03-07-2011, 04:18 PM
Hey,
I recently wanted to check whether the CPU any of my AM2 mainboards can be upgraded. At the moment, I'm running K8 Dual-Core CPUs which are already a bit dated. Before moving to a completely new system I wanted to check whether an upgrade is possible, but the mainboard support site says no.
K9N Platinum: http://www.msi.com/product/mb/K9N-SLI-Platinum.html
K9A Platinum: http://www.msi.com/product/mb/K9A-Platinum.html
The semi-official explanation from MSI for not adding support is, that the BIOS Flash ROM is too small. The Boards only have 4Mb ROM chips. The successor boards come with 8Mb chips (and with different chipsets too...).
I don't accept that to be the bottom line just yet. Some research brought me to this site, where I found promising information about BIOS mods for other manufacturers. Oddly MSI boards were never requested here. So I'd like to have some advice on whether its possible and if so how to accomplish it or help you in doing so.
For the record, I have one K9N Platinum (nForce 570 SLI) and one K9A Platinum (Crossfire Xpress 3200 aka RD580) mainboard. At the moment I don't have a AM2+ or AM3 CPU, but I might be able to get one for testing purposes. I also don't have a backup ROM at the moment.
I assume the BIOS modding is not as easy as described here: http://www.overclock.net/amd-motherboard...g-add.html
I already played a bit with AMIbcp and MMTool to look at the BIOS file of my boards and the successor boards. However, the "successor" boards don't qualify as donor boards, as they have different chipsets, so I have to look up boards from other vendors which might qualify. If you have any pointers how to proceed, I'd appreciate it.
I recently wanted to check whether the CPU any of my AM2 mainboards can be upgraded. At the moment, I'm running K8 Dual-Core CPUs which are already a bit dated. Before moving to a completely new system I wanted to check whether an upgrade is possible, but the mainboard support site says no.
K9N Platinum: http://www.msi.com/product/mb/K9N-SLI-Platinum.html
K9A Platinum: http://www.msi.com/product/mb/K9A-Platinum.html
The semi-official explanation from MSI for not adding support is, that the BIOS Flash ROM is too small. The Boards only have 4Mb ROM chips. The successor boards come with 8Mb chips (and with different chipsets too...).
I don't accept that to be the bottom line just yet. Some research brought me to this site, where I found promising information about BIOS mods for other manufacturers. Oddly MSI boards were never requested here. So I'd like to have some advice on whether its possible and if so how to accomplish it or help you in doing so.
For the record, I have one K9N Platinum (nForce 570 SLI) and one K9A Platinum (Crossfire Xpress 3200 aka RD580) mainboard. At the moment I don't have a AM2+ or AM3 CPU, but I might be able to get one for testing purposes. I also don't have a backup ROM at the moment.
I assume the BIOS modding is not as easy as described here: http://www.overclock.net/amd-motherboard...g-add.html
I already played a bit with AMIbcp and MMTool to look at the BIOS file of my boards and the successor boards. However, the "successor" boards don't qualify as donor boards, as they have different chipsets, so I have to look up boards from other vendors which might qualify. If you have any pointers how to proceed, I'd appreciate it.