Dual Bios Support

[flong]

Hello Everyone,

The ASUS Extreme 4 mobo has a feature called "dual bios support." Evidently if you flash your bios incorrectly you can return the the previous bios because there are two separate bios chips.

I have some questions:

1. Is this feature available on the ASUS P67 Deluxe and/or Pro mobos? I have read several reviews and all of the specifications and it still is not clear to me. For example, the ASUS Pro has a "removable" bios chip so if you mess it up you can order the chip without replacing the motherboard
2. I have never overclocked and so I am trying to learn about it because I plan to buy a 2600K and OC it. Why would you need a second bios chip?
3. Does "flashing the bios" mean setting the bios permanently to the settings that you have chosen for your OC?
4. If you flash the bios incorrectly can you erase it and start over if you do not have the dual bios feature?
5. I am using the right terminology - is "flashing the bios" setting it to where you want?
6. If you flash your bios incorrectly do you have to get a new mobo?
7. Do you have to flash you bios if you overclock
8. If you have the dual bios, if you flash one incorrectly is it ruined or can you reset it?

I know that this is ABC stuff to all of you that have a lot experience overclocking however with the advent of the K chips a lot of newbies who never would have overclocked may "dive in the water" like me because of the demonstrated and very great benefits that have been shown by overclocking them.

Thanks for your expertise in answering these beginner questions.

 

[mosox]

Gigabyte boards have dual BIOS. For Asus go to their site and download the manual for the mobo you want or it should be in the specifications too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS
You can save your settings in your BIOS.

You don't need to flash your BIOS, only in some very rare cases, forget about that. Flashing means replacing your BIOS with a new one.

With a K CPU all you have to do is up the multiplier in the BIOS, that's all.

 

[wribbs]

1. They come with a single BIOS chip. However, ASUS has provides a fail-safe feature called the CrashFree BIOS, where users can use an included DVD to restore the BIOS in the event of a failure.

2. Only would be needed if you screwed the first one up.

3. No it means replacing the BIOS. Usually to an updated version that either corrects some problem or enables newer hardware support. Look for a changelog.

4. The board makers usually like to have a failsafe for you to do that but you never erase the BIOS you just replace it.

5. No, modern BIOS are stored in flash memory and flashing is simply a term for overwriting that memory.

6. Yes, in some cases. It's known as bricking your board.

7. Not unless the manufacturer added overclocking features in a BIOS update.

8. Its a copy of the original BIOS so you can reset it if things go wrong.

 

[flong]

Thanks

How does a person "brick" their board when adjusting the bios?

Does the ASUS Deluxe have dual bios - I cannot find it in the specs

 

[wribbs]

It's not while adjusting it that you risk bricking, it's while flashing. If you perhaps flash a BIOS that wasn't intended for your board, is faulty in some way, or interrupt the flashing process somehow (power loss? - it only takes a few seconds to flash). It's quite unlikely and not really something you should worry too much about. Just stick with official BIOS updates from the manufactures website and don't flash during an intense thunderstorm and you'll be okay. You can screw up your BIOS settings with adjustments causing your computer to be unbootable but you can just reset BIOS settings to default by removing the CMOS battery.

That model doesn't have a dual BIOS (see my previous post answer #1). I think you'll only see dual BIOS on ASUS boards labeled as Republic of Gamers (ROG) or Extreme.

 

[flong]

Thanks.

Just so I understand this, if the manufacturer issues a and official bios update then the correct terminology for updating the bios is "flashing the bios?" Also, when you are not changing the bios with an update, you are just adjusting the bios settings within the current version of the bios- correct? You answered this in question #3 above but I want to make sure that I have this correctly.

Sorry, you did answer that question in #1 above, for some reason it did not register for me when I read your first answer. It is reassuring to know that the bios is available per DVD if something gets messed up. I really do not want or need a ROG/Extreme ASUS board as I am not a heavy gamer. The ASUS Pro or Deluxe are sufficient to meet my needs. However, I am waiting to see the new Z68 boards due next month. I am sure that they will be very close to the P67 boards in most respects.

 

[wribbs]

Yeah you can think of the BIOS as a mini operating system of sorts. So as in WindowsXP can change all the settings you want but eventually if you want to run some newer software (IE9?) you need to update to Windows7.

 

[flong]

Best answer selected by flong.