970 Gaming bio update

Question

Just received my 970 Gaming motherboard yesterday to start my build tomorrow. Will need a bio update for an AMD 8370. Do I need to install windows before I update, or, can/should I flash it before the install?
Thanks..

Answer 1

Quote from: daminera on 09-May-15, 06:08:18
I must have gotten lucky as the latest bios was already on it.
Install went well and booted right up.
I just got my own 970 Gaming a few days ago and was also pleasantly surprised to see it was at 2.22 UEFI...  That seems to indicate the board is selling well--my revered G46-AM3+ has been passed to a relative (the wife--she's thrilled with my hand-me-downs--I'm lucky like that), but when I got that board it had shipped with the 1.1 UEFI version, and went through several more successful updates to finalize at UEFI version 2.6--and so I built a little decently-priced value box for myself with the 970 Gaming.  (New Egg had a sale with it 15% off it's $99 regular price--had to pounce...!)
However, I also noticed that MSI is coming out with a newer version of the 970A Gaming, called the 990GFXA Gaming--it's supposed to include the 990FX chipset (instead of the 970FX as is in the 970 Gaming and the G46 and in the Krait.)  The only difference beyond that that I can see is the on-board USB 3.0/3.1 ports (which the Krait has, too.)  But, I figured if I wanted it I can always buy a cheap PCIe/PCI expansion card for it later and wind up with 6-8 3.1 ports for a piddling sum--MSI is using Type A ports for 3.1 as opposed to Type C, ports--and I much prefer A to C.  Besides, NewEgg had no 990FXA Gaming boards in stock or I'd have probably gone ahead and bought it anyway, probably... 
OK, so about that "difference" between the 970 & the 990 chipsets (northbridge.)...I keep reading that the chipsets roughly breakdown in differences as follows:
970    A single PCIe slot @ 16 lanes
990X  Two PCIe slots @ 16 & 8 lanes respectively (8 x8 when used in tandem with xFire/SLI.)
990FX Two x16 PCIe slots that break down to x16 & 8x when used for xFire/SLI.)
990GX A 990X that includes an on-board IGP
(Any further enlightenment is always appreciated)... But by these definitions, then, the 970a s950 boards sold in the 970G, the G46, and the Krait, are not really "970" chipsets, but actually they are 990X chipsets, eh?...
Anyway...I decided this time on an FX-8320E, which I am sure will last me until something really nice for the upcoming x86 Zen architecture materializes--where AMD once again has a chance to shine brightly in the cpu performance markets.
OK, I've been very pleased with the board so far--it's what I wanted, actually, not too dissimilar from the 970a-G46.  The boards are a lot a like, but that's A-OK with me because the G46 was a terrific product for the last two + plus years, and as my wife's it is sure to do well for a couple more years at least.
Now it's Q&A, time:  The caveats are: I'm running Windows 10 build 10074 at the moment and Command Center simply doesn't run.  It tries and sputters but just never opens a window--no compatibility modes I've tried make the slightest difference.  Additionally, I can't get Sound Blaster Cinema 2 to work, either.  It runs, deposits an icon in the systray, but after that does nothing--cannot open a screen or use the software in any way--which is a shame because it looks nice, and the piggy backing of the Creative Labs stuff on top of the Realtek stuff is intriguing...!  It's probably just a temporary expense of running the 10 x64 at the moment, but I thought I'd ask just in case anyone else had experienced something similar and found a work-around.