Should I update my BIOS?

[OOSH]

I have a K7M it works fine but I wanted to know if I should update my BIOS with the final version? If so, how do I do it.

 

[rigor]

Definitely. I got more stability, and less irq problems when upgrading. plus some more speed.

 

[Ulysses]

The general rule is not to upgrade ("flash&quot the BIOS unless you need to ("if it ain't broke .... &quot. If you decide to do so, go to the mobo's site and look up your board and root around for BIOS or DOWNLOADS or similar. They'll have listings and descriptions of the various BIOS upgrades available for your board. They'll also have detailed instructions on how to do it.

Print out their instructions before you start and follow them exactly. And be sure you have identified your board and its version correctly and are downloading the correct BIOS. Note that you'll have to reset your BIOS to desired values after flashing because the flash installs only default values.

 

[bluezebra1098]

Ulysses gave you best advice.
Look at the BIOS version on the website and see what it fixes or changes. If you don't need the changes, leave it alone.

BIOS flashes are risky work. If you decide to try it make sure you have someone with you that is experienced in this procedure.

BIOS flashes are usually for those who are tweaking everything out of the board that they can get. Sometimes the BIOS flashes are bad. Ask anyone who did the ASUS 1004 (final). I think it was on the web site for maybe one week!

 

[dennilfloss]

One more voice from the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Only upgrade your bios if you really need the new features. Even then, I suggest you wait a week or two and check your manufacturer's newsgroup to see if the new bios is buggy or causes unforeseen problems.

 

[StanTheMan]

For me, it's better to update the bios everytime the new bios is available. It's not difficult, and the newere bios always contain bug fixes and sometimes introduces new features. Probabbly you don't need the bios features at this moment, but it is a whole lot easier to upgrade now, and when you buy a new device you just install it, compare to not flashing the bios, and then if the new device doesn't work try to find the bios update.