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&&&Asus Z86 ProV
- How do I save the bios to a flash drive&
Who is your BIOS manufacturer? It's either AMI, Phoenix or Award. You can find out when your computer first turns on if you don't have the splash screen enabled (the Windows logo displaying with the loading bar). Or, you can go into the BIOS and look at the top of the screen and it should be up there somewhere.
Depending on the manufacturer, there are different steps that need to be taken.
calmstateofmind said:Who is your BIOS manufacturer? It's either AMI, Phoenix or Award. You can find out when your computer first turns on if you don't have the splash screen enabled (the Windows logo displaying with the loading bar). Or, you can go into the BIOS and look at the top of the screen and it should be up there somewhere.
Depending on the manufacturer, there are different steps that need to be taken.
I had to RMA the first board because it would not post. I will get back to you as soon as I receive the replacement board.
I am trying to do my homework now before the new board arrives so that I will have all of my ducks in a row and I can just build my computer. The Asus manual says NOT to update the BIOS if the included BIOS is working (go figure), but I am not sure that would be the best thing because it seems like the most current BIOS is important for the proper function of the board.
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flong said:The Asus manual says NOT to update the BIOS if the included BIOS is working (go figure), but I am not sure that would be the best thing because it seems like the most current BIOS is important for the proper function of the board.
Actually, quite the opposite. Messing with your BIOS is like playing with fire. The only time that you should update your BIOS is if there's a major problem and updating is a known fix, or if there's a major feature in the newer version and you just can't do without. Other than that, I'd leave it alone.
If you're curious, try Googling "dangers of updating BIOS", or something along those lines, and read a few articles. In a general sense, yes, it' important to have all your hardware/software current, but the BIOS is an exception.
calmstateofmind said:Actually, quite the opposite. Messing with your BIOS is like playing with fire. The only time that you should update your BIOS is if there's a major problem and updating is a known fix, or if there's a major feature in the newer version and you just can't do without. Other than that, I'd leave it alone.
If you're curious, try Googling "dangers of updating BIOS", or something along those lines, and read a few articles. In a general sense, yes, it' important to have all your hardware/software current, but the BIOS is an exception.
Thanks for the advice, I was not aware of this.
Asus allows a person to save a copy of their BIOS on a flash drive in case they have problems updating the BIOS - hence the inspiration for this thread.
Hopefully, one of the many people who own the Asus Z68 Pro V will provide a how to guide on this procedure. It probably is fairly simple but I have even Googled the procedure and could not find guidance on how to do it.
I hate to call Asus, but that may be what is required.
If you could tell me the manufacturer of your BIOS, I'll be able to tell you how.
Motherboard
The only real danger of updating the BIOS is that you can turn your board into a paperweight.
However, that doesn't happen very often.
I have personally updated about 1000 boards or so (over four years of daily PC/server building) in my tech support career, and none of the flash procedures has failed.
I've done it using floppy disks, flash drives, and Windows programs with no problems.
I don't see what all the fuss is about.
I will continue to update my own boards every time a new BIOS version comes out.
During that whole time, I never did save the BIOS, so unfortunately I cannot answer flong's question.
I suppose it is possible that I've been just about the luckiest person alive in regards to BIOS updating.
calmstateofmind said:If you could tell me the manufacturer of your BIOS, I'll be able to tell you how.
I will post the manufacturer as soon as I get my new board back from Newegg. The RMA process has been frustratingly slow. I should have just returned the defective board for a refund and bought a new one.
I want to be able to save my original BIOS just in case I need it for some reason in the future. If my board works, I probably will not immediately update the BIOS. I will talk to Asus first and see what they recommend.
Hey everyone,
I switched to the new AsRock Extreme 4 Gen 3 which is PCI-E 3.0 compatible and will work with Sandy Bridge CPUs. It also has some sort of bridge that the Asus motherboards in this price range do not have that allows you to use all of the PCI-E slots and does not disable certain ones. (as noted in Tom's Hardware review of this board and the Asus Pro V).
I still want to be able to save the BIOS onto a flash drive (just in case)
and so if anyone has the board (note that it is the same as the AsRock Z68 Extreme 4) and can let me know how to save the BIOS I would appreciate it. The board is coming in tomorrow.
The link to my board is here:
I believe what you're looking for is . It explains the process for flashing your BIOS, specific to that motherboard.
As for backing up the current version, just check what version is it and go , find that version and save it. That's it.
I think what they meant in the manual was to save the version you're going to be updating to, instead of save the current settings/version. It can be taken either way, in fact at first glance I took it that way too, but I'm pretty sure they mean the version you'll be updating to.
If you want to backup your settings though, the best (and easiest) method of doing so is to just jot them down. There really aren't that many settings you've changed anyway, even with OCing and tweaking to best suit existing hardware, so it shouldn't take anymore than a minute or two.
There are a few utilities out there that attempt to do so though, but most don't support newer mobos. Best of luck!
Quick edit - I meant to say that this new motherboard will work with Ivy Bridge CPUs that will enable PCI-E 3.0 functionality.
calmstateofmind said:I believe what you're looking for is . It explains the process for flashing your BIOS, specific to that motherboard.
As for backing up the current version, just check what version is it and go , find that version and save it. That's it.
I think what they meant in the manual was to save the version you're going to be updating to, instead of save the current settings/version. It can be taken either way, in fact at first glance I took it that way too, but I'm pretty sure they mean the version you'll be updating to.
If you want to backup your settings though, the best (and easiest) method of doing so is to just jot them down. There really aren't that many settings you've changed anyway, even with OCing and tweaking to best suit existing hardware, so it shouldn't take anymore than a minute or two.
There are a few utilities out there that attempt to do so though, but most don't support newer mobos. Best of luck!
Thank you very much - you have been a great help. It is really surprising that a person cannot simply google this issue to find help. Even simple issues like installing the CPU are not clearly explained and are not that easy to google - though I think I have figured it out.
A step by step sticky on saving the bios and backing up your motherboard if you are going to flash / update the BIOS would be a good thing to have on Tom's Hardware.
Thanks again very much, I will let you know how it goes.
Glad I could shed a bit of insight! Hope everything goes smoothly!
Just wanted to let everyone know my new build is amazing. The 2600K in combination with the Corsair GT Force 3 120 GB SSD makes the computer wicked fast. It boots Windows 7 in less than 25 seconds. It loads large programs like MS Outlook instantly. Everything on this computer happens right now. It is funny to watch downloads because I believe the limiting factor is my ISP and not the computer and I have broadband. All of this is in the beautiful Corsair 650D case which is also amazing.
I am soooo happy. My previous it is was an I-7 920. That was a very fast computer but it doesn't even compare to this one and I have not even overclocked it yet.
The AsRock Extreme 4 Gen 3 motherboard has proveded to be totally impressive with no problems to date. From the one review that I have read it is a great overclocker. It also shares the PCI-E lanes in a more efficient manner than the Asus Z68 boards (all except the maximus extreme). It appears to be of higher quality than many other boards because it offers Japanese components (gold cap).
It also supports Ivy Bridge CPUs and is gen 3 PCI-E 3.0.
This board appears to be far superior to the Asus Z68 Pro V that I returned. The only advantage of the Asus board is a more detailed UEFI.
Thanks for all of your help. I now have a simply beautiful, lightning fast computer. All of you at Toms helped me put it together and deserve credit. Thanks again.
Sounds like a pretty sweet setup! If you're not that experienced with OCing and down the road decide you want to, you know where to find us!
Until then...
calmstateofmind said:Sounds like a pretty sweet setup! If you're not that experienced with OCing and down the road decide you want to, you know where to find us!
Until then...
I have a step by step guide and I probably will overclock to at least the mid 4.5 mhtz range as that is extremely safe. Right now I am not sure if I really need to overclock as it is already so very fast. If I were playing a heavy resource game like Metro 2033 then possibly it would become more important. I will probably overclock just out of curiosity.
In a recent review on Vortex, this board went to 5.0 ghtz with very little effort.
Right now under load, with the Noctua NH-D14 my max CPU temp is 46 C. If I understand it right, the max allowed is 80 C. That would mean that I have lots of headroom to overclock. The D-14 keeps up with the new Corsair H80 and it is quieter. I still think it is the best choice for the money however (I got it for $80 with free shipping), the H100 does cool better - it also costs $50 more.
I just ran my first computer scan with anti-virus and ant-spyware software. It took three hours on my old computer (I was using a Pentium 4, XP temporarily). It took 46 seconds on my new computer, ha, ha. I was blown away.
Thanks again for all of your help.
Motherboard
When overclocking a Sandy Bridge system, the CPU is the limiter, not the board.
Around 70% of CPUs get to 4.5GHz
Around 10% of CPUs get to 4.8GHz
Less than 1% of CPUs get to 5.0GHz
In other words, don't expect 5.0GHz -- most people can only get to 4.6-4.7GHz.
The max core temp the CPU will allow is 98?C.
You should try to keep the cores below 75?C for a long-term overclock.
Also, keep the voltage below 1.4v (default is 1.2v).
Leaps-from-Shadows said:When overclocking a Sandy Bridge system, the CPU is the limiter, not the board.
Around 70% of CPUs get to 4.5GHz
Around 10% of CPUs get to 4.8GHz
Less than 1% of CPUs get to 5.0GHz
In other words, don't expect 5.0GHz -- most people can only get to 4.6-4.7GHz.
The max core temp the CPU will allow is 98?C.
You should try to keep the cores below 75?C for a long-term overclock.
Also, keep the voltage below 1.4v (default is 1.2v).
Thanks for the heads-up. I don't plan to push the OC very far.
I mean, the computer is already wicked fast - I don't have a whole lot of reason to push it past its safe limits. My AsRock board automatically overclocks to the 4.5 - 4.8 Ghz range as I understand it (though I have not used this feature before). I will probably go with that.
I am surprised by the numbers you list, I cannot tell you how many 2600K reviews that I have read that list and OC over 5 Ghz. I have read two reviews that listed an OC over 6 Ghz on Z68 boards. I am not sure I have read a professional review with an overclock less than 4.8 Ghz, but that is off the top of my head.
I think with the Noctua D-14 will keep temps down well under 75 C because I am only using one GPU. My XFX 6950 has two cooling fans and radiator cooling system and so I think it will be fine. It rarely runs the second fan under load because it stays so cool.
The Corsair 650D case does an excellent job of cooling the mobo, cpu and video card.
I checked my CPU and right now it is running at 40 C under load and the mobo runs even cooler. The combination of the D14 and the 650D's great air circulation is very effective. I purposely wanted these two together because they cool so much better than the slightly cheaper solutions. My case was only $150 after rebates and the D-14 was only $80.
I wanted and "overkill" type of cooling for my build.
Best answer selected by flong.
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