that x99 mobos are quite expensive even though the cpus are cheap)

I'm not after performance. I need PCI-e lanes and SATA ports. 

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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Why did I buy a cheap MSI z97 board.... Need an asus board badly.

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My work laptop is on Ivy Bridge mobile and it's only patched against Meltdown right now. It already sucks compared to pre-update.

It seems there is a BIOS update available, but I'm very hesitant to patch it any further, at least while I need it for work. :/

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30 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

I'm not after performance. I need PCI-e lanes and SATA ports. 

oh that makes sense

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2 hours ago, cj09beira said:

oh that makes sense

Thank you! Not everyone gets it.

Jeannie

 

As long as anyone is oppressed, no one will be safe and free.

One has to be proactive, not reactive, to ensure the safety of one's data so backup your data! And RAID is NOT a backup!

 

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4 hours ago, mr.squishy said:

Honest question, if I don't care about the data on my computer, is it even worth doing the update? I mean it's confirmed to slow down the CPU, so if I'm purely a gamer why bother with the patch?

In your case, I wouldn't worry about it personally.

 

I don't really care about most of the data on my desktop, and would willingly do a clean install of Windows if I had to.

 

Last I checked, gamers didn't experience any slowdown in terms of CPU performance.

Quote or tag me( @Crunchy Dragon) if you want me to see your reply

If a post solved your problem/answered your question, please consider marking it as "solved"

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7 hours ago, mr.squishy said:

Honest question, if I don't care about the data on my computer, is it even worth doing the update? I mean it's confirmed to slow down the CPU, so if I'm purely a gamer why bother with the patch?

Do you have your or anyone else's credit card number attached to your steam account? Paypal details saved etc?  However remote the chance, better to be safe than sorry.

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Neat i guess the Toaster is getting updated before my main rig then lol

I spent $2500 on building my PC and all i do with it is play no games atm & watch anime at 1080p(finally) watch YT and write essays...  nothing, it just sits there collecting dust...

Builds:

The Toaster Project! Northern Bee!

 

The original LAN PC build log! (Old, dead and replaced by The Toaster Project & 5.0)

Spoiler

"Here is some advice that might have gotten lost somewhere along the way in your life. 

 

#1. Treat others as you would like to be treated.

#2. It's best to keep your mouth shut; and appear to be stupid, rather than open it and remove all doubt.

#3. There is nothing "wrong" with being wrong. Learning from a mistake can be more valuable than not making one in the first place.

 

Follow these simple rules in life, and I promise you, things magically get easier. " - MageTank 31-10-2016

 

 

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8 hours ago, jimithebear said:

Here is Asus list of motherboards with updates incoming. The Z97 line only appeared recently?

https://www.asus.com/News/V5urzYAT6myCC1o2

 

Your Asus Z170I Pro Gaming is among them. Was released a few weeks ago?

https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z170I-PRO-GAMING/HelpDesk_BIOS/

Thanks for the list. It is actually the VIII Hero I'm more interested in. Latest one had the buggy fix so I've held off updating it. The version number in the list is higher than the released firmware, so presumably they're still to post it. I've updated the Z170I already and that is doing fine.

Gaming system: R7 7800X3D, Asus ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming Wifi, Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB, Corsair Vengeance 2x 32GB 6000C30, RTX 4070, MSI MPG A850G, Fractal Design North, Samsung 990 Pro 2TB, Acer Predator XB241YU 24" 1440p 144Hz G-Sync + HP LP2475w 24" 1200p 60Hz wide gamut
Productivity system: i9-7980XE, Asus X299 TUF mark 2, Noctua D15, 64GB ram (mixed), RTX 3070, NZXT E850, GameMax Abyss, Samsung 980 Pro 2TB, random 1080p + 720p displays.
Gaming laptop: Lenovo Legion 5, 5800H, RTX 3070, Kingston DDR4 3200C22 2x16GB 2Rx8, Kingston Fury Renegade 1TB + Crucial P1 1TB SSD, 165 Hz IPS 1080p G-Sync Compatible

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10 hours ago, mr.squishy said:

Honest question, if I don't care about the data on my computer, is it even worth doing the update? I mean it's confirmed to slow down the CPU, so if I'm purely a gamer why bother with the patch?

If you don't care about people having full remote access and control of your computer, you can avoid the update. If you care at all about anything you do with your computer or even in the same room being private, then you should patch.

 

Just as an example, if you log in to anything your password could easily be stolen.

Don't ask to ask, just ask... please 🤨

sudo chmod -R 000 /*

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whats the average time for Asus to release the the non beta version?

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