Pace of Gigabyte BIOS releases

[FlippedBit]

This is my first Gigabyte mobo (Z170X-UD5) and so far I'm happy with how quickly they put out new BIOS versions with fixes. It seems like roughly 1 update per month so far for this new board:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5480#bios

Problem is, each new fix lately just results in a new Beta BIOS and they never seem to release previous betas into production. The latest beta has a Skylake fix for the prime number bug, but the previous two beta fixes are still in Beta.

Are the Betas cumulative? In order words, does F5j contain the fixes in F5g and F5f?

Based on your experience with Gigabyte, when can I expect another non-beta release?

 

[Ketchup]

BIOS updates are always cumulative. I have had several Gigabyte boards over the years and they have all been great. My last board ended with a beta BIOS. I didn't mess with it, but I did read threads from others trying it, and they didn't report any issues.

The general rule of thumb with BIOSes though is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The only thing I will add to that is added features are another good reason to update a BIOS.

I love my Asus though. They used to offer good boards, but with no frills at all. Glad to see they have stepped up their game.

 

[FlippedBit]

Thanks, that's good to know the betas build on each other. Because of how they're listed I thought they were separate code branches being tested and that they'd all eventually get integrated into a stable/release version.

I had a good run with an Asus board for the last 7+ years (P6T Deluxe) so I agree r/e them being a solid product. This time around it seemed like Gigabyte was offering a little more for the money in terms of features. I just hope the stability and long-term reliability are there, too.

 

[Charlie98]

I think one of my Gigabyte BIOS updates had a prerequisite BIOS that the board had to be at before updating it to this particular BIOS, so just read the release notes beforehand, even though it sounds like you have made every step on the ladder.

 

[FlippedBit]

Nah, I've only done one upgrade. The board came with F3 and I flashed it to F4. I'd rather wait out all the intermediate betas until the next stable release, so I'm trying to gauge when that might be. The pattern of releasing back-to-back betas without promoting any of them to stable is a little out of the ordinary, IMO.

Even though the notes say there are fixes specifically for M.2, I think the board doesn't like my Crucial SSD very much. I've had a couple BSOD's in Windows so far, though thankfully rare. I'm hopeful that compatibility is better in the newer BIOS. Also, as statistically unlikely as I am to hit that prime number calculation bug, it's unsettling knowing that the bug exists.

 

[Charlie98]

Nah, I've only done one upgrade. The board came with F3 and I flashed it to F4. I'd rather wait out all the intermediate betas until the next stable release, so I'm trying to gauge when that might be. The pattern of releasing back-to-back betas without promoting any of them to stable is a little out of the ordinary, IMO.

Even though the notes say there are fixes specifically for M.2, I think the board doesn't like my Crucial SSD very much. I've had a couple BSOD's in Windows so far, though thankfully rare. I'm hopeful that compatibility is better in the newer BIOS. Also, as statistically unlikely as I am to hit that prime number calculation bug, it's unsettling knowing that the bug exists.

Ah... I see what you meant. I think on my Z68 board the last BIOS update was a beta...and I ain't going there. That is a bit curious they would put out more than one beta at a time...