BIOS 4001

[roganaut]

Hi, 

surprisingly there's a new BIOS in town. Funny as I've just yesterday updated to 3901 Beta after long pondering. Install went on smooth. About 6 minutes, LED software and ME Update incl.  Vcore is still a bit high, here while benching. But as far I can see the spikes maybe less.  BIOS defaults. Cinebench 2024 result the same as 3901. 

Update: 13700K  ->  14900K 

My specs now: Z690-I, 14900K, 2x16 Vengeance DDR5-5600, Noctua NH-D15

As far as I can say after a week BIOS 4001 is running without issues, no spikes, as soft as butter, temps are about 35°C idle, about 60°C while GTA V. CPU is more reactive and faster than 13700K even though tamed in BIOS. I don't do heavy tasks  and don't bother my system.

My conservative BIOS Settings aiming durability:
Performance Preferences [Intel Default Settings]
Intel Default Settings [Performance]
Ai Overclock Tuner [XMP I]
XMP [DDR5-5600 36-36-36-76-1.25V-1.25V]
ASUS MultiCore Enhancement [Disabled – Enforce All limits]
SVID Behavior [Intel’s Fail Safe]
DRAM Frequency [DDR5-5600MHz]
Maximum CPU Core Temperature [80]
Long Duration Package Power Limit [125]
Short Duration Package Power Limit [125]
IA VR Voltage Limit [1350]
IA TDC Current Limit [Motherboard's Capability]

Cinebench 2024: Intel Default Settings: Extreme. Just for testing. 

After limiting IR VR Voltage to 1350 mV:

 

 

[Rooke]

That's interesting.  What CPU are you using with that motherboard?  The reason I ask, is some people had problems with the 12 gen CPUs using the 3901 Beta BIOS which also used the Intel microcode 0x12B. 

I've got a 12700KF on a Z690-F and it's very stable with BIOS 3701, so I'm hesitant to take any unneeded chances.

[roganaut]

Hi, updated OP. 13700K. But I only dared this procedure because of my pending 14900K. Because of reported bad experiences I did not take a chance to brick my system.  As far as I can see (after 30 Minutes) everything is seemingly running normal. Cinebench 2024 ran in the background with no issues. 

[s_vanhelsing]

Thanks! I'm still on 3701 but I will update to 4001 later today. I have a Z690 Extreme with 12900K

[ls612]

Have the issues people were having on 3802 installing on Z690 boards with 12th Gen CPUs been resolved in 4001? I'm on 3603 and didn't want to update after the 3802 issues but I do want to make sure I am fully up to date eventually.

[Kounsel]

I’m having issues with error 55. Z690 hero and 14900k. Doesn’t boot. Had to flashback. Tried two different sets of ram, one 5200, one 6400. 

[JohnAb]

Not sure what to suggest. 3901 didn't work for everybody, but we have different CPUs, so hopefully soon, somebody with your setup should be able to say if it works for them. Maybe download again and try again is my only suggestion right now 😑. 

[JohnAb]

I decided to miss 3901 beta and have now installed 4001. Unlike 3801, the process went smoothly apart from at one point in the BIOS, I realised that my keyboard had stopped working. After another reboot it has been fine since. Maybe not related to the BIOS, but that has never happened before. 

I had no black screens or freezes and everything seems to be working so far. I've set XMP = On, PCH voltages lowered to midpoints (0.92V and 0.76V), GNA = On and DTT = On. Same as my normal settings. What I can report is the following:

BIOS 3701. Max CPU core voltages approx. 1.34V. Average around 1.27V, minimum approx. 0.74V.  

BIOS 4001. Max CPU core voltages approx. 1.41V. Average around 1.19V, minimum approx. 0.71V.  

So max voltages are definitely higher by roughly 5%. Is that bad? I don't know. At least they don't seem crazy high. Along with lower average CPU voltages, CPU power consumption also seems to be lower at rest, falling to around 16W. With BIOS 3701 it would rarely fall below 20W. I've also just played a round of Black Ops 6 and that seemed OK, no problems. I also ran Cinebench R23 and got a multi-core core of 26,000 - no change from previous runs so performance seems the same. 

So apart from higher max CPU voltages, things seem OK so far. I'll report back if I notice anything strange over the next few days. 

[Blai5e]

I too skipped the 3901 Beta, on a 12900k/Z690 Hero here.

Keep getting "Incorrect BIOS" when trying to update. Downloaded the file twice from the Z690 Hero support page (and renamed the BIOIS before trying to update).

[JohnAb]

Oh. I'd suggest the folllowing:

Download again to eliminate any corruption and double check that you are downloading for the correct motherboard (yes, I've made that mistake before)

Unpack with Winrar, not Windows

Place on a FAT 32 formatted memory stick

Turn off XMP to reduce any small risk of instability during the update

Update from within the BIOS instead of using the flashback port

Good luck...

PS I downloaded it from here: https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/intel-700-600-series/raptorlake-resources/m-p/1053065#M26697