bios update Should I update my BIOS?

[CeveLairy]

Should I update my BIOS if I want to upgrade my current build?

 

My current build is: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PMdbyX

Intel I3 4170

GA-H81M-DS2 (Rev. 3.0)

GTX 750 Ti

DeepCool Nova 400W ATX PSU

8GB 1866 Kingston HyperX Fury Blue - 1stick

1TB Seagate

 

Since I'm on a very tight budget, I'm gonna sell my GTX 750 Ti and Intel I3 4170, and buy used hardware.

What I'm planning to buy: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HTJNsZ

Intel I5 4th Gen OR

Intel I7 4th Gen

GTX 1060 3GB / 6GB

 

However, looking at pcpartpicker.com it states that; "Some Intel H81 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Haswell Refresh CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS revisions."

 

I am already using Intel I3 4th Gen on H81 Chipset and I'm not really experiencing any trouble. So should I update my BIOS?

ALSO: If you think there's something I should change on my "planning to buy" please let me know. 

[Tibon]

If you wanna be safe, just check for the latest official bios update from your manufacturer before selling or upgrading.

 

For your upgrade suggestions, upgrade the gpu 1st and see if you really need to upgrade your cpu.

There won't be any major bottlenecks in most game with your cpu + 1060 gpu combo, most games would still use 90-100% of your gpu.

Your biggest bottleneck right now is your mechanical hdd.

[homeap5]

You can just read BIOS changelogs and check that way if you have BIOS that supports refreshed CPUs.

[CeveLairy]

5 hours ago, Tibon said:

If you wanna be safe, just check for the latest official bios update from your manufacturer before selling or upgrading.

 

For your upgrade suggestions, upgrade the gpu 1st and see if you really need to upgrade your cpu.

There won't be any major bottlenecks in most game with your cpu + 1060 gpu combo, most games would still use 90-100% of your gpu.

Your biggest bottleneck right now is your mechanical hdd.

Thank you! I didn't realize that... H81 chipset with F1 bios version does support 4th gen CPUs I'm planning to buy, I guess pcpartpicker just have the wrong info. 

 

Also, after watching LTT's video about bottlenecking-- I know that it only occurs when you're playing CPU/GPU intensive games with weaker CPU/GPU. I guess I will have to peruse benchmark results of games I am playing, and games I will be playing to ascertain if I do need to upgrade my CPU.

 

I am planning to change my 3 year old drive with an SSD, but they cost too much. Is it safe to buy used SSD? or can I just get a 256GB SSD as my boot drive, and have my most used games on it?

[esbndk]

I have a 256 SSD and my games on a 1TB HDD - It works great. Of the games I play only Warframe gets faster load times when on the SSD. Division takes forever both on SSD and HDD. Borderlands trilogy, Xcom 1 and 2, Tomb Raider all load in the same time wether on SSD or not. Just get the cheapest you can, every SSD is a huge upgrade. Even a 128GB if it is cheap enough compared to 256GB. 64GB mostly cost the same as 128GB in my experience.

I am using used 4 used SSD's and have had no trouble. I think it comes down to Garbage Collection technology. I had an ol SSD with old GC and I had to reset it every 6 months from slowdowns. Anything new should keep up fine.

 

Also I am on a Haswell system, 4570 and 1070Ti (before that 970) and at 60Hz it is great. I would think a 1060 compares to 970?

 

[orangecat]

I always recommend not upgrading the bios unless you have a reason to. I mean it won't hurt anything if you do but if for some reason there's a power outage or the system crashes because the planets aligned you could end up with a bricked board unless it has a backup bios but even that's not always a garentee.