Is it "safe" yet to buy a Z77 board?

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toronado455
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Is it "safe" yet to buy a Z77 board?

Post by toronado455 » Sun Jul 22, 2012 4:47 pm

I'm liking this one: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_ ... P8Z77V_LX/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131824
On the ASUS product page, it shows latest bios update at version 0610, date 2012-05-18.
If I order one now, what are the chances it will have the latest bios version already installed?

lodestar
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Re: Is it "safe" yet to buy a Z77 board?

Post by lodestar » Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:18 pm

Update to the latest release of AI Suite II from the Asus website. AI Suite II includes Asus Update which is a Windows utility which allows a choice of updating the BIOS direct from the internet, or downloading the latest BIOS as a file and updating it separately. Asus Update as you would expect has an option to show which BIOS version you have so it may not be necessary to update anyway.

CA_Steve
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Re: Is it "safe" yet to buy a Z77 board?

Post by CA_Steve » Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:09 am

Yeah, it looks like the BIOS revision wheel has slowed down :)

You may/may not get a board with the latest version of BIOS installed. Sorta depends on how fast the retailer goes through their inventory. Also, as Intel releases more CPUs, there will be revisions just to add the new parts to the BIOS.

toronado455
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Re: Is it "safe" yet to buy a Z77 board?

Post by toronado455 » Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:58 pm

Thanks. I'll probably order it within the next few weeks. Coincidentally, Tom's Hardware just took a look at that exact board: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77 ... 254-6.html

JJ
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Re: Is it "safe" yet to buy a Z77 board?

Post by JJ » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:05 pm

Why is everyone so terrified of updating a motherboard BIOS?

toronado455
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Re: Is it "safe" yet to buy a Z77 board?

Post by toronado455 » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:21 pm

JJ wrote:Why is everyone so terrified of updating a motherboard BIOS?
Not so much terrified as just wanting to get past the initial slew of updates so I don't have to deal with it - at least not frequently.

CA_Steve
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Re: Is it "safe" yet to buy a Z77 board?

Post by CA_Steve » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:48 pm

toronado455 wrote:Not so much terrified as just wanting to get past the initial slew of updates so I don't have to deal with it - at least not frequently.
+1

I don't like being the mobo mfgr's beta site.

toronado455
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Location: CA, USA

Re: Is it "safe" yet to buy a Z77 board?

Post by toronado455 » Fri Sep 21, 2012 12:20 pm

Finally booted this up and found out it has the "F6" (2012/05/11) version of the BIOS which "Improve system stability" - that's always good. :-)

There is one newer version "F9" which was released on the exact day I ordered the board (2012/08/22) - too funny. The F9 version includes "Update ME firmware". I don't know if I need that. Can I just install Windows now and update the BIOS later if I want?

Edit: Just looked at my thread starter and saw I was talking about an ASUS board originally - so just to clarify, I got the Gigabyte board instead.

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