[SOLVED] ASUS Z390 Pro Gaming BIOS update appears to have ruined it... please help.

[Coxis]

• Intel i7 9700K
• ASUS Z390 Pro Gaming (non wifi)
• Dark Rock Pro 4 cooler
• Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 Super Gaming OC 8G, 3X Windforce 8GB GV-N207SGAMING OC-8GC
• Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 2x8 gb in dual channel
• Crucial P1 1TB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD - CT1000P1SSD8
• EVGA 210-GQ-0650-V1 Power Supply, 650 GQ, 80+ GOLD 650W, Semi Modular
• Creative Soundblaster Z sound card

Hey all... I've had this system for 10 months and it's worked flawlessly until now. I decided to update the BIOS from version 2804 to 2808 and immediately after I did, I completely lost access to Windows, got BSODs before Windows loads. I updated the BIOS from within the BIOS, using the download from Internet method. CPU was not overclocked, RAM was using XMPI to get the 3200mhz out of them.
Some of the BSODs I get:

• IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
• TIMER_OR_DPC_INVALID
• DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
• PAGE_SYS_FILE_ERROR
• SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
• ... and several more that I wasn't able to document, but the first two the far most common.

Things I tried:

• Reflashing latest BIOS.
• Reflashing previously working BIOS 2804.
• Re-installing Windows from a fresh USB drive. As soon as I click the "Install now" button and the next button appears, I get a BSOD.
• Switching RAM sticks to different ones. Rearranging them on different DIMMs. Using only one.
• Resetting BIOS to defaults. Jumpering the clear CMOS pins. Removing the battery and any combination with either of the BIOS versions.
• Ran MEMTEST for like 8 hours and no problem.
• Removed devices one by one to see if that help, starting with GPU then soundcard, then one DIMM.

By this point I've spent several hours troubleshooting this and I'm pretty sure I'm screwed. Any other ideas?

 

[Flamebrander]

Did anything go wrong during the BIOS update? Maybe a wifi dip, or something of that sort? Usually, you'd just go with a USB stick update just cuz its more reliable, so this stuff doesn't happen.

 

[Coxis]

No hiccup, no nothing. Message was that update was successful and that system would reboot.

 

[NoFaultius]

Yikes, that scares me enough to not upgrade the bios on my z390-I Gaming motherboard. I was searching for information on what the update actually was and came across this thread. The manufacturer website only says "improves system stability". I love the way my system works. Better leave well enough alone.

 

[Flamebrander]

Yikes, that scares me enough to not upgrade the bios on my z390-I Gaming motherboard. I was searching for information on what the update actually was and came across this thread. The manufacturer website only says "improves system stability". I love the way my system works. Better leave well enough alone.

No, updating the BIOS is useful. Just use a usb drive for better reliability. Things are very unlikely to go wrong, but as shown above, there are exceptions.

 

[Flamebrander]

No hiccup, no nothing. Message was that update was successful and that system would reboot.

It could be a drive failure. If you have an old hard drive laying around, try installing it on that.

 

[Coxis]

Thanks for trying to help guys... this is bafling and in my 25+ years of using computers I've never seen something like this, but it seems that that BIOS update I did fried my CPU. I just finished rebuilding my system into a brand new Gigabyte Z390 UD motherboard and the exact same thing happens. I can't boot into existing Windows install nor can I even boot into a fresh Windows USB install drive.

Unless my PSU is causing the BSODs I can't think of anything else... I removed everything, even changed both RAM sticks, and the BSODs started after the BIOS update. After I updated it I couldn't get into Windows desktop once.

Could a BIOS update really have damaged my CPU and made it unstable?

 

[NoFaultius]

No, updating the BIOS is useful. Just use a usb drive for better reliability. Things are very unlikely to go wrong, but as shown above, there are exceptions.

Ya think? I am not to sure about this. If you don't know what the BIOS update is, then you don't know if it is truly useful. I say that because sometimes manufacturers release updates to make their equipment compatible with "worst case scenarios" that they have encountered or has been reported to them. BIOS updates could potentially lower performance specifications as to not cause some sort of conflict in some type of scenario that you may never encounter. The common wisdom, and manufacturer recommendation, is to NOT update your BIOS if everything is working well. The exception is if you find out what the BIOS actually does and it has an effect on your usage. So, updating the BIOS can be useful, but is not always IMHO.