pledgeX

I have an ASUS P5N-E SLi and have had a few problems with my overclock and am basically gonna reset everything and start from scratch, fresh windows install, latest drivers etc. I was thinking about updating to the BIOS as well but I have a couple of questions about it as I've never done it before:

1. Shall I bother? Is it really that important?
2. If so, how? I dont have a floppy drive but I do have a 4GB flash Voyager USB stick and I think it can be done this way
3. Is there a particularly version of the BIOS I should look for/avoid or should I just get the latest version?
4. Lastly, what order shall I do it in? Should the BIOS update be done before or after I reformat windows, or after I install the latest chipset drivers etc?

Thanks for any advice.

0rion

My rule as of a few months ago, is unless you are having problems with your bios, or board functions, DONT update it. If it works, and gives a good overclock, leave it. Flashing it can cause errors, even under the best of circumstances.

Im not sure about your board, but some now can flash off a usb stick. If your motherboard doesnt support that, then you'll have to put the new bios on a floppy and find a floppy drive. OR, if your board has a flash utility that can run from windows that could also work.

Bios updates can be done at any time, before or after a windows install. Generally the data on a hdd doesnt interfere with the bios.

pig69

Asus boards can be a pain in the a** to flash usb. (my experience) Get an old drive and plug it in to mobo safest way is disk. Check asus forums about their bios releases, most mention common probs.
You can format HDD later, after bios flash, just reset cmos before flashing and reset bios settings to default after (2nd checker). Then flash and don't touch a key while flashing. Most importantly if it ain't broke don't fix it! But I had to flash my 680i for quad OC support, so I feel for ya. BTW 3.1 on a e6400 is pretty good on air. I probably wouldn't flash before resetting cmos and start over with fresh OC.

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Rocketfish (BNIB) for sale Here

MICHIGAN OVERCLOCKERS


The lost art of over-clocking is not buying the most expensive/best stuff and hoping it goes fast...it's buying the cheapest stuff and making it go fast.

pledgeX

Hehe, yea I think it was the 3.1 that messed things up lol. I think I managed to corrupt my windows install somehow, hopefully I havent broken any hardware. Should find out in a few days....

pig69

Hardware should be fine, OS clean install is worst to do. Good luck & post update if everything worked out. If not, post the prob and people here will help you out.

__________________
Rocketfish (BNIB) for sale Here

MICHIGAN OVERCLOCKERS


The lost art of over-clocking is not buying the most expensive/best stuff and hoping it goes fast...it's buying the cheapest stuff and making it go fast.