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Gigabyte incorporates 64MB BIOS chip on X870 motherboard to integrate the WiFi driver

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This makes it easier for you to create a Microsoft account for the first time.

Gigabyte Aorus Stealth ICE motherboard
(Image credit: Gigabyte)

Gigabyte just released the X870 Aorus Stealth ICE motherboard, which features a bigger BIOS than most other competing hardware. According to Uniko’s Hardware, this is the first AM5 motherboard to feature a 64MB chip, four times larger than the 16MB BIOS chip that most AM4 motherboards used when it was new. However, the larger capacity, which Gigabyte calls Driver BIOS, seems to be mainly used to store the Wi-Fi driver, as the motherboard’s spec sheet says that the BIOS is still 256 Mbit flash, which translates to 32MB.

Still, having the Wi-Fi driver already pre-installed on the motherboard makes setting up a new computer more convenient, especially as Microsoft now requires you to create an online Microsoft Account (or log into your existing one) when setting up Windows 11 for the first time. A workaround still lets you start your new Windows PC offline, but this will likely be unfamiliar to most users.

The company did not just stop at having the Wi-Fi driver already pre-installed on the motherboard. It also added other conveniences, like the Wi-Fi EZ-Plug, which integrates the antennas into one adapter for an easier and cleaner install, various EZ-Latch designs, making it easy to add and remove PCIe components and M.2 drives and their corresponding heatsink, as well as the EZ Debug Zone, which helps you troubleshoot your motherboard if you run into any error. It also introduced pressurized thermal pads for M.2 SSDs, reducing operating temperatures by up to 12 degrees Celsius.

These innovations help make Gigabyte’s high-end motherboards stand out from the competition. Hopefully, they will eventually trickle down to mid-range and entry-level motherboards, especially the Driver BIOS feature.

With Computex 2025 just around the corner, we’re excited to see if we spot any of these on the motherboards that Gigabyte will show off at the expo. Maybe this could even start a trend where these components already come with a Wi-Fi driver out of the box to make both hardware and software installation and initial setup easier.

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Jowi Morales
Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ezst036
    Admin said:
    This makes it easier for you to create a Microsoft account for the first time.

    Everybody including Gigabyte knows how badly Microsoft wants these controversial cloud accounts. So it makes sense that Gigabyte would respond to these desires. All of this is nothing more than just so Microsoft can serve you more ads in Windows 11 Advertising Edition. It does not benefit the customer in any way. Actually, the reverse is true. You're the customer who is now forced to pay a higher hardware price for a bigger BIOS chip. (What is a 64gb chip, another $5, 10, 20?)

    You pay so that Microsoft can make more money. It's the usual song and dance - the rich get richer.

    I sincerely hope other vendors DO NOT follow suit. But if enough vendors did do this then it would make it much easier for Microsoft to pronounce the death sentence for local accounts.

    More ads! Advertisements everywhere!
    Reply
  • coolitic
    ezst036 said:
    Everybody including Gigabyte knows how badly Microsoft wants these controversial cloud accounts. So it makes sense that Gigabyte would respond to these desires. All of this is nothing more than just so Microsoft can serve you more ads in Windows 11 Advertising Edition. It does not benefit the customer in any way. Actually, the reverse is true. You're the customer who is now forced to pay a higher hardware price for a bigger BIOS chip. (What is a 64gb chip, another $5, 10, 20?)

    You pay so that Microsoft can make more money. It's the usual song and dance - the rich get richer.

    I sincerely hope other vendors DO NOT follow suit. But if enough vendors did do this then it would make it much easier for Microsoft to pronounce the death sentence for local accounts.

    More ads! Advertisements everywhere!
    *megabyte, and so at most maybe $5. Otherwise I do largely agree.
    Reply
  • jlake3
    Ugggghhhh. I hate the Microsoft account angle, but I've got a 2.5g USB ethernet adapter that is not plug-and-play on Win10, and it shows up as a USB CD drive containing the required driver when first connected, which is super helpful. It's never fun getting stuck in the loop of "I can't get online because I don't have drivers/I can't download drivers if I can't get online".
    Reply
  • Konomi
    A better use for the space.

    https://i.imgur.com/WknsVbX.png
    Reply
  • yc1
    Cool now updating wifi card drivers have the risk of corrupting your BIOS that's what people wanted :/
    Reply
  • Dntknwitall
    It is so funny how people get mad and upset at the inevitable. It's coming sooner or later. If you want to stay on windows this is what Microsoft wants no matter what it's users want, because there are so many that just don't care. Might as well just let them do it now because my guess is that Microsoft will have it all locked down in 2026. Or switch your OS.
    Reply
  • Mark Knight
    Wow! They spent their money that way, how about they just atleast make their low/mid range motherboards 8 ply? Phuc windows anyway.
    Reply
  • yc1
    Dntknwitall said:
    It is so funny how people get mad and upset at the inevitable. It's coming sooner or later. If you want to stay on windows this is what Microsoft wants no matter what it's users want, because there are so many that just don't care. Might as well just let them do it now because my guess is that Microsoft will have it all locked down in 2026. Or switch your OS.
    I also use Linux but you didn't know that I only use windows on one laptop due to driver issues every other PC has Linux
    Reply
  • hurnii
    In addition to MS Windows 11 registration, it would seem the obvious benefit of having WiFi on the BIOS/UEFI EPROM would be flashing said BIOS chip.

    How many years ago were USB drives added as a ROM image source for flashing BIOS?
    Aren't we about due for an additional source?

    With WiFi apparently outnumbering Ethernet connections these days, especially with laptops (which seem to outnumber desktops, and don't even ship with RJ45 connections anymore), it would seem, the next logical step for Flashing the BIOS image, would be using WiFi.

    Assuming the motherboard has a CPU, some RAM, and some sort of video out, then, why not enable WiFi, so, can enter the BIOS/UEFI setup screens, perform basic WiFi config (Connect to desired SSID using desired password), then, BIOS/UEFI application can connect to MoBo Manufacturer's site, download latest image, and flash itself?

    Unlike Windows 11 install, which (hopefully) is more of a "one off", updating BIOS on a new system may occur several times over the next year or two, especially if there are security updates to address newly discovered vulns.

    Trouble is, WiFi integration with BIOS flashing application is much more complicated (meaning: costs more to develop!) than simply providing an onboard driver repo (on the BIOS chip), which is not new.

    Of course, there's always the darkside of having an Over The Air update Bricking the system, but hey, that can occur after downloading an image, copying it to a USB stick, booting into BIOS/UEFI, and doing a BIOS update. Making the owner/user reboot into BIOS/UEFI and manually going through the process is probably safe enough. Love me some "Dual BIOS" chip action, with a DIP switch to select which BIOS chip to boot from, "just in case". It's a shame more MoBos don't offer that feature.
    Reply
  • KraakBal
    "Hopefully, especially".. Nobody wants this or should want it
    Reply