Question Gigabyte B360M D3H with 9600k

[AlienObs]

Hello everybody!
I am in the process of building a pc for my sister, and I'm a little confused.

Basically we have bought all the parts and I was about to start building the thing. I randomly searched the motherboard and cpu models and found out that I would have to update the motherboard's BIOS in order for it to work with the cpu.... Is this accurate?
Basically I'm asking because on the motherboard's box there is a sticker saying "optimized for Intel 9000 processors", so I assumed that it would be "plug and play". Is it possible that this sticker indicates that the BIOS on this exact board was already updated from the factory, or it is there to say that I can optimize the board if I do the update myself?

If I will have to do the update myself, I read that I will need a CPU that is already supported to be able to get into the BIOS in the first place. I read that this means I will need a 8th gen CPU, so my 7700k form my own pc won't do the job, correct? And by the looks of things, there is no way of updating the BIOS without a CPU on the board, correct?

(just to be clear, the motherboard in question is the Gigabyte b360M D3H, and the cpu the i5 - 9600k)

Thank you in advance!

 

[jay32267]

What BIOS are you currently running?
I'm seeing you are needing BIOS F11 or newer.

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/B360M-D3H-rev-10#support-cpu

I'm thinking that sticker means it has the proper BIOS.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

It is possible that the motherboard's BIOS was updated at the factory. You can't use the 7700K and you will need a CPU on the board to update the BIOS, if it needs updating.

 

[AlienObs]

What BIOS are you currently running?
I'm seeing you are needing BIOS F11 or newer.

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/B360M-D3H-rev-10#support-cpu

I'm thinking that sticker means it has the proper BIOS.

Yes, I saw that.
I don't know if I can see what BIOS version it is currently installed, all the parts of the new pc are still in their boxes! I only started messing with the motherboard's box to see if the version is indicated anywhere on the manual, but there isn't anything useful in there. There is nothing on the box either, just printed that works with 8th gen CPUs and a red sticker saying that it is "optimized for 9000 processors"....

 

[jay32267]

I would think it would be pretty crappy of them to put "optimized for 9000 series processors" on the box and NOT have the proper BIOS......and expect you to come up with a CPU to install the proper BIOS.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

The motherboard's serial number should indicate the date it was manufactured (all manufacturer's have their own format, you/we would have to decode it). If it was manufactured after the date the bios was released then it should have the updated bios.

 

[AlienObs]

@jay32267 That's what I thought too...


@MrN1ce9uy Ok, I did this. My serial number starts with "SN 1842.....", and acording to this my board was made between Oct 15 and Oct 21 of 2018, and the BIOS update was released in Gigabyte's site on Oct 12 of 2018, so I hope I'm good... I'll try to build the system tomorrow and I'll update this thread in case there are other people with the same question as mine...

 

[AlienObs]

I just built the pc.
The motherboard had the F10 version of the BIOS installed, which means that i didn't have any problems with the CPU. (Gigabyte's site says that F10 is "Optimized for Intel 9000 CPU " and the F11 is "Optimized for Intel® 9th Gen Core™ Processors"... not really sure what's the difference is, but anyway, it worked...)

Thank you to @jay32267 and @MrN1ce9uy for the replies, appreciated!

 

[jay32267]

Glad it worked....and you're welcome.