Judas

So?

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MIG-31

Without any doubt and for me this is a MUST.But i back up the existing files first.

My Vote: Update Emediately reguardless of the update being nessary or not

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PangingJr

create a BIOS file backup first ( if the version of BIOS that comes with the board is not available for downloading )
then = Update Emediately reguardless of the update being nessary or not.

cozumel

Update the bios and then disable most things in the bios to speed up all the reboots while I'm setting up the system.

Edt: So what do you do Judas? You never said

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Judas

Before i can even get any bios settings applied or get windows loaded.... basically soon as the system boots, and a memtest passes, the bios is emediately updated to the latest version.

Every build is 100% up to date as of the build date.

One reason for the question though, I'm coming across custom built machines that were built with motherboards that have had updates, alot of these boards still use the orginal stock bios..... Some of these builds are recent enough to have been updated emediately, and should have been.

I think i'm just really picky or something, or thought i was, cause i'm just disturbed at the filthy builds i'm finding with horrible cable management, incorrect mounting or hell lack of even bothering to use most if not ANY screws at all to hold the damn thing together.

Bios updates was just another factor.

Thermal paste/heatsinks was another factor.

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PangingJr

Update Emediately reguardless of the update being nessary or not.

in your view of its being necessary (or not)... motherboard makers usually never tell you everything about what changes what improve on each version of BIOS file.

every version of BIOS is good for at least one thing, but not the other. you just need to try it for yourself.

Judas

Yeah alot of bios updates don't even have update notes or discriptions of what was resolved or improved.

But considering, it's no different then drivers imo, it's always a good start to have the latest. But when it comes to bios updates, i think they are more thoroughly tested as it's far more critical then drivers.

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cozumel

But having said that, sometimes the manufacturers make mistakes. If I recollect the F9 (and maybe F10) BIOS from Gigabyte for P35 boards caused memtest to report false positives. So if someone bought the board around the time of that bios revision and flashed straight away they would think the RAM or board was bad. I'm glad that wasn't me It must have been very frustrating...

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PangingJr

that's why i'm wondering with the.... reguardless of the update being nessary or not. (how do you know when you don't know?)

in fact, some version of BIOS for certain board can cause so much problem for many users, but it does work so good on many other users.

cozumel

And it's the last thing you would really think of when trying to troubleshoot a new build with latest flash. You kind of assume the BIOS is good. That's why it is always bad to assume anything. But human nature, we can't help it

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PangingJr

many overclockers out there will try to use all the BIOS files just to find an improvement of their overclocking.

for other, it's depending what do you (already) know about the board you just bought,
and if the BIOS version that come with the board do not even exists anymore, like, for example, the board came with a BIOS version 0504 (and you can't find this BIOS version's information from any where), but the first release version of BIOS that shows at the board makers site was version 1004 already, then there's also 4 more versions have alreadybeen released after the first relesed BIOS, so for something like this example, you still don't want to update your BIOS or what?
reguardless of the update being nessary or not. lol.

Tipstaff

Um.. Judas? It's "immediately", my friend, not emediately.

As for bios updates, I've learned not mess with bios updates initially. If the system works, leave it alone. I only update if I'm swapping to a newer CPU only supported by an updated bios, or to fix some other issue. Why? I've had instances of updating bioses in which after the update the system would no longer boot until I went back to an older bios. Intel, for instance, is famous for doing this. They constantly would put boards out that worked with Windows 2000, then all of a sudden they removed bios support for it by removing or changing some function of ACPI. Update the bios on a machine running Windows 2000, and poof! Dead machine. In fact, I can't use any of Intels own boards when a client wants Windows 2000.

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Dark Lord

i dont touch it, unless i need the newer bios for cpu support.

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Mousey

Same

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RobertBruce

Only if there are fixes I need. Lazy with the change logs? I leave it alone unless i have a specific problem and the boardmakers tech support told me to update.

Kizo

"Update Emediately reguardless of the update being nessary or not."
And afterwards update regularly with new releases.

PangingJr

i like to tell you this (as knowing you work with computers), that's not quite what you were thinking, Judas.
i seem to like buying the first release motherboards (these boards will usually had its BIOS that were much more outdated than today's BIOS), and work with all the BIOS versions i can get a hold of and have time to play with it, this also include many BETA BIOS in between the final release BIOS, therefore, i've been seeing many not so good at all release version BIOS's.
however, the if it isn't broken, don't fix it, should never apply to you, and i still suggest you flash all the board's BIOS when you work on a new board anyway (and then just reflash to the old BIOS version if you found a problem on the newer release BIOS).

Tipstaff

Here's a question for all you guys.

When you update a motherboards bios, how many of you do the recommended reset of the CMOS?

I don't just mean the suggested routine of going into the bios, and loading the bios defaults, but how many go by the old tech book suggested reset which is to do a hard reset (by removing the battery, and changing the recovery jumpers on the motherboard)?

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PangingJr

as far as my experience go i like to say that theory is not an old belief
but, personally, since i've updated BIOS so many times in one month or sometimes within a day, i don't completely clear CMOS by removing the battery and set BIOS's jumper right away after the initial updated. but i would do it after i found that it's necessary to ensure the BIOS will work right, especially when the new BIOS is about improving the system memory performance or compatibility.

cozumel

I'm a 'load the defaults' type of guy. I'm far too impatient to be taking out the battery every time I flash a BIOS and waiting what can seem like an eternity. I also would if there was a problem

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Judas

Unless i'm loading an older OS on the computer, i'm not really concerned about backward capabilities...

Sorry about the grammer mistakes

I always do the update straight away, i don't deal with BETA bios'es ever.... and i always have a backup plan to backtrack if nessary..

as i said, first build i fire it up.. run memtest for a few hours to somewhat make sure things are running smooth (i don't like the idea of updating the bios if the memory is showing problems...) and then update the bios. Afterwhich proceed with installation and thorough stress testing. If i come across a problem.... and i'm unable to resolve it through most means... the bios backtracking is my last resort.

I do however do the Bios update, reboot, check to make sure it's running properly yet and the bios updated, shut down, reset cmos every time though.

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PangingJr

Gigabyte don't release a production version of BIOS that often, each BIOS usually has quite a long beta period,
like before it becomes a production version F5, there would be like F5a, F5b..., F5g.., F5h.. it will usually take a while before the beta label is removed.

if you never wanted to deal with beta bios'es like you said, then you probably won't update your BIOS that many times at all through the life of your board.

Just Learnin'

Update if there is a necessary fix. I then check performance against what newer BIOS updates show from other Guinea Pi.... erm..unh, early adopters report. Or sometimes just if I am bored.

cozumel

Which brings us back to the old research chestnut. If I'm gonna buy a motherboard (or any other component) then research has to be done. So, if there is known issues with a certain BIOS then it wouldn't update. A lot of this stuff is good old common sense really, like following good methodical procedures for installation including testing of components at every possible stage of build & burn-in /stress tests once it is finished.

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PangingJr

Just Learnin',
i just checked your system spec, you are now using P35-DQ6 and E8400?, what is your overclock, FSB and CPU multi?

PangingJr

that's not included me lol, i usually get bored with researching, sometimes i can't say that i even use any common sense to make the decision, lol, and have been making purchase based based on what i felt like.
i think, all i care that i must have return policy, and the parts i buy must carry good warranty. then most of the time i just test them myself.

Judas

precisely...... i only update to the latest Fx version without a beta tag....

The only time i take a chance on the FxY bioses is when no bios works for me and i'm taking a leap of faith to get something working....

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PangingJr

i think, so long as the boards still very current, still support most current processors and the upcoming processors (if there is any),
then the BIOS will always a work in progress and i just try it again if there is any new version come out, beta or not, to me it's all in beta.

anyway, many of the mid to high end boards these days comes with 2 separate BIOS chips installed, some uses 2 removable BIOS chips (which is even better).
one of the chip is primary BIOS, another one is backup BIOS, the backup BIOS is usually unwritable, so it's also usually unscrewable by a bad BIOS flash.
there is one board i know of, P965 DS4 rev.1.0, this board has 2 flash ROM BIOS onboard, and comes with Dual BIOS utility,
both main BIOS and backup BIOS can be writable, and i like it back when i use this board. but i guess that there could be some problem with some users, since Gigabyte don't want to use this same Dual BIOS design in its P35/X38/X48 based baords any more.
i just make sure that i understand on how these features work on my systems to solve a bad BIOS flash problem.

Judas

The DQ6 board i had, had a dual bios.... and a quad booting system of sorts..

if i flashed the bios, and it failed, it would pull from the backup.... and if it was successful.... it would then write to the backup as the current working bios.

Depending on bios settings applied or failed startups.. sometimes a 4 bios reset modes were attempted.. the last being 100% failsafe.... from what i experienced anyways.

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Just Learnin'

Overclock is at 4005MHz, FSB is 445 and multi is X9. I have been up to 533MHz FSB and managed SuperPi 1M at 4800MHz. Keep in mind this was done on air and nothing but stupidity and voltage :



That was done with a set of Ballistix PC8500 with the spreaders removed, I wish I had more dividers because the Ballistix are quite impressive actually: