Bios update for G436 (MSI Z490 Plus MB)
I just bought a PowerSpec G436 which has the MS Z490 Plus MB. The product number for the motherboard is really MS-7C98 and the motherboard has MS-7C98 1.1 printed on it. That motherboard isn't listed on the English language MSI websites. I see it on some Chinese language websites and downloaded the latest. When I go into the M-Flash utility and select that file is says this at the bottom:
The reason I want to update the bios is that my mouse needs to be unplugged and plugged back in every time I boot. I tried some different USB option to no avail and have reset everything back to the defaults.
Thanks!
Current BIOS - Model Name: E7C98IZ1 Version: V1.M1 Build Date: 07/02/2020
Selected BIOS - Model Name: E7C98IMS Version V1.40 Build Date: 10/23/2020
Is that safe to use? Selected BIOS - Model Name: E7C98IMS Version V1.40 Build Date: 10/23/2020
The reason I want to update the bios is that my mouse needs to be unplugged and plugged back in every time I boot. I tried some different USB option to no avail and have reset everything back to the defaults.
Thanks!
Comments
MSI LInk: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/MPG-Z490-GAMING-PLUS#down-bios
Thank you.
Tim
We do not currently have a BIOS update available through this board, but we can look into it. Is there a specific issue or compatibility concern you're trying to address with a BIOS update?
it seems microcenter is trying to get rid of old obsolete parts but still charge a premium.
With that said, your specific error is definitely a concern I would like to address as it should not be present with how the hardware is configured on this system. Typically you would only see this error if you are attempting to use a graphics card that lacked UEFI support on a BIOS with CSM Legacy OP ROM options disabled. Our BIOS has CSM disabled by default, meaning only UEFI devices are supported, however the RTX 3070 graphics card that ships within your system should function perfectly fine with this configuration. If you can provide any details as to when this error started occurring and any changes that may have taken place around the time the error started to appear, we can work together to get to the bottom of it.
As for those of you looking for BIOS updates, I do not anticipate that a BIOS update will be available for this board unless one is required to address a specific security or compatibility issue with the board. For boards like these, we go through a very strict qualification process to make sure everything is working perfectly (USB ports are mapped correctly, secure boot functions properly with/without keys loaded, TPM functions, board/chipset features perform as advertised, etc) and BIOS updates can often break these functions inadvertently.
With that said, I am happy to work with any of you to address any concerns you may have. Should a BIOS update be required to address any concerns, we will explore those options as they come about.
Please download the motherboard driver package here: http://powerspec.com/support/files/psdriver_19s.zip
There will be a mystic light folder in the package with an installer for the RGB software. That should work just fine for you. If you're having issues installing it, let us know and we can work through them with you.
That's not something I've tested and it's fairly likely installing a version of Dragon Center will uninstall the Mystic Light standalone RGB software. What features are you looking for that Dragon Center provides?
The motherboard is a custom board that is sold exclusively to system integrators. It is not sold in retail stores, nor is it listed on MSI's website as they do not provide end-user support for system integration boards. That role would fall to us (Micro Center/PowerSpec), and we would be more than happy to take care of you and address issues as they arise with your system.
As for the AIO, these are actually designed by Cooler Master and their specifications should be available online for you to view. Depending on when your G436 was manufactured, you may have the original Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L RGB, or the newer MasterLiquid ML240L RGB V2. You can discern between the two based on the aesthetics of the pump/block assembly. In terms of performance, both coolers are rated around the same 200W TDP cooling capacity and should perform nearly identically.
https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/coolers/cpu-liquid-coolers/masterliquid-ml240l-rgb/#specifications
https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/coolers/cpu-liquid-coolers/masterliquid-ml240l-v2-rgb/#specifications
As for the memory, I can definitely understand the area of concern here. If we are strictly talking brand awareness, I do not expect many people to have heard of GoldKey here in the United States as their presence here isn't as strong as it is overseas, at least not under the "GoldKey" branding. Their Neo Forza sub-brand however, has been around for quite some time and some of you may be more familiar with that name. That said, when it comes to RAM, brand names are not as important as what is actually on the DIMM's themselves. Most memory manufacturers get their IC's from 3 big manufacturers; Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. The GoldKey DIMM's in your system use SK Hynix IC's and are the same speed grade that you'd find in memory from other brands around the same performance bracket.
While I understand the hesitation to put your faith in a system that has components you may not be familiar with, know that we will always stand by our products and will do our best to provide whatever support is necessary to help you enjoy them to their fullest.
Can you send a screenshot of this error and describe what you are attempting to launch when you receive it? The Mystic Light package we use is a much lighter version of MSI's original RGB control software, without Dragon Center's overall application package. We chose this option based on some of the customer feedback we found online. The application itself shouldn't have any dependency on Dragon Center, so if you are receiving that error when launching the application, I'd like to help troubleshoot this with you and resolve it to your satisfaction.
Before I got things settled I did try the Dragon Center stuff. It was doing this odd thing where it would set some graphic preferences so everything was really dark. You could see it come up normal and then get darker as it started. I read around and that software doesn't seem to be perfect. I uninstalled that and just ran just the light program to control that. Since then, things have been great.
I am just a customer, but I understand the frustration of having things not work. Do know that it can work just fine and the machine is really fast.
Thank you for the feedback. Part of our decision making process behind going with the lighter, cut-down version of the Mystic Light software was that it was easier to use and didn't exhibit any of the issues we saw others experiencing online. Most of the feedback we saw online showed that customers wanted an application that simply controlled lights without additional features added in, so we requested custom software for this particular board to accommodate that request.
Speaking of feedback, I wanted to touch upon this subject a little more with everyone. I want everyone to know that we do read the feedback we get on our systems and we do take everything into consideration. While we feel great when we get a positive response with our systems and it bolsters our pride when customers share their great experiences, we also want to hear the critical feedback that may hold our products back. I encourage everyone that has experienced our work first hand to share their experience and let your voice be heard on the subject. Not only do you help your fellow Micro Center customers make better, more informed purchasing decisions, but you give us the opportunity to provide a better product to you all going forward.
In the spirit of feedback and answering some questions others have posted in the thread, here's my experience. I bought this PC in late Nov, and I've had no issues with the setup out of the box. However, I also wanted to get Dragon Center working, modify/spruce up the PC, and try some gentle overclocking. I've run across a few things here and there.
Dragon Center (working, but what a pain). Needed Dragon Center in order for Razer Chroma to connect to Mystic light. The first install stalled out on first load, I'm thinking because some of the components are already installed by the standalone Mystic Light software. Doing an uninstall did not remove all the Dragon Center files, SDK, or registry keys. You have to go uninstall the MSI SDK shown in the add/remove programs menu specifically in order to remove it. In my case, even that wasn't enough to get rid of all the files, so I had to use Revo uninstaller (free trial) to nuke the program by pointing it at the MSI\One Dragon Center folder and having it scan everything that refers to it (there was a lot). Once I did that, I installed the most recent Dragon Center (2.0.96.0) from MSI with zero issues. It does connect to Razer synapse as it's supposed to and works ok, but you have to play with it to get it just right (MSI/Razer clunky software, not the hardware). Dragon center also boosted my performance by hitting their Extreme Performance user scenario (just turn off software fan control in DC or it will run fans at 100% ALL THE TIME), which got me a few hundred extra points in the 3dMark benchmark.
BIOS screen changed on me (not a big deal). I popped in an additional 32GB of ram (video editing and I needed some sweet sweet RGB) from GSkill, matching the speed and timings. The Ram works great, but the American Megatrends splash screen that loads during bios phase of startup has been replaced with a simple text that says PowerSpec ever since I put the Ram in. Don't think there's any real impact, but what's up with that?
Feedback -
- No bloatware! Thanks for not making this a bloatware monster. Other than the antivirus spammer (which I understand), it was a very clean install.
Lastly, I've been primarily a Fry's shopper for years because MC was just a little bit farther away from wherever I happened to be living. Fry's is a ghost town these days and looking really sad, so I gave MC a shot for the first time in probably 10 years. I've been in the store probably 4 times since Nov because of the selection and the people. Terrific work, thanks!-John
This is some fantastic feedback. Your insight on the uninstall process for the pre-installed Mystic Light application is extremely valuable and something we will be taking into consideration when we make custom software requests like this going forward. Your solution with Revo Uninstaller is also helpful to know, should others stumble across the same issue. I appreciate you taking the time to share that.
As for the feedback on having a parts list available, that is appreciated as well. I'll pass that along to the powers that be and hopefully we see some progress on that. In the meantime, I am happy to provide information about the components installed in these systems.
As for the modular PSU, this has been a tricky area to dial in on. We personally prefer modular PSU's as well as they are easier to build with (less cables to tie off/store out of place) and decided to include the spare modular cables in accessory kits. Unfortunately we ended up in situations where accessory kits would get tossed out accidentally or lost, or customers would return/exchange their units and forget to include the accessory kits in the system box, resulting in modular PSU's with missing PCIe/SATA power cables. It was eventually decided that the safest course of action was to simply plug all of the cables in and safely tuck them out of the way of fans/components and let customers grab the cables as they needed them. The downside to this is that it adds time having to install the cables, and creates a bit of a "rats nest" in front of the PSU, which might be less aesthetically pleasing for some. The upside is that nobody ends up missing random cables with their system and typically has everything they need. Since the cables were going to be plugged in anyways, going with a semi-modular or even a non-modular PSU would save time for the production team and cost for the customer since the component itself is less expensive for a non-modular. Still, the more feedback we get on this subject, the better our likelihood of seeing change in this area.
As for the chassis, this unfortunately will always be a subjective area that is difficult to address. Depending on who you ask, some want gaming-class performance without it looking "too gamer-y", while others would like to see the system embrace the target demographic entirely and go all in on the "gamer aesthetics". The mesh front panel design is a good idea, though it would warrant additional acoustic testing as that is yet another area of concern that we often come across, especially with these higher end systems is fan noise. Compromising between raw performance, acoustic tolerance and aesthetics can be a difficult balance to achieve and can often change depending on who it is you are asking. Still, feedback is always valuable nonetheless and having a consensus on this is never a bad thing. My personal systems are always on open-air test benches with loud fans, so I am typically the last person to ask when it comes to "does this sound quiet enough?", lol.
As for the lack of bloatware, this is something we are still very proud of, and something we do not intend to compromise on. The only software we try to include with our systems are RGB control software, a free trial for ESET's antivirus program (which is not pre-installed, it's simply an offer that you can then install should you wish to take advantage of it), and on rare occasions for systems such as our laptops, we may have a unique control panel for the laptop fans and RGB keyboards. Aside from that, we don't want anything else bogging the computer down or getting in the way of the customer experience.
Again, thank you for the feedback, it is always appreciated.
As for the change in your BIOS splash screen, I can actually answer this question. There are two splash screen configurations for any given BIOS on any given system. One for Legacy, one for UEFI. For our PowerSpec systems, we typically keep CSM Compatibility Mode disabled, which disables the Legacy BIOS, which should disable the American Megatrends splash screen. If you were seeing this before, it is likely that the setting wasn't correctly disabled on your system prior to you receiving it. You mentioned adding memory, which likely meant you cleared your BIOS defaults to remove the XMP profile (this is just a guess, but I'd wager that it's a likely situation, given what you've described). If this was done, CSM Compatibility will be disabled again, meaning the UEFI splash screen will load by default, which is our PowerSpec splash screen. This isn't going to harm your computer in any capacity, we simply prefer keeping CSM disabled as most people do not load Legacy operating systems anymore. Even Windows 7 can be installed under UEFI, and most modern chipsets don't even have legacy drivers anymore, so it makes sense to have it disabled for the sake of faster boot times and less clutter in your boot options for devices that have both legacy and UEFI boot parameters.
Hopefully that made some sense of the weird quirk you ran into. As always, we are happy to address any concerns anyone may have with their systems. Feel free to reach out anytime!