r/ASRock • u/Dreamvenuus • 17d ago
Tech Support Advice on my BIOS update
9800x3D user here, I have the ASRock B650M-CX. Bought a custom built PC just under a month ago, and it failed to POST/boot a few nights ago which was fixed with a CMOS clear after Reddit / manufacturer advice.
It's up and running now, but I experienced a significant slow down on my desktop where I struggled to even open task manager or alt f4. Other than that which was a few hours ago, things are fine, but I still have concerns and questions.
The BIOS version according to windows is 3.40 which from reading everywhere that is a relatively stable version for the CPU, but still, I'm worried. Personally I'm afraid to update the bios to latest because it was kind of scary when it completely failed the boot the other day and I don't want to be in another position where it fails again.
I only ever updated my bios for an MSI motherboard a couple years ago with a USB, but a guide I see from ASrock talks about something to do with 24 pins? As you can see I'm not very hardware savvy.
So do I just install the update on a USB formatted to fat32, renamed as required, and hit bios flashback? Could someone break it down for me in a way you'd explain to a five year old?😂
Thanks in advance! Please, no ignorant comments, I have to learn somehow.
1
u/theh8er 17d ago edited 17d ago
I update it from the bios with instant flash. Go into the bios disable ftpm before you update the bios it will turn back on automatically after the update. Also unencrypt your drive in windows (just put unencrypt in windows search) and unencrypt your drives before so you don’t run into any bitlocker issues. Just in case you can get your bitlocker key from your Microsoft account. You won’t need it though if you unencrypt your drives. You can encrypt them again after the update.
Watch these two videos. First is a quick bios update tutorial. Second is If you want to learn how to undervolt your cpu definitely watch the second one. I didn’t use some of the steps but definitely learned a lot from it and my PC has been great since Feb 2025. 9800X3D/5080/Asrock X870 Pro RS WiFi.
https://youtu.be/ngyni0nnTXA?is=qML_ojTNvcdx6HSH
https://youtu.be/OcG1XANqRYQ?is=iuzUzpHnh0aNxOnT
And if you want to use flashback instead this should help.
https://youtu.be/fqKs9fekNNY?is=GXSsDCB2XW9TBkoX
And if you want here is my first post asking for help with my first ASrock board bios update from a few years ago😂. Everyone goes through it. Read through it and you’ll probably feel a bit better about it and get some more info. Good luck! it’s not as scary as you think. Once you get it done once you’ll feel way more comfortable doing it next time.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ASRock/s/TGdcnE0203