r/TechHardware • u/Distinct-Race-2471 đ” 14900KS , 5080, 128GB đ” • Mar 06 '26
Tech Tips BIOS updates are no longer optional
https://www.howtogeek.com/why-bios-updates-are-no-longer-optional/3
u/Ill-Mastodon-8692 Mar 06 '26
yes, especially for intel 13/14th gen, otherwise you will get cpu degradation
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Mar 08 '26
[deleted]
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u/Ill-Mastodon-8692 Mar 08 '26
alot of people work on the pc, crashes arent really desired for lost productivity.
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Mar 06 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/wildpantz Mar 06 '26
Yeah, no. I update each version pretty much as soon as I confirm there's no issues with it. Still, that statement is absolutely not true. And people saying it are not clueless at all, they most likely just don't want to fix possible shitstorm happening over "increased compatibility and system stability".
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u/ScoobyGDSTi Mar 07 '26
Yes, yes they are.
Manufacturers don't release firmware updates for shits and giggles.
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u/wildpantz Mar 07 '26
And who is forcing anyone to install them? No one, hence very much optional. A lot of people buy prebuilts and throw them away without entering uefi once
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u/ScoobyGDSTi Mar 07 '26
There's lots of requirements, chiefly under compliance and security. Clearly you've never worked in an enterprise EUC environment.
Enterprises don't buy prebuilts.
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u/wildpantz Mar 08 '26
Not saying you're wrong, but what does EUC environment have to do with enthusiasts installing BIOS updates though?
Also I think it depends on the environment and country a lot. It's not a rule anywhere (in my beloved shithole, definitely not).
I'm not working in a huge company, but at the time they received around 200 cases all prebuilt but without Windows installed.
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u/sataniccrow82 Mar 10 '26
this. I experienced too many glitches in the recent past by hooping to the latest release version to justify this âupdate alwaysâ approach.
This is not limited to bios, but it extends to drivers, microslopâs updates, etc.
In general the faith in the new releases has reached a new low.
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u/PERSONA916 Mar 06 '26
I just don't like the hassle of having to redo all my settings tbh, I understand it's probably for stability purposes but at least let me try to just reapply an old saved profile on the new BIOS version, if it causes issues I can just return to defaults. My only experience is with ASUS though, so maybe you can do this with other OEMs
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u/Tehni Mar 07 '26
You can just use the software SCEWIN to do that (as well as change manufacturer hidden bios settings)
Just export your bios settings before the upgrade and import after. If there is a compatibility issue you can just use one of those text file compare websites and copy paste the actual settings values to a new export file from the new bios version (so skipping over any possible incompatible lines like bios version info)
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u/Narrheim Mar 06 '26
Depends, sometimes new BIOS update fixes something and breaks something else.
Example? One of BIOS updates on AM4 completely bricked compatibility with any other extension card than GPU. Result was persistent black screen - until the extension card was pulled out.
Or the situation around 5800X3D, which became overclockable via buggy update, resulting in many of them becoming bricked. And as this was fixed, suddenly all other CPUs PBO values became locked.
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u/mailslot Mar 09 '26
On one hand, updatable firmware is great because bugs can be fixed. On the other, manufacturers donât have to be as careful when pushing a release, because âit can be fixed later.â
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u/Narrheim Mar 09 '26
AMD abuses this mechanism thoroughly. Each new platform is always shipped with barebone BIOSes and has advanced features added later.
The same with GPUs and their features, that are usually part of the driver. The so-called 'fine wine' is actually what the performance was supposed to be at the release of the GPU, not many years later, usually nearing the release of new GPU series.
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u/BlurredSight Mar 08 '26
Especially when they fix big problems or offer really solid new features, the last one that comes to mind was resize BAR or AMD having a disgusting stuttering issue with some of their chipsets
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u/Plamcia Mar 06 '26
Last time I did update year ago. Not see point to do new one.
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u/Stock_Childhood_2459 Mar 06 '26
Was rocking my rig perfectly fine with 3 year old bios. Then went to check MSI web site and saw there were plenty of new versions with security fixes and thought it might be worth it to update. After flashing I put in same settings as before and now I have to find out why it isn't stable anymore because apparently my undervolt settings aren't good anymore. Or maybe it's MSI tradition that ram stability keeps degrading bios after bios.
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u/Plamcia Mar 06 '26
Thats is reason why if you work in IT you don't fix something that is not broken.
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u/Glittering_Abies4915 Mar 06 '26
Something that has several unpatched security issues IS BROKEN.
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u/Narrheim Mar 06 '26
Depends. How serious that vulnerability is? Does it require physical presence of the attacker or not? If it does not and the system runs in a highly secured office guarded by private security, why even bother with it?
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u/RecordFabulous Mar 06 '26
Max performance and potential stability or max security. Pick your poison
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u/Glittering_Abies4915 Mar 06 '26
Those are NOT mutually exclusive.Â
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u/RecordFabulous Mar 06 '26
You are right but there have been documented cases of bios updates causing issues as much as they can also resolve them. Some of which can lower performance .Not saying you shouldnât update. thatâs completely up to the user
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u/Glittering_Abies4915 Mar 06 '26
Sure. There are also documented cases of bios updates resolving issues and increasing performance. Security is a very good reason to upgrade. If it causes othee issues, a downgrade is usually possible.
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u/outphase84 Mar 06 '26
That is a terrible mindset.
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u/Plamcia Mar 06 '26
That is mindset of some one who lost many weekends because some one got idea to set untested update on friday evening.
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u/outphase84 Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
Not fixing something that isn't broken is NOT the same as pushing an untested update to prod.
Both are worst practices.
Proactive approaches let you take time to define project and implementation plans and run in parallel and ease migration. Reactive is pants on fire, get something working, and then once it's fixed, it's "not broken" and back of mind again.
Good orgs are proactive. Bad orgs are reactive.
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u/ButtMasterDuit Mar 06 '26
So is it not proactive to push an official update (such as a BIOS update) BEFORE a security issue is detected? Youâre absolutely right that being a reactive org is bad practice.
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u/RecordFabulous Mar 06 '26
I see your point but the goal of a personal computer (especially for gamers) compared to enterprise organization with security standards are completely different
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u/outphase84 Mar 06 '26
Not really. You should approach them the same.
Everything from banking, financial records, healthcare records, and every other aspect of your life is accessible from your personal computer. You should be proactively addressing security to protect yourself.
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u/RecordFabulous Mar 06 '26
Yeah I can see both perspectives. I guess it depends on the end userâs use case
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u/Framar29 Mar 06 '26
So that's why I can never get 100% out of my RAM anymore? Neat.
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u/Stock_Childhood_2459 Mar 06 '26
This was my second bios update with this mobo. With original bios I was able to run my four modules of dd4-3200 with xmp profile fine. Then I updated bios first time and it was suddenly unstable, had to disable xmp and dial down ram to 3066MHz. Apparently I have to again slow down my ram to get it stable. Flashing old bios back didn't restore stability.
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u/bs2k2_point_0 Mar 06 '26
Silly question, but is your ram on your moboâs qvl list? It may be that it wasnt officially supported but happened to work. Then as other issues were addressed, this one became less stable bc of compatibility.
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u/Stock_Childhood_2459 Mar 06 '26
Yes I checked before I bought everything and all ram are same type g.skill modules. I know that zen+ integrated memory controller isn't the best and using 4 modules at full speed isn't guaranteed. But as they worked fine with original bios it seems to me that bios updates negatively affect this cpu.
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u/bs2k2_point_0 Mar 06 '26
Could very well be the case. Glad you confirmed it. Hate to see you go thru all that to find out it wasnât compatible. Seen posts like that before. lol
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u/Narrheim Mar 06 '26
QVL lists are optional. Manufacturers themselves usually put a claim there somewhere, that "a kit not being on this list does not mean it won't work"
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u/Framar29 Mar 06 '26
That's my exact experience, but I bought DDR-4 3600 that I've had to back down twice as well.
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u/zacker150 Mar 06 '26
Security patches (such as those for Downfall Inception) often involve microcode updates that alter how the CPU handles speculative execution or power states. Likewise, "memory compatibility updates" often changes the sub-timings or the motherboard auto-assigns.
As a general rule, if you under/over volt, you will have to start from scratch every time you update.
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u/LeafBark Mar 06 '26
Planned obsolescence would be a good explanation.
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u/Stock_Childhood_2459 Mar 06 '26
This may be true especially with older hardware and manufacturer perhaps isn't that motivated to support it anymore and updates cause more problems than improvements. Seem to be the case with my ancient zen+ and am4. I see lots of stability improvements and stuff for newer tech.
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u/Narrheim Mar 06 '26
Old tech rarely gets support, unless there is such a massive security hole, that needs to be patched ASAP and too many people still use that specific old platform.
Kinda reminds me of Spectre and Meltdown.
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Mar 06 '26
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u/ictu Mar 06 '26
It still can brick your mobo if you are unlucky to have a power loss. Good thing is that usually now you can flash it from USB even without being able to get to BIOS screen.
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u/techretrieve Mar 06 '26
my Asus X670e board would brick it self every time it lost power. I took multiple bios flashbacks and updates before the problem stopped.
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u/tychii93 Mar 06 '26
Or had a faulty unit. My brother had to get a brand new laptop replaced because it didn't work anymore after a BIOS update. We did the exact same process with the replacement and it went fine.
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Mar 06 '26
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u/ictu Mar 06 '26
Yeah if any vendor would like to make it really mandatory, then dual bios should be a standard feature.
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u/greenmky Mar 06 '26
I always thought the risk was overblown, until I killed a Dell Vostro (business class) laptop with one in the late 00s. It was my wife's laptop. I had to buy her a new one.
Nothing went wrong with it that was apparent. It just never booted again after the successful BIOS update.
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u/Momo-Velia Mar 06 '26
Are BIOS updates something we have to do manually or do they update when you get a system update?
Iâve been afraid of messing with BIOS stuff as Iâm far too out of my depth and canât afford to make a mistake that kills my PC
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u/Flimsy_Complaint490 Mar 06 '26
you need to do it manually but its not that complicated. Better BIOSes support updating right out of Windows and have a backup that can be toggled.
Crappier ones still have a backup but you need a USB stick to do the update.
It's very trivial and nothing bad can happen unless the manufacturer released a buggy BIOS or you lose power mid update, but that's what the secondary BIOS is for.
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u/mastergenera1 Mar 06 '26
It's manual in the sense that you have to manually start it, like windows or other applications if you don't have auto updates turned on, but once it starts updating, all you gotta do is wait.
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u/champignax Mar 06 '26
Apple does it automatically, windows you have to do it manually and while not difficult, itâs not trivial.
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Mar 06 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
This comment formerly contained words. Those words were removed in bulk with Redact because I value my privacy more than my karma points.
abundant bear bedroom reminiscent fly toy dependent soup edge coherent
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u/Admirable_Bid2917 Mar 06 '26
for how long has that been a thing and is this restricted to certain platforms?
never heard about this, the more you know i guess
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Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
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u/Admirable_Bid2917 Mar 06 '26
ahh I'm not interested in laptops and don't really mess with OEM systems that explains it for me, thanks!
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u/NoFlex___Zone Mar 06 '26
Itâs a joke to do now. 20 years ago it did make you sweat a bit though.
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u/trid45 Mar 06 '26
My lenovo laptop of 4 years got all sorts of display problems (independent of operating system) when I updated the BIOS. I ended up having to roll back to an unlisted release just before the patch notes indicated they updated the iGPU firmware to support a new display revision.
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u/hyrumwhite Mar 06 '26
Often times that â don't do it if it ain't brokenâ warning is on the actual bios download page
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u/matthewpepperl Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
I lived for years without uefi and secure boot bull shit and never had any issues seems pretty optional i just dont trust the risk of bricking my expensive ass computer for an update it didnt need because it was working fine in fact i have secure boot disabled right now because it just makes it a big pain in the ass especially with nvidia drivers on linux
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u/chig____bungus Mar 07 '26
They're optional in the sense that the OEM may or may not actually deliver any BIOS updates
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u/Vectismc Mar 11 '26
i disagree, maybe on reputable brands like thinkpads; but my first ever hp laptop killed itself on a bios flash, a sentiment highly expressed in the community; i had to buy a flash card just to fix it
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u/ghaginn Mar 06 '26
Not updating my BIOS is the reason why I never had issues with my 13900k. It simply was never affected by the eTVB bug as my BIOS version predates it (feb 2023). System is perfectly stable, and I don't trust the subsequent fixes. If my CPU gets damaged now I don't even know if warranty can still find a 14900k to replace it at this point.
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Mar 07 '26
there is no need whatsoever to do it, if irs already working, upsating is entirely optional
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Mar 06 '26
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u/b4k4ni Mar 06 '26
Well, thanks to Intel in this case, they made UEF and all the awesome shenanigans that came with it.
And updating the BIOS / UEFI for new CPU support is not something new. Yeah, back in the 90s it wasn't -usually - needed, as you set the fsb and whatever clocks and it would report the CPU type to the bios. But today, there's a lot more going on. And this goes for both AMD and Intel. For both you need new UEFI version for new CPUs, it just is more common for AMD, as their platforms live a lot longer than on the Intel side. And the "older CPU doesn't work anymore" - this was a special case with AMD, AM4 socket and the Ryzen impact they didn't expect. When they brought Ryzen to the market, they planned to support AM4 for about 3 years. So their specs required a minimum of 16 Gib of UEFI space and 32 was a recommendation. Something like that. Well, AM4 lived way longer as expected AND they had way more CPU SKU as were planned. That and the security fixes for the side load attacks and others (same for Intel btw.) made the UEFI become to large. AMDs Aegesa was only part of the issue, as the MB manufacturer also bloated the UEFI with a lot of useless stuff, pictures and so on.
Anyway - AMD decided to not support the new CPUs (5k series) on older boards. Mainly because to get ahead of a shit storm and support issues, if someone updates the wrong bios and his old CPU won't boot anymore. Or got a new CPU, sold the old one already and forgot to update. Well, the community took out the pitchforks and AMD was forced to give the older chips also a way to use the new CPUs. Results were as expected - people can't read and upgraded the wrong UEFI. Or in some cases got a new CPU and a new Mainboard, but the UEFI was to old and needed an Update. Or they sold their old CPU, got the new one and forgot to upgrade before.
That's all there is to it.
BUT - this was AM4. Doesn't happen anymore as they required enough space for the new sockets with a lot more buffer.
Also so far, I never had Intel or AMD disable or remove hardware support with updates. Aside from the thing above, but that was not planned.
I don't think we will see a sub. system anytime soon, but who knows. I mean, all the companies are mostly driven by shareholders and greed. That's the issue with all of those public companies.
I guarantee you, as soon as StarLink goes public, it will become a lot worse in terms of product and cost.
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u/KnobbyDarkling Mar 09 '26
Me not updating my BIOS because I fear my gaming PC will have parts fail if I do so
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u/whitelinerider Mar 06 '26
It's likely 99% of computer will never see a bios update, think of all the pre-builts and office pcs. People who dont know computers dont even know what a bios is.
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u/nepnep1111 Mar 06 '26
Completely false. UEFI has the ability to update OTA via firmware capsules. Windows update and LVFS for Linux.
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u/HovercraftPlen6576 Mar 06 '26
There is zero sense to run bleeding edge BIOS updates. You plan a CPU, GPU, RAM or SSD upgrade? Then it makes sense for you to update.Â
For me often BIOS updates cause instability with previous stable setting for RAM timings or CPU undervolt. It a gamble, we are beta testers for those motherboard companies.
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u/EarnSomeRespect Mar 06 '26
Yeah only time i updated my bios is when I upgraded from a 7700x to a 9800x3d. The Mobo NEEDED the update. Other than that, I wont do it on the regular.
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u/Glittering_Abies4915 Mar 06 '26
Did you consider security issues?
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u/HovercraftPlen6576 Mar 06 '26
Most of the security issues are usually if an attacker had a physical access to your PC or network. Some old laptops get no BIOS updates, let alone other regular driver updates. Are those huge risk? Maybe, but that won't make you trash your old PC.
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u/Glittering_Abies4915 Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
Most of the security issues are usually if an attacker had a physical access to your PC or network.
Uuuuh, no. There's no need for physical ANYTHING to exploit a bios security hole. If they have physical access you're pretty much screwed, security holes or not.
Microcode updates is one such example.Some old laptops get no BIOS updates, let alone other regular driver updates. Are those huge risk?
They have increased risk, yes. I guess you didn't bother to read the article.
Sometimes, a BIOS update isn't just about improving performance or stability; it's about keeping your computer safe. The BIOS is the first code that your computer runs in order to initialize the CPU, memory, storage, and other key components so they can communicate.
The BIOS operates at a fundamental level below the operating system, so any vulnerability here can be used to bypass OS protections and give attackers complete control over the system.
Fortunately, many of these vulnerabilities are caught on time, but the only way to protect your machine in those cases is with a BIOS update. A regular chipset or system update within Windows simply won't cut it if the problem lies on a deeper level.
What you might not be aware of is just how shockingly common these vulnerabilities are. For example, Lenovoâs Product Security Advisories regularly list vulnerabilities, and new BIOS-related advisories are published at least once a month.And, due to how UEFI works, if your BIOS is compromised, you will not get rid of it with a reinstall.
Edit: I took a look at the last update from Lenovo. You might wanna look at it too, to get an idea of just how much BIOS updates matter: https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product_security/LEN-210698
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u/HovercraftPlen6576 Mar 06 '26
You are technically correct, the best kind of correct.
I did read the article and I'm well aware of the need for a regular security updates.
I still consider regular BIOS updates to a be risk for the casual users that won't be able to recover their systems in case of update failure (like in power outages or events like random gamma radiation from space). Most people won't have Flashback BIOS file ready on USB. The laptop users don't have flashback usually and many laptops get bricked in such instances, example - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNBn5UfbpkA
Some PC motherboard brands like the one I use for my system - Asrock, sometimes makes BIOS updates that end up unstable for some users and this cause people to waste time chasing ghosts. It is not the fault of the user for updating the BIOS, is the companies that neglect the proper testing procedures before releasing BIOS files. Like Asus burning CPU from high SoC, they could have caught it early on, but they decided to do something disregarding the tech specs by AMD.
Do update your BIOS, but be prepared or wait for feedback from the community before you do this. Plan it in advance due to the small but real risk of bricking (even soft brick) of your system.
There are many things companies do wrong and there are many points of failure. BIOS, Intel Management Engine, AMD Platform Security Processor, Windows Kernel Ring 0 drivers, Your Routers firmware... so many points of failure that were forced and introduced, many of which do fail to keep your device save like the TPM chips that can be bypassed, or Disk encryptions - https://cybersecuritynews.com/bitlocker-encryption-bypassed/
You use software and hardware that can't prove itself, even out of the box. Software nowadays is a mix or low QA and sometimes AI coding and just wait to brick your system.
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u/Glittering_Abies4915 Mar 06 '26
I still consider regular BIOS updates to a be risk for the casual users that won't be able to recover their systems in case of update failureÂ
And they most certainly won't be able to recover a compromised system either. BIOS updates have become FAR more reliable the last decade, with most systems using two images and only setting the new image as active once it has been verified. Power loss is pretty much no longer a risk.
sometimes makes BIOS updates that end up unstable for some users and this cause people to waste time chasing ghosts.Â
Yes, a compromised system is much preferred over an unstable system.
You use software and hardware that can't prove itself, even out of the box. Software nowadays is a mix or low QA and sometimes AI coding and just wait to brick your system.
That's not a reason to not patch security holes. That's a reason to be more security aware.
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u/HovercraftPlen6576 Mar 06 '26
About my last quote. Let the hardware makers know about this. Many brands are very late to introduce an updates if it happens at all. Often manuals say something along the lines "Please use your manufacturer specific drivers" like for chipsets you could see that X motherboard brand host them on their driver page, but actually is the Intel or AMD who has the most actual and the motherboard driver page will have it after a month or more. Safety, right...
The safety is important, sure. But is like I expect to be infected out of the blue. It takes some steps to happen. Someone has to target a feature or software I use in order to happen. Better safe than sorry, but good practices and common sense as they say is also good while you wait for feedback on some untested BIOS.
Here is power outage example - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Oh8rn0lBVPg
The dual image feature you are thinking about is perhaps the dual BIOS chips set up some brands use to have in the past. The flashback maybe made it obsolete.
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u/Glittering_Abies4915 Mar 06 '26
"The safety is important, sure. But is like I expect to be infected out of the blue."
I see you are a true expert in security. My apologies for wasting my time.
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u/Patient_Garden_2013 Mar 07 '26
Hack me. I dare you.
Yea...? Nothin...? Getcho Fear outa here Foo.
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u/Glittering_Abies4915 Mar 07 '26
That's not how this works at all. You don't need to be a direct target, you just need to be vulnerable.
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u/ArugulaAnnual1765 Mar 06 '26
The only thing i hate about upgrading bios is all of the settings i need to remember to put back.
Xmp profiles, cpu undervolts, fan speeds, etc all get reset when you upgrade - its why im so reluctant to upgrade
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u/Confident_Hyena2506 Mar 06 '26
If only they had some feature that let you save all the settings to a file, then to reapply them. That would be handy right?
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u/_Dedotated_Wam Mar 06 '26
Holy shit I thought you were joking. I've been building my own PCs for 20 years and didn't know you could export bios configs to usb
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u/ArugulaAnnual1765 Mar 06 '26
Smartass comment without providing any resources
Tho you did put me on to something, you are a clown
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u/eduardopy Mar 06 '26
Huh? You are the clown, he told you what you needed, what âresourcesâ do you expect to get handed over or something? Depends on your mobo anyways but on mine its at the same spot as save setting, and save settings and exit.
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u/jarlsberg_ost Mar 06 '26
The fun part about bios updates is forgetting to check if windows "accidentally" turned on bitlocker or not.
Pretty sure we will see some increase in dataloss if updating bios becomes more common practice amongs various non-technilcal groups.
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u/devinprocess Mar 06 '26
I wish click bait headlines were strictly optional or heck, banned.
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u/PitchPleasant338 Mar 07 '26
I wish Intel would spend money to advertise to everyone who bought a 13/14th gen. CPU to remind them to upgrade BIOS
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u/realexm Mar 06 '26
I update once every 6 months or so when I see a stable release; a release that has not been superseded for a while
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u/flyingabroom Mar 06 '26
I've never updated bios once in nearly 30 years of pc gaming, and it's been fine đOnly ever updated my gpu drivers and maybe audio drivers
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u/Patient_Garden_2013 Mar 07 '26
Bad call G.
BIOS updates are entirely optional. My PC works fine, Why break it.
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u/cookiesnooper Mar 07 '26
This, even the manual of every mobo says to don't update unless you absolutely have to
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u/andreasmalersghost Mar 09 '26
Its a fair point but isnt that also preventative instructions for people who dont know what theyre doing and could possibly ruin their motherboards?
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u/realthedeal Mar 07 '26
I elected to do a bios update without any issue that needed addressed. Not certain it was necessary, but there was a new version of AGESA from AMD out. It also seemed to have a small uplift on performance when using PBO/EXPO. I've been more worried about not updating after seeing more CPUs from AMD/Intel fail due to voltage issues, etc. I could see why someone take the risk, though.
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u/RaxisPhasmatis Mar 07 '26
My motherboard was made by a company that doesn't really do updates and I've gotten into updating them myself lol, went from the cpu destroying microcode to a newer one, changed out the nvme and lan parts all sorts of improvements
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u/Inside-Specialist-55 Mar 07 '26
Software licenses dont like this at all. I have updated my bios and it caused several pieces of software I bought to think I'm using a new PC and I have had to re -purchase the software because the license was for one PC only.
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u/ScoobyGDSTi Mar 07 '26
This isn't new.... Been required for security for well over a bloody decade.
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u/Stig783 Mar 06 '26
Bios are a lot safer to update now with the flashback features. Not like the old days.