Question Troubleshooting PC problem, memtest86 results, seeking advices.

[salawow]

Hi !

I'm troubleshooting my PC to, hopefully, identify the defective components. Now, i'm stuck and i don't know which conclusion to make and/or what other test i can do. Any kind of help or advices would be very welcomed.

Symptoms: Multiple different very random glitch or crash everywhere. (Started 2 months ago)

Specs: Ryzen 7700x, 2x16GB DDR5, MSI PRO B650-P WIFI, RTX 2070 (mobo-cpu-ram installed 6 months ago)

Memory sticks compatibility: Kingston, model: KF560C36BBEAK2-32. Purchased as a kit. I checked the compatibility list from MSI website, the model number is there, but not the specific (32) at the end. The ones on the list are: (16) (16profile2) (64) (64profile2). Do you think it's a simple mistake, and it should be on the list ? Or it's really not compatible ?

Memory issue 6 months ago after purchase: Any kind of XMP/EXPO lead to crashes or no-boot. Setting the timings manually according to memory specs, crashes or no-boot as well. At the time, i was really tired and just wanted my PC in working condition asap, so i just "overclocked" to specs (6000), and let every other BIOS settings to default. Everything worked fine until 2 months ago. (I made sure BIOS was up to date)

State of my PC right now: Booting into windows, runs normally, with random glitches, crashes, BSOD.

Memtest86 result: Tested every combinaison i could with 1 or 2 sticks. The only one that gives error is 2 sticks in dual channel. 5 single-pass test, always the same, 1 error in test #7, 6 to 9 errors in test #8. Unfortunately, i lost all memtest report logs because my USB stick decided to "requires to be formatted to be used". I can run memtest86 again if you need more specific information.

At this point, i have no idea what to conclude or what to do next to help identify the defective component. From google searches, it looks like it's still either RAM, CPU or MOBO.

Also, i don't have any other working components to test (that would be to easy...).

What should i do next ? Any opinions or advices would be very welcomed !

Thanks

 

[Lutfij]

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

Ram are populating slots A2 and B2? Where did you source the installer for your OS? Speaking of OS, did you install your OS in offline mode, if you're on Windows OS platform?

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is your current motherboard BIOS version? There are several updates that address memory and USB compatibility for your board.

Also, EXACTLY which DIMM slots are you installing them in? Starting with the slot closest to the CPU, 1, 2, 3, 4, with 4 being closest to the edge of the motherboard. WHICH slots?

 

[salawow]

Thanks for you replies !

About the missing specs/information, is was intentional. I always overexplain, give too much details and type 30 words when only 5 was required (i'm like that, close to being pathological), so i did only put the most meaningful information (from my knowledge), adding more later if required. I mean.. i don't think informations about my PSU was required, so i excluded everything about it until someone asked. Then, well.. full PSU specs and history, including details such as which pin had the largest voltage deviation when i tested it 6 months ago (it was 1%), performed with PSU plugged into wall outlet (tested wall outlet voltage prior, stable 120v with 3 second jump to 121v over a 5 minutes monitoring). Here, that's a good exemple of me overplaining and giving too many deatails. But i should have included the PSU model, i admit. My bad, i'll do it next time.

So, now i'm unstucked, at least for now. Let's say that i'm very angry at myself right now. Basically the last time i updated the bios was when i bought the motherboard, it's at that time i had all the EXPO and ram timings crash issue, and when i said i made sure my bios was updated, i was refering that that momment (see original post for details).

When i starting building my own PCs, the risk of ending up with a briked motherboard by flashing bios was so scary that doing it as a "very last option" got stucked into my head. When i bought the board 6 months ago, i read is was no longer an issue (since when ?) so i did update it. Didn't update my brain though. So, didn't even consider doing it before all that troubleshooting. (yes, seriously...). 5 days of troubleshooting later (now), brain's lights up about that so i decided to do it. So got into the bios (before update), first thing i noticed, RAM is set to 6400mhz (what ??). No idea why it happened. Also realised i didn't get into bios for the past 4 months... seriously, 5 days of troubleshooting, hours of memtest86, banging head on the wall... never got into bios. Yep...

So, updated bios, set my RAM at 5600mhz 1.35v, memtest, no error. That's where i am now, time to play with ram settings and having for memtesting.

 

[Darkbreeze]

So did you update the BIOS to the latest stable version or no? What IS the currently installed version?

If you did update the BIOS it would be a good idea to do a hard reset and start everything over from scratch because sometimes, often in fact, some settings will get "stuck" and won't actually change even though you've updated until you do a hard reset.



BIOS Hard Reset procedure

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for about three to five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes while the CMOS battery is out of the motherboard, press the power button on the case, continuously, for 15-30 seconds, in order to deplete any residual charge that might be present in the CMOS circuit. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP, A-XMP or D.O.C.P profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.

It is probably also worth mentioning that for anything that might require an attempt to DO a hard reset in the first place, IF the problem is related to a lack of video signal, it is a GOOD IDEA to try a different type of display as many systems will not work properly for some reason with displayport configurations. It is worth trying HDMI if you are having no display or lack of visual ability to enter the BIOS, or no signal messages.

Trying a different monitor as well, if possible, is also a good idea if there is a lack of display. It happens.

 

[salawow]

Good news, looks like problem is solved at last ! And yes, everything was related to BIOS. Here's a ton of extra informations about my whole PC problem, because oh my god i know so well how it can be frustrating to search online, find an exact description of your problem, to end up with a "Every thing is fixed, thank you !" with no explainations. So here's probably too many details and informations... most likely ending with small joke attempt getting completely out of hand slowly shifting to pure madness.

About problem description: It's crystal clear now. That ugly description "Many different very random glitches/crashes everywhere" gets an official description "System instability".

Informations about the BIOS: Before updating yesterday, RAM was set to 6400mhz. The last time i set it was 6 months ago, at 6000mhz (ram sticks specs). However, i have no idea "when" or "how" it ended up at 6400mhz. Did it jump to 6400mhz by itself exactly when the problem started ? Or after all my memtesting, when i put back the sticks in dual channel ? No idea. All i know is: It was set to 6000mhz 6 months ago, and last night, it was 6400mhz.

Now that i know the problem was linked to the BIOS, i remembered one "event" that happened approximately at the time the problem started. MSI Center asked for an auto-update, i said yes, update either simply failed, app crashed, system restart, or BSOD, can't remember exactly, end of story, forgot MSI Center over existed until today. I have no idea if it means anything though. (Only reason MSI Center is installed is to turn off ram/gpu LEDs. So i didn't care about that failed update.. you horrible app, you had your chance to update, you failed, too bad, you're on your own now.).

(MSI PRO B650-P WIFI , so you don't have to scroll up)
Bios version: It was 7D78v16. Updated to 7D78v19 last night.

(Kingston Fury Beast 2x16GB KF560C36BBEAK2-32)
BIOS version / RAM behavior: With the previous BIOS version (7D78v16), any EXPO attempts lead to either "frozen" before POST, endless restart before POST, restart between post and boot. Same behavior when setting it to specs manually (6000mhz 1.35V 36-38-38). I ended up setting it to 6000mhz, auto voltage, default timings, everything was very stable until 2 month ago when everything started going wonky. (around that MSI Center failed-update event). Today, BIOS version (7D78v19), Enabled EXPO (6000mhz 1.35V 36-38-38), Memtest86 2-pass without error, system perfectly stable all day. Oh, and just to be perfectly clear, all those freeze/restart around POST were NOT related to the normal "Motherboard and RAM learning about each other to be best-friend-forever".

Extra informations that may or may not be important at all:

- From the first time i installed that motherboard 6 months ago to this day, the only stuff i touched in the BIOS was: EXPO enable/disable, RAM frequency, RAM voltages, RAM timings (the first 3 timings like 36-38-38) and BOOT order. That's all. (Okay, human brain can have unstability issue as well, so it could still be possible that i touched something without remembing it. But the only reason would be to activate/desactivate "something i don't understand" that was required for one specific app or a Windows 10 feature to work properly. One good exemple of that would be enabling virtualisation for bluestacks. But i would remember that one, obviously.

- After installing the mobo-cpu-ram, i installed Ryzen Master to make sure temperatures matched those from MSI Afterburner. It did, never opened the app again, it's not auto-opening with windows, but i never uninstall it. I just tried to open it to check the exact version number i had, but i get a "ryzen master does not support current processor" error. Installed the app around july 10th 2023. I'll not investigate that further. No idea if it's meaningful. (CPU: 7700x)

- The only "burn test" i ever did was a few minutes of 7-zip performance test, which is very mild. So i have no idea what kind of stability i would get with a proper burn test, and i'm not planning to run one unless it's necessary. I like my parts to be handled gently and i do the same with my PCs. (Reason for 7-zip performance test: Personal curiosity. Monitored temperature and CPU clock speed. I wanted to observe the behavior of a CPU designed to give "best possible clock speed at 95'C".


I almost never visit this forum unless i need help of advices (it's so selfish, i'm ashamed), but i remember any important detail or information that i forgot to mention, i'll come back here to edit my post. Also, if the problem come back, or anything particular happens that i have reason to believe could be linked to that problem, even 3 years from now, i'll come back here and edit this post. (That's a promise to you, random future troubleshooter.)

So if you don't see any clear edits, it means i ran my PC same as usual for a whole week without any suspicious unstability, and then it passed a 10-Pass memtest86 with zéro error. (That statement won't be valid for the next 7 days and i don't like that. Also, you don't feel like scrolling up to check post date. Today's Dec 8th 2023, the 10-pass memtest is planned for Dec 15th 2023. That should do it.)

Future desperate random troubleshooter stumbling randomly here, i hope this post helped you, and if time-travel is invented... (Damn, i imagined an awesome joke earlier but forgot the ending). <----- Yes, this is the actual joke. You should be rolling on the floor in pure hysteria right now, laughing so hard that the idea of passing out from asphyxia crossed your mind at least a couple time. If you're not, there's probably a sense of humour compatibily patch somewhere.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Cool man.

 

[salawow]

Can be skipped, it's just how my post started: Oh and by the way, it could be confusing to everyone (including future troubleshooters.) as to "why" i posted as many informations and details, which burried the main reason that made me completely stucked after days of troubleshooting and "could possibly" also happen to someone else... not to mention the extra unnecessary insanity. That's just me. One small acceptable joke attempt, poof, 10 pages of non-sence that i don't even delete before posting. It happens, i can't help it. (Close to being pathological i said. This one is not a joke.)

TLDR (short version): Wanted help to understand why "updating the bios" solution worked, but it seems like i managed to make sens of it unexpectedly by typing. (Normal people do that just by just thinking, looks like i required a keyboard to do it). If you could proof-check both my hypothesis at the bottom of the post, it would be much appreciated ! (Proof-Checking everything would be ideal, but only if you have much spare time.)

TLDR and a last comment after finishing the post: Started as an explaination about why i posted the previous post, then asking for personnal knowledge proof-checking because i don't like the fact that i don't understand both the problem as a whole and why the solution worked (Nothing made sense to me when i started the post), to unexpectedly find out (while typing) the tiny bit of "knowledge" i was missing to make everything make sense, then a few new assumptions that i'd like to be proof-checked, to end with 2 different hypothesis about the cause of my system instability. Both being solved by the exact solution mentioned at the beginning by Darkbreeze, which is updating the BIOS. (Thanks !).

If you have enough free time and would like to help me by proof-checking all of my assumptions, i'd really like it, but since i ended up with two hypothesis that finally make sense (to me), only proof-checking both hypothesis at the very bottom of the post would be good enough since they are compatible with all the assumptions i had. (I was SURE i got something wrong, but not so sure anymore).

Original post starting here.

Final note before posting: I won't edit everything, but if something seems wrong because i mentionned "Before-BOOT" , replace it with "Before Windows 10 started loading" and re-evaluate. Also, i'm still a bit confused about "when" exactly the "BOOT" event happens. Statement such as "PC is not Booting", does it mean Windows was trying to load but it failed/crashed/restarted while it was loading ? Or it means the "Windows loading" process can't start ?

One thing i'm sure of, my knowledge is either completely outdated or simply not good enough, which i believe could also be the same for someone else. If anyone could take a few minutes to explain to me which concept i have completely wrong (based on my hypothesis bellow and the assumptions i'm making), it would be very appreciated.

First, the reason for my previous post is all about the 6000mhz ----> 6400mhz RAM in BIOS. If it was just a matter of "oh no, i didn't update bios, that explains everything and i understand why.", the post would be "Thanks a lot for reminding me about that, you just made my day".

Here's my hypothesis and my assumptions, please tell me where i'm wrong.

My personnal "After-Problem-Fixed" hypothesis: The value changed by itself 2 months ago exactly when the "system instability" started. 400mhz over RAM specs, very justified system instability. Simply setting it back to 6000mhz would have fixed the problem. Updating BIOS fixed even more problem. (It would explain everything, that's the only thing i'm sure of. But to me it would be "impossible" to have happened)

Another hypothesis (not mine): Updating the BIOS fixed everything. (It would also explain everything, but same here, from my knowledge it would be "impossible".

Probably wrong assumptions, plus questions:

Assumption #1: Turning on PC in chronological order: Human press power button, PSU activates, Motherboards checks if everything is okay, shakes hand with RAM (If not, multiple reboot/freeze until they are best-friend), "POST", BIOS is loading, BIOS applies it's value to every components, inspection of devices one by one according to boot-order until it finds one with bootable data, "BOOT-ATTEMPT" , process the data succesfully, "BOOT", from that point you're in software (Any OS, Windows, Linux..).

Assumption #2: Anything changing "on thier own" inside the BIOS without myself entering in the BIOS and without physical interraction with components: Values reverting to "previous state" or "default", Yes. EXPO turning on/off: A far fetched "maybe". Anything else, Impossible.

Assumption #3: Values changing inside the BIOS itself after removing/replacing a part, such as playing with RAM Sticks for memtesting then putting them back the way they are designed to work: Same as last assumption. "previous state", "default", Yes. EXPO on/off: A far fetched "maybe". Anything else, Impossible.

Assumption #4: Values inside BIOS cannot be modified by After-Boot software, but can be overridden by After-Boot software: Yes, but not without my input. And all those overrides are effective only in After-Boot.

Assumption #5: Four reasons for BIOS update: Improve compatibility for components that were already existing when the first BIOS version was made. Adjustments to make future components compatible. Adding a new feature. Correcting human-made mistake made when designing previous BIOS versions.

Assumption #6: If you stay at one specific BIOS version, and never touch any components, the "before-BOOT" system behavior will stay exactly the same, always.

Assumption #7: In this whole post, all my "impossible" become "possible" and every assumptions becomes invalid only those situations: Defective components.


Hypothesis i discarded: One software update (let's say windows update) making the system instable with the already-installed BIOS version, making the "BIOS update fixed the problem" without involving the 6000mhz/6400mhz undefined event. It would make sense. However, it would break my Assumption #5 since Memtest86 test are run "before-BOOT". I ran a 2-pass Memtest86 6-months ago with no error. This week, Memtest86 same errors every passes, always.

Comments and Questions about that previous discarded hypothesis: Just realised the "statement" i just made "Memtest86 tests are run before-boot" contradict something in my Assumption #1. I'm a bit confused now, is it just me using the wrong terms with no impact on my logic, or did i just find what's wrong with my knowledge. Okay, so Memtest86 is on a storage device (USB stick). It contains bootable data. So basically, a boot-attempt is made, then "boot", then Memtest86 program starts running, which, from my own assumptions and personnal definition of "software", enters the same category of any OS such as Windows. I may have something here.

Assumptions about Memtest86: I always assumed Memtest86 had to be run "before-boot" to stay at the hardware level. With the "just-added-to-personnal-knowledge" concept of "Booting into Memtest86", which would define Memtest86 as "software", the only logical reason to run Memtest86 from a USB stick would be to prevent any disturbance from the operating system. Running any kind of Memtest86 inside windows would indeed be either unreliable or very limited in it's testing capabilities. Oh my god, if i'm not completely wrong about everything, my personnal knowledge is updated from "hopefully-right new assumtions".

Updated Assumptions about Memtest86: Memtest86 is a "software". It "could" override BIOS value while running, but not change them in the BIOS Itself. All my "Before-Boot" assumptions about Memtest86 are burned to ashes. Memtest86 is run from a bootable device, not only to run "Outside-OS", but also to be the only "Booted-Software" running on the system. (Don't even know if it's possible to run multiple independant "Booted-Software" at the same time, but it would seem logical that it would interfere with Memtest86. It doesn't matter anyway, different topic completely.)

Extra Assumptions about Memtest86: Different version of Memtest86 could give different results. That would explain why i had memtest86 errors this week and not 6-months ago. Different Memtest86 version giving different results. Never bothered checking version number, just downloaded the lastest one.

Two description of my instability problem and it's source. (Still at the "hypothesis" level)

- System instability (After booting into Windows 10). Most likely caused by an "undefined" update that happened 2 months ago. (Windows update, or other app update running inside windows). Compatibility issues between that "undefined" update and the installed BIOS version (7D78v16), which caused system instability inside windows 10. Possible solution: Install another BIOS version (Older or Newer). Solution chosen that solved the issue: BIOS updated to lastest stable version. (7D78v19). Solution is exactly the one adviced by Darkbreeze (Thanks !). Doesn't explain that RAM frequency at 6400mhz though, but not worth investigating at this point.

- Human-made error in the installed BIOS version (7D78v16) that could cause RAM frequency value inside BIOS to change unexpectedly to an "undefined" value that is not "previous" and not "default". Complete system instability caused by RAM frequency being set to a value higher than RAM Sticks Specification. Possible Solutions: 1- Manually changing RAM frequency value to specification inside the BIOS. 2- Install another BIOS version (Older or Newer). Solution chosen that solved the issue: BIOS updated to lastest stable version. (7D78v19). Same solution, updating the BIOS. I could test that hypothesis by reverting to previous BIOS version, set RAM to 6400mhz manually, and observe if the system behavior inside Windows is exactly the same. But at this point it would be for personnal curiosity only, so not worth testing. Also, i may be wrong about that since i didn't attempt any overclocking for a very long time (Aside from setting RAM to specification), but 6000 ---> 6400 seems a bit too much out of specs for my instability issue that could "randomly" let the system stable for 24 hours.

One final question: If the system instability is strictly related to compatibility issues between the OS and BIOS version, is it possible for the instability to show up right after the operating system "BEGINS" loading ? Or it will show up only "AFTER" it is loaded ?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Problems with memory compatibility and performance generally don't really have all that much to do with the OS, at all. Typically if there is a problem with the memory configuration or compatibility, that problem will exist regardless of whether you are running a Windows or non-Windows environment. Obviously anything that is particularly memory intensive, like certain applications or environments, is going to be even more prone to such problems but since everything needs to use memory in order to work, everything would technically be affected including simply using the BIOS itself. If the problem is bad enough, as you've probably seen, it may not even POST much less boot or load anything.

 

[salawow]

Problems with memory compatibility and performance generally don't really have all that much to do with the OS, at all. Typically if there is a problem with the memory configuration or compatibility, that problem will exist regardless of whether you are running a Windows or non-Windows environment. Obviously anything that is particularly memory intensive, like certain applications or environments, is going to be even more prone to such problems but since everything needs to use memory in order to work, everything would technically be affected including simply using the BIOS itself. If the problem is bad enough, as you've probably seen, it may not even POST much less boot or load anything.

Added after writing the post:

Darkbreeze, you have my deepest thanks. Also, i owe you an apology, although you don't know why. First, your "Update Bios" advice was very clear and simple and you were right. BIOS version was exactly the problem source, and updating it was exactly the solution. However, when i read your first reply, the very first thing that popped into my mind was "Oh no, not the generic advice about updating everything, i'm well over that point, the guy probably didn't even read my post in the first place". Also, i lied a bit (slightly). When i replied to your first reply, i was "sure" the cause of the problem was the "6000mhz ---> 6400mhz". I was angry at myselft yes, but not because i didn't think of updating the BIOS, but because i didn't think of "looking" at the BIOS. Also, in my first post, when i said that i made sure i updated the BIOS, that was a complete lie to skip all the "update everything advices". I already had RAM/BIOS compatibility issue... but i did put it all on "slightly defective RAM at time of purchse". So many misconceptions about the BIOS. Even if it's a fact that i never updated it in 6 months because of old "bricked mobo" fears, at the end i was still hesitating about doing it when i realised my mobo had a function to prevent being bricked. My thoughts, "No chance it will fix it... but why not... no, i'm not crawling under my desk again...". The final decision to update it was because of your advice. Oh, at the time i was still seeing that advice in the same way i would see "Did you unplug and plugged back your toaster", but hell... Retired-Mod, 79k comments, 7k likes... let's assume he did read my post after all. That's it for the apologies. I blame the stress of days of troubleshooting. But definetly, my pride and arrogance requires major adjustment. To understand everything about the "deepest thanks" scroll-down to "Fun trivia". You really saved me from a very very bad situation (Worse than my system instability issue). And if you could take a look at that "New hypothesis" i made, and tell me if it makes sense, i'd appreciate very much ! It's no longer about finding the problem and solution (You had everything right anyway), but i would really like to come to a complete understanding about all that issue.

Start of the post bellow:

Thanks for your reply !

So if i understood correcty, one single update (OS or app) wouldn't directly cause a hard incompatibility issue with a component or the BIOS. At least not one that would require a BIOS update related directly to that specific update. I'm assuming you're talking about incompatibility that would cause a "general system instability" only.

New assumption: However, a BIOS update could still be required if that update brings a new major feature (To make the new feature itself work), or an OS update related to security (The security issue would have to be large enough to justify such an update). But in either case, the warning about BIOS update requirement would be easy to find. Now i may be pushing my assumption a bit, but big updates like that would most likely affect a large range of component/BIOS and not a single one.

New hypothesis about my system instability issue: My RAM sticks already and always had compatibility issue with my BIOS version. (Couldn't even boot properly with ram specs value). When i manually set RAM frequency to spec (6000mhz), but let the timings to default, it was running "barely stable". Over 4 months of normal PC usage, making one update here, installing a new app there, adding a tiny amount of stress on components everytime which made the system instability issue grow an inch at a time. From my point of view, this was just "Acceptable instability", and i never noticed that it was growing. 2 months ago, the system was instable enough to become "Suspiscious instability". Then, 2 weeks ago, it became "Definetly an instability issue". After days of troubleshooting, many google searchs, hours of memtest86, running around in circles, i finally updated the BIOS, it fixed the RAM/BIOS compatibility issues that i always had and therefore completely fixed my system instability issue.

Does it make sense ?

That would explain why i couldn't really put a "start date" to my issue.

Fun trivia: A few hours before your first replay (Darkbreeze), i ordered new components (RAM+Mobo+CPU) because i was "absolutely sure" a defective component was the source. If i had not updated the BIOS (Thanks to you !) i would have received my new components, (Planned to open one box at a time to test, RAM then Mobo). At the end, my instability issue would indeed be solved, but with a big hassle to return/refund functioning components, plus either a perfectly working components (Most likely RAM) thrown right into the trash bin, or a huge endless e-mail fight trying to claim warranty on "perfectly working components". Not to mention the fact that i would never have understood the problem.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, just about ANY problem you can have on a PC "could" be due to lack of support for a change in the operating system, because sometimes things they change in Windows (Especially, vs other OSes) requires some specific support in the BIOS and often MS assumes everybody has already made said changes even though a lot of users might not even be aware. Also, yes, it isn't the old days where bricking your motherboard by trying to update the BIOS was a common occurrence for some people. Honestly I've only ever bricked one motherboard by updating the BIOS and that was because the board itself had a problem, and I've been updating BIOSes since pretty much BIOSes COULD be updated, so a long time. Decades.

These days BIOS updates are almost as common, or even more common, than some driver updates, and in a lot of cases they are really not optional. They are needed. When a manufacturer releases a new BIOS version it's generally for a really good reason. It takes time and money to develop firmware and they don't just do it for fun. They do it when it is needed for specific hardware support, or to support common software changes, or to fix bugs or errata, or to correct configuration problems as with problematic tables for voltage adjustments and things like that OR in some cases, but much less frequently, to add new features. So IMO, and there ARE situations where I might not recommend it, but for the most part if a new AND stable BIOS release is made for a board it's USUALLY a good idea to update. Not necessarily always, because for some people doing so could have an unwanted outcome such as if you're running an older CPU and updating to a certain release would remove support for that CPU because they had to do that in order to add support for a newer CPU, like they've had to do on some of the older Ryzen chipset motherboards, but usually you want to be on the latest BIOS version unless there is a very compelling reason not to be. And that's not to say that you should upgrade to the latest BIOS version immediately after one is released.

I recommend waiting like a month to make sure nothing comes out in the wash about that release that has to get fixed by the manufacturer. If a BIOS release hasn't been superceded by another release within the first 30 days after release then it's unlikely there are any problems with that release and it's safe to update to that release version. Now, if you already have a problem and you are aware of it and that release addresses that problem, then I usually say go ahead and update right away even if the release just came out since you already know it addresses the problem that you have AND because usually they've already done some beta testing on any release to at least generally assure there aren't problems with it. But some problems get overlooked in beta testing which is why IN GENERAL I say waiting like 30 days is a good idea.

And memory compatibility and configuration are one of the biggest reasons why manufacturers release firmware updates for motherboards. That, and security issues. And one thing to keep in mind is that the notes you see at the end of any given BIOS release do not always include all the changes that have been made in that release. Sometimes there will be improvements that they don't mention at all, so even if you don't see it say something like "improved memory compatibility" there may still be changes that affect that or changes to something else that DO have an effect ON that.