[SOLVED] Is it a risk to flash/update the bios?

[ProPlayerGR]

Hello everyone. I want to buy a 3600 and I asked a local pc shop if they can update the bios for the asus prime x470 pro so as to work with the 3600 and they said that they can but in case it fails they have no responsibility. Also if I go with a b450 tomahawk, how high is the risk of failing to flash the bios? Thanks in advance

 

[jay32267]

There is a risk in flashing the BIOS.
Do a search.
That being said....I have never unsuccessfully flashed a BIOS and I have done quite a few.
I am always very careful and do everything exactly as is specified.
....and before I do it I make sure all my power cords are plugged in nice and tight.
If you lose power during a BIOS flash.....it generally leads to disaster.

As far as ....how high is the risk?

I think that if you are careful and do everything as specified that the risk is small.

I think the main reason why people screw it up....is they aren't careful and they don't follow the directions.

 

[ProPlayerGR]

There is a risk in flashing the BIOS.
Do a search.
That being said....I have never unsuccessfully flashed a BIOS and I have done quite a few.
I am always very careful and do everything exactly as is specified.
....and before I do it I make sure all my power cords are plugged in nice and tight.
If you lose power during a BIOS flash.....it generally leads to disaster.

As far as ....how high is the risk?

I think that if you are careful and do everything as specified that the risk is small.

I think the main reason why people screw it up....is they aren't careful and they don't follow the directions.

There is a risk in flashing the BIOS.
Do a search.
That being said....I have never unsuccessfully flashed a BIOS and I have done quite a few.
I am always very careful and do everything exactly as is specified.
....and before I do it I make sure all my power cords are plugged in nice and tight.
If you lose power during a BIOS flash.....it generally leads to disaster.

As far as ....how high is the risk?

I think that if you are careful and do everything as specified that the risk is small.

I think the main reason why people screw it up....is they aren't careful and they don't follow the directions.

What about updating the bios with a 2nd gen ryzen. Is there any risk in that case?

 

[ProPlayerGR]

Hello everyone. I want to buy a ryzen 5 3600 and an asus prime x470 pro, but a local pc shop told me that they have no responsibility if the update fails. Can the update fail? I asked them to use a 2nd gen ryzen to update the bios, then remove it and place the 3600. Is there any risk in that? Thanks in advance.

 

[velocityg4]

There's always a small risk with a BIOS update. It's really slim but there is one.

As for getting an ASUS Prime X470 Pro and paying someone to update it. Why not just get an X570 motherboard? The prices of a cheap X570 start around what that motherboard costs. Once you factor in a typical shop service fee. You could get a decent X570 for the same total cost.

 

[Math Geek]

if you contact AMD they will send you a cpu to put in so you can update the BIOS for the new Ryzen chip. no reason to think it won't work with any other compatible cpu.

not sure why the shop is trying to scare you, but this is exactly how you are supposed to update that BIOS. there is always a small risk but if they know how to do it, there is little chance for a problem.

i would be questioning them heavily if they are scared to update a BIOS themselves. that's enough for me to go elsewhere for help. i personally would not even hesitate to do it, nor bother suggesting there was some risk involved that i would not be responsible for. it should be a simple thing for a "professional" shop to do.

 

[ProPlayerGR]

if you contact AMD they will send you a cpu to put in so you can update the BIOS for the new Ryzen chip. no reason to think it won't work with any other compatible cpu.

not sure why the shop is trying to scare you, but this is exactly how you are supposed to update that BIOS. there is always a small risk but if they know how to do it, there is little chance for a problem.

i would be questioning them heavily if they are scared to update a BIOS themselves. that's enough for me to go elsewhere for help. i personally would not even hesitate to do it, nor bother suggesting there was some risk involved that i would not be responsible for. it should be a simple thing for a "professional" shop to do.

Yeah I think you are right they shouldn't be scared to update the bios. I think they said that in case something goes wrong and I don't think I'll find better help anywhere else, because where I live, people don't know so much about pcs. Should I buy the b450 tomahawk and tell them to flash the bios instead? I don't think that's difficult, I can do that by myself.

 

[velocityg4]

Yeah I think you are right they shouldn't be scared to update the bios. I think they said that in case something goes wrong and I don't think I'll find better help anywhere else, because where I live, people don't know so much about pcs. Should I buy the b450 tomahawk and tell them to flash the bios instead? I don't think that's difficult, I can do that by myself.

The B450 Tomahawk supports CPU-less BIOS flashing. Stick in a flash drive with the updated BIOS. Leave the CPU and RAM out. Press the BIOS flash button and done. You can see the manual for more details.

 

[Math Geek]

as noted above, with the tomahawk you can flash it yourself without a cpu installed. the manual will walk you through how to do it.

pretty easy and quick to do yourself if you're confident in your skills. or let the shop do it if you have to

 

[hftvhftv]

If the shop won't cover it if they screw up I'd get someone else to do it or do it yourself with either the USB flash tool or with the Ryzen Boot kit from AMD.

 

[drea.drechsler]

as noted above, with the tomahawk you can flash it yourself without a cpu installed. the manual will walk you through how to do it.
...

I'd like to add that with the Ryzen 3000 launch came a whole lot of flash attempts and more than a few horror stories. It seems to be really common and is doubtless related to the AGESA code in the BIOS provided by AMD having a lot of bugs. They're doubtless going to come out with BIOS updates to improve stability...several, most likely. There will be plenty of opportunity to update BIOS even if you buy a 'ryzen 3000 ready' board that has an early rev BIOS installed.