Asus Z170M Mobo/BIOS question!

[Big TIme Ruckus]

Hi guys! First post.

Asus Z170M on the way shortly for my new build, which will house an i7-6700K. This will be the first board I've owned that allows me the ability to overclock.

The question I have might sound simple, but what will this board do if no parameters/settings are changed in the BIOS? Will it run everything (CPU/RAM, etc.) at 100% stock factory settings?

The reason I ask this, is when I see examples of the Asus BIOS, many settings seem to read "AUTO" by default. Now, I could assume "auto" would mean that the board would stick to 100% factory default ratings for all components, but I don't want to assume that either!


TL/DR? If I didn't adjust anything in a Z170 BIOS, would all parameters remain identical to a non-adjustable board like the B150 or H170?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[alexoiu]

Hi, The board might need a BIOS update to support the Kaby CPU. An option would be ordering a BIOS chip on ebay and replacing the board's one, or using a supported CPU for flashing the board's BIOS.

The answer to your question is yes, the board would run at default with no changes in BIOS.

 

[Big TIme Ruckus]

It'll actually be a Skylake build (yes, I'm a Windows 7 die-hard)!

So it would run everything at default, which is what I thought, but it did confuse me for a minute when most of the adjustable parameters seem to appear as "AUTO" by default!

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[alexoiu]

Sorry, yes, you're right. Not sure why I read the CPU serial as a Kaby.
No need to update the BIOS. As for the settings, I suggest leaving them to Auto and not OC-ing. No significant gain in performance.

 

[Big TIme Ruckus]

Ya, for now I agree. 4.0 GHz is good for me, and I go for longevity in my systems. GTX 1080 and CPU is sitting on my counter right now. Waiting for the MoBo and case to arrive.

I like to buy good, and cry once, instead of buying cheap and cry often. Initially I ordered a B150M MoBo, but quickly changed my mind in time to fix that!

Reason being? I'm still running an i5-760. Hell of a chip in its time, but is now getting very dated. The ability to O/C might come in handy down the road at some point.

I don't often place a heavy stress on my system, but I game occasionally, and when I do... I prefer to max out the eye candy.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

You need to make sure your new build runs okay and stable on BIOS defaults/AUTO settings first before you get in to overclocking anything.

 

[Big TIme Ruckus]

That's one reason I asked about the factory settings, Phillip, to make sure I have good "baseline" parameters to work with.

Asus's "Auto" settings for basically everything did throw me off! In the "olden days," anything set to some kind of "auto" parameter would've probably done things that may or may not be 'good'!