X670E Ace Bios Problems

[BiscuitBomber]

Hardware:
Processor: 7950X
Motherboard: MSI X670E Ace
GPU: EVGA 3080 TI FTW3
MEMORY: G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo RGB Series AMD EXPO 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR5 6000 (PC5 48000)
PSU: EVGA 1000W P6
Cooler: 360 Phanteks AIO MPH

After updating my BIOS today on my PC. When booting up I was getting BIOS Code A6 and the RAM light was staying Amber. This didn't occur on the previous BIOS 7D69v13. I attempted to clear CMOS but same issue. I ended up downgrading my BIOS back to 7D69v13. I opened a ticket with MSI, but just a heads up in case anyone else runs into this. Before 7D69v142 I had zero issues with RAM and bootup problems.


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EDIT Title
Alan J T

 

[Michele P]

Mine isn't off.

4 dimms?
or just different training cause different chips

 

[sblantipodi]

4 dimms?
or just different training cause different chips

Yess 4 dimms here.

 

[AMDACE]

How do you update the back up bios? I want to use that same E bios because it was so stable. I'm on I now and it has some serious boot loop issues when editing settings in the bios

MSI MEG X670E ACE has dual bios, I named one "backup"- the default one, and updated the secondary [red led], you can upgrade both of them if you like or upgrade the default one and keep the secondary as a backup. You can switch between the 2 BIOS-es by toggling the switch on the motherboard [check the Manual of the MB]

⚠ Important
∙ Do not use the Multi-BIOS switch when system is booting up.

 

[Michele P]

if I have never switched from the bios A (white led), it means the bios B it's still the one it shipped from the factory ?

good to know,

a good and well tested bios to flash on B for safety measures maybe it's the 1.0.0.7c (ver. 19?)

 

[sblantipodi]

if I have never switched from the bios A (white led), it means the bios B it's still the one it shipped from the factory ?

good to know, a good bios to flash on B for safety measures maybe it's the 1.0.0.7c (ver. 19)

Yes. I Always use that switch to try new bioses and fastly revert to stable ones when I need maximum stability.
I currently have 1.0.0.7c on the white one and 1.2.0.2 on the red one xD

Once I will consider "the new bios" stable, I put a new bios on the other chip.
That switch is very inconvenient in that position because I have a radiator in front of it.

 

[Michele P]

you confirm the 1.0.0.7c is the bios version 19?

when I have time I will switch the bios from A to B and use the usb flash button to flash the bios without even starting the system

I don't know which bios is on slot B, it's the one that came from factory so, maybe it's better to don't try a boot
I'm sure it won't have x3d support and SOC voltage mitigations

In fact I remember I did the usb flashing procedure before I booted for the first time this build because there's a 7950x3d in the socket

 

[sblantipodi]

Yes it's the v19 but I was wrong, the last bios I considered fully stable was the AGESA ComboPI 1.1.7.0 Patch Aand that is the one on my first bios slot.
1.2.0.2 seems as much stable here and it's a good candidate to became my next stable bios.
The reboot problem I had was confirmed to be a SMBUS issue in my use case.

 

[Michele P]

I think 1.0.0.7C is generally considered even more stable looking at old posts in this thread
it's one of the first with SOC mitigations and x3d support

 

[sblantipodi]

I think 1.0.0.7C is generally considered even more stable looking at old posts in this thread
it's one of the first with SOC mitigations and x3d support

Probably yes but as you know I'm not pushing the limits on my system so I don't see differences between a stable bios and another that is "more stable".

 

[Dave_Toast]

Yes it's the v19 but I was wrong, the last bios I considered fully stable was the AGESA ComboPI 1.1.7.0 Patch Aand that is the one on my first bios slot.
1.2.0.2 seems as much stable here and it's a good candidate to became my next stable bios.
The reboot problem I had was confirmed to be a SMBUS issue in my use case.

Can you explain what SMBUS issue?

 

[Michele P]

smbus is a "bus", a communication channel
many things travel through this channel: rgb/fan controls, sensors, generally a low priority traffic

some softwares may access this bus to read sensors, hardware data (like spd info from memory) or control certain things
For example hwinfo uses that, fan/rgb apps, or even benchmark software like 3dmark (cause it needs that to validate a score)

it has been reported in the past that buggy operations on this bus can have unexpected results on some components

the possibilities that something can trigger a failed training are not negligible... if you tamper a lot with this bus you can expect the unexpected sooner or later
it should not happen, but we all know how picky is ddr5 memory

 

[sblantipodi]

I would say, it has been reported in past and we continue to report it this days.
I had even worse problem on my last Asus Z690 Extreme crap.
In my case it's 100% an smbus problem. I had the same problem with HwInfo if smbus reading is enabled.
No problem if I disable SMBUS readings in HWInfo.

 

[sblantipodi]

But does MSI updated the user interface of the bios on new motherboards?

Is X670E ACE already old?
Why they don't updated the UI for the ACE too?

 

[Michele P]

seems more modern and polished
the purple hint reminds me the asrock one

 

[spud]

That would be an impressive demonstration of commitment to the longevity of MSI hardware.

 

[pyarb15]

I currently have BIOS 7d69v19 which I have had since release after struggling for a long time with constant crashes that BIOS made the system stable. I have not updated the Bios since then for fear of reintroducing instability. I don't plan on a CPU upgrade anytime soon and only plan on adding 2 more sticks of the same RAM I currently have in the system for a total of 4 16 GB sticks. Is there any benefit to upgrading to the latest release (7D69v1j)?

 

[sherbrovideo15a102de]

I currently have BIOS 7d69v19 which I have had since release after struggling for a long time with constant crashes that BIOS made the system stable. I have not updated the Bios since then for fear of reintroducing instability. I don't plan on a CPU upgrade anytime soon and only plan on adding 2 more sticks of the same RAM I currently have in the system for a total of 4 16 GB sticks. Is there any benefit to upgrading to the latest release (7D69v1j)?

The AM5 platform works best with 2 sticks of ram if you use 4 then all bets are off! It will be a total gamble.
Most can't achieve EXPO speeds using 4 sticks of ram and some can't even do the 4800 JEDEC. And they are forced to AMD's guideline of max DDR5-3600 on 4x1R / 4x2R.

So if you want more ram the correct way to get it will be getting a kit of 64GB (made of 32GB x 2 sticks) or a kit of 96GB (made of 48GB x 2 sticks). Still want more ram capacity then be ready to have 4800 JEDEC or even lower 3600 for using 4 sticks.
Not to mention, size of the ram stick, number of sticks used, single rank vs dual rank, speed of the sticks all will affect the windows boot time. AM5 isn't really that DDR5 friendly all things considered.

Also I suspect the reason you are using the last known stable bios version the AGESA ComboPI 1.0.0.7c one, in your case the 7D69v19 version is because you are using Samsung or WD SSD's in an AM5 AMD system, long talk here but something is wrong with the connection of those SSD brands and they can cause all sorts of problems, best to avoid those two brands.
Curious to see this new crop of ZEN 5 people that won't have access to the goated bios version.

 

[sblantipodi]

The AM5 platform works best with 2 sticks of ram if you use 4 then all bets are off! It will be a total gamble.
Most can't achieve EXPO speeds using 4 sticks of ram and some can't even do the 4800 JEDEC. And they are forced to AMD's guideline of max DDR5-3600 on 4x1R / 4x2R.

So if you want more ram the correct way to get it will be getting a kit of 64GB (made of 32GB x 2 sticks) or a kit of 96GB (made of 48GB x 2 sticks). Still want more ram capacity then be ready to have 4800 JEDEC or even lower 3600 for using 4 sticks.
Not to mention, size of the ram stick, number of sticks used, single rank vs dual rank, speed of the sticks all will affect the windows boot time. AM5 isn't really that DDR5 friendly all things considered.

Also I suspect the reason you are using the last known stable bios version the AGESA ComboPI 1.0.0.7c one, in your case the 7D69v19 version is because you are using Samsung or WD SSD's in an AM5 AMD system, long talk here but something is wrong with the connection of those SSD brands and they can cause all sorts of problems, best to avoid those two brands.
Curious to see this new crop of ZEN 5 people that won't have access to the goated bios version.

If you choose the right chip, Hynix, 6000mt/c30 isn't a problem for 4x16GB.
I enabled memory context restore and the boot time is instantaneous.

 

[sblantipodi]

That would be an impressive demonstration of commitment to the longevity of MSI hardware.

Asus is generally known to update its user interface to older devices when they create a new one.
Not updating a current motherboard like the X670E ACE is a lack of commitment IMHO.

 

[sherbrovideo15a102de]

If you choose the right chip, Hynix, 6000mt/c30 isn't a problem for 4x16GB.

Glad it worked for you and I think most likely you are in the minority of systems that can pull it off.
And I don't think it is the ram more like you lucked out on the CPU memory controller, there is a reason why AMD supports only 3600 with 4 x sticks.