Do motherboards usually ship with up to date bios?

[ythao01]

I'm in the process of building my first budget PC build and decided a overclocked Athlon 860k is best for my uses and budget, but I've read that most a88x motherboards don't ship out with the needed bios version to support an 860k, and I don't have any other Fm2 cpus laying around. is it a big risk or should they be shipping with updated bios by now? The two motherboards i'm looking at are

MSI a88x-G45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130754&cm_re=msi_a88x-g45-_-13-130-754-_-Product

Gigabyte f2a88x-UP4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128655&cm_re=gigabyte_f2a88x-up4-_-13-128-655-_-Product

 

[ak47jar3d]

Most motherboards don't come with latest bios. It's not a big risk, just make sure to have the bios file handy and update it before first. Make sure that the process to do so is simple by referring to the manual before purchasing the board.

 

[ythao01]

Most motherboards don't come with latest bios. It's not a big risk, just make sure to have the bios file handy and update it before first. Make sure that the process to do so is simple by referring to the manual before purchasing the board.

But how would i update it if I don't have another fm2 cpu to start the pc? Is it possible through USB?

 

[ak47jar3d]

Yes usually a flash drive with bios within it.

 

[ythao01]

Ohhh ok, so this is how it's going down in my head:

1.Updated bios in a USB connected to motherboard,
2.Put 860k into socket
3.Boot it up and motherboard will be using Bios through USB?

No renaming files or reformatting usb?

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Ohhh ok, so this is how it's going down in my head:

1.Updated bios in a USB connected to motherboard,
2.Put 860k into socket
3.Boot it up and motherboard will be using Bios through USB?

No renaming files or reformatting usb?

No, you've got that all wrong.
Motherboard cannot use BIOS update direct from pen drive, BIOS update has to be installed first.
You use the pen drive drive to "update" the existing BIOS on the motherboard.
The pen drive then plays no further part in the process.

Note: in most cases you can't update the BIOS unless a CPU is installed which is compatible with the existing BIOS version, because the system won't even POST with an unsupported CPU.

If you don't have a supported CPU or can't lay your hands on one, the motherboard manufacturer might update it for you.