BIOS update G467

Pkirk618

Does Microcenter have an updated BIOS to the G467? Its houses a Z490 gaming-e from Asus. I want to update this BIOS and I'm being told that I need to get it from the store or updating the BIOS on my own will cripple my Windows Key from validating.

JS_MC

Hello @Pkirk618

To my understanding, this system should be running with the latest BIOS update available at this time.

Is there a reason you feel you need to update your BIOS?

Pkirk618

There's been BIOS updates to this motherboard since I purchased in October (at least one). Apart from some random reboots, that's why I'm interested. I've reinstalled windows, drivers and have even replaced the PSU (though that was a noise issue). I'm also expecting (depending on benchmarks) to upgrade this machine to the latest rocketlake cpu in the near future.

JS_MC

I can check with our lab here to be sure, but I'm fairly certain there isn't currently a BIOS update for the PowerSpec version of this board. If there is a BIOS update for this system you would want to visit the store to keep from voiding the warranty or damaging the board.

What kind of random reboots are you noticing? Is the computer crashing or is this while idle?

Pkirk618

Idle, inconsistent. That's why it's hard to narrow down potential causes.

Also, aren't we allowed to update the BIOS ourselves as long as we're willing to eat the costs of a windows key? These boards are the same boards as one would get from retail except tuned and laced with powespec branding, is this not? Of course the end user would be liable for bricking the board but you referenced "voiding the warranty" and this is the first time I've heard someone mention that to me. Can you clarify?

JS_MC

I'd have to recommend visiting the store for our service technicians to run diagnostics on the system. Updating the BIOS would not destroy the Windows key but it is possible to brick your computer if done incorrectly.

Also loading the incorrect BIOS could potentially damage the rest of your system, for these reasons it would void the warranty if we did not perform the BIOS update.

PowerSpec_MichaelB

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/28767#Comment_28767

Great questions, I can offer some clarifications on this as I work closely with our PowerSpec engineering team.

First and foremost, updating a BIOS shouldn't impact your Windows 10 license key unless something were to go awry with the ACPI tables that house your key. I've updated many BIOS's in my time and have not had this happen personally, so I wouldn't expect this to be an issue.

Secondly, you are indeed free to source a BIOS directly from the board manufacturer, but this does come with some downsides that I'd like to warn you about. Often times, BIOS updates released online can include various quirks that may not have been caught during their release and may be present when you apply the update. System Integrators often test these BIOS revisions several times, sending it back and forth making sure issues are corrected prior to using it in mass production. Here are some common issues we fix with our custom BIOS updates:

• Making sure all USB ports are properly mapped (plugging in a flash drive or other USB device registers the device instantly instead of at a delay)
• The fTPM functionality is working completely (no TPM errors should you with to use this feature)
• Features such as Secure Boot function without issue (keys can be loaded and cleared, secure boot context menu functions properly, etc)
• Making sure power delivery options are set within spec

Lastly, warranties will not be voided simply for the act of updating a BIOS. This in and of itself is harmless if performed correctly. That said, a warranty may be void if the system is damaged or rendered non-functional as a result of a BIOS update gone awry, which is why we recommend avoiding them unless absolutely necessary, or utilizing our service department if you are not confident in the BIOS flashing process. If you'd like a copy of your warranty terms, they can be found here: http://powerspec.com/systems/system_components.phtml?component=1863&selection=G467. The specific part to pay attention to would be this:

This Limited Warranty covers normal use. Preventative maintenance is not included. We do not warrant and will not be held responsible for damages or loss resulting from a cause other than defects in materials or workmanship, including without limitation damage or loss caused by: neglect, accident, abuse, peripheral equipment, or servicing or modifications by anyone other than an authorized service center; transit of equipment to service center for service, return or evaluation; any natural disaster, including flood, fire, earthquake, or lightning; or electrical surges or use of improper power sources.

Do keep in mind that if the BIOS update were to cause damage down the road, such as modifying the power limits of the processor (removing current/voltage limitations), that could technically void the warranty, so be mindful of those situations especially if you fancy yourself to be an overclocker.

We pride ourselves on our systems ability to be upgraded easily by the end user, both in terms of hardware as well as the software/firmware installed. Some of our boards are system integrator boards and simply do not have BIOS updates available, but for the ones that do have them, we do not mind if you wish to explore those options. I just want to make sure you understand all that may come with it, and that some modern boards may not allow flashing back due to security updates in Intel's Management Engine or AMD's AGESA firmware, so you may even end up stuck with a newer BIOS update and the issues that may come with it.

As always, if you have any questions, let us know. We are happy to help!

JS_MC

@Pkirk618 It seems that some of the information I shared was not fully correct. My deepest apologies!

Thank you much @TSMichaelB for chiming in here with more detailed and thorough information about this process.

Pkirk618

Thanks Michael for the explanation and no problem LandShark -- it's all good.

Yeah so I couldn't understand how windows might be deactivated if I were to update the BIOS but a customer service rep (some time ago) warned me of that possible outcome. Of course I'm familiar with upgrades such as a new motherboard requiring a call in to Microsoft at times -- and I think this is the direction she was coming from.

Anyway, my intent is to upgrade this computer at some point and I just wanted some clarification before moving forward. And to be honest, I purchased the extended warranty because I trust the service at MC despite having enough knowledge to be dangerous on my own. That said, I think I'll stick with it's current BIOS until such a point that an upgrade necessitates it or if I come across a problem I can't solve.

I guess my last question would be, if and when there's a BIOS update, would the end user be notified or is this something that's posted with the powerspec drivers online?

PowerSpec_MichaelB

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/28819#Comment_28819

We typically don't do BIOS updates unless major security or compatibility concerns arise (Spectre/Meltdown vulnerability, processor microcode updates) and in those situations, we do not have a means of downloading them publicly at the moment however they would be available to our service teams and to our community members on request. Just be mindful that we may not have a new BIOS at the time of the request, and qualification efforts can take a fair bit of time for the aforementioned reasons in my previous posts (lots of back and forth with the board partners to work out the minor issues).

For the G467 in particular, the latest BIOS we have qualified for it is a customized version of 0707 which was released back in August 28th of 2020. There have been several updates on the board manufacturers website since then, but we haven't gone through the process of requalifying with a new BIOS as of yet. If you did plan on updating the BIOS, I would strongly urge avoiding any BIOS labeled "Beta" as while they may work fine, they are often incomplete and not indicative of a finished BIOS. You can encounter a myriad of issues akin to what I listed above or in some situations general instability depending on your exact setup.

I am confident you'll be able to upgrade your PowerSpec down the line without any issues. We try to design our systems around the philosophy of future expansion as we know this is something our customers care about, and it's one of our companies strengths as a business in general as far as our products and services go. It's why we don't use proprietary parts and prefer to use off the shelf components for everything in our systems.

To answer your last question, we do not have a notification system in place for BIOS updates, but I'll keep you in mind if we do release an update for the G467. It'll likely be in the form of a private message on this forum depending on the timeframe, but I'll definitely reach out if/when we qualify a new BIOS for this board. Alternatively, if you did decide to update to a BIOS directly from the board vendor and run into any issues, I am still happy to provide any support that I can here in this thread.

Pkirk618

thank you for the reply and for the future support. I'll keep you in mind when that time arises. Seriously, thanks!

Pkirk618

Mike:

Regarding this --

https://www.techspot.com/news/88620-intel-bring-resizable-bar-11th-gen-rocket-lake.html

you know anything about this? Potential BIOS updates as a result?

PowerSpec_MichaelB

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/29141#Comment_29141

My apologies for the late response on this. I've toyed around with the resizable bar feature for a fair bit here and there on random system configurations, though my feelings on it are a bit mixed at the moment. I have not been able to discern much of a difference at all with it enabled/disabled, especially at 1080p. Some titles showed a 5% increase when tested at 4K, but testing a 3060 at 4K and seeing a 5% difference in performance can be the difference of only 2-3 FPS, which doesn't leave all that much for margin of error. In some tests, I've even seen a decrease in performance, though again, only by 1-2 FPS which could also be considered margin of error, but it was replicable.

As far as the feature itself goes, I wouldn't warrant the inclusion of that feature as a major security or compatibility concern and it likely wouldn't result in a customized BIOS update from our team on the grounds of that feature alone, especially not while the current BIOS revisions improving the feature are listed as "beta", and with the feature still undergoing a maturity process in general. I would also advise that you wouldn't be able to take advantage of this as of yet on the G467 as Nvidia has only made the feature available on a driver-level for the RTX 3060 as of writing this post, and that would be a significant decrease in performance if you were to downgrade to that card.

When the Nvidia drivers are updated to allow feature-level support for the 3070/3080 models, you'll also need a VBIOS update from the manufacturer of the GPU, which will be tricky as I have not heard any ETA from them as to when they will be released. Last I read online, Nvidia was planning to release updates for the Founders Edition cards by the end of March, so hopefully the rest of the board partners follow suit.

As always, if you have any questions regarding your PowerSpec system, I'll answer them to the best of my abilities. Do not hesitate to reach out, and I hope you're enjoying your system!

ingb0b

@TSMichaelB

Hello, I decided to update my bios using the newest manufacturers release (1003), however since then I've been experiencing some crashes while gaming. Is there a chance to get your current version of the bios for the G467 model? I already updated the GPU drivers and it's still crashing, I'm worried that it may be a power delivery setting or something like that.

Thanks

TSTDavey

@ingb0b just chiming in. @TSMichaelB is part of our Powerspec Team, so he'll chime in on your bios question. But for the crashing, has your chipset drivers been updated for the ROG Strix z490-e gaming board? If not try updating the Chipset, restart system then launch game to see if it still crashes. If it still crashes, could be an issue with the 3080. An option to think about is to bring the powerspec to the store for them to determine the root cause of your crashes and then service it.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@ingb0b

Yes, we can provide the original BIOS that we have tested to you. Please let us know. We can also take a look at what is creating the instability. Please download CPU-Z, provide screenshots of the Mainboard, Memory and SPD tabs: https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

As was mentioned before, this BIOS enables Resizable bar support and that could mean that it's enabling 4G Decoding as a default in the BIOS. Check under Advanced - System Agent Configuration. If it is enabled as a default, please disable it and see if the issues persist.

CLaFarge

I'm late to this thread, and bought my PowerSpec 2 years ago. I've noticed that my system clock is not updating with the configured Microsoft NTP address nor NIST NTP, and one of the suggested fixes is to update BIOS. Where can find safe updated BIOS for my PowerSpec G467?

Chad

PowerSpec_MikeW

@CLaFarge

I'll upload our latest G467 BIOS in the morning, though we've never seen that issue on this model. I doubt it's the BIOS. To clarify, is the issue that it won't update at all, or that it will be then loses the time when the system is powered off?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@CLaFarge

2103: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JD8AK12d6RandyMEUt3XrFGlBsaQLcUc?usp=sharing

CLaFarge

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/46417#Comment_46417

It is not able to sync time via NTP, but tracks time approximate to previous set value. I lose about a second per day and manually set clock from time to time (literally :) )

PowerSpec_MikeW

@CLaFarge

Do you get an error if you try to force the sync through the date and time settings?

CLaFarge

I apologize, Mike... I left you hanging. The error from attempting to sync date/time from any NTP service is:

"Time synchronization failed"

Also, does the BIOS linked above support Resizable BAR?

Thank you!

Chad

PowerSpec_MikeW

@CLaFarge

Yes, that BIOS does have Resizable BAR support.

Try to ping the NTP server. ping time.windows.com. If it fails, tracert it.