GA-MA790XT-UD4P and using the new Phenom II X4's

[bdonedge]

Hey guys I have a GA-MA790XT-UD4P that I run with a Phenom II x3 720, but I'm considering upgrading to a 125 Watt Phenom II X4 965.

The 965 is C3 stepping, and is a newer version than the old one. Should I update my bios before I get it, because on the gigabyte website it says the bios version that gives it compatibility is F6, and I'm using F4x. Is it guaranteed not to work the way it should if I don't update it to the bios that they claim gives it the support it needs?

 

[mosox]

You need to update the BIOS but the Phenom II x3 720 is a very good CPU.

 

[saint19]

Hi.

U definitely need upgrade ur BIOS. If the Gigabyte's web site says that the 965 C3 is only supported by the F3 BIOS version, only works with that BIOS version.

 

[bilbat]

Flash the BIOS with the old CPU; an 'unsupported' is likely to boot, but, may not, as many folks with 'hexacores' are discovering. If it does boot, it may appear to work, it may have just the occasional 'hang' or blue screen, or it may be continuous grief; these are not the issue - the issue is, "will it execute the entire instruction stream required to flash the new 'supporting' BIOS?" and "Am I willing to bet an RMA on it?"

 

[bdonedge]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

And yes, so far I'm very happy with my CPU but I like to play a lot of games that are very CPU Heavy. Right now I'm crossfiring two 4850's, and the consistancy isn't as much as I'd like it to be. A lot of things point to my CPU not providing enough power to be a constant FPS and I'd like to update it, just to be future proof.

So from this, I am to understand that I need to update the bios with the old CPU?
I hate flashing the bios, I'm just worried the updated bios version will cause me issues. And if it does, I don't have many other options to make it work because there are only one other updates in the bios section past the one I need.

 

[saint19]

^Yeah, u can do it with the old CPU or with a USB booting from it.

 

[notty22]

There is no reason to be afraid of flashing the bios, you could even use the gigabyte windows flasher @bios, your board has their dual bios chips. If something goes wrong with the main bios, a sum check is always executed, its written over by the backup bios.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=3010
After flashing your bios, the most important setting is usually your ram dimm voltage. Everything else should at least start with defaults.

 

[bilbat]

[:lorbat:3]First order of business: DON'T use @BIOS! EVER! Inevitably someone will 'crop up', and say "But I've always used @BIOS, and never had a problem!" Usually, "always" translates to: "I got away with it twice!" I often liken this to playing Russian Roulette... You might get away with pulling that trigger once, and only hear a 'click'... You might get away with it a second time, too... But, by the third pull, the odds are starting to catch up with you - you keep on pulling that trigger, you WILL blow your brains out! The underlying problem would appear to be that, unlike the other BIOS flashing methods, an @BIOS flash gone awry can overwrite the BIOS' boot block, which is the piece of the BIOS that, among other things, is responsible for the 'dual BIOS recovery' function; i.e., if your BIOS gets trashed, but the boot block remains intact, the boot block 'checksums' the 'working copy' of the BIOS (in EEROM, that you can flash), finds out it's bad, 'reverts' to the 'backup copy' (in ROM, that you can't 'futz' with, short of a soldering iron!) and loads it, with a couple of 'flags' set, to remind it to tell you about the BIOS' problem, and offer you options to fix it... Once @BIOS trashes that boot block, your board is a brick - useful only to prop open a door (and - a real, actual brick does a better job of that, too...)!! You're pretty much hoping for a 'graceful' RMA This problem is not limited to GB; other manufacturers have 'in the OS' flashing setups, and, so far as I know, are also prone to difficulties that DOS or 'in-BIOS' flashing just don't have...

 

[bdonedge]

There is no reason to be afraid of flashing the bios, you could even use the gigabyte windows flasher @bios, your board has their dual bios chips. If something goes wrong with the main bios, a sum check is always executed, its written over by the backup bios.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/Image/motherboard_overview_dualbios.jpg
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=3010
After flashing your bios, the most important setting is usually your ram dimm voltage. Everything else should at least start with defaults.

Does this happen automatically if something goes wrong? I'm going to be purchasing it this week, so the flash will be happening fairly soon.

 

[bilbat]

I have 'dumped' several BIOS flashes (one time, shooting myself in the foot twice, with the same file, as I couldn't believe the file could be corrupted, and still pass 'checksum'!!) and every single time, the DualBIOS mechanism has 'broken my fall', with an orderly and dependable recovery to the 'as shipped' BIOS. Here's how it works:

The board has a seperate pair of ROM (read-only memory) chips that each contain a copy of the BIOS. One of these chips is 'EEROM' (electrically erasable (read-only memory) or 'EAROM' (electrically alterable (read-only memory) (next time I've got a 'raw' board in, I'll try to remember [yeah, like, what are the odds of that, at my age? [:bilbat:6]] to look to see which they use) - this is your 'working BIOS', the one that you boot from, and the one you can 'flash' to... The second chip is just plain old ROM - you can't 'fiddle with it', short of a soldering iron! When your board ships, both these chips contain the identical BIOS - whatever version was 'current' at the time of manufactuer.

One of the first things the 'main' BIOS does, as it boots up, is check the integrity of the BIOS itself. If it 'sees' a problem, the BIOS' 'boot block' program does a 'reversion' - it copies the contents of the 'permanent' chip (again, the original, 'as-shipped' BIOS) into the 'boot chip', sets a 'flag' to remind itself to remind you that there was a problem... It is very good at this - so long as that 'boot block' piece of code has not been tampered with, corrupted, or overwritten - @BIOS seems to be the only way you can 'ruin' its ability to 'revert' through DualBIOS!

 

[bdonedge]

That's interesting. I'm glad I have a gigabyte then, assuming it's the only board that has this type of thing. But if not, I'm still glad there are some precautions taken. That being said, hopefully F6 or F7 version of the bios I have to download works flawlessly. I will be ordering my CPU soon, I cannot wait! Thanks so much for the replies

 

[bdonedge]

Best answer selected by Bdonedge.

 

[saint19]

That's interesting. I'm glad I have a gigabyte then, assuming it's the only board that has this type of thing. But if not, I'm still glad there are some precautions taken. That being said, hopefully F6 or F7 version of the bios I have to download works flawlessly. I will be ordering my CPU soon, I cannot wait! Thanks so much for the replies

Any time, that's why we are here. Enjoy ur new CPU and if u have another question just ask it.