Some Questions about Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

Jonny Granada wrote: Hello, I'm using the Z68 Extrem 3 Gen 3 with an i5-2500K since years, still works great. I want to upgrade my GPU to a Nvidia 1060 and was wondering if it will work, guess it should, but thought i'll ask before. Also i'm still on the P1.00 BIOS and just seen here http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z68%20Extreme3%20Gen3/index.de.asp?cat=Download&os=BIOS that there is a P2.30 which "Improve discrete VGA card vBIOS compatibility." That makes me think that i might need that, but is that BIOS version compatible with the Sandy Bridge CPU or is it for the Ivy Bridge CPU. Both types can be used on this Motherboard. Read about some people with this Motherboard and a Sandy Bridge CPU that had problems after flashing the BIOS with versions that were exclusive for the Ivy Bridge. Hope some one here can clarify. edit: can't get the link to work, you'll need to copy paste it.

The forum's link creation tool has a problem with certain characters in a URL, not your fault.

We've been seeing problems with new video cards like a GTX 1060 on older boards, meaning they just don't work at all. Video card manufactures are reluctant to inform us that is the situation.

But then what is an "older board", and what is the cutoff or transition point of a board working or not working with a new video card?

Given what I have seen, for Intel mother boards, anything older than the Intel six series chipsets (P67, Z68) are likely to have problems using new video cards. One potential reason for that is all Intel boards prior to the six series chipsets use "legacy" BIOS type firmware. The Intel six series chipset boards were the first to use UEFI type firmware.

I cannot guarantee a GTX 1060 will work with your board, but my guess would be it will.

One thing I will point out to you is your Sandy Bridge i5-2500K CPU only supports PCIe 2.0. Only Ivy Bridge i5 and i7 and newer Intel processors provide PCIe 3.0. There won't be much if any performance loss if your video card has the full PCIe 2.0 x16 lanes available, but if you have any other cards that use PCIe 2.0 lanes from the CPU, then you won't get the most performance from any PCIe 3.0 video card.

Before I talk about the 2.30 UEFI version, consider its release date: 7/2012. While that UEFI version has improved video card compatibility, that was for four year old video cards. The changes in that version won't hurt you, and may help, but it wasn't released for current video cards.

There is also a Beta UEFI, L2.31A, which is six months newer than 2.30. It also includes Windows 8 support.

Speaking of Windows, important question for you regarding either UEFI update. What version of Window are you using?

The Ivy Bridge compatible UEFI version can be used in your board while using a Sandy Bridge processors like yours, that is not a problem.

You are correct that some people that applied the Ivy Bridge compatible UEFI version to their board while using a Sandy Bridge processor, had problems afterwards. That is caused by not performing the update correctly. Two factors included in the failure:

1. When using Instant Flash (the only method I recommend using), the USB flash drive with the UEFI update file on it, MUST BE LEFT IN THE USB 2.0 PORT on the board's IO panel, UNTIL WINDOWS COMPLETELY BOOTS TO THE DESKTOP AFTER THE UPDATE! 

Removing it too soon causes a critical part of the update to be skipped, resulting in problems. Ignore this simple but essential procedure, and you'll be needing a new UEFI/BIOS chip.

2. The critical part is an update to the Intel Management Engine (IME) firmware, that is part of the UEFI itself. Since the IME firmware was updated, we also need to update the IME software. You'll only see a warning about that in the Windows 7 download section for your board, but it applies to ALL Windows versions. It also applies if you are using a Sandy Bridge processor.

The IME software version for whatever version of Windows you use will be in the corresponding download page for your board.

Hi guys,

Edited by wardenx - 06 May 2017 at 2:18am