BIOS 2703 Feedback

[JohnAb]

What experiences do people have with the new BIOS release? I haven't tried it yet myself. The support page says that ME firmware will be updated to 16.1.27.2176.

I'm already on a later version (16.1.30.2255) with BIOS 2602. Does anybody know if this could cause a problem? Just makes me a little nervous in terms of what could happen. I'm assuming that if on a later version then the ME update will not happen, but would like to know if anybody else has updated to 2703 with a more recent ME version.

Also, does anybody know if it's possible to go back from this latest version if any problems? Thanks. 

[Unsoundbee]

Hey 

do you have a USB stick with the bios on? If so then you can just use the flash from usb on the backside of the MB, but remember to turn of the pc completely and take the power cord out, then press the power button some times and maybe hold it down a little to get all electricity out of it and the just manually flash the USB.

my rog strix z690 f does this sometimes and actually locks me totally out of the bios, but the only fix that I can get to work is manually flashing it.

hope it helps

[Rooke]

ROG Strix Z690-F Gaming WiFi;  Intel Core i7 12700KF;
Updated successfully to the latest BIOS the day after it was available.  For the week since it was updated, everything has been running fine. 

[trihy]

To notice performance degradation because mitigation patches, you need to try i/o benchmarks. Not just cpu based benchmarks. Also avx benchmarks, since some security problem was revealed some weeks ago.

[Enet]

Yes you can go back. That's what I did. But for me, the instability with AI OC that occurred with 2703 is still there.

I rebuilt my machine, then followed the AI  OC instructions. Turned on AI OC and got a BSOD after a couple of minutes.  I only upgraded the BIOS because there were security patches but I do wish I hadn't now. But the good news is that after all that work, I am now pretty close to the Cinebench score I was getting with AI OC on previously.  So there's that I suppose.

[Enet]

I've done more testing, including reseting cmos. Turning on AI OC on my motherboard causes a near instant bsod. The motherboard behaves completely differently now. Before when I undervolted, the performance improved, now it does the opposite. This would be good news if the AI OC didn't keep crapping out. Maybe after all the issues they had with motherboards pushing too much voltage, they are now going the other way. 

[Unsoundbee]

Hey have you tried downloadning the bios on a usb stick and then turn off your pc plug everything out inc power cord. Then flash it manually onto the motherboard using the bios port.

try it, my pc wouldn’t at all let me in the bios so what help me with that problem was doing this, if something like this don’t help you, I think you may need to RMA it if it’s under warranty

[Enet]

Why would I RMA a PC that is working? The issue isn't the PC. The previous BIOS worked perfectly on this motherboard. This BIOS works but it looks like they have scaled back the voltages a little too far. Maybe I should turn off MCE. 

Update: I've just noticed that even if you rollback the BIOS, the ME version stays the same. I'm guessing that's where instability is coming from.

[JohnAb]

Could be. There is no way to roll back the ME firmware, so you're stuck with it. MoKiChU might have a later ME firmware on his thread, Check it out, it might help and it's OK to have a later ME firmware than the one needed for your BIOS. 

It's always a very good idea to turn off XMP before an ME firmware update for maximum stability. In very rare cases, instability can cause a firmware update failure mid process which can leave your motherboard bricked. I never bother myself, as I have 100% stability anyway, but better to be safe than sorry. If you are getting BSODs, I would also reset the CMOS first as well to give yourself the best chance, then test for a few days before attempting the firmware update. If any BSODs, I wouldn't do it until you are sure you can get it stable for the update, even if you have to use temporary BIOS settings.   

I'm on MEI drivers 2316.5.0.0 and ME Firmware 16.1.30.2255. No problems for me whatsoever. 

[Enet]

Hi

Thanks for the link. I've updated ME firmware and the Cinebench behaviour is almost back to how it used to be. But the AI OC instability is still there. I did make sure to clear cmos and load default bios settings multiple times but no change. This board is just not very stable. I was able to push my RAM to 6000Mhz on an ITX board, but it won't go past it's 5666 baseline on this board without bsods. 

[Silent_Scone]

hi Enet,
Use Cinebench R20 as a stock baseline before enabling AI Optimisation, then enable and rerun the benchmark to see if it passes.