[SOLVED] New to Ryzen, should I update my BIOS for AGESA 1.0.0.2?

[Deleted member 2720853]

My CPU is a Ryzen 9 3900X and board is a B550 Aorus Pro, the motherboard came with the BIOS version F1, and I see that F3 contains AGESA v1.0.0.2, should I update it just because of that or will my Ryzen perform normally even without it?

 

[tennis2]

Is your system performing normally with the F1 BIOS?

 

[drea.drechsler]

Is your system performing normally with the F1 BIOS?

I would submit for consideration that, being new to Ryzen, OP might not really know what 'normal' is.

And ALL of us being new to B550 we too probably should wonder what it is. A case in point is me! I just updated BIOS on my B450 and found the new AGESA fixed a problem I was having with restarting my system immediately after a shutdown. It wouldn't, not ever since I'd upgraded to the 5700 Red Dragon. I just assumed that was a problem with the card and could live with it (just wait a few minutes before starting it back up). The new BIOS made it 'normal' but I would never have known that if I hadn't gone ahead and updated.

Perhaps it's sad and we should blame AMD, but the history of Zen and Promontory releases, whether new motherboards or CPU's, is peppered with AGESA updates that 'fix' things, some we didn't even know we needed fixed.

I think the best advice to OP is: if your system's running well, you're happy and you're not the adventurous sort you might put it off for now. Wait until the more adventurous have updated and can tell you if it helps them with any problems or improved performance. Also: read the board mfr's release notes with the BIOS to see if anything applies to you.

 

[Deleted member 2720853]

Is your system performing normally with the F1 BIOS?

No idea. I get 85C temps in AIDA64 stability test with 4.07 GHz boost. Idk if that's good or not for a 3900X

 

[drea.drechsler]

No idea. I get 85C temps in AIDA64 stability test with 4.07 GHz boost. Idk if that's good or not for a 3900X

What cooling are you using? 85C is pretty darn good running optimized AVX workload on 12core/24 threads with the stock cooler. Better cooling might help get a little more boost clock speed than 4.07Ghz though.

Ryzen CPU's all have a Tjmax spec of 95C, so you're well below being worried.

BTW: I went looking for some guidance on the new AGESA code for my motherboard and found that this update (V2 1.0.0.2 for 500 series, V1 1.0.0.6 for 300/400 series boards) fixes the SMM Callout Privilege Escalation vulnerability, among a few other things, if that one's important to you.

 

[Deleted member 2720853]

What cooling are you using? 85C is pretty darn good running optimized AVX workload on 12core/24 threads with the stock cooler. Better cooling might help get a little more boost clock speed than 4.07Ghz though.

Ryzen CPU's all have a Tjmax spec of 95C, so you're well below being worried.

BTW: I went looking for some guidance on the new AGESA code for my motherboard and found that this update (V2 1.0.0.2 for 500 series, V1 1.0.0.6 for 300/400 series boards) fixes the SMM Callout Privilege Escalation vulnerability, among a few other things, if that one's important to you.

NH-D15. I assume it's not good enough for this cooler?

 

[drea.drechsler]

NH-D15. I assume it's not good enough for this cooler?

Should be fine for it, and I assume you have good case ventilation to accompany it. Keeping it supplied with fresh air is just as important.

 

[Deleted member 2720853]

I meant if the temps I'm getting are accurate for this cooler? My case is ventilated properly and has good airflow.

 

[drea.drechsler]

I meant if the temps I'm getting are accurate for this cooler? My case is ventilated properly and has good airflow.

So the question really gets to whether your cooler is properly installed and working as well as it should. I can't really say for sure as I'm running a 240mm AIO on a 3700x so don't have a good basis for reference. My CPU gets up to 80-82C when running Prime95 and I've tweaked up performance with PBO so boost is at 41.25-41.5Ghz throughout the test.

So keeping in mind you have 12 cores/24 threads also working an unrealistic, highly optimized AVX workload when running an Aida64 stress test yet it's also not getting close to Tjmax. The real concern would be how it's holding temperature doing the real day to day processing tasks you bought it for. Running the handbrake video encodes I got my 3700X to handle CPU temp never gets over 73C . And that's not constant as it relates to content being encoded.

One thing to keep in mind is how Ryzen CPU's spike temperatures with core boosts when running in light loads. That makes people think the cooler isn't working well, but those spikes are very low energy and aren't adding much to the processor's thermal state. I adjust my fans to basically ignore the spikes, only ramping fan speed from super quiet idle when temperature gets to 65C.

 

[Deleted member 2720853]

So the question really gets to whether your cooler is properly installed and working as well as it should. I can't really say for sure as I'm running a 240mm AIO on a 3700x so don't have a good basis for reference. My CPU gets up to 80-82C when running Prime95 and I've tweaked up performance with PBO so boost is at 41.25-41.5Ghz throughout the test.

So keeping in mind you have 12 cores/24 threads also working an unrealistic, highly optimized AVX workload when running an Aida64 stress test yet it's also not getting close to Tjmax. The real concern would be how it's holding temperature doing the real day to day processing tasks you bought it for. Running the handbrake video encodes I got my 3700X to handle CPU temp never gets over 73C . And that's not constant as it relates to content being encoded.

One thing to keep in mind is how Ryzen CPU's spike temperatures with core boosts when running in light loads. That makes people think the cooler isn't working well, but those spikes are very low energy and aren't adding much to the processor's thermal state. I adjust my fans to basically ignore the spikes, only ramping fan speed from super quiet idle when temperature gets to 65C.

Yes, during regular tasks, it's more than under control.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I updated the BIOS to F3 because of some shutdown issues, which I HOPE are fixed now. No problems whatsoever and am on AGESA 1.0.0.2 now. Not sure what benefit this brings me but oh well.

 

[drea.drechsler]

.... on AGESA 1.0.0.2 now. Not sure what benefit this brings me but oh well.

For me, what that AGESA version did was it gave me an assured startup immediately after a shutdown. I believe that's because they fixed problems with initiating a PCIe gen 4 capable GPU connected to a PCIe gen 4 capable CPU on a PCIe gen 3 - only motherboard (B450). There are a number of other behind the scenes fixes with that AGESA though, including problems with USB ports and some other GPU's. One also is plugging a security vulnerability.

 

[Deleted member 2720853]

For me, what that AGESA version did was it gave me an assured startup immediately after a shutdown. I believe that's because they fixed problems with initiating a PCIe gen 4 capable GPU connected to a PCIe gen 4 capable CPU on a PCIe gen 3 - only motherboard (B450). There are a number of other behind the scenes fixes with that AGESA though, including problems with USB ports and some other GPU's. One also is plugging a security vulnerability.

Oh, really? My PC seems to be shutting down randomly, as you probably know from my other post. I really hope having updated the BIOS now, which was stressful, helped fix that. The PSU is in good condition so I really don't know.