Haswell Refresh in 8-Series Motherboards

[crashtech]

I'd like to hear about anyone's experiences fitting any of the new Haswell Refresh CPUs into existing 8-series boards. I have an i3-4360 on its way and will share my experiences when it arrives. I've seen some assertions that BIOS updates will be mandatory even to boot the machine, but since the recently released models are (as far as I know) of the same stepping, there may be no operational problems, except for perhaps the CPU being misidentified. Thoughts?

 

[zir_blazer]

My best guess is that they should happily boot and function on old BIOSes because they are the same Stepping and everything.

Regarding the identification issue, I recall back than on Socket A era, Mobile Athlons XP were detected by Desktop Motherboards as "Unknow Processor". So did overclocked Processors that were detected as faster parts. This was because at that time there wasn't a string about what model the Processor was and instead the BIOS assigned one which seems heavily based on a Cache L2/FSB/Frequency/CPUID table. Currently I think they have a register where they store a string about what model they are, so I don't even think that they can incorrectly identify it when they just have to show you that string.

 

[crashtech]

That's what I think too, but some people have been asserting that the Haswell refresh CPUs will not boot in an 8-series board without a BIOS update. I believe this is erroneous information in most cases. The current situation is NOT like the jump from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge, which while maintaining LGA1155 incorporated enough changes to require BIOS updates on older boards.

 

[crashtech]

So the i3-4360 was recognized just fine in the BIOS and the OS with a Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD2 that didn't even have the latest BIOS. I am going to assume that most or all 8-series boards will accept the refresh CPUs with no issue.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So the i3-4360 was recognized just fine in the BIOS and the OS with a Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD2 that didn't even have the latest BIOS. I am going to assume that most or all 8-series boards will accept the refresh CPUs with no issue.

That's good to hear.

 

[coolpurplefan]

So the i3-4360 was recognized just fine in the BIOS and the OS with a Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD2 that didn't even have the latest BIOS. I am going to assume that most or all 8-series boards will accept the refresh CPUs with no issue.

lol

If that's applicable too to the AsRock Fatal1ty H87 Performance I'd be pretty impressed. (I don't feel like buying a cheaper CPU just to flash the BIOS then buy another CPU.)

 

[crashtech]

lol

If that's applicable too to the AsRock Fatal1ty H87 Performance I'd be pretty impressed. (I don't feel like buying a cheaper CPU just to flash the BIOS then buy another CPU.)

To be clear, I am not talking about the yet unreleased Devil's Canyon parts. What makes you think any of the parts already released would not work in the AsRock board you mention?

 

[coolpurplefan]

To be clear, I am not talking about the yet unreleased Devil's Canyon parts. What makes you think any of the parts already released would not work in the AsRock board you mention?

The AsRock web site says BIOS version 1.90 for the Haswell i5-4690, and I saw some Asian web site I translated inside Chrome that said new Haswells on the series 8 chipset will require a BIOS update. There may be a possibility that you could flash the BIOS with a Haswell refresh CPU if what you state is correct.

 

[crashtech]

The AsRock web site says BIOS version 1.90 for the Haswell i5-4690, and I saw some Asian web site I translated inside Chrome that said new Haswells on the series 8 chipset will require a BIOS update. There may be a possibility that you could flash the BIOS with a Haswell refresh CPU if what you state is correct.

I was worried about it too, that's why I started this thread. I'm surprised that there aren't more respondents, it would be nice to gather more anecdotal data. I can't believe I am the first one here to try this out.