Asus Adds Kaby Lake Support to 87 Of Its 100-Series Motherboards

News
By
published

Asus pushed out a series of BIOS updates for 87 of its 100-series motherboards that add support for Intel’s upcoming Kaby Lake processors.

The eighty-seven Asus 100-series motherboards don’t natively support Kaby Lake, so it is necessary to update the BIOS before Kaby Lake CPUs will function properly. It appears that Intel will allow OEMs to support Kaby Lake on all of the 100-series chipsets. An Asus representative said that the company would ship the 100-series boards with the updated BIOS in the future, but you still run the risk of receiving a board with the older BIOS if you purchase one. This means you shouldn’t count on these boards to support Kaby Lake right out of the box if you are building a new system.

If you already own one of these boards and a Skylake CPU, you can simply update the BIOS using Asus’s EZ Flash utility and a USB drive. Some boards can also connect to the internet through the BIOS to get the update.

If you plan to purchase one of these motherboards for a new Kaby Lake CPU in the future, you will want to make sure that it supports Asus’s USB BIOS Flash Back utility. The utility will enable you to update the BIOS without a CPU or RAM installed. Otherwise, you will also need to purchase a Skylake CPU to update the BIOS, assuming the board doesn’t come with the update pre-installed.

The BIOS updates are now available.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Asus Motherboards With Kaby Lake CPU BIOS Update
ChipsetModelBIOS Version
Z170Maximus VIII Extreme2202
Z170Maximus VIII Formula2202
Z170Maximus VIII Hero Alpha2202
Z170Maximus VIII Hero2202
Z170Maximus VIII Ranger2202
Z170Maximus VIII Impact2202
Z170Z170 Pro Gaming/Aura2003
Z170Z170 Pro Gaming2003
Z170Z170I Pro Gaming2003
Z170Z170-Premium2003
Z170Z170-Deluxe2202
Z170Z170-Pro2202
Z170Z170-A2202
Z170Z170-AR2202
Z170Z170-E2202
Z170Z170-K2003
Z170Z170-P D32002
Z170Z170-P2003
Z170Z170M-Plus2002
Z170Z170M-E D32001
Z170Sabertooth Z170 S2202
Z170Sabertooth Z170 Mark 12202
Q170Q170T2002
Q170Q170S12001
Q170Q170M-C2003
Q170Q170I-Plus2002
H170H170 Pro Gaming2003
H170H170-Pro/USB 3.12002
H170H170-Pro2003
H170H170-Plus D32002
H170H170M-Plus2002
H170H170M-E D32001
B150B150 Pro Gaming/Aura2003
B150B150 Pro Gaming D32001
B150B150 Pro Gaming2003
B150B150-A2001
B150B150-Pro D32001
B150B150-Pro2002
B150B150-Plus D32001
B150B150-Plus2002
B150B150M-Plus D32001
B150B150M-Plus2003
B150B150-A/M.22003
B150B150M-A2001
B150B150M-C D32001
B150B150M-C2003
B150B150M-D D32001
B150B150M-D2002
B150B150M-V Plus2002
B150B150M-K D32001
B150B150M-K2003
B150B150M-F Plus2002
B150B150M-ET M22002
B150B150M-ET D32001
B150B150M-ET2001
B150PIO-B150M2002
B150EX-B150M-V5 D32001
B150EX-B150M-V52002
B150EX-B150M-V32003
H110H110-Plus2002
H110H110M-R2002
H110H110M-Plus D32001
H110H110M-Plus2002
H110H110M-A/M.22003
H110H110M-A/DP2002
H110H110M-A D32001
H110H110M-A2001
H110H110M-C D32001
H110H110M-D D32001
H110H110M-D2002
H110H110M-ET2001
H110H110M-E/M.22002
H110H110M-E D32001
H110H110M-E2002
H110H110M-K D32001
H110H110M-K2003
H110H110I-Plus2002
H110H110T2002
H110H110S12002
C232E3-Pro V52002
C232E3M-Plus V52003
C232E3M-ET V52001
C232E3M-ET V52002
See more Motherboards News
Michael Justin Allen Sexton
Michael Justin Allen Sexton is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He covers hardware component news, specializing in CPUs and motherboards.
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • InvalidError
    87+ motherboards with 100-series chipsets? Did the world really need that many board variants from a single manufacturer? Sounds pretty crazy.
    Reply
  • wildfire707
    And it excludes my Z170-WS board. No BIOS update, yet again. The ASUS message seems to be that workstation boards cost more than twice as much and are not worth their time...some day maybe my motherboard will report the CPU temperature correctly.
    Reply
  • velocityg4
    "If you plan to purchase one of these motherboards for a new Kaby Lake CPU in the future, you will want to make sure that it supports Asus’s USB BIOS Flash Back utility. The utility will enable you to update the BIOS without a CPU or RAM installed. Otherwise, you will also need to purchase a Skylake CPU to update the BIOS, assuming the board doesn’t come with the update pre-installed."

    In other words ASUS BIOS updates is a messy minefield. All the boards should support this Asus’s USB BIOS Flash Back Utility. If they can make a board that accepts BIOS updates without a CPU or RAM it should be universal. Even when Kaby Lake is finally available. If you wait to buy a motherboard which is supposed to be designed for the CPU. You have no guarantee that it will work.

    This is the sort of thing that makes less knowledgeable people blow hundreds of extra dollars on an OEM computer rather than a cheaper and superior one they build themselves.
    Reply
  • 18691098 said:
    87+ motherboards with 100-series chipsets? Did the world really need that many board variants from a single manufacturer? Sounds pretty crazy.

    I agree. Sounds insane to have 87+ variants. Then again, that's the beauty of capitalism. Maybe they should read Ford. The customer can have any color, as long as that color is black.
    Reply
  • IInuyasha74
    18691359 said:
    "If you plan to purchase one of these motherboards for a new Kaby Lake CPU in the future, you will want to make sure that it supports Asus’s USB BIOS Flash Back utility. The utility will enable you to update the BIOS without a CPU or RAM installed. Otherwise, you will also need to purchase a Skylake CPU to update the BIOS, assuming the board doesn’t come with the update pre-installed."

    In other words ASUS BIOS updates is a messy minefield. All the boards should support this Asus’s USB BIOS Flash Back Utility. If they can make a board that accepts BIOS updates without a CPU or RAM it should be universal. Even when Kaby Lake is finally available. If you wait to buy a motherboard which is supposed to be designed for the CPU. You have no guarantee that it will work.

    This is the sort of thing that makes less knowledgeable people blow hundreds of extra dollars on an OEM computer rather than a cheaper and superior one they build themselves.

    Well it is really beyond Asus's control to ensure that all motherboards purchased after a certain date come with the updated BIOS. The PR rep said that by the time Kaby Lake is released, Asus will be producing these boards with the updated BIOSes. There isn't any way to tell, however, when you buy a board from a retailer how long that retailer has had that board.

    It would be nice for to have the USB Flash Back functionality on every motherboard. Several already have this feature, but it requires some extra hardware on the motherboard and gets left off low-end SKUs.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    18691371 said:
    I agree. Sounds insane to have 87+ variants. Then again, that's the beauty of capitalism. Maybe they should read Ford. The customer can have any color, as long as that color is black.
    Without going to the other extreme, I can see the need for 4-5 variants per chipset (ATX, mATX, ITX and one or two 'specialty' variant such as high-end enthusiast for the Z-series, with and without extra bells and whistles such as built-in WiFi) and that would already reduce the lineup to a more sensible 30ish variants, less than half as many.
    Reply
  • firefoxx04
    I laugh when people cry about 'too many models'. If Asus had trouble selling these boards, they would have less models. They make a crap ton because they sell.
    Reply
  • Therefore Kaby Lake will work and perform fine on Windows 7.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    18692306 said:
    If Asus had trouble selling these boards, they would have less models. They make a crap ton because they sell.
    They'd likely sell just as many if not more with same or better margin if they focused on somewhat fewer models to reduce their development, manufacturing and warehousing costs then passed part of the savings to customers.
    Reply
  • jackt
    when the 200 serie ? should me this month right ?
    Reply