Upgrade my BIOS (for $60) or buy a new motherboard?

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BustaUppa

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I just ordered a new 320 Gig hard drive. I've got an Award BIOS, and apparetnly it only supports up to 137 Gig. So my friend was telling me about flashing the BIOS and all that. Anyway I was on the phone with the guy and it turns out that it will cost $60 to have the BIOS update file sent to me. However I was thinking about getting a new motherboard sometime within the next year, and it would be stupid to pay $60 for the BIOS if I'm gonna be replacing the motherboard shortly anyway. I don't even know much about the price range of motherboards (it would be my first time buying one by itself), but I just feel like that makes more sense than paying a bunch of money just to update a BIOS. Plus I hear that some companies offer free upgrades, which is frustrating!!

So, any CAG advice? If anyone's got any experience in this I'd love to hear it.

EDIT: Okay now that I'm back home I can give some more detailed info. I ran this "Get Bios" thing on my computer and this is what came up:

BIOS Type: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
BIOS Date: 08/20/02
BIOS ID: 08/20/2002-GA-7DXE-6A6S6G0DC-00
OEM Sign-On: GA-7DXE F4
Super I/O: VIA 686 rev 64 found at port 7h
Chipset: AMD 700E rev 20
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Version: 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2

CPU
Type: AMD Athlon(tm) XP
Speed: 1666 Mhz
Max Speed: 2000 Mhz

BIOS ROM
In socket: Yes
Size: 256k

Memory
Installed: 512 MB
Maximum: 1536 MB



I ran that Get BIOS utility the other day and hit the "Submit Request" button... that's what directed me to the rep who was gonna charge me $60.
 
You should be able to flah your bios for free. Usually you can download bios updates from your motherboards website. Also it may not be the bios, what version of windows are you running. As early versions of xp did not support large drives. Make sure you have SP2 if you are running xp
 
Okay now that I'm back home I can give some more detailed info. I ran this "Get Bios" thing on my computer and this is what came up:

BIOS Type: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
BIOS Date: 08/20/02
BIOS ID: 08/20/2002-GA-7DXE-6A6S6G0DC-00
OEM Sign-On: GA-7DXE F4
Super I/O: VIA 686 rev 64 found at port 7h
Chipset: AMD 700E rev 20
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Version: 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2

CPU
Type: AMD Athlon(tm) XP
Speed: 1666 Mhz
Max Speed: 2000 Mhz

BIOS ROM
In socket: Yes
Size: 256k

Memory
Installed: 512 MB
Maximum: 1536 MB



I ran that Get BIOS utility the other day and hit the "Submit Request" button... that's what directed me to the rep who was gonna charge me $60. I think I'll go ahead and edit the first post with this info.

I really appreciate the info so far guys! Hopefully this more detailed description can shed some more light on things.
 
[quote name='2poor']who the hell is charging you $60 to flash your own bios?[/QUOTE]

A while back I had something go wrong while flashing my BIOS so I called every computer repair place in town to get the chip reflashed for me if I brought it to them. The standard minimum price for anything at places like that is $60-70, because they just can't afford to do a million small little jobs for cheap all day. I ended up ordering a new flashed chip for 20 bucks from badflash.com. Good experience.
 
So is flashing the BIOS something I could do by myself (using the file that Zing linked me to or something similar)?

I was assuming that you had to purchase the file from the company... but is the $60 dollar fee just sort of "paying for a service," and the BIOS itself is actually a public download? And in reality I can just download the file and do it myself?
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']So is flashing the BIOS something I could do by myself (using the file that Zing linked me to or something similar)?

I was assuming that you had to purchase the file from the company... but is the $60 dollar fee just sort of "paying for a service," and the BIOS itself is actually a public download? And in reality I can just download the file and do it myself?[/QUOTE]
A bios update is akin to downloading new drivers. No company in their right mind would charge you for it. Typically, a bios flash involves downloading a file, throwing it on to bootable media and restarting your computer. It will ask if you want to flash your bios, you press enter, and it will do everything for you. Just make sure the computer restarts on its own and don't interrupt it.

Also, find out your motherboard brand and model. I recommend using PC Wizard: http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php . Then, download the bios from your manufacturer's website.
 
Thanks a million for the tips, people! I just got that PC Wizard thing, I'm about to try it out.

Oh by the way, "eSupport.com" is the company that was gonna charge me. From their site:

"All of our BIOS Upgrades also include:
* Free Technical Support
* Easy to read installation instructions
* BIOS Secrets Guide *
* Free Upgrades for one year **
* Exclusive SPECIAL OFFERS for our other products
* 14 years of unparalleled experience "

You mean I can get EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL OFFERS?!?!? I'm sold! Damn, I'm glad my CAG instincts kicked in before I decided to pay that guy.
 
[quote name='capitalist_mao']Also, find out your motherboard brand and model. I recommend using PC Wizard: http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php . Then, download the bios from your manufacturer's website.[/QUOTE]I just started up that PC Wizard Program. Under the "System Summary" section I see:

Mainboard : Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. (GA-7DXE)


Is that what I'm looking for?
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']I just started up that PC Wizard Program. Under the "System Summary" section I see:

Mainboard : Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. (GA-7DXE)


Is that what I'm looking for?[/QUOTE]

Yes
 
If it doesn't go well, no you won't. lol

Seriously, read every instruction BEFORE you start the process or you could render your computer unbootable.
 
I agree w/Vegan--be extra careful and read the instructions thoroughly until you understand exactly what to do. Flashing a BIOS is relatively simple (although not as straightforward as driver installation), but one wrong move and you could render your PC completely unbootable.
 
Before you flash your bios you might want to consider checking to see if it can be anything else. It seems (from the info you posted) that you already have the F4 release of the bios. Which is only one bios release old. Also in the release notes for the F5 bios I don't see any mention of adding Large Drive support.

Do you have the hard drive in hand or is it still on order?
 
That's what I'm thinking, I've ran into this problem before when building computers for friends. It was never the bios. I'm not saying that it couldn't be the bios but I find this highly suspect. I have a feeling that if he tries to install the drive as long as he has SP2 installed he shouldn't have any problems.
 
I don't think it's SP1, since I've been using greater-than-137 drives since before SP2 came out, I'm sure of it. His BIOS is from 2002, I'd say that's a better chance of being the culprit.
 
I reinstalled windows last week. When I was running on the bare, non-SP1 installation, my drive registered as 200 gigs, just fine.
 
[quote name='priest_ridden']Before you flash your bios you might want to consider checking to see if it can be anything else. It seems (from the info you posted) that you already have the F4 release of the bios. Which is only one bios release old. Also in the release notes for the F5 bios I don't see any mention of adding Large Drive support.

Do you have the hard drive in hand or is it still on order?[/QUOTE]It's on order, although according to the tracking info it's just arrived in my area. So it looks like I'll have it on hand later today!

And actually I don't KNOW that my old BIOS won't recognize this drive. I just heard about flashing the BIOS and assumed it would be necessary, since my computer is a few years old. Is there any harm in just installing the drive and seeing what happens, and then going back and flashing the BIOS if it turns out that I need to? Would I need to reformat the drive or anything like that after updating the BIOS?
 
As long as your computer works fine I would'nt flash the bios. You should install the drive first and see what happens. I still don't think it would be a bios issue.
Additionally, you could just format your new drive as 2 (or more) partitions thus getting around any sort of max size barrier your computer may be causing you.
 
omg! It's all set up now. A friend walked me through the basic partitioning and formatting, but I didn't need to upgrade the BIOS. The hard drive was fully recognized without a hitch!

On a funny side note, during the installation my friend was horrified to see that I had my original hard drive set as "CS" instead of "Master," and it was plugged into the secondary IDE port. For at least a good year I had been wondering why my system was running so much slower!!!! I guess I really screwed up when I was looking around inside my computer a while ago, and I just got everything drastically wrong when I plugged things back in. Man, so now I've got a new huge drive AND my computer is gonna run like a million times better. Already I've seen huge improvement; the thing used to take like a minute and a half to boot up, and now it starts in 20 seconds!!!!!

So yeah, the BIOS upgrade turned out to be a non-issue... but this turned out to be extremely productive nonetheless. Thanks again for all the advice guys!! Hey maybe someone out there really does need to flash their BIOS, and this will help them.
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']On a funny side note, during the installation my friend was horrified to see that I had my original hard drive set as "CS" instead of "Master," and it was plugged into the secondary IDE port. For at least a good year I had been wondering why my system was running so much slower!!!! I guess I really screwed up when I was looking around inside my computer a while ago, and I just got everything drastically wrong when I plugged things back in. Man, so now I've got a new huge drive AND my computer is gonna run like a million times better. Already I've seen huge improvement; the thing used to take like a minute and a half to boot up, and now it starts in 20 seconds!!!!!
[/QUOTE]

Your secondary IDE channel and your primary one run at the same speed. CS is "Cable Select," simply meaning that some drives can detect whether they're plugged into the end of the IDE cable or the middle of it, and will automatically set themselves as Master or Slave.

CS is the default setting on many many hard drives when you buy them.
 
[quote name='Vegan']Your secondary IDE channel and your primary one run at the same speed. CS is "Cable Select," simply meaning that some drives can detect whether they're plugged into the end of the IDE cable or the middle of it, and will automatically set themselves as Master or Slave.

CS is the default setting on many many hard drives when you buy them.[/QUOTE]
:whistle2:$ Quiet, you'll ruin the placebo! :whistle2:$
 
You just replaced your old hard drive with a brand new one with newer technology and I assume a fresh install of Windows. Trust me, the speed improvement had nothing to do with Cable Select. This is normal. Some people wipe and reinstall Windows every 6 months or so just for this purpose.
 
I didn't reinstall Windows though. And the drastic improvement came before I even partitioned and formatted the new drive. Could a blank drive really affect things that much before I even activated it?

I did replace the old, short IDE cable with one of those longer cables with the extra plug in the middle. Maybe that did the trick? They were both 80-wire cables, but I dunno maybe the old one was just bad or something.

It went like this: I took out the old IDE cable... slid in the new drive... hooked up the new IDE cable to both drives... turned on the computer and BAM, everything's restored to it's former glory and running like a dream. The drive wasn't being read by explorer yet. I made some boodisk and went into DOS and made a partition... it asked me if I wanted to enable large drive support so I chose yes... after that I went back into windows and the drive was showing up and I formatted it.
 
[quote name='dtarasev']I see no reason for any improvement. Maybe you friend did something.[/QUOTE]Well he just walked me through it over the phone. So I witnessed all the changes first-hand!
 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using cable select or having your primary drive on the secondary channel or controller. You didn't specify if it was the channel or controller. If it was on the secondary controller with another drive, there is potential for slower performance, but only if multiple drives are being accessed simultaneously. Secondary channel would have no effect.
 
Maybe the new IDE cable did it then. Whatever it was, I'm just stoked that I accidentally fixed my computer while trying to install this drive!
 
[quote name='Vegan']You just replaced your old hard drive with a brand new one with newer technology and I assume a fresh install of Windows. Trust me, the speed improvement had nothing to do with Cable Select. This is normal. Some people wipe and reinstall Windows every 6 months or so just for this purpose.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I do a fresh install before each semester, or if I happen to run into any kind of nasty psyware that won't go away (hasn't happened in a few years). If you setup your computer's file structure properly (having documents and data stuff on a 2nd harddrive and/or back partition), formatting is no issue. Especially if you have an image of your PC. Ghost is a great program--5 minutes, brand new PC! :)
 
[quote name='Vegan']I don't think it's SP1, since I've been using greater-than-137 drives since before SP2 came out, I'm sure of it.[/QUOTE]
This article describes the Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) 48-bit Logical Block Addressing (LBA) support for ATA Packet Interface (ATAPI) disk drives that can increase the capacity of your hard disk to more than the current 137 gigabyte (GB) limit.

Note Windows XP does not support 48-bit LBA support unless you are running Windows XP SP1. If you want to use 48-bit LBA support, you must apply Windows XP SP1 or later. Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition already include SP1.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;303013
 
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