Question What is the point of a BIOS upgrade?

GoodEnough

Golden Member
Apr 24, 2011
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If your 2013 laptop worked fine for 6 years on the original BIOS, what is the point of a BIOS update now, in 2020?
What kind of situation would have your laptop work fine for 6 years, but now the BIOS is not good enough?
 

GoodEnough

Golden Member
Apr 24, 2011
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Virus? Does new BIOS help with compatibility issues of software OS written after the original BIOS ?
Like 2013 BIOS can't support Win10, so you update it to 2018 BIOS ?
 

Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 10, 1999
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Virus? Does new BIOS help with compatibility issues of software OS written after the original BIOS ?
Like 2013 BIOS can't support Win10, so you update it to 2018 BIOS ?
Spectre and Meltdown are Intel cpu security issues. The new BIOS would likely patch those. There will also be a performance penalty as well.

Win 10 should work just fine with that laptop. Whether there are updated drivers is another story.
 

GoodEnough

Golden Member
Apr 24, 2011
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Spectre and Meltdown are Intel cpu security issues. The new BIOS would likely patch those. There will also be a performance penalty as well.

Win 10 should work just fine with that laptop. Whether there are updated drivers is another story.

So the newer BIOS will run more slowly?
What concerns should I have for lack of updated drivers? Which drivers could be unavailable, for example?
 

Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 10, 1999
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So the newer BIOS will run more slowly?
What concerns should I have for lack of updated drivers? Which drivers could be unavailable, for example?
1. the 2 patches in BIOS will slow the system (windows) down around 10%. Maybe less or maybe more.

2. drivers like network, video, sound, etc... Some companies have drivers available for win 10 upgrades. Some just have a notice about what compatibility issues may arise.
 
Feb 4, 2009
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Assuming the bios update isn’t required and assuming all is working well and assuming you don’t keep critical customer personal information in your laptop.
I wouldn’t bother updating the bios, updating it could cause unexpected problems later on that you may not blame the bios for.
Specter & meltdown are something to be aware of but to my knowledge data centers are far more susceptible to them than a personal machine.
 

ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
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I tend to keep bios's up to date. Outside of spectre meltdown, there's plenty of other CVE's found that should be mitigated

If your not going to update a 6 year old laptop bios, don't do anything you care about on it. To me, it's basically an internet surfing machine.