9th gen intel cpu BIOS update?

Sep 19, 2018
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I recently brought a used gigabyte k3 motherboard for the new intel cpu set to be release in the week or two. I understand that all the major motherboard manufacturers will be releasing updates so that the new CPU will work with the old z370 boards. However I have just realized that I may not have a way to updating the BIOS on this motherboard without an 8th gen CPU? I have heard of something called Q flash and some gigabyte motherboards support that might help, but I am not sure if the gaming K3 motherboard supports this. Anyone have any ideas? Does this motherboard support such a feature? If not I have found a pre binned 8700k for £400 that can do 5.3ghz that I might be able to get down to about £370.
 


For an authoritative answer, contact gigabyte support.

I see nothing in the specs that indicate that a bios update is possible without a cpu installed.

The enabling bios is F7 which was released in 07/13.
New motherboards will already have that installed.

If you can ask the seller what the bios level is currently, that would help.


Sometimes support updates are mostly cosmetic documentation.
Likely, more is involved here if you are looking at one of the 8 core options.
But, it is entirely possible that a 9th gen processor will work sufficiently well to allow you to update for proper operation.

What to do?

1. You could buy the 8700K and plan on using that until the 9th gen 9700K or 9900K of your choice becomes available. A well binned 8700K should not lose much resale value.

2. When your 9th gen processor arrives, install it and see if you can get into the bios to do the update.
I think you are odds on to be successful.
If that fails, pay a local shop to install a supported processor to do the flash.
Or, buy a cheap supported chip to do the flash and resell it.

3. just stick with the 8700K.
At that price point, the competition will be the i7-9700K with 8 cores and likely a higher OC potential.



 
Sep 19, 2018
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Thanks for the help, I'll give contacting gigabyte a try. Also what type of shop would I look for to install the BIOS?

UPDATE: It seems I need to motherboard with Q flash plus in order to update a BIOS without a CPU installed and my motherboard does not support that :(
 
Sep 19, 2018
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Only shops I have found that offer such a thing are PC world and curry's and both cost £35 to do so. The 8700k I had in mind already comes delided can apparently do 5.2ghz without too much of an issue and the seller seems good, lots of items sold and no negative feedback https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-Core-i7-8700K-PRE-BINNED-5-2GHZ/283131121194?hash=item41ebee0e2a:g:xgQAAOSwDYBbh-Hm . Currectly asking them what kind of voltage it has been running at.

The motherboard I got for £65 which about half the price off a brand new one and I got some ddr4 ram sticks brand new for £50-£80 off retail price so I guess I could eat into those saving and take it to a store and have it done.
 
Sep 19, 2018
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Sorry, so I currently have a 2500k and I was looking to upgrade to the new 9900k in couple of weeks time or so. I got a dirt cheap used z370 gigabyte board but I completely forgot about the fact that I would need a 8th gen CPU in order to get into the BIOS in order to order to update the motherboard ready for the new 9th gen CPUs like 9900k.

This is because the motherboard I brought used doesn't not support Q flash+ which is what I need to get into the BIOS without a CPU or RAM installed. I am however emailing gigabyte to see if any of the previous BIOS updates might have added support. Hope this answers you question :)
 
Dec 3, 2018
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What i got from Gigabyte's support is that with a 9th gen chip, you'll still be able to post into BIOS to flash it, just not into Windows.

"We do not offer service of updating BIOS. However, since i7-9700K is also Coffeelake CPU, theoretically the computer should be able to boot up with BIOS F1. You may also refer to your local dealer (where you bought the board) for assistance. "
 

Simon_125

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May 12, 2017
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Does anyone has confirmation on this? Just bought a new GIGABYTE AORUS Z370 Gaming K3 in combination with the i5 9600k, but forgot the bios update thing.