G481 Bios and Drivers

Bannon05

I purchased the G481 from Microcenter recently and the PC can with a Gigabyte Aorus Elite X Ice motherboard. Can I download updated drivers and the bios for my PC's motherboard directly from Gigabyte's website form the Aorus Elite X Ice motherboard page?

Thank you…

Bannon05

Great, thank you Mike for the detailed answer. 

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Bannon05

You can with some caveats. The BIOS won't flash unless you use the Gigabyte flashback function. You have to rename the BIOS file to Gigabyte.bin, copy it onto a FAT32 flash drive. From there insert it into the marked BIOS flashback port, then turn the system off and press the flashback button. It takes 5-7 minutes. Once you do that, we won't be able to target your system with our tested qualified driver updates.

Bannon05

Mike, thank you for the quick response and detailed answer!  I’m going to forego using any Gigabyte drivers or their bios, and will install only Microcenter qualified drivers.  

Have a happy new year…

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Bannon05

We push them automatically, except for the Nvidia driver. That I would keep up to date manually or with the GeForce Experience. If there's a new BIOS out for the board that you're interested in due to feature or microcode updates, post on here and we can qualify it as time allows.

Wunderboy04

My PowerSpec G481 has the following BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends International, LLC. F9c GA2, 10/14/2024
I would like to update my Gigabyte Z890 AORUS ELITE X ICE MB from F9c, to the latest available BIOS, F16c 01/23/2025
Will Microcenter be providing me that BIOS firmware version F16c? Am I stuck with F9c or will I be able to get F16c applied to my system?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Wunderboy04

I can put it on my project list to qualify and test that BIOS. With Gigabyte they do lock our custom BIOS from flashing normally, but you can Q-Flash it if you want to.

Page 19: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_z890-aorus-elite-x-ice_1004_e.pdf?v=de977be7bb5eb91990f1b66b809bce01

Downside of this is it changes the CHID back to Gigabyte so you won't get the drivers or updates we targeted at the system. You can flash back to our custom BIOS once we're able to qualify it.

Wunderboy04

After I renamed the Bios file to Gigabyte.bin it loads up until ~75% then throws this error no matter which BIOS version I try.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Wunderboy04

For this to work you need to do the following:

1. Copy the file to a FAT32 BIOS.
2. Plug it into the USB port labeled 'BIOS'.
3. Turn off the system.
4. Remove the panel and press the QF_PLUS button on the top right.
5. The light will start to flash, wait 3-5 minutes until it stops and power the system on.

Request for the custom BIOS is in, I'm just waiting on Gigabyte.

Wunderboy04

Thank you for your very quick reply. It is why I've decided to keep the G481 and not return it. You have been great! I'll keep my fingers crossed and wait and see what Gigabyte delivers to you in terms of the latest BIOS firmware update with all the new microcode for the Core Ultra 9 CPU's.😀

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Wunderboy04

I'll post here once I have it and we'll pin a thread for the model. Usually takes Gigabyte about a week. We will be posting BIOS updates on our new powerspec.com site in the near future.

ript

@PowerSpec_MikeW

Apologies in advance for "hijacking" this thread, but I purchased a G481 yesterday and have some questions that may be common knowledge:

1) What must be done on my end to receive the "tested qualified driver updates" mentioned above if and when they become available? I previously had a G470 and aside from NVIDIA drivers I don't believe I ever updated the BIOS or any other motherboard settings, and that machine has run flawlessly since March 2022.

2) I see that Intel has issued "Field Updates" 1 & 2 to address some of the performance issues found in the Intel Core Ultra 200 series… it appears that the majority of issues were addressed via Windows updates, which I can do on my own. The remaining fix(es) are addressed via BIOS updates. Do I just sit tight and wait for Gigabyte to get back to you regarding the custom BIOS? And then I must go the Q-Flash route to update BIOS?

Sorry, I am quite the novice and want to make sure I am getting the most out of this wonderful machine - correct RAM speed, current BIOS, etc. Thanks!

PowerSpec_MikeW

@ript

BIOS updates we'll post on the forum and eventually our site. We don't push these unless we have to as it will generally disable XMP.

Driver updates are automatic through Windows Update.

ript

@PowerSpec_MikeW

Thanks for the super fast reply! I will wait for Gigabyte to get back to you regarding the custom BIOS.