Using It On MSI Boards & GPUs

MSI’s Dual BIOS motherboards use two BIOS chips as an alternative of 1. If the primary chip ever fails, the system routinely masses the BIOS from the backup chip as an alternative.

If you’re deciding on elements to buy and Dual BIOS is a characteristic you need, there are a number of methods to verify if a board helps it. You might verify the handbook or you can search for a BIOS swap on the element itself.

Besides the help part, I’ve seen another queries relating to this characteristic – what it does, who it’s helpful for, how to make use of it, and so forth. I’ll attempt to reply all such questions with this text.

Note: I’ll primarily give attention to Dual BIOS for MSI motherboards right here, however I’ll additionally speak about it for GPUs if related.

Do You Need Dual BIOS

MSI’s Dual BIOS motherboards have two BIOS ROMS the place the second chip serves as a failsafe for conditions like failed BIOS updates. When the system can’t boot with the primary BIOS, it masses the backup BIOS as an alternative.

Some type of failsafe is essential for such situations, but it surely doesn’t have to be Dual BIOS. In reality, most boards as of late use USB BIOS Flashback as an alternative of Dual BIOS.

On MSI GPUs, Dual BIOS really serves two functions. One is to offer a backup BIOS to account for failed firmware upgrades. The different is to offer two GPU profiles of kinds. 

One is overclocked for high-performance wants (often named Gaming Mode) and the opposite is usually an underclock to run the followers quietly (often named Quiet Mode).

Dual BIOS is a luxurious characteristic and never notably essential on GPUs. But motherboards are a special story. BIOS-related issues are quite common. So, it’s essential to select a motherboard with Dual BIOS or another type of failsafe.

Checking Dual BIOS Support

MSI doesn’t have any official record of motherboards or GPUs that help Dual BIOS. And in contrast to different distributors, they don’t appear to say the Dual BIOS characteristic on their on-line specs web page both. So, you’ll want to make use of one of many two strategies proven beneath usually.

Read the Manual

For motherboards, you possibly can learn the consumer handbook that got here with the board or you are able to do the identical on-line. In the Specifications part, Dual BIOS might be listed within the BIOS Features subsection if it’s supported.

Check the Component

For GPUs, you possibly can verify the PCB for a swap that allows you to toggle between Gaming and Quiet mode.

For motherboards, you possibly can search for the a number of indicators on the board:

• Dual BIOS Switch/Button
• 2x BIOS LEDS
• 2x BIOS Chips

Switching Between Main and Backup BIOS

If your board doesn’t have a Dual BIOS swap, the backup BIOS will routinely kick in when required.

But most Dual BIOS boards do include a BIOS swap or button. You can consult with the handbook to verify which route is the primary BIOS and which one is the backup BIOS.

All that you must do is totally energy off your system and press the button or flip the swap within the route of the BIOS chip you need to use. After you flip the system back on, the BIOS LEDs on the board ought to point out which one is in use.

The similar goes for MSI GPUs. Power off the system, toggle the Dual BIOS swap and switch the system back on to make use of the brand new mode.

BIOS Recovery Using Dual BIOS

In most instances, Dual BIOS boards routinely load the working BIOS chip if one of many two fails. Then, it reflashes the primary chip using the backup BIOS and masses the primary chip after the recovery.

MSI has a course of for manually recovering a failed BIOS too. I like to recommend using USB BIOS Flashback over this in case your board helps it. But if Flashback shouldn’t be supported, the next steps could also be your solely choice:

1. Turn off the system and disconnect the facility cable.
2. Flip the BIOS swap to make use of the opposite working BIOS chip.
3. On one other system, obtain a BIOS update file and duplicate it to a FAT32 USB stick. This article on updating the MSI BIOS covers this course of intimately.
4. Connect the USB drive and energy on the system.
5. Press Del throughout POST to enter the MSI BIOS.
6. Select M-FLASH and click on on Yes to restart and enter Flash Mode.
7. Select the BIOS file right here. But earlier than you press Yes, use the BIOS swap to swap back to the corrupted BIOS chip.
8. Now, choose Yes to begin the BIOS Recovery course of on the corrupted chip. After this completes, the system ought to restart routinely.

Updating the Backup BIOS

By default, the backup chip incorporates the manufacturing facility default BIOS model. Some customers could also be bothered by the truth that Dual BIOS flashes this manufacturing facility BIOS to the primary chip throughout a recovery operation.

If you fall into this camp, you possibly can flip the BIOS swap to load the backup BIOS. Then, you should use the conventional BIOS update steps to update the backup BIOS. 

Since it is a backup measure, ensure you don’t use the newest beta variations. A latest model that’s confirmed to be secure is good.