Buy a new b550 motherboard or save for AM5
Posted by RogueCanadia@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 14 comments
Hey all,
Recently I had some trouble with a bios update. My b450 Aorus pro wifi had one of the bios’ brick from a bios update. I bought a ryzen 5800XT and was looking to update my bios to support it (replacing 3600).
I can try the bios update again. I’m worried however as I don’t think my board supports the updates required for ryzen 5000. It seems like it’s a no go on that board which if it bricks I’m out of a PC.
At this point my only options are get a new mobo b550 or just return everything and save for AM5.
I recently bought a new gpu and I updated ram to 32gb. I can sell the ram when going to update but ddr5 is $600 Canadian.
Any advice? I’m kinda boned tbh.
Nerohn@reddit
Any am4 motherboard should support the 5000 series card with a bios update, I know you said it’s bricks but was it due to a power outage during the update? If not, you might be able to flash it again. If you don’t get display out, does your mobo have a q-flash button somewhere? If so, there should be instructions on how to do it.
RogueCanadia@reddit (OP)
Nope I q-flashed using USB. It completed 100%, restarted itself, and complete black screen for 30 minutes. One of the bios’ is cooked. I have dual bios so the other one is good but it didn’t take the bios update.
I followed their instructions verbatim and it bricked the bios.
I dont think B450 gigabyte mobos play well with those updates.
IggyHitokage@reddit
I've never seen this before, but your board had some pretty specific instructions under the older BIOS revisions, requiring step-ups from F32 to F40 and updates to chipset drivers before updating the BIOS. Did you jump from F1 to F67a in one go?
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B450-I-AORUS-PRO-WIFI-rev-10/support#Support-Bios
RogueCanadia@reddit (OP)
Nah I was on f42a. Ran the tool. Went from that to f66 (most recent stable release).
There’s no instructions on there about staged updates but that was my next step were I to update. Go f42a -> f50 -> f60 -> f62 -> f66
But I’ve already bricked one bios maybe it just can’t handle the more recent ones since it’s so old? This one was one of the versions that didn’t come ryzen 3000 ready it had to be flashed to support its
ZeroPaladn@reddit
Your board has Vermeer support. It just needs the BIOS update.
Your post is all over the place. Part of it mentions that you could try the update again which insinuates you've attempted it already, but then mention "if it bricks" as in the board still works.
What have you done so far?
Does the board still work with either CPU installed?
RogueCanadia@reddit (OP)
One of the bios’ works with the 3600. The other bios is fried.
I’m saying at this point would I be better off buying a b550 motherboard or saving for am5, since bios update isn’t really an option.
I’m saying basically if I did it again and it bricks I have no pc.
ZeroPaladn@reddit
Ah, I getcha now. How old is the board? Is an RMA (if it's in warranty) or local repair possible? It's not difficult to replace/reflash a BIOS chip on it's own, but it's not something you can do at home without the tools already on hand (and you're sort of on a clock for the CPU return).
You've recently jumped onto 32GB of RAM for that platform? I think you should lean into that and keep going with that setup instead of leaning into half a grand on DDR5 alone. Grab a new board.
RogueCanadia@reddit (OP)
Yes I did. The reason was my pc was freezing and crashing with 16gb. I was at 95% usage and it was a struggle with multiple apps open.
As for the board it’s 7 years old now. Bought in September 2019.
ZeroPaladn@reddit
Yeah - if you've got the DDR4 already just work with that. Grab a new board.
... but if you're doing that, and the 5800XT can still be returned, I have IDEAS:
14600K is just faster in everything and costs about the same. Grab a DDR4-capable board for LGA1700 and enjoy.
If you're deadset on AM4 but also want to juice up your gaming performance, the 5800X3D is getting re-released at the end of the month, mindful the pricetag will be $350USD. This is 14700KF monies.
joan16v@reddit
buy the B550 mobo it's cheap
Shellsallaround@reddit
Just buy a new motherboard that supports 5000 series CPUs.
networking_noob@reddit
I had an "ASRock b450m pro 4" running a Ryzen 1600, and there was a bios update to support the Ryzen 5000 series, but I didn't even attempt it lol I just had a feeling something would go wrong or be janky. I bought a Ryzen 5600, and then a new "Gigabyte 550 Eagle WiFi 6" motherboard for like $99 and everything just works out of the box. I also upgraded from 16gb to 32gb DDR4 like you might have, and plan on staying with AM4/DDR4 until like 2030 with these DDR5 prices
If you're gaming, the AM4/DDR4 setup is still blazingly fast IMO and won't be a CPU bottleneck for many games, and you can always upgrade a GPU separately in the future if need be
So tl;dr if you've got an extra $100 or so I'd probably just get a new motherboard as a way of paying to not deal with the hassle of bios updates that may or may not work
RogueCanadia@reddit (OP)
Yeah that’s where I’m at. People on this very sub swore up and down “it’s fine it will work.”
Despite my gut telling me they were wrong and it was going to mess up my board, I did the update and followed instructions exactly as the manufacturer stated. The moment it was done one of the bios’ bricked. Thankfully I have dual bios so my pc isn’t cooked completely.
I agree with you on saving the headache and that’s the exact board I was looking at. It’s $150 Canadian. Just wondering if it’s even worth it or should I just go right for am5.
BillionaireBear@reddit
I think you may be able to flash again, but I appreciate not wanting to screw it up. Maybe check Amazon/ebay/fb for a used one. Last I checked, eBay had tons of am4 boards, maybe missing some piece of the board but functional