BIOS flash on ASUS board, or...

[DataCruncher]

I was informed there were a couple computer experts I could contact here, so will post my situation.

Purchased an ASUS Z10PE-D16 WS server board a few years ago from Ebay.
Has worked well and very fast to date with 256gb ECC RDIMM, however some software updates and new input devices I've invested in won't work with my current Win 7 Pro (which I love) and require min upgrade to Win v8.


I found the BIOS version being 3403,
however unsure of the 'release date' of this particular MOBO, and/or/if there are other versions of this board over the years, as it's still available under the same title by Asus. To that I add, have been to Asus site, though didn't see my Bios version even listed, and there are so many.
Will it need to be flashed?

Q-2:
Does it matter what version/age the main processors are, in order to upgrade the OS?
I've been trying to find answers, but am on information overload at this point with regards of making critical - and possibly costly ineffective changes.

Also to note, I ran Cinebench and can see the identifiers of my i7 (from another computer).
Though my Xeons only offer the following information:
Genuine Intel CPU | 28 Cores | 56 Threads | 2.1 GHZ | , thus I have no other identifiers unless I go through the troubles of pulling a cooling fan off and clearing the grease.
That said, I don't know my options either in terms of upgrading them, based on the lack of details of the MOBO.

Sorry if this post is a bit chaotic, as that's where I'm at this very moment.

Should I be contacting Asus, and do they answer the phone?

[Bsuds]

Try "Speccy"

It's a free program that will give you lots of info on your system. It might help.

[Nedroj]

Software Quality Assurance Technician here. Im also in the process of building my own Gaming System from scratch.

If the easiest solution is to upgrade the OS to WIN10 to get all your components to work, then that's what I would suggest first.

Win7 was great and I know exactly why you want to keep it. But Win8/8.1 will be very frustrating for you. Win10 is more similar to Win7 than Win8. But more importantly, Win7 support from Microsoft is completely ending soon and your computer will become exposed to the internet without much protection. So to answer you second question, no there is no minimum version or age of CPU's that will support a new OS.

Another thing about computers and electronics is the manufacturers replace them every year with a similar but newer model so support for older motherboards, CPUs are less likely because they want you to buy something they released in the last 2 years at most. Think of all the different types of RAM for example. there is DDR1,DDR2, DDR3, DDR4 and now DDR5. You cant get new DDR3 motherboards anymore.

Something you might want to consider is getting a new motherboard, CPU, and ram as the rest of your current computer should work with it. mid tier motherboards are as little as 125$ and an i5 cpu is 150-200$ and that would get you a really good work station or through in a decent GPU and you could game at 1080p. But Im assuming you're not gaming on this system and just need a basic work station type computer.

[TylerM4]

Azus's website has Win10 drivers listed for your motherboard:
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Commercial-S ... _Download/

So the motherboard is win10 compatible. I wouldn't bother with trying to update the BIOS unless you have a specific need and in most cases you shouldn't need to update the BIOS to install/use Win10.

[Urban Cowboy]

Another vote for Win 10. I simply haven't had any issues with it at all.

[DataCruncher]

Thanks to the many posters here.
And special thanks to Bsuds for the referral on the app.
I went for it, $22.34 well spent and showed me what I needed to know about the components.

Re: "...assuming you're not gaming on this system and just need a basic work station type computer."
Correct. It's used for rendering and video editing and the reason I need speed. The i7 just doesn't compare.


To note:
After I downloaded the product, it wouldn't install. So went back and downloaded the trial, then in Help/License of the interface, put in the registration info and serial. Worked.

So all I have to do is install Win 10? Who is offering a good value and digital download? Or is it best to have a hard-copy?

Would also like to have dual-boot and mount the new OS on a separate SSD, but haven't done that in at least a decade so I'll need to brush up.

At a later date, was considering this move, but would need to know if it's worth the investment.:
WS C621E SAGE
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/motherboards ... 621e-sage/


Here were the specs form the Speccy app.:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Operating System
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Xeon E5 v3 @ 2.10GHz 42 °C
Haswell-E/EP 22nm Technology
Intel Xeon E5 v3 @ 2.10GHz 38 °C
Haswell-E/EP 22nm Technology
RAM
256GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @ 1064MHz
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. Z10PE-D16 WS (SOCKET 1) 104 °C
Graphics
LG ULTRAWIDE (2560x1080@60Hz)
BenQ PD3420Q (3440x1440@60Hz)
3071MB NVIDIA Quadro P5000 (Dell) 43 °C
32MB ASPEED Technology Standard VGA Graphics Adapter (ASUStek Computer Inc)
ForceWare version: 441.66
SLI Disabled
Storage
3726GB ATA HGST HDN724040AL SCSI Disk Device (SATA ) 32 °C
1863GB ATA CT2000MX500SSD1 SCSI Disk Device (SATA (SSD))
931GB ATA CT1000MX500SSD1 SCSI Disk Device (SATA (SSD))
9314GB ATA HGST HDN721010AL SCSI Disk Device (SATA ) 29 °C
978GB ATA Crucial_CT1050MX SCSI Disk Device (SATA (SSD)) 30 °C
Optical Drives
ASUS DRW-24F1ST c SCSI CdRom Device
Audio
NVIDIA High Definition Audio



CPU
Intel Xeon E5 v3
Cores 14
Threads 28
Name Intel Xeon E5 v3
Code Name Haswell-E/EP
Package Socket 2011 LGA
Technology 22nm
Specification Genuine Intel CPU @ 2.10GHz
Family 6
Extended Family 6
Model F
Extended Model 3F
Stepping 1
Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, Intel 64, NX, VMX, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3
Virtualization Supported, Enabled
Hyperthreading Supported, Enabled
Fan Speed 991 RPM
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Stock Core Speed 2100 MHz
Stock Bus Speed 100 MHz
Average Temperature 42 °C
Caches
L1 Data Cache Size 14 x 32 KBytes
L1 Instructions Cache Size 14 x 32 KBytes
L2 Unified Cache Size 14 x 256 KBytes
L3 Unified Cache Size 35840 KBytes
Cores
Core Speed Multiplier Bus Speed Temperature Threads
Core 0 2396.0 MHz x 24.0 99.8 MHz 43 °C APIC ID: 0, 1
Core 1 2895.2 MHz x 29.0 99.8 MHz 42 °C APIC ID: 2, 3
Core 2 2895.2 MHz x 29.0 99.8 MHz 41 °C APIC ID: 4, 5
Core 3 2895.2 MHz x 29.0 99.8 MHz 42 °C APIC ID: 6, 7
Core 4 2895.2 MHz x 29.0 99.8 MHz 43 °C APIC ID: 8, 9
Core 5 2895.2 MHz x 29.0 99.8 MHz 42 °C APIC ID: 10, 11
Core 6 2895.2 MHz x 29.0 99.8 MHz 44 °C APIC ID: 12, 13
Core 7 2895.2 MHz x 29.0 99.8 MHz 40 °C APIC ID: 16, 17
Core 8 2695.5 MHz x 27.0 99.8 MHz 45 °C APIC ID: 18, 19
Core 9 2595.7 MHz x 26.0 99.8 MHz 40 °C APIC ID: 20, 21
Core 10 2695.5 MHz x 27.0 99.8 MHz 40 °C APIC ID: 22, 23
Core 11 2695.5 MHz x 27.0 99.8 MHz 42 °C APIC ID: 24, 25
Core 12 2895.2 MHz x 29.0 99.8 MHz 41 °C APIC ID: 26, 27
Core 13 2595.7 MHz x 26.0 99.8 MHz 41 °C APIC ID: 28, 29

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cores 14
Threads 28
Name Intel Xeon E5 v3
Code Name Haswell-E/EP
Package Socket 2011 LGA
Technology 22nm
Specification Genuine Intel CPU @ 2.10GHz
Family 6
Extended Family 6
Model F
Extended Model 3F
Stepping 1
Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, Intel 64, NX, VMX, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3
Virtualization Supported, Enabled
Hyperthreading Supported, Enabled
Fan Speed 986 RPM
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Stock Core Speed 2100 MHz
Stock Bus Speed 100 MHz
Average Temperature 38 °C
Caches
L1 Data Cache Size 14 x 32 KBytes
L1 Instructions Cache Size 14 x 32 KBytes
L2 Unified Cache Size 14 x 256 KBytes
L3 Unified Cache Size 35840 KBytes
Cores
Core Speed Multiplier Bus Speed Temperature Threads
Core 0 2693.6 MHz x 27.0 99.8 MHz 37 °C APIC ID: 32, 33
Core 1 2394.3 MHz x 24.0 99.8 MHz 40 °C APIC ID: 34, 35
Core 2 2394.3 MHz x 24.0 99.8 MHz 42 °C APIC ID: 36, 37
Core 3 2893.1 MHz x 29.0 99.8 MHz 39 °C APIC ID: 38, 39
Core 4 2593.8 MHz x 26.0 99.8 MHz 37 °C APIC ID: 40, 41
Core 5 2394.3 MHz x 24.0 99.8 MHz 38 °C APIC ID: 42, 43
Core 6 2593.8 MHz x 26.0 99.8 MHz 39 °C APIC ID: 44, 45
Core 7 2693.6 MHz x 27.0 99.8 MHz 39 °C APIC ID: 48, 49
Core 8 2394.3 MHz x 24.0 99.8 MHz 38 °C APIC ID: 50, 51
Core 9 2693.6 MHz x 27.0 99.8 MHz 36 °C APIC ID: 52, 53
Core 10 2593.8 MHz x 26.0 99.8 MHz 38 °C APIC ID: 54, 55
Core 11 2394.3 MHz x 24.0 99.8 MHz 41 °C APIC ID: 56, 57
Core 12 2593.8 MHz x 26.0 99.8 MHz 36 °C APIC ID: 58, 59
Core 13 2394.3 MHz x 24.0 99.8 MHz 35 °C APIC ID: 60, 61

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Motherboard
Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Model Z10PE-D16 WS (SOCKET 1)
Version Rev 1.xx
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model Haswell-E
Chipset Revision 01
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model X99
Southbridge Revision 05
System Temperature 103 °C
BIOS
Brand American Megatrends Inc.
Version 3403
Date 11/2/2016
Voltage
MEMORY CONTROLLER 0.200 V
AVCC 3.312 V
3VCC 3.312 V
VIN4 0.352 V
VIN6 0.896 V
VIN7 0.800 V
VIN9 0.192 V
VIN10 0.352 V
VIN11 0.200 V
VIN12 0.896 V
VIN13 0.200 V
VIN14 0.216 V
VIN15 1.656 V
VIN0 1.050 V
MEMORY CONTROLLER 1.792 V
VIN2 1.784 V
VIN3 0.404 V
VIN4 2.022 V
VIN5 0.700 V
VIN6 1.232 V
VIN7 0.576 V
VIN8 1.230 V
VIN9 1.236 V
VIN10 1.234 V
VIN11 1.550 V
VIN12 1.550 V
VIN13 0.996 V
3VDD 3.270 V
CMOS BATTERY 3.294 V
3VSB 3.252 V
PCI Data
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x8
Slot Designation PCIEX16_1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 0
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x16
Slot Designation PCIEX16_2
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 1
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage Available
Data lanes x8
Slot Designation PCIEX16_3
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 2
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x16
Slot Designation PCIEX16_4
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 3
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage Available
Data lanes x16
Slot Designation PCIEX16_5
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 4
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage Available
Data lanes x16
Slot Designation PCIEX16_6
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 5

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Graphics
Monitor 1
Name LG ULTRAWIDE on NVIDIA Quadro P5000
State Enabled
Multiple displays Extended, Secondary, Enabled
Monitor Width 2560
Monitor Height 1080
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
Monitor 2
Name BenQ PD3420Q on NVIDIA Quadro P5000
Current Resolution 2144x898 pixels
Work Resolution 2144x898 pixels
State Enabled
Multiple displays Extended, Primary, Enabled
Monitor Width 3440
Monitor Height 1440
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY2\Monitor0
NVIDIA Quadro P5000
Manufacturer NVIDIA
Model Quadro P5000
Device ID 10DE-1BB0
Revision A2
Subvendor Dell (1028)
Current Performance Level Level 0
Bus Interface PCI Express x16
Temperature 34 °C
Driver version 26.21.14.4166
BIOS Version 86.04.40.00.09
Physical Memory 3071 MB
Virtual Memory 3072 MB
Count of performance levels : 1
Level 1 - "Perf Level 0"
ASPEED Technology Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
Manufacturer ASPEED Technology
Model Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
Device ID 1A03-2000
Revision 31
Subvendor ASUStek Computer Inc (1043)
Driver version 6.1.7600.16385
BIOS Version 0.99.10
Memory 32 MB


-end-

[Jlabute]

There are 5 newer BIOS updates although they don’t seem critical. Performance updates and microcode updates. Microcode updates do fix bugs. If it were my motherboard, I would update the BIOS. If you’re happy the way it is, don’t bother.

[DataCruncher]

There are 5 newer BIOS updates although they don’t seem critical. Performance updates and microcode updates. Microcode updates do fix bugs. If it were my motherboard, I would update the BIOS. If you’re happy the way it is, don’t bother.

I'll hold back on flashing unless there's new issues that arise.

Q:
For example, if I had a BIOS v1.0,
and there were four iterations that I have missed,
would it be required to do each individually till I get to v5.0, or skip all and simply go to the very latest revision?

ADDENDUM
Have had minor issues in Event Viewer:

critical (zero)

error (292 24hrs)
- Event ID 3 | Kernel-Event Tracing
-Event 7016 | Service Control Manager
- Event 3011, 3012 | LoadPerf
- Event 36887 | Schannel

The rest are minor.

[Jlabute]

You would only have to install the latest BIOS.

[DataCruncher]

You would only have to install the latest BIOS.

Thank you.

[Sonny Taylor]

So all I have to do is install Win 10? Who is offering a good value and digital download? Or is it best to have a hard-copy?

I hope I didn't misinterpret the simplicity of the question given your apparent knowledge of hardware.

Windows 10 can be downloaded for free from Microsoft itself from here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/softwar ... /windows10

If you have a valid Windows 7 license you might be able to "upgrade" your current system with one of the download options.

There's another multi step procedure to install Windows 10 using the "media creation tool" link on this site. You can use it to create a bootable USB drive which can install Windows 10. I've used the created USB stick to install Windows 10 on many machines, for free. There is an upgrade option after you boot from the created USB drive (as opposed to a fresh install on a clear drive (or partition)). This will not work with any machine that has any Windows version prior to Windows 7 installed.

To boot from your created USB drive, you may have to change the "Boot order" on your machine to place the USB drive in front of your hard disk.

If you're going to try to upgrade an old Vista machine, forget it. A far as I know, your only option is to backup your own generated files, install a fresh copy of Windows 10 and then restore your backups and re-install newer versions of your software. I've done this rebuild before.

Adapting to Windows 10 from Windows 7 isn't hard (forget Windows 8). I have some minor technical complaints including some Windows 10 background tasks that run which will affect (for example) weaker laptops but with the hardware of your stature you won't even notice this. They'll be done like lightening, as they are on my latest used but agile warhorse.

I'm not a gaming or video editing or serious hardware Guru, but I've seen little to no gain staying on good old Win 7 as opposed to Win 10.

If you have the capability; it is of course best to backup your current drive (or partition) at the "bare metal" level before messing around with the operating system so you can restore precisely what you had before you started. But I've installed Win 10 on numerous machines successfully without that capability or fall-back.

[Sonny Taylor]

Also be aware the Win 10 comes loaded with recent drivers for many devices (same as Win 7 did in it's time). I'm not sure about BIOS updates though. If you use the "bootable" media mentioned above, you also have he choice of installing Win 10 Home, Win 10 Pro or Win 10 Enterprise.

I'm running Win 10 Pro on a very decently loaded used machine that came with no operating system installed (as expected when I ordered it). I used my old laptop to create the USB stick and installed Win 10 on my new (used) machine by booting from it.

[DataCruncher]

Also be aware the Win 10 comes loaded with recent drivers for many devices (same as Win 7 did in it's time). I'm not sure about BIOS updates though. If you use the "bootable" media mentioned above, you also have he choice of installing Win 10 Home, Win 10 Pro or Win 10 Enterprise.

I'm running Win 10 Pro on a very decently loaded used machine that came with no operating system installed (as expected when I ordered it). I used my old laptop to create the USB stick and installed Win 10 on my new (used) machine by booting from it.

Hi ST, I jumped the shark before you posted, and ordered an original Win 10 pro CD overnight.

I did however try installing the free upgrade version probably a couple years back, though it did not succeed, which was the reason I started this post with concerns of computer build.
(and do have a valid Windows 7 Pro license)

So am starting with a fresh 2TB SSD this time around for the C drive. Have other drives attached where files and such are stored including scratch disks.


Thanks for the post, and I appreciate all the advice that has come through here so far.


As a side note, I keep triple backups of everything. (three 12TB backup drives that are only connected when doing so)
*A lesson learned some time ago.

Like they say, "Backup, backup, backup".

[Bsuds]

Like they say, "Backup, backup, backup".

Me too, so many hard drives with photos on them sometimes I fight to find a specific picture/file that I know I have somewhere!

[Sonny Taylor]

So am starting with a fresh 2TB SSD this time around for the C drive. Have other drives attached where files and such are stored including scratch disks.

Is this fresh C drive your current boot drive or a newly formatted drive awaiting a virgin operating system install?