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New 2103 Bios for ROG Strix Gaming A Question?

Adrian1983
Level 10
I'm currently on 1601 after Asus messed up the voltage in Bios's after that which were supposedly fixed in 2004 but I didn't even attempt to flash that one as the fiasco appeared about not being able to rollback.

So where do we stand now with the new 2103? It doesn't say in the description you cannot rollback this time so if I flashed this new bios would I be able to revert back to 1601 should anything go wrong?

Has anyone tried the new 2103 on the Gaming A? Are voltages the same as 1601?

I have no faith in Asus anymore, Gone are the days where I didn't even think about them messing a bios update up they just worked but lately these updates have been poor and shoddy and I have lost all confidence in just flashing one without finding some sort of issue sadly.
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13 REPLIES 13

Silent Scone@ROG wrote:
Can I ask what the reason is you need to update for if you're not using a 13th gen CPU and don't require a microcode update?

It's not uncommon in the slightest to lock out roll backs when there is new Intel ME / ucode updates.


Hi Silent Scone, I totally understand the question but there are many reasons, Security fixes, I know the majority of these are done via the ME updates but also the microcode is updated also for security fixes, Aside from that there is the general bios fixes and improvements, Bios tweaks, Memory tweaks and performance enhancements.

I have owned many Asus boards over the years and I will be perfectly honest I have always kept them up to date with the very latest bios and never had any issues but rollback has always been possible at least on the boards I owned, Correct me if I am wrong but me personally I have never seen this before about not being able to rollback on a rollback motherboard, I could be wrong just that I have never seen that for myself but then again the latest bios's have always worked normally without issue it's only since Z690 I am seeing issues with voltages and locked out of rollback for unfortunate users that have already updated their bios's.

In all honesty would it really have been that difficult for Asus to just release 2 bios's one for Alder Lake and one for Raptor Lake?

ASUS are not alone in locking out going back to earlier BIOS versions. It happened to me last year with a Gigabyte Z390 board.

I've been keeping a close eye on 2103 and as far as I can tell there have been virtually no issues overall. There were some problems with M.2 slot detection when using 13th gen CPUs, but as far as I know, they were all resolved with ME updates. BIOS 1720 looked like it caused all sorts of problems for people and some issues remained with 2004, that's why I jumped from 1601 straight to 2103.

Couple of other things to say - 1) I have the Hero, not the Gaming A so take my opinion with some caution. What I can say is that I've had no problems either with 2103 on the Hero. So is it worth changing to 2103? If your system is stable and you're not planning on using a 13th gen chip then no need as far as I know. 2) The only other reason would be to address any security issues.

Intel do provide a ME vulnerability checking tool which you can download here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19392/intel-converged-security-and-management-engin...

I just downloaded it again as it has been updated. No need to install, just extract the files from the ZIP archive (By the way, on the previous release I used the 'GUI' tool, but my virus checker is not happy with it since the latest release. However, the 'console' version of the tool in the 'Discovery Tool' folder is working fine. Just run it and it will place an HTML results file in the same location as the .exe file). You will then know if you have an ME vulnerability.

If you are vulnerable, then I'd suggest it's worth moving to 2103. In that case, you should also flash the latest ME firmware and update Windows ME drivers. If not, then you probably have nothing to gain. It is true that you won't be able to go back to anything earlier than 2004, so the choice, as they say, is yours. I can only comment on my own experience with the Hero.
Z690 Hero, BIOS 3401, MEI 2345.5.3.0, ME Firmware 16.1.30.2361, 7000X Case, RM1000x PSU, i9 12900K, ASUS TUF OC 3090TI, 2 x 16GB Corsair RAM @ 5200MHz, Windows 11 Pro 23H2, Corsair H150i Elite AIO, 4x Corsair RGB fans, 3x M.2 NVME drives, 2x SATA SSDs, 2x SATA HDs.

JohnAb wrote:
ASUS are not alone in locking out going back to earlier BIOS versions. It happened to me last year with a Gigabyte Z390 board.

I've been keeping a close eye on 2103 and as far as I can tell there have been virtually no issues overall. There were some problems with M.2 slot detection when using 13th gen CPUs, but as far as I know, they were all resolved with ME updates. BIOS 1720 looked like it caused all sorts of problems for people and some issues remained with 2004, that's why I jumped from 1601 straight to 2103.

Couple of other things to say - 1) I have the Hero, not the Gaming A so take my opinion with some caution. What I can say is that I've had no problems either with 2103 on the Hero. So is it worth changing to 2103? If your system is stable and you're not planning on using a 13th gen chip then no need as far as I know. 2) The only other reason would be to address any security issues.

Intel do provide a ME vulnerability checking tool which you can download here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19392/intel-converged-security-and-management-engin...

I just downloaded it again as it has been updated. No need to install, just extract the files from the ZIP archive (By the way, on the previous release I used the 'GUI' tool, but my virus checker is not happy with it since the latest release. However, the 'console' version of the tool in the 'Discovery Tool' folder is working fine. Just run it and it will place an HTML results file in the same location as the .exe file). You will then know if you have an ME vulnerability.

If you are vulnerable, then I'd suggest it's worth moving to 2103. In that case, you should also flash the latest ME firmware and update Windows ME drivers. If not, then you probably have nothing to gain. It is true that you won't be able to go back to anything earlier than 2004, so the choice, as they say, is yours. I can only comment on my own experience with the Hero.


I have noticed the TUF 2103 people are having issues, I think I'll stay away. I am not going to update over 1601 that seems to be ok for me for now, Such a pita if you flash and it doesn't work for some users with their config and you can't roll back, The last thing I want is the voltage problem I had with the last bios I flashed but luckily that was the last one before not being able to roll back anymore, It created extra wattage and added 10c to my temps.

Thanks for that I'll check that tool and check how secure my system is in the current state.

Makes perfect sense. I was not aware of the TUF issues, so apologies that I missed that. That's why I made it clear that my experience was with the Hero. Anyway, to eliminate any risk, then all things being equal, probably a good idea to stay where you are. If you are vulnerable to an ME issue, then some further research should reveal what the risk really is. If that's the case, please update us with the vulnerability identified. I would be interested to know what firmware you are using as well thanks.

To be honest, I haven't noticed any difference between 1601 and 2103. I did update ME, but no other differences that I can find. Mind you I don't bother with overclocking as I have no need (yet). Security issues aside, you should be good to stay on 1601 - the only other reason to go to 2004 or 2103 is if you want to change to a 13th gen processor.
Z690 Hero, BIOS 3401, MEI 2345.5.3.0, ME Firmware 16.1.30.2361, 7000X Case, RM1000x PSU, i9 12900K, ASUS TUF OC 3090TI, 2 x 16GB Corsair RAM @ 5200MHz, Windows 11 Pro 23H2, Corsair H150i Elite AIO, 4x Corsair RGB fans, 3x M.2 NVME drives, 2x SATA SSDs, 2x SATA HDs.