[SOLVED] Can I reflash my BIOS to an older version?

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lumpy95

lumpy95

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I have a Gigabyte x470 Aorus Gaming 7 WiFi (Revision 1) MB with an AMD 2700x on Win 10 Pro 1803.
I had BIOS F5 on the MB and flashed it to F6e (which evidently was a Beta) and I'm wondering if I can reflash the F5 to get rid of F6e. Gigabyte subsequently pulled BIOS updates F6e and F6 off of their support page and I can only assume that a lot of people must be having problems with them. The F6e slowed my computer from 3.7 Ghz to 2.2 Ghz according to HW64 results I ran and also AMD Ryzen Master.
I tried Gigabyte support and was shocked at the lack of knowledge they have about their own product. All of their reply's were short and vague and none were to the point of questions I asked.
Any help would be appreciated.
 
Hi lumpy95,

Welcome to Sysnative!

I am not an expert here so all I can do is speak from experience. I wanted to go back to an older Bios myself years back on my Alienware, (KabyLake MB) because I felt the newer Bios was causing some issues.

Anyways, I was told I'd have to replace the MB or wait for an updated Bios. So I had no choice but to wait for an update...

Just hang in there and one of the Professional Experts on this Forum can confirm my statement or not. They will be able to help you out more.:smile9:
 
ssherjj said:
Hi lumpy95,

Welcome to Sysnative!

I am not an expert here so all I can do is speak from experience. I wanted to go back to an older Bios myself years back on my Alienware, (KabyLake MB) because I felt the newer Bios was causing some issues.

Anyways, I was told I'd have to replace the MB or wait for an updated Bios. So I had no choice but to wait for an update...

Just hang in there and one of the Professional Experts on this Forum can confirm my statement or not. They will be able to help you out more.:smile9:
Click to expand...
Thanks for the welcome and I'm hangin in there :smile9:
 
There is no good answer here. In theory, you should be able to flash back to a previous version. But theory and real world do not always jive - especially if the flashing program reports you already have a newer version and will not let you roll back. The good news is Gigabyte lets you back up your BIOS so "in theory" (I know!) should your flashing fail, you should be able to recover. But of course, that requires you back it up BEFORE installing the new. Did you?

You might try Gigabyte tech support again and hope you get a different person. Complain that you would not have tried the F6e if they had not put it out there.

For the record, I never - as in NEVER EVER update my BIOS unless the new update specifically addresses a problem I am having. Most updates simply add support for new CPUs or RAM that came out after the board left the factory. In general, I go by the police of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!". Of course, hindsight is 20/20.

Last, check out the DualBIOS feature in your motherboard manual. This is a Gigabyte feature where there is basically a factory reset backup copy of the BIOS installed when it came out of the factory. It may set you several versions behind, if it works, but that is likely better than where you stand now.

Otherwise, you may best be served going into "hurry up and wait" for Gigabyte to come out with a new (not beta) version. :( Sorry I'm not of more help.
 
But of course, that requires you back it up BEFORE installing the new. Did you?
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Unfortunately no, I didn't realize you could do that :huh:
You might try Gigabyte tech support again and hope you get a different person. Complain that you would not have tried the F6e if they had not put it out there.
Click to expand...
I have and still get the same person. I told them that I never would have tried the F6e if they hadn't said to proceed but that doesn't seem to bother them at all.
Last, check out the DualBIOS feature in your motherboard manual.
Click to expand...
The manual's information is "slim to none" on how to use any of the features. Basically the DualBIOS is an auto feature that kicks in if your new BIOS update fails or gets corrupted.
The MB started out as BIOS F3 and then I updated to F5 because there were some NVME settings added (I use an NVME as a boot drive). Then the F6e was supposed to add aegis 1.0.0.6 (which sounded like it would be a good idea at the time). It did add it but slowed down the CPU speeds.
 
Hi there,

In answer to your question about "can you reflash your BIOS to an older version"... generally no. The motherboard manufacturer's don't often code for or test the downgrade route, and therefore don't allow it to be
done, even though there's no reason in theory why they couldn't.

Since you actually need to, I would focus on trying to activate that second copy of the BIOS. This website: [GUIDE] Forcing backup BIOS on Gigabyte motherboards. | Overclockers Forums (Skyjuice: How to Reset a Gigabyte MotherBoard BIOS)

claims it is done by turning the computer off, pressing and holding the power button and reset down together for 10 seconds, and then turning the computer on normally, hopefully with the old BIOS.

I'd say that's worth a shot.

Good luck,

Richard
 
Interestingly enough, I just heard from Gigabyte support this morning (finally) saying that all I need to do is flash the BIOS with the older version to go back (currently F6e and would flash it with F5 to revert).
Everything I have read say's that reverting in that manner will "Brick" the MB so I just responded to support asking them if they are positive about doing that.
The saga continues :smile9:
 
I heard back from Gigabyte support again saying that their BIOS versions are interchangeable (as in, I could flash F5 even though I have F6e). In other words their BIOS can be reverted to an older version by reflashing the older BIOS.
I've never heard of such a thing before and my trust level with Gigabyte support is a lot lower than when I started so can anyone else confirm that it can be done with Gigabyte???
Thanks
 
Unless someone has the same Gigabyte board, using the same chipset and BIOS made by the same BIOS maker, I don't see how anyone can answer that. As I noted above, you should be able to - "in theory".

If me, I would probably give it a try. But then I don't always live up to my last name (see link in sig). ;)


Edit add: fixed typo - changed "need" to "name".
 
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Unless someone has the same Gigabyte board, using the same chipset and BIOS made by the same BIOS maker, I don't see how anyone can answer that.
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Yes, that's true.
I guess I'll have to either work up my nerve to try it or just wait to see if they come up with a better BIOS update.
Thanks for the response.
 
Well, I reflashed the BIOS to the older one and the process worked fine on this Gigabyte MB. So if anyone reads this thread and uses this same MB, you can reflash an older BIOS :smile9:
I'll wait to see if there are any more comments and then mark it solved.
Thanks for all the input.
 
lumpy95 said:
Well, I reflashed the BIOS to the older one and the process worked fine on this Gigabyte MB. So if anyone reads this thread and uses this same MB, you can reflash an older BIOS :smile9:
I'll wait to see if there are any more comments and then mark it solved.
Thanks for all the input.
Click to expand...

Wonderful news lumpy95,

So you're up and running with high speed performance now? ;)

Have a great day and thanks for letting us know.
 
Thanks ssherjj,
Unfortunately the BIOS downgrade didn't bring back the performance I was hoping for but I tried and learned that the BIOS can be downgraded in the process.
Have a great day yourself :smile9:
 
Thanks for coming back with your update.
Unfortunately the BIOS downgrade didn't bring back the performance I was hoping for
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Then that would suggest the BIOS upgrade did not cause your performance issues.

I note when I run various HW information programs, the speeds shown for my processors are typically slower than the capability of the processor too. But that is understandable since most processors today are designed to throttle back in speed to conserve energy when they are not being taxed. And such programs don't tax the system at all. For example, running CPU-Z right now as I type this shows my CPU is loafing along at just 800.39MHz. It's a 3.3GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) Intel i5 6600 CPU. It is only when I tax the processor does the CPU Core Speed jump up to full speed.

So try this. Run CPU-Z, select the CPU tab, note your Core Speed then move CPU-Z off to the side (but so you can still see it). Then download and run Passmark's Performance Test. Under Tests, select CPU > All > Yes. Keep an eye on CPU-Z and see if your Core Speeds jump up while Performance Test is running.
 
I noticed that Passmark's Performance test is a trial version so I ran CPU-Z and tried the Benchmark test and also ran the Stress test (which was consistent with what I saw in the Bench test). I assume that the score in the Bench test is Ghz, so if that is the case it would show what you are suggesting wouldn't it?
CPUZ bench.JPG
 
I noticed that Passmark's Performance test is a trial version
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Not sure your point. Actually, it is free "evaluation" version but that does not suggest anything is wrong with it. The fact is, the evaluation version totally free, and fully functional.

And no, the Bench test for CPU-Z does not do the same thing. Do you even see your processor speed on that screen shot? I don't. That's why I suggested using PassMark's tool - so you can run the PassMark and watch CPU-Z at the same time.
 
Not sure your point
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I was just leery of installing something that I am going to have to uninstall in 30 days and I was under the impression that CPU-Z's Benchmark & Stress test was basically the same thing.
Anyway, here are the results:
CPU test.JPG
 
I was just leery of installing something that I am going to have to uninstall in 30 days
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You will not have to uninstall it. It will still work after 30 days, it, like many free trial/evaluation programs, simply will not have all the extra features enabled after the 30 days is up.

I forgot to mention that CPU-Z core speed went as high as 4000/4100 during the test's.
Click to expand...
Then your CPU is working.
 
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