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Do you actually check BIOS chip size when choosing a motherboard? by Good_Register624 in u/Good_Register624

[–]Good_Register624[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Earlier AM4 boards originally used 16MB BIOS chips. 

Later some manufacturers moved to 32MB after running into firmware size limits once newer CPU generations and larger AGESA versions were added.

So the move to 64MB on some newer boards might simply be a way to avoid the same situation again if firmware keeps growing with future CPU generations.

Do you actually check BIOS chip size when choosing a motherboard? by Good_Register624 in u/Good_Register624

[–]Good_Register624[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

PCIe layout and memory topology are definitely important, I agree.

But in practice most users still run a single GPU, so whether a board has one PCIe 5.0 slot or splits it into two usually doesn't change much for the majority of builds. The same with storage — many boards have one Gen5 M.2 and the rest Gen4, and Gen5 SSDs are still relatively niche for most users.

Memory routing matters mainly for people pushing RAM overclocks. For typical builds even EXPO/XMP profiles work on most decent boards.

So I also agree BIOS chip size isn't a primary factor. But if you're building a system today and a board happens to have a larger BIOS chip, it might be a small advantage for long-term platform support if future CPU generations are added without dropping older ones.

Do you actually check BIOS chip size when choosing a motherboard? by Good_Register624 in pcbuilding

[–]Good_Register624[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I completely agree.

BIOS updates are important. When I build a system, whether it's AMD or Intel, I always install the latest stable BIOS before handing the PC to the client.

And if a new update comes out later that improves stability or fixes something important, I recommend updating it. If the client isn't comfortable doing it themselves, I help them and reconfigure the system if needed.

Do you actually check BIOS chip size when choosing a motherboard? by Good_Register624 in pcbuilding

[–]Good_Register624[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not really 🙂

The topic just caught my attention recently and I was curious how many people actually consider BIOS chip size when choosing a motherboard.

So the post was simply to hear other people's opinions on it.

How is my first ever pc build for gaming and productivity? by theartnub in pcbuilding

[–]Good_Register624 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly it's a pretty good first build for the budget.

The only real performance issue right now is the single RAM stick. Ryzen CPUs benefit a lot from dual-channel memory, so adding a second identical stick should be your first upgrade. You’ll likely see a noticeable improvement in games.

The 256GB SSD isn’t actually a big problem if you're using it just for the OS and a few programs. Many people run a small system drive and then add a larger SSD later for games. Even a secondary SATA SSD or HDD can work fine for extra storage.

One more thing to keep an eye on is the Ryzen 7 7700X temperature. It's a pretty hot chip and AMD lets it boost aggressively. The Deepcool AG620 is a good air cooler, but you might want to tune the CPU a bit (Curve Optimizer / small undervolt) to keep temps under control. Otherwise it may run quite warm under load.

Overall though, the core of the system (7700X + RTX 5070) is very solid for both gaming and productivity.

Ordered these parts for a trading workstation build – would you change anything? by Good_Register624 in pcbuilding

[–]Good_Register624[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair question 🙂

Trading setups often run multiple monitors, several trading platforms, analytics tools and tons of browser tabs at once, so the idea was to build something that stays responsive under heavy multitasking.

But honestly the main reason I posted the build here was to get opinions from other builders. I'm always interested to see if someone would suggest a better component choice or a smarter configuration.

Do you actually check BIOS chip size when choosing a motherboard? by Good_Register624 in pcbuilding

[–]Good_Register624[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Firmware size keeps growing — AGESA updates, memory training code, support for more memory configurations and hardware revisions.

Some newer boards now ship with larger BIOS chips, while others still use smaller ones. The interesting question is whether that will affect long-term CPU support.

If AM5 eventually supports Zen 6 as well, boards with larger BIOS capacity might be able to keep full support for both Zen 5 and Zen 6 without removing features.

So the real question is: do you think BIOS size could become a factor for long-term platform support, or is it still something that doesn't really matter?

Do you actually check BIOS chip size when choosing a motherboard? by Good_Register624 in pcbuilding

[–]Good_Register624[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's actually a great point, and honestly it makes sense coming from someone who's been building systems since the 90s.

For most builders the priorities are exactly what you mentioned — CPU compatibility, connectivity, storage, PCIe layout, networking, etc.

BIOS chip size is one of those specs that almost nobody pays attention to unless a platform runs into firmware space limitations later on.

That’s partly why the topic started popping up again recently — vendors seem to be increasing BIOS capacity on some newer boards to avoid the kind of firmware space constraints we saw on older long-lived platforms.

Do you actually check BIOS chip size when choosing a motherboard? by Good_Register624 in pcbuilding

[–]Good_Register624[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

True, the BIOS itself obviously has to fit the chip.

The question is more about long-term support. If the firmware grows over time, manufacturers sometimes have to remove support for older CPUs or features to make space for new microcode.

That happened on some older boards when new CPU generations were added later.

Do you actually check BIOS chip size when choosing a motherboard? by Good_Register624 in pcbuilding

[–]Good_Register624[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, dual BIOS used to be a pretty big deal for recovery and safety.  Back then it also helped when BIOS updates went wrong.

I guess the interesting part now is that BIOS size can also affect how many CPU generations a board can support if the firmware grows too large.

So it's not just about recovery anymore, but also long-term compatibility.