[SOLVED] Can AsRock AB350M support Ryzen 5 5600?

[dudewizard]

Hi all, I'm planning on upgrading my current rig:

AsRock AB350M mobo (not Pro4 or HDV)

Ryzen 3 1200 CPU

AMD RX 6700 GPU

EVGA 750 BP PSU

16 GB RAM

2 samsung SSDs - total 1.5 TB storage

I'm ordering a Ryzen 5 5600 to replace it but my BIOS is only version P 1.20 (stock version from 2017). Never done BIOS updates before - wanted to ask, is it possible to update to the 5600? Here is the BIOS page:

https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AB350M/index.asp#BIOS

The official supported CPUs list does not list this CPU but I think it may be out of date. However the BIOS notes lead me to believe it should be supported.

If it should work, how should I do it? Do I need to update with my 1200 all the way up to 7.2 then swap out? Do I go from my current version to 7.0 then 7.2 or do I need an intermediate version? Anything to be careful about? Thanks in advance.

 

[saint19]

Hello.

I was checking the support list for that motherboard and says that support Ryzen 5 5600, so, you should not have problems with the new CPU always that you update the BIOS before that.

Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[Deleted member 2947362]

I would check to see if the bios needs to be update in increments as it can cause issues for some motherboards/models.

I have read a lot of people saying ONLY update your bios if you need to.

Which is a fair comment BUT why do they always neglect to advise and check to make sure there are no bios security updates first ?

Which are just as important or if not more important these days.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Be sure to read all notes on every BIOS update and follow instructions.

It may be tedious but I agree to update in increments. I'm aware that a BIOS update can happen on a block by block basis. What I think happens is any one BIOS update might change only a few of the blocks and skipping a few updates may leave a block or two unchanged that were in the skipped ones. Asrock's BIOS' in particular seem to be prone to this.

Other than that, the board's VRM appears to be capable of handling a 5600, probably even a 5700. I wouldn't want to push it with a 12 or 16 core CPU though. It's even got a nicely finned heatsink on the FET's, although not very large that's a nice touch mostly left out on other B350 boards.

If you proceed carefully everything should go well and you'll be happy and will have saved a buck by staying on your current board.

 

[dudewizard]

Be sure to read all notes on every BIOS update and follow instructions.

It may be tedious but I agree to update in increments. I'm aware that a BIOS update can happen on a block by block basis. What I think happens is any one BIOS update might change only a few of the blocks and skipping a few updates may leave a block or two unchanged that were in the skipped ones. Asrock's BIOS' in particular seem to be prone to this.

Other than that, the board's VRM appears to be capable of handling a 5600, probably even a 5700. I wouldn't want to push it with a 12 or 16 core CPU though. It's even got a nicely finned heatsink on the FET's, although not very large that's a nice touch mostly left out on other B350 boards.

If you proceed carefully everything should go well and you'll be happy and will have saved a buck by staying on your current board.

Thanks for your well informed answer. In terms of incremental updates - how do I figure out the increments by which I should go?

Version 7.20 only states that I need 7.00, but should I also get 3.20 (the only other bridge bios)? Any additional ones? I'm not quite sure how to figure that part out. I'm all in the interest of proceeding carefully!

 

[Deleted member 2947362]

Thanks for your well informed answer. In terms of incremental updates - how do I figure out the increments by which I should go?

Version 7.20 only states that I need 7.00, but should I also get 3.20 (the only other bridge bios)? Any additional ones? I'm not quite sure how to figure that part out. I'm all in the interest of proceeding carefully!

yeah I did look and think

cor blimey guv couldn't you've made it anymore simple!

what revision bios are you currently on right now?

 

[drea.drechsler]

Thanks for your well informed answer. In terms of incremental updates - how do I figure out the increments by which I should go?

Version 7.20 only states that I need 7.00, but should I also get 3.20 (the only other bridge bios)? Any additional ones? I'm not quite sure how to figure that part out. I'm all in the interest of proceeding carefully!

I'd absolutely do each bridge BIOS, 3.20 first then 7.00. The best way to be absolutely sure is to run every BIOS update, one by one, in turn. Asrock makes it so confusing.

I'd also update to the latest chipset drivers for the board; get them from AMD's support web site. I think you only need to update the all-in-one VGA drivers if you have one of the Raven Ridge APU's, 2200G for instance.

 

[dudewizard]

yeah I did look and think

cor blimey guv couldn't you've made it anymore simple!

what revision bios are you currently on right now?

1.20, the one my mobo shipped on. I have had my original CPU the whole time

 

[drea.drechsler]

1.20, the one my mobo shipped on. I have had my original CPU the whole time

To clarify...if you choose to do the bridges (3.20, then 7.00) I still think get each BIOS between 7.00 and 7.20, the last, to be safe.

 

[Deleted member 2947362]

Other than that, the board's VRM appears to be capable of handling a 5600, probably even a 5700. I wouldn't want to push it with a 12 or 16 core CPU though. It's even got a nicely finned heatsink on the FET's, although not very large that's a nice touch mostly left out on other B350 boards.

If you proceed carefully everything should go well and you'll be happy and will have saved a buck by staying on your current board.

I will add I was mega chuffed to find out the B350 chipset would support the 5000 series Ryzen CPU's

I bought this PC secondhand with an R5 1600 (not the AF revision) and it uses a cheap GigaByte ab350-gaming (rev 1) motherboard.

The person I got the PC from had never updated the bios and if i'm honest didn't seem to know much about PC hardware so prob's why he didn't up the Bios?

When I see the Ryzen 5 5600 drop to just £130 it just seem like an amazing deal to get this older PC up to date with a more current CPU tech how could I refuse.

AMD your amazing to people like me with not much money, trying to keep up and not be left to far behind.

I think you will be really happy you choice AMD from the start and your able to jump on to the benefit's your new CPU will offer you over your old CPU

Personally I will stick with an 65 watt based CPU's with my motherboard just because It's not really that great but works like a charm in it's current configuration.

 

[dudewizard]

To clarify...if you choose to do the bridges (3.20, then 7.00) I still think get each BIOS between 7.00 and 7.20, the last, to be safe.

Thank goodness. 7.20 is the only one after 7.00 thankfully

My CPU gets here tomorrow, so here is my plan:

1. Back up everything
2. Update amd chipset drivers to newest version (I think I can do this now?)
3. Flash Update to 3.20
4. Flash Update to 7.00
5. Flash Update to 7.20
6. Turn off PC and install the new 5600
7. Boot into windows

Do you think I need to boot into windows each time I update the bios or is that not necessary?

 

[Putra23]

Thank goodness. 7.20 is the only one after 7.00 thankfully

My CPU gets here tomorrow, so here is my plan:

1. Back up everything
2. Update amd chipset drivers to newest version (I think I can do this now?)
3. Flash Update to 3.20
4. Flash Update to 7.00
5. Flash Update to 7.20
6. Turn off PC and install the new 5600
7. Boot into windows

Do you think I need to boot into windows each time I update the bios or is that not necessary?

add this one
7. boot to bios menu see is everything OK ( ram, hdd, ssd detected), and if you install windows 11 make sure Secure boot enable, cause after update bios all setting will back to default settings
8. Boot into windows

 

[drea.drechsler]

Thank goodness. 7.20 is the only one after 7.00 thankfully

My CPU gets here tomorrow, so here is my plan:

1. Back up everything
2. Update amd chipset drivers to newest version (I think I can do this now?)
3. Flash Update to 3.20
4. Flash Update to 7.00
5. Flash Update to 7.20
6. Turn off PC and install the new 5600
7. Boot into windows

Do you think I need to boot into windows each time I update the bios or is that not necessary?

Something else to do before starting anything is reset CMOS...or at least find the setting to restore optimized default settings in BIOS.

Then, after the final update, once you install the new CPU, reset CMOS. It says you don't need to but it's easy and a good way to prevent any compatibility problems with memory.

EDIT added: Oh yeah...I wouldn't bother booting into Windows, unless you absolutely must for some reason. It may not matter but IMO, there's no need making anything there confused by the changes coming it's way until the very end.

 

[dudewizard]

Something else to do before starting anything is reset CMOS...or at least find the setting to restore optimized default settings in BIOS.

Then, after the final update, once you install the new CPU, reset CMOS. It says you don't need to but it's easy and a good way to prevent any compatibility problems with memory.

EDIT added: Oh yeah...I wouldn't bother booting into Windows, unless you absolutely must for some reason. It may not matter but IMO, there's no need making anything there confused by the changes coming it's way until the very end.

Thanks a bunch, I appreciate your answers and time here. The new CPU comes tomorrow and I'll do the BIOS updates probably before it gets here. I'll update the thread later.

I think that you all answered my questions but if you have any additional advice or wisdom it can't hurt!

 

[drea.drechsler]

add this one
...windows 11 make sure Secure boot enable, cause after update bios all setting will back to default settings
...

I would not suggest doing that UNLESS actually installing Windows...or you KNOW for a FACT that you've been running with BIOS in UEFI mode, not CSM mode, currently. That's because enabling Secure Boot requires UEFI mode which requires your drive be running in GPT partitioning scheme. If it's not in GPT...then the system won't boot up because it can't find the OS.

 

[dudewizard]

Hi everyone, thanks for your advice and support.

I successfully updated to BIOS 3.20, but the instant flash utility will not recognize 7.00. The instant flash tool shows the name of both it and the other update I have loaded on my flash drive, but says no image detected. I know my flash drive is formatted correctly to FAT32. Should I just go up incrementally with each update?

 

[drea.drechsler]

...Should I just go up incrementally with each update?

Update to 4.40, the next in sequence after the 3.20 Bridge BIOS, then jump to 6.40, the one before 7.00 Bridge Bios. If it won't go to 6.40 then incrementally.

 

[dudewizard]

Update to 4.40, the next in sequence after the 3.20 Bridge BIOS, then jump to 6.40, the one before 7.00 Bridge Bios. If it won't go to 6.40 then incrementally.

Thanks - that was quick. I tried updating to 4.70 (the last that said I could not revert) and now I have the option to update. Update to 7.00 in progress...

 

[drea.drechsler]

Thanks - that was quick. I tried updating to 4.70 (the last that said I could not revert) and now I have the option to update. Update to 7.00 in progress...

It makes sense being the last from which you can revert would be a launch point. I would have moved a bit slower (more update increments) out of caution but it was a good choice, apparently.

 

[dudewizard]

It makes sense being the last from which you can revert would be a launch point. I would have moved a bit slower (more update increments) out of caution but it was a good choice, apparently.

Guess I'm lucky! To any people in the future reading this thread: update to 4.70 in between 3.20 and 7.00. I was cautious of going past 4.70 because the notes said the versions between 4.70 and 7.00 were not recommended for summit ridge CPUs. I would assume the same thing about 7.00 but it didn't say so in the notes, just that Bristol ridge was not supported.

Running on 7.2 with the old 1200 seems to work fine so far. Now just waiting for Amazon delivery...

 

[drea.drechsler]

Guess I'm lucky! To any people in the future reading this thread: update to 4.70 in between 3.20 and 7.00. I was cautious of going past 4.70 because the notes said the versions between 4.70 and 7.00 were not recommended for summit ridge CPUs....

I've seen that before but they still work. I suspect maybe with limited capabilities since the warning is not the same as with Bristol Ridge, for instance, where support was completely dropped.

All that's important for anyone doing this is that it work well enough to update BIOS through to the latest for a Matisse or Vermeer CPU.

 

[dudewizard]

I've seen that before but they still work. I suspect maybe with limited capabilities since the warning is not the same as with Bristol Ridge, for instance, where support was completely dropped.

All that's important for anyone doing this is that it work well enough to update BIOS through to the latest for a Matisse or Vermeer CPU.

All booted up with the 5600, seems to work great. Thanks so much again!

 

[Karadjgne]

You needed to do it incrementally because of the size and complexity of the bios, bios instructions, ram tables etc and have a small bios chip.

Essentially, imagine the next bios up had instructions to change ABC of your current bios to XYZ. The newest bios will have instructions to change XYZ to DEF but will not also contain instructions to change ABC to DEF because of limited space and massive amount of change instructions between the 1000, 2000, 3000 and 5000 series cpus, new ram speeds, new ram fixes etc.

On newer boards, like the 450 chipset+, the size of the bios chip was doubled, so most will find going from 1/2/3 to 5 is a single upgrade, because there's room to include all of the building bios updates, whereas your chipset requires you to manually build upon existing bios in stages.

Which is why you can't revert to previous, no instruction space for changing DEF to XYZ and then to ABC. It's a one and done, jump off the cliff or don't and the worst part about updating older boards.

 

[drea.drechsler]

....

Which is why you can't revert to previous, no instruction space for changing DEF to XYZ and then to ABC. It's a one and done, jump off the cliff or don't and the worst part about updating older boards.

It seems even more sensitive with Asrock for some reason. I managed to revert an MSI BIOS (B350M Mortar) successfully when they insisted it couldn't be. But using the same technique resulted in bricked Asrock motherboards in at least two instances I'm aware of. But then, if it won't run the processor you need it too it's worthless anyway. That just makes updating in increments doubly important, and especially catching all bridge BIOS' along the way.

 

[Karadjgne]

Yes, and if you are moving upto a 5xG cpu, must also be very aware of the video/audio files that must be installed prior to each successive update, or you'll brick the bios.

The bios isn't ASRock or MSI as such, they don't write it, or any of the updates etc, the bios is written by Award, Phoenix etc (3rd party, independent companies), who write the bios according to ASR or MSI or Asus specs/wants/needs. So when Award wrote the bios for the 350 pro4, it contains any and all instructions for those specific components, like Sata controller etc, as well as the base 350 chipset. The issue with the ASR is that it also contains the info and instructions for stuff like the AMD Quad CrossfireX, the hyper Gig ASR NIC etc and that all takes up a lot of space in that small bios chip, enough that there's barely any room left for segmented bios updates change instructions.

MSI for the most part didn't bother cheaping out on components and used a larger bios chip from the start, which is why MSI for the most part was good for moving from Zen to Zen+ or Zen2 etc on the 350 chipsets, but other vendors like Asus said nope, that's a negative Ghost Rider.