Should I expect the latest BIOS on new Motherboard

MrQuestions wrote: I'm looking at ordering a motherboard and CPU, but when checking compatibility charts I'm concerned that I will get a CPU that the motherboard doesn't support without a BIOS update. I'm looking at the ASRock H81 PRO BTC motherboard - should I expect to receive this with a later version of BIOS or might it need updating before it can support the newer 1150 Processors? I am worried about getting too new of a CPU that I can't use that CPU to update the motherboard to the BIOS the CPU requires.  Maybe this isn't something I need to be concerned about? Thanks a lot for any advice.

Yes it is a concern, but how much is hard to say. If you will use a Haswell Refresh (Haswell-R) processor, you will need a later UEFI/BIOS version. You can see that in the CPU Support list.

The problem about what UEFI/BIOS version a board will have when you buy it depends upon things like how many of this board does your retailer sell, and how old the stock they have is.

But Haswell-R processors have been available for over two years, so if you got a board that was made not long ago, it should have a later UEFI/BIOS version.

Given when the board was made, and what stock a retailer has, makes this a difficult question.


Edited by parsec - 17 May 2016 at 12:32pm

MrQuestions wrote: Thanks, I was afraid of that :). Is there any way I'd be able to update BIOS using an unsupported Processor?  I would think not unless the BIOS recognizes it?

Normally no, for most processors. The exception would be the G3258, whose UEFI/BIOS update is really a fix to allow over clocking.