Is it safe to get an H87 board with Haswell refresh chip?

[fretman]

I'm getting the Intel I5-4590 CPU which is a Haswell refresh chip. I want to get an H87 board but some people mentioned that if I get an H87 board that's been sitting on the shelf for too long that I may need to update the BIOS. Now, if this is the case, my worry becomes, would I even be able to get the machine to "post" to get to the point of being able to update the BIOS.

I'm hearing conflicting stories. Some say all H87 and H81 boards should work fine. Others are saying that had the issue I just described above.

Any help would be appreciated. I was thinking about the H87 boards because they're less expensive than the H97 boards.

Thanks.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

There's no single answer "yes" or "no" because it depends on the actual motherboard make & model. Some board manufacturer's have posted BIOS updates to support Haswell Refresh, some haven't gotten round to it yet. That's no doubt why you are "hearing conflicting stories".

As to your first question about whether or not it's possible to update the BIOS with an unsupported CPU installed, again depends on the board model, but in most cases it can't be done - - you need to fit a supported CPU then install the Haswell afterwards. Okay for CPU upgraders, not so good for those building a new system from scratch.

 

[Electrolyzed]

Why not a H97? They're the same price as the H87 and it'll support Haswell refreshed chips.

 

[fretman]

Why not a H97? They're the same price as the H87 and it'll support Haswell refreshed chips.

Thanks. I will research a little more for the prices. The gap seems to be closing.

 

[fretman]

There's no single answer "yes" or "no" because it depends on the actual motherboard make & model. Some board manufacturer's have posted BIOS updates to support Haswell Refresh, some haven't gotten round to it yet. That's no doubt why you are "hearing conflicting stories".

As to your first question about whether or not it's possible to update the BIOS with an unsupported CPU installed, again depends on the board model, but in most cases it can't be done - - you need to fit a supported CPU then install the Haswell afterwards. Okay for CPU upgraders, not so good for those building a new system from scratch.

Thanks for the response...selected as best solution.