[Rohkai]

Everything I know about computers I taught myself, or learned from tech support.

I built a new system in April with an Asus Sabertooth Z77 board and an i7-2600K "Sandy bridge". It ran great Windows 7 rated the system at 7.8. Well then I hear about this new Ivy bridge and how fast it is so I jump on it, (love my PC games). I installed an i7-3770S and it should be smokin' the other CPU but it's actually slower. Windows now rates my system at 7.5!!

There are 2 BIOS revisions, v09.06 and v10.15. I am running v08.01 the people at Fry's say "It works, don't flash it." I tried flashing it myself and ASUS Tech suport says I've done everything right, but the mobo doesn't recognize my flash drive in the slot that is required to flash. What should I do?!?!

This post has been edited by Rohkai: 30 May 2012 - 09:28 AM

[mjd420nova]

Welcome to PC World forums. I'm sure you'll find all the answers here as I'm a bit biased against flashing BIOS unless it is a last step. So many things can go wrong (as you have noticed) and it presents problems in doing a roll-back to an original version. There are those here in the forums that have some considerable experience with flashing BIOS and they might get you back in the flow.

[Rohkai]

mjd420nova, on 30 May 2012 - 08:50 AM, said:

Welcome to PC World forums. I'm sure you'll find all the answers here as I'm a bit biased against flashing BIOS unless it is a last step. So many things can go wrong (as you have noticed) and it presents problems in doing a roll-back to an original version. There are those here in the forums that have some considerable experience with flashing BIOS and they might get you back in the flow.

Thank you for the response. Aside from the system actually running/rating slower/lower I am concerned that I wasn't able to flash it. It's super easy with this board.
1) Download and extract file to desktop
2) Re-name file to Z77ST.CAP
3) Drag to flash drive
4) Put Flash drive in USB slot labeled "BIOS Flash"
5) Push and hold BIOS flash button for 3 seconds and wait

Seems too easy, but the version is not updating.

[coastie65]

Hi and welcome to the forums. I am not familiar with that particular Motherboard as I am running the ASUS P8Z68-VPro in here with 2600k. I know that there ahve been at least BiOS Upgrades done since last June ( the version I have now ). You should check and see what is beiing addressed by the upgrades, If you are not having the issues being addressed by the upgrade, I wouldn't even bother. From what I see in your post ( # 3 ), you have the BiOS Image that you are dragging to the Flash drive, but no Flash Utility which you have to have. I have another desktop that I was trying to unlock the BiOS in and had the Unlocked Image as well as the Flash utility and it still wouldn't work. ASUS should have a link to do the update without using a flashdrive.

UPDATE: It would seem that Version 801 is the latest version ( 12 March 2012 ): http://driver.sharew...-bios-0801.html Also, I am not completely sure, but maybe that the 3770S may be a factor. I am not sure that thing is up to the 3770k.

This post has been edited by coastie65: 30 May 2012 - 09:47 AM

[LiveBrianD]

There is always a risk of BIOS flashes failing and bricking the board, so it's best not to do that if you don't have to.

Ivy Bridge was a minor upgrade from Sandy Bridge, probably not worth it for most people, and the 3770S is the low TDP, lower clock version - 3.1GHz vs 3.5GHz. You had a normal-TDP CPU before. That probably explains the lower performance.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 30 May 2012 - 02:23 PM

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 30 May 2012 - 02:23 PM, said:

There is always a risk of BIOS flashes failing and bricking the board, so it's best not to do that if you don't have to.

Ivy Bridge was a minor upgrade from Sandy Bridge, probably not worth it for most people, and the 3770S is the low TDP, lower clock version - 3.1GHz vs 3.5GHz. You had a normal-TDP CPU before. That probably explains the lower performance.

Hey Brian, thanks for bring up that on the 3770s. I didn't have time to revisit to see what that thing was exactly ( it has been awhile since I was reading the stuff on the different versions ). That lower clock would definitely make some difference in performance.

[LiveBrianD]

Fyi, as I recall, the lower-TDP (35W) versions of the Pentium and i3 end in T, and for the i5s and i7s the lower-TDP (65W) version ends in S.

OP: If you can, I'd recommend returning the 3770S - it's not overclockable like the 2600K, and as you're seeing it has worse performance. I doubt it's worth getting a regular 3770K - you barely gain any performance over the 2600K and you spend a lot of money. You're much better off spending the money on a better graphics card if you like games. (an SSD might also be a good idea, to speed up game loading times)

[Rohkai]

LiveBrianD, on 30 May 2012 - 02:23 PM, said:

There is always a risk of BIOS flashes failing and bricking the board, so it's best not to do that if you don't have to.

Ivy Bridge was a minor upgrade from Sandy Bridge, probably not worth it for most people, and the 3770S is the low TDP, lower clock version - 3.1GHz vs 3.5GHz. You had a normal-TDP CPU before. That probably explains the lower performance.

Thank you for that, I'm going to pull this thing out and go get my $330- back. 15 day return policy!!

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 30 May 2012 - 04:17 PM, said:

Fyi, as I recall, the lower-TDP (35W) versions of the Pentium and i3 end in T, and for the i5s and i7s the lower-TDP (65W) version ends in S.

Here you go Brian:

Attached thumbnail(s)

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[coastie65]

Rohkai, on 30 May 2012 - 04:31 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 30 May 2012 - 02:23 PM, said:

There is always a risk of BIOS flashes failing and bricking the board, so it's best not to do that if you don't have to.

Ivy Bridge was a minor upgrade from Sandy Bridge, probably not worth it for most people, and the 3770S is the low TDP, lower clock version - 3.1GHz vs 3.5GHz. You had a normal-TDP CPU before. That probably explains the lower performance.

Thank you for that, I'm going to pull this thing out and go get my $330- back. 15 day return policy!!

Yeah, you already had the 2600k, so I doubt moving to the 3770k would make a big difference. I had thought about it, but just couldn't find anything to justify the expense.

[LiveBrianD]

coastie65, on 30 May 2012 - 04:55 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 30 May 2012 - 04:17 PM, said:

Fyi, as I recall, the lower-TDP (35W) versions of the Pentium and i3 end in T, and for the i5s and i7s the lower-TDP (65W) version ends in S.

Here you go Brian:

Hmm, I didn't realize there T versions, lower TDP than the S ones, of the i5 and i7 as well. As it turns out, that's true for Sandy Bridge as well.