Question AsRock B450M , updating BIOS worth it?

[ovelionnn]

Hi! Im using Ryzen 5 5600 on a AsRock Steel Legend B450M. + 3070Ti
Right now i have the P4.30 update, right now there are like 4 newest version with the AMD AM4 AGESA Combo updates. Is it worth upgrading? Do they boost performance/stability? I saw on some videos that they even have worse performance.I mean i feel like i have some stability problems on my PC but Im not sure if these are really some problems or just me thinking like this

So should i use the newest update but its the beta one. Or better just update to the one without beta? I mean if updating then right to the newest version right? But it's still like in beta so i dont know if this is for sure safe?

Also should i reset CMOS after updating BIOS? or is this not necessary?

 

[Lutfij]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Thumb rule with BIOS is that you should leave them as is if you're not experiencing any stability issues. The updates that are shown on their support site;
https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450M Steel Legend/index.asp#BIOS1
look like they are vulnerability patches with one being a optimization for RTX40 series GPU's.

If you go and look at BIOS updates that are meant to patch vulnerabilities does hit your performance a little. As for the updates, I would go with the latest Beta BIOS. Once you've flashed the BIOS to the latest version successfully, make sure to clear the CMOS.

In order to do so, disconnect from the wall and display, remove the CMOS battery, press and hold down the power button for 30secs, then replace the battery after 30mins.

 

[Avro Arrow]

The only reason I can think of to update the BIOS is to make the board capable of accepting Ryzen 5000 CPUs. I always updated my motherboards' BIOS' to enable everything, especially future CPU support.

A friend of mine had an MSi B450 motherboard. It cooked itself and took his R5-3600 along with it. So, he bought an X570 motherboard and an R7-5700X3D. Well, the board didn't support the CPU out-of-the-box so I had to loan him an R3-3100 that I had laying around so that he could update his BIOS to support the R7-5700X3D.

So, it's like, if you have a Zen2 (Ryzen 3000) CPU and it fails, you'll have to buy another Zen2 CPU to update your BIOS to allow an upgrade (which is an extra cost and an extra pain in the posterior).

If you have a Zen (Ryzen 1000) or Zen+ (Ryzen 2000), then you can't update your BIOS to support Zen3 because you need a Zen2 CPU to push your BIOS that far. With my ASRock X370 Killer SLI motherboard though, I updated the BIOS as far as I could do with a Zen CPU so that I could just drop-in a Ryzen 3000 CPU if and when I wanted to.

I've heard of people bricking their BIOS but I don't know how they managed to do that because I have never bricked a motherboard even though I've always updated my BIOS' to the latest possible version. It's a pretty simple and straightforward process that has always worked for me. I've done BIOS updates on ASRock, ASUS, Biostar and Gigabyte motherboards from as early as 2012 and never had a problem.

Some will say that you're tempting fate, and there is some truth in that, but BIOS updates are an integral part of making the most of the AM4 experience. Also, IIRC, if your BIOS isn't updated fully (to enable that secure boot and TPM 2.0 BS), you can't use Windows 11, so there's also that (assuming that you actually want to use W11).

 

[ovelionnn]

So right yes im not seeing much issues with my PC, only with my GPU sometimes, but those bios updates shouldn't fix it right? If those are meant for CPU anyway. I feel like my CPU is fine, I could update it for security but I really don't want to lose performance. But im right now on AGESA 1.2.0.6b, its beta so idk if maybe newer ones are better?

Also on the support site there is an bios update with "Optimize System Settings" should actually help performance or system right?

 

[CountMike]

So right yes im not seeing much issues with my PC, only with my GPU sometimes, but those bios updates shouldn't fix it right? If those are meant for CPU anyway. I feel like my CPU is fine, I could update it for security but I really don't want to lose performance. But im right now on AGESA 1.2.0.6b, its beta so idk if maybe newer ones are better?

Also on the support site there is an bios update with "Optimize System Settings" should actually help performance or system right?

AGESA code is AMD's only part of BIOS, the rest is up to MB manufacturer to cobble up according to AMD's recommendations and standards. AGESA is responsible for many things like memory or security also as CPU micro code and security. After some time and more experience, as situation changes, new problems discovered as well as new features like x3D cache added they obviously found a need for those changes otherwise they wouldn't spend their precious money for development. I always tend to upgrade BIOS to version that pertains to my CPU and rest of system. It's very easy and secure to do it nowadays, just follow the guide to a T and you'll be fine, it will reject upgrade if not 100% compatible.It may or may not bring better performance but usually brings better stability.
See latest example of Intel 13th and 14th generation, CPUs were deteriorating and even dying because of wrong BIOS settings and microcode until just recent BIOS/microcode fix.