Core i7 w/ Sandy Bridge motherboard?

[Mr Bob]

I have an ASUS P8Z68-V PRO motherboard that uses the Sandy Bridge/Z68 chipset.

I want to put in a Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz LGA 1155 77W processor.

Even though the MB is sandy bridge, it looks like there's a BIOS update that will let it support the newer Intel core iX processors.

Any issues doing this?

 

[hyrule4927]

As long as you know what you're doing and don't lose power during the BIOS flash or something, nothing to be concerned about.

 

[ShintaiDK]

No problem with it.

And when BIOS is updated it fully supports the i7 3770K.

Only potential limit is if you get PCIe 3.0 or not. That depends on the mobo manufactors usage of PCIe switchchips. But again, running in 2.0 mode dosent limit you either.

 

[lehtv]

If the board is P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3, you've got PCIe 3.0 as well. Does anyone know of any tests comparing PCIe 3.0 x8/x8 vs PCIe 2.0 x8/x8 with GTX 680 SLI, for example?

OP, what CPU are you upgrading from?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I have an ASUS P8Z68-V PRO motherboard that uses the Sandy Bridge/Z68 chipset.

I want to put in a Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz LGA 1155 77W processor.

Even though the MB is sandy bridge, it looks like there's a BIOS update that will let it support the newer Intel core iX processors.

Any issues doing this?

I wouldn't hesitate; I would just give attention to being deliberate. Download the BIOS, extract or save to a thumb drive; keep it ready. Change all your CPU clocks and settings to default -- memory voltage and timing back to XMP or manufacturer-spec. Save the BIOS -- hopefully you have fully documented or made notes of settings that wouldn't be specific to the Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge core -- like your hard disk configuration. Insert the USB drive and reboot to BIOS screen again.

Find the menu item for "Tools" and find the utility for flashing from USB. In the file selection option, find the USB flash drive and the file you'd downloaded earlier.

Flash the BIOS, attentive to information and dialog display toward successful and normal completion. Then save and exit the BIOS. Reboot to Windows log-on and shut down the machine.

Switch PSU to "off," unplug the the power cord, ground yourself, and replace the processor with the Ivy-Bridge; confirm successful boot back into Windows; enter BIOS for either outcome and correct, tweak and tune the settings.

If the board is P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3, you've got PCIe 3.0 as well. Does anyone know of any tests comparing PCIe 3.0 x8/x8 vs PCIe 2.0 x8/x8 with GTX 680 SLI, for example?

OP, what CPU are you upgrading from?

I've read maybe two or three reviews, and strings of different forum posts here and everywhere. For a single graphics card, there's very little or no difference. For an SLI x8/x8, there is some possible gain around 5%. I don't know what you might get for having two top-end nVidia water-cooled jobs in SLI. And there are some other options with use of the Intel iGPU together with a single card. Those wouldn't show any improvements, either.

The gain becomes noticeable with three SLI or Crossfire cards.

EDIT: UPDATE: ADVISORY: Some people follow a procedure of updating through the entire set of BIOS updates including the last one or whichever version you want. Older history with motherboards for earlier processors and sockets showed some motherboards were "finicky" about taking BIOS upgrades, or where successive BIOS-to-BIOS updating might minimize problems.

It is always possible to reflash the BIOS with an old version, which you would either save or download from mobo support pages. If you have any other troubles with BIOS causing you panic or confusion, check the motherboard to find the BIOS chip and see if it is soldered or socketed. If socketed, you can order a BIOS revision for your motherboard from www.BIOSMan.com, and they will send you a new chip and a chip-removal tool.

http://www.biosman.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=BIOS-Chip

 

[Mr Bob]

Great info, thanks everyone!!!

I was soooo disappointed when I read that my MB went from x16 to x8 when using dual cards, and then I did the research and found the difference in actual performance is very little.

I haven't done a BIOS update in years, so it's good to hear the steps. Heck, I think last time I had to do it was via a floppy disk like 2-3 builds ago when I actually had a floppy drive.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Great info, thanks everyone!!!

I was soooo disappointed when I read that my MB went from x16 to x8 when using dual cards, and then I did the research and found the difference in actual performance is very little.

I haven't done a BIOS update in years, so it's good to hear the steps. Heck, I think last time I had to do it was via a floppy disk like 2-3 builds ago when I actually had a floppy drive.

I always approached the task with caution, but I know some people who are actually frightened -- daunted by it. Some . . . misperception of risk versus benefits.

I should actually do it again now on my Z68 board, just for a BIOS revision released a year ago and without an immediate interest for updating to later versions for Ivy Bridge compatibility. It would give me access to manual setting for the VccSA voltage, and make it possible to use the sleep-state with my current over-clock settings (> 4.5 Ghz).