Rolling back BIOS version to pre-purchase version

[BarkingGhostar]

Spent the better part of a week building a new PC for the wife to use for work. It is exactly like the one I built for myself with the following two exceptions:

Using an i5-4570 instead of an i7-4770K.
Motherboard version is F7 instead of F5.

Observable differences are:

Upon power-up, CPU fan ramps to seemingly maximum RPM for a couple of seconds before calming down to something more expected. My computer doesn't do this and the fan is running quietly the entire time.

KBM work immediately in BIOS and pre-login screen of W7, but once the login screen appears it take a full minute or more before the KBM can be used. Compare this to 5-7 seconds on my computer.

Because the only differences are BIOS version and CPU series, I have to wonder if it is the newer BIOS firmware in her computer. I was thinking of using the Gigabyte s/w to backup the F5 BIOS version and install it onto the wife's computer.

Risky, sure. But what good is it to replace a seven year old XP computer with a new one that takes as long to boot up to a point you can log in. BTW, these computers are using Crucial Ballistix Tactical RAM, Samsung SSDs, Corsair PSU and cases and the GA-Z87X-UD4H boards with Intel.

 

[vailr]

Try one of these:
GA-Z87X-UD4H - F8-mod
GA-Z87X-UD4H - F9a-mod
http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/48085-gigabyte-modified-bios-84.html#post477983

 

[greenhawk]

Upon power-up, CPU fan ramps to seemingly maximum RPM for a couple of seconds before calming down to something more expected. My computer doesn't do this and the fan is running quietly the entire time.

KBM work immediately in BIOS and pre-login screen of W7, but once the login screen appears it take a full minute or more before the KBM can be used. Compare this to 5-7 seconds on my computer.

Because the only differences are BIOS version and CPU series, I have to wonder if it is the newer BIOS firmware in her computer. I was thinking of using the Gigabyte s/w to backup the F5 BIOS version and install it onto the wife's computer.

Risky, sure. But what good is it to replace a seven year old XP computer with a new one that takes as long to boot up to a point you can log in.

1) the behavior of the fan is normal for new boards as it is testing that the fan is working before running in a temperature controlled mode. Depending on the board, using a different fan socket can get around this, as well as changing the mode of operation of the fan. All is in the manual for the board generally.

2) Working in the bios but not for a minute is a little odd. If not for the working in the bios, I would say you do not have the keyboard/mouse are not plugged into the primary / chip-set usb ports. These are the ones on the far left (away from the gpu slot). The delay in use in windows could be explained by windows taking a while to load the needed usb drivers for the ports you are using. With my current system, if I do not use these main ports then they do not work in the bios. Rather frustrating at the best of times.

3) better to get the proper firmware from the manufacture web site. It is not uncommon for a hardware revision to occur with motherboards so that older firmwares will brick a newer motherboard.

4) longer boot time can happen, espically if the old computer had a fast boot option and the new one does not. Some boards need to be configured to allow faster booting by disabling extra on board hardware, making sure your boot drive is on the chipset sata ports (and not the third party add on ports). Setting boot order can also effect start times. Of course this is only the hardware self check on start up, the windows start up can have a whole lot of other issues.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Well the USB KBM delay seems to have self-resolved. Thanks for the information on the CPU fan, but if this was in the manual--and I admit to not searching the manual for this fan behavior--I wonder why it wasn't the case on the F5 board.

As I said, I ran through the BIOS for both boards and they were configured identically.

 

[greenhawk]

As I said, I ran through the BIOS for both boards and they were configured identically.

I can only assume a slight offsetting of the fan connector. Looking at the board layout in the manual on page 7, the CPU_FAN is right next to a second fan header called "CPU_OPT".

Interestingly on page 15 it appears the fan is to be connected to the right side connector, but the manual calls the left side the "cpu_fan".

Page 38 says the fan information in the bios is under the heading "M.I.T.", the left most top position. Not a very good description of the options for the fan in the manual though. 4 options of Normal, Silent, Manual and and a second Silent.

It appears that if you installed Gigabytes "EasyTune" software, most of these settings can be changes from within windows without going into the bios.

That is about all I can get from having a quick read of the manual searching for "fan" anyway.

edit: in short - no idea why. Gigabyte being silly or something else all together.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I have not installed any of the Gigabyte software beyond that which is needed to get the board running. In other words, chipset and drivers only.

The BIOS for both computers are identically configured, and their respective CPU fan connections are the same. Unless the newer (F7) board is a new revision ... but I'll look into it to double check.

Thanks for the reply.