Question Is it safe to update the bios?

[Fros78]

I Just bought a X470 Gaming Plus from MSI, im still waiting on the CPU. My question is it safe updating to bios 7B79vA7 which is from 2019-1-30 and its the last bios before the "support new amd cpu" one which is known to mess up?

 

[Darkbreeze]

So long as you educate yourself about what you are doing, watch SEVERAL video tutorials and read some written guides on updating the BIOS for your board model or one close to it by the same manufacturer so that you are not guessing about any of the steps and know EXACTLY what to expect and what to do, then yes, it's perfectly fine.

I've updated hundreds of BIOS and haven't seen one bricked in probably at least ten years or more. But I've also seen people who did not take the time to learn what they were doing and then do it correctly, ruin their motherboards. It's much like anything in life. You wouldn't try to mix chemicals without learning about the process first, and this is no different really. Mix the wrong ones, and getting a big "poof" out of it might be the least of your concerns. Take the time to know what you are doing, and it's no more dangerous than filling your drinking glass with water.

 

[Fros78]

So long as you educate yourself about what you are doing, watch SEVERAL video tutorials and read some written guides on updating the BIOS for your board model or one close to it by the same manufacturer so that you are not guessing about any of the steps and know EXACTLY what to expect and what to do, then yes, it's perfectly fine.

I've updated hundreds of BIOS and haven't seen one bricked in probably at least ten years or more. But I've also seen people who did not take the time to learn what they were doing and then do it correctly, ruin their motherboards. It's much like anything in life. You wouldn't try to mix chemicals without learning about the process first, and this is no different really. Mix the wrong ones, and getting a big "poof" out of it might be the least of your concerns. Take the time to know what you are doing, and it's no more dangerous than filling your drinking glass with water.

It doesn't seem hard. Put the bios on a flash drive, put it in a usb port, go to bios, m flash and select the bios, then hope you dont get a power outage lol. The point is, is the bios gonna be stable or just a mess, it may have been updated since i bought the board from a local pc store and some of the ram slots were opened, im guessing they either tested it or updated the bios.

 

[CountMike]

I Just bought a X470 Gaming Plus from MSI, im still waiting on the CPU. My question is it safe updating to bios 7B79vA7 which is from 2019-1-30 and its the last bios before the "support new amd cpu" one which is known to mess up?

Which CPU are you waiting for ? For 1.st and 2nd gen you need not update BIOS and for 3rd gen you need an older 1000/2000 series to upgrade BIOS.

 

[Fros78]

Which CPU are you waiting for ? For 1.st and 2nd gen you need not update BIOS and for 3rd gen you need an older 1000/2000 series to upgrade BIOS.

Im waiting on a 2600X since i found it for 85$ brand new and sealed, im planning on a light oc at 4.0GHz, i wanna know if i can just slap 40.00 ratio and set voltage to 1.350 or 1.375 and be done with it. If i can do that on the bios it came with and its stable i wouldnt bother updating the bios.

 

[CountMike]

Im waiting on a 2600X since i found it for 85$ brand new and sealed, im planning on a light oc at 4.0GHz, i wanna know if i can just slap 40.00 ratio and set voltage to 1.350 or 1.375 and be done with it. If i can do that on the bios it came with and its stable i wouldnt bother updating the bios.

You will still have to wait for first boot to find out which BIOS is installed now so your question is fairly academic. Another thing, since it's an X model, you may not need to do such an OC, it will boost higher than that on some cores (4.2GHz) and rest of cores to about 4GHz anyway. Don't flash any BIOS for 3rd gen Ryzen until you need to, last one for 2nd gen at most.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You should STILL update the BIOS to whatever the latest, non-problematic, non-Zen2 version is. Ryzen has had a heck of a rocky road when it comes to memory compatibility and there have been BIOS updates that address that right up to now.

But, you shouldn't need a BIOS update JUST to run that CPU. So either way, you should be able to use it as is OR update the BIOS if you run into memory troubles.

 

[Fros78]

You should STILL update the BIOS to whatever the latest, non-problematic, non-Zen2 version is. Ryzen has had a heck of a rocky road when it comes to memory compatibility and there have been BIOS updates that address that right up to now.

But, you shouldn't need a BIOS update JUST to run that CPU. So either way, you should be able to use it as is OR update the BIOS if you run into memory troubles.

You will still have to wait for first boot to find out which BIOS is installed now so your question is fairly academic. Another thing, since it's an X model, you may not need to do such an OC, it will boost higher than that on some cores (4.2GHz) and rest of cores to about 4GHz anyway. Don't flash any BIOS for 3rd gen Ryzen until you need to, last one for 2nd gen at most.

I dont wanna rely on PBO, ive seen serious voltage spikes. Much rather have an all core oc with a fixed voltage. As for memory issues, i dont think they should occur, ive got a 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance 3000mhz cl15 kit, its on the list of supported memory on the mobo

 

[CountMike]

I dont wanna rely on PBO, ive seen serious voltage spikes. Much rather have an all core oc with a fixed voltage. As for memory issues, i dont think they should occur, ive got a 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance 3000mhz cl15 kit, its on the list of supported memory on the mobo

There's new AGESA code 1003ABBA coming to BIOS which supposedly will deal with voltages and full boost. In mean time you can set only manual voltage to about 1.3v or less and still have boost at maximum. If you use AMD Ryzen Balanced power plan, set minimum CPU to 5% it will drop voltage way under 1v at idle without affecting boost. That's what I've been doing all along.

 

[Darkbreeze]

CL15 will not run on Ryzen. It will either by default round itself up to tCL 16 or refuse to run. Possibly run with tweaking of timings. I've been seeing this over and over again lately, and for a while actually, but even more lately since the release of the Zen2 CPUs.

The memory listed on the QVL list is not, and is NEVER, guaranteed to OR tested to, run at the XMP profile speed or timings. It is only tested to run at whatever the default JEDEC profile listing is for that memory kit. JEDEC does not spec out memory at speeds higher than 2666mhz currently and X470 defaults to 2133mhz without manual configuration or enabling XMP or DOCP profiles, so any kit on that list was only tested at 2133mhz, not 3000mhz and CERTAINLY not tCL 15 (CAS latency).