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Z790 Dark Hero 1703/1704 BIOS

TheJackyking
Level 8

Not long ago ASUS released the 1703 BIOS for the Z790 Dark Hero mobo, and now they pulled the 1703 without any explanation whatsoever.

Would it be possible for ASUS give out a statement on why 1703 was removed? Was it due to a critical bug? Or something minor?

Some regions already saw the new 1704 BIOS released for the Dark Hero (e.g., Philippines, Hong Kong). What is the difference between 1703 and 1704? Is it a must for folks to upgrade their BIOS again ASAP?

I am on the 1703 BIOS atm and would like to know if it is secretly frying my components or summoning the great Cthulhu without my knowledge. Please clarify on this issue ASUS.

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22 REPLIES 22

Sure did.  Twice actually.  The system is...  ok...  without any overclocking.  Still occasional bsod I am not used to getting.  And frequent hangups on restart.  Any overclocking of the cpu causes the sytem to be entite unstable.  Only thing that seems to help is going back to previous bios.

Looks like processor degradation. At reduced voltage settings, it no longer works. Therefore, on older Bios, it is more stable. But soon blue screens will begin on old Bios. Contact Intel to replace the processor.

@ATOdinson Are you explicitly disabling C1 states on the older version of the BIOS and running Windows High Performance or Ultimate Performance Power Profiles? If yes, then the statement above by @dennys2009 makes total sense because disabling C1 states will request higher voltages which will make your CPU perform better since the known degradation is for lower voltages.

Disclaimer: I am not an ASUS support person so my information may be incomplete. Always follow official documentation and material provided by ASUS representatives.

INTEL i9-14900K / CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB 192GB (4x48GB) 5200 CAS38 / ROG Z790 DARK HERO / ROG TUF GAMING RTX 4090 OC / ProArt PA-602 Case / SEASONIC PRIME TX-1300 ATX 3.0 / CORSAIR MP700 PRO 2TB PCIe Gen5 / CRUCIAL T500 2TB PCIe Gen4 / EIZO CG2700X

No.  I have run it in either factory defaults, or witb basic ai overclocking on.  I have not explicitly disabled C1 states

What about Windows Power Profile? Are you on the default Balanced profile or something else?

Since you are running the BIOS on default, I thought the C1 states are enabled by default in the BIOS so upgrading the BIOS should not have caused any change for you but it did which is strange.

Have you checked the CPU LL Level in the version that works and the latest BIOS? Is this level changing for you?

You can also try to take a note of all your configuration by taking quick pictures with your phone and when you load the latest BIOS you can change anything that is not matching as a test to see if things work better. Maybe the new auto defaults are picking a value that is different from the previous version and causing issues.

Disclaimer: I am not an ASUS support person so my information may be incomplete. Always follow official documentation and material provided by ASUS representatives.

INTEL i9-14900K / CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB 192GB (4x48GB) 5200 CAS38 / ROG Z790 DARK HERO / ROG TUF GAMING RTX 4090 OC / ProArt PA-602 Case / SEASONIC PRIME TX-1300 ATX 3.0 / CORSAIR MP700 PRO 2TB PCIe Gen5 / CRUCIAL T500 2TB PCIe Gen4 / EIZO CG2700X

Ill check all of that.  I am running my power profile the same for both bios.  Balanced.  Ill take a look at the CPULL and see if anything is different between the two bios.

As far as voltage, I have been monitoring voltage with both sets of bios via adia 64.  Peak voltage is max 1.4v.  This is true when running both the old and the new bios.

What are you changing when you say that you are overclocking which makes your build unstable on the newer BIOS? Typically, once has to retune and configure the overclock differently due to the BIOS changes. The overlock margins, auto rules, bug that were working in your favor but now fixed could all cause things to work differently and hence one has to find the new group of settings for every new BIOS.

Disclaimer: I am not an ASUS support person so my information may be incomplete. Always follow official documentation and material provided by ASUS representatives.

INTEL i9-14900K / CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB 192GB (4x48GB) 5200 CAS38 / ROG Z790 DARK HERO / ROG TUF GAMING RTX 4090 OC / ProArt PA-602 Case / SEASONIC PRIME TX-1300 ATX 3.0 / CORSAIR MP700 PRO 2TB PCIe Gen5 / CRUCIAL T500 2TB PCIe Gen4 / EIZO CG2700X

Maybe you had Rapid Storage RAID mode before the bios update, and after the update it became off? Or vice versa.

=============================

Hi dennys2009,

I hope this message finds you well.

Agreed, I thought this too. The good news is, I have resolved the BSOD at Windows 10 boot-up. I’ve detailed the steps below that worked for me.

My assumption is that the 1704 BIOS update also updated the Intel VMD driver within the BIOS. I did see the version in the BIOS was version 20.0.xxxx (don’t recall the exact number). Please note that I did clear the CMOS after the BIOS update was fully completed.

I realize the steps below may be a little odd, but they made the system temporarily boot up, allowed me to stop the driver causing a BSOD and then update the Windows driver to resolve the issue.

I hope these are useful to someone else. The 1704 BIOS is so far stable for me. However, I likely have the advantage with building my system in mid-August 2024. Upon first powering on the system, I updated to BIOS Version 1503 and then began setting up Windows etc.

I’ve included the basic specifications of my system below. Thanks for the advice everyone 😊

=================

iaStorvd.sys BSOD Resolution Steps:

  1. Choose Startup Repair after Windows 10 declares a BSOD has occurred
  2. Disable Driver Signature Enforcement (Option 7 from the list presented) (Please note this disable option only lasts for one boot of the system, upon restart it will re-enable).
  3. Windows should now start
  4. Within services.msc, disable Intel Storage Middleware Service (RstMwService)
  5. Using Systinternals Autoruns, search for the iastorvd.sys driver. Untick the box next to the positive search result for this driver.
  6. Restart the system. It will not BSOD (Please note that Driver Signature Enforcement will have automatically turned back on so your system is still secure)
  7. Download and install Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver (RST) Version 20.1.0.1015.1 (released in August 2024) or the most recent version available.
  8. Restart the system. It will not BSOD
  9. Optional: Download and install the most recent Intel MEI driver, Version 2435.6.36.0 (Released October 2024) in this instance.
  10. Use your system as normal.

=================

 

=================

My system:

CPU: Intel Core i7 14700KF (default settings)

RAM: Corsair DOMINATOR PLATINUM RGB DDR5 RAM 64GB (2x32GB) 5200MHz CL40 Intel XMP CMT64GX5M2B5200C40

GPU: ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER OC Edition 16GB GDDR6X (Nvidia Game Ready Driver: 565.90)

SSD: Samsung Pro 990 Heatsink, 1 TB

Motherboard: Asus ROG MAXIMUS Z790 DARK Hero (BIOS 1704)

=================

ATOdinson
Level 10

So, it was indeed a degraded processor.  It started throwing errors when unzipping files, installing programs, etc.  Started getting lots of blue screens.  RMA, got the replacement CPU, and everything works again like a charm.  I even have AI overclocking and my ram overclocked without issue. 

So thanks for those who pointed me toward a degraded processor. 

Glad to hear that you found the problem and resolved it as well. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am not an ASUS support person so my information may be incomplete. Always follow official documentation and material provided by ASUS representatives.

INTEL i9-14900K / CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB 192GB (4x48GB) 5200 CAS38 / ROG Z790 DARK HERO / ROG TUF GAMING RTX 4090 OC / ProArt PA-602 Case / SEASONIC PRIME TX-1300 ATX 3.0 / CORSAIR MP700 PRO 2TB PCIe Gen5 / CRUCIAL T500 2TB PCIe Gen4 / EIZO CG2700X