Hi,
Just getting around to install the OS on my MCE2005 PC with an asus P4c800-e
MB
I noticed now it reads version 1014 for the bios.
Is the newer bios significantly btter that the upgrade is worth it?
Also, silly question, can i update the bios before I install the OS?
TIA,
jeff
To find out what the newer BIOS files fix, visit the download
page and click on the "More" link for the file you are interested
in. The release BIOS should have a release note in the "More" link,
while the Beta BIOS never explains what it fixes.
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/download.aspx (search for mobo)
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=P4C800-E Deluxe&Type=All&SLanguage=en-us
One thing you get in a newer BIOS, is microcode for P4 processors
and support for new processor types. Normally, this isn't a big
deal, but in the recent release of SP2 for WinXP, there is an
issue with the version of microcode being used. If you have a Prescott
processor, and an older BIOS, then after SP2 is installed, the computer
may hang in the middle of the boot process. So, that is an incentive
to update the BIOS, if you have a Prescott and plan on installing
SP2. (If you do plan on installing SP2, use the Intel utility
mentioned in this post, to check that your Prescott "revision"
number is high enough for SP2. If it is not, flash a more recent
BIOS.)
http://www.google.com/[email protected]
Other BIOS will fix particular issues, or trivial ones. For example,
at one time, at bootup, the BIOS would beep once for each connected
USB device. This was driving people crazy, and leading them to
conclude their mobo was busted. Asus turned off the beeping in a
later BIOS. (The feature was created by AMI and not Asus.) A
more particular issue was with large Hitachi/IBM disk drives
and recovery from sleep. Reading the release notes for each BIOS
in succession, will give you a good idea of what is to be gained.
To see what release of BIOS is needed to run a particular type of
processor, go here and enter your motherboard name:
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx
Notice how, for any Celeron D processor, you would need a BIOS
more recent than 1014.
As for the BIOS update process - the first thing you do, is
read the "More" link above, because quite frequently Asus will
say not to use a particular method of updating the BIOS. Most
boards have at least three methods - one involves a function
inside the BIOS called EZflash, which is accessed by pressing
a key combo (Alt-f2) at POST, the second involves making an
MSDOS boot floppy and using a DOS flasher program, and the
third method is Asus Update from inside Windows. (I consider
the third method the most risky, as if anything in Windows
upsets the flash process, you could be left dead in the water.
If you do want to try Asus Update, make sure the BIOS file is
downloaded to disk first, before flashing, as that gets
networking issues out of the way.)
Have a look in the manual for more details.
HTH,
Paul
