Should I update BIOS?

[Joe12o]

Hello, I recently built a computer I got the M4A79XTD EVO Motherboard from ASUS and I was wondering if I should update BIOS to the latest version. I was going to a few minutes ago and I went to the website and was going to download it but when I clicked the link to download it gave me a warning that updating BIOS is very dangerous and I should only do it if I needed to. I don't know if this is related to BIOS, but when I started my computer up the other day it said it failed to OC (I have to overclock my RAM to get it to it's recommended setting of 1600mhz) so I restarted and it said it again but then I did it again and it was fine. Also, what other drivers should I update I only installed the ones on the disk that came with the motherboard (except graphics card I updated those already)

 

[o1die]

That warning is good advice. If your system is running fine, I wouldn't do it. If you're overclocking and it works, I especially wouldn't do it. To overclock the ram, try the memory ratios or multipliers, whichever your board has and see if the settings will stick without the overclock fail. If not, it's up to you. To flash the bios, you need to disable any boot block settings in the bios and any windows or virus software firewalls. But you could still end up with a dead board. If you can't afford to replace it or simply don't want to wait for an rma replacement, then don't do it.

 

[Joe12o]

Best answer selected by joe12o.

 

[Joe12o]

That warning is good advice. If your system is running fine, I wouldn't do it. If you're overclocking and it works, I especially wouldn't do it. To overclock the ram, try the memory ratios or multipliers, whichever your board has and see if the settings will stick without the overclock fail. If not, it's up to you. To flash the bios, you need to disable any boot block settings in the bios and any windows or virus software firewalls. But you could still end up with a dead board. If you can't afford to replace it or simply don't want to wait for an rma replacement, then don't do it.

Thanks for the advice! (you probably just saved my board haha)

 

[MRFS]

ASUS usually lists the fixes for each new BIOS version
at the Download sections at their website.

Generally, if you don't need one of those fixes, and
if you don't need a new BIOS to support a more recent CPU,
then the benefit of a new BIOS may be zero for you,
whereas the risk of dumping your motherboard is NON-zero.

In other words, it would be a worthless exercise for you
given those conditions.


MRFS