New Zen3 Build: question about BIOS and transferring Windows

[Pete.Dakota]

Hello,

I'm looking to upgrade my old PC:

i7 3770k
Asrock Extreme4 Gen3
32GB DDR3 RAM
Maxwell Titan GPU
XFX XTR 650W PSU
500gb Samsung SSD

I'm going to keep the parts in bold and upgrade to:

Ryzen 5600x
MSI B500M Mortar
32GB DDR4 RAM

I understand that the motherboard can support AMD 5000 series, however will require a BIOS update. I don't have a spare compatible processer lying about to upgrade the BIOS, but I believe I can use the mobo's BIOS flash process with a USB drive. However..

Am I also going to need to re-install windows? I've done this before and already have a W10 boot file on a pen drive. I'm assuming that because I'm upgrading the CPU and mobo, that I won't be able to plug the SSD in an just boot up like normal? At least that's how I remember it from years ago.

So my question is, am I going to need two USB Drives? One for updating the BIOS and one for re-installing windows (if required?). Or can I do this with one USB drive?

Any other alternatives would be welcome. I have found one online retailer who will upgrade the BIOS on the Mortar before shipping, but it costs an extra £10 and the site has some mixed reviews.

 

[mickyflinn]

Hi the b550 mortar has bios flashback feature which Allows you to update without the need for a cpu.

It would be best to do a fresh install of Windows so no driver conflicts but you won't need 2 usb drivers if you access to another computer.

 

[lee32uk]

I would assume that you can create a folder on the usb drive and stick the bios download in it. You will need to make sure it is unzipped and also rename the ROM file to MSI.ROM

If you have already used the media creation tool to make a W10 image then see if you can do the above.

 

[Pete.Dakota]

I would assume that you can create a folder on the usb drive and stick the bios download in it. You will need to make sure it is unzipped and also rename the ROM file to MSI.ROM

If you have already used the media creation tool to make a W10 image then see if you can do the above.

I think that will work for updating the BIOS, but doesn't the windows boot file need to be the only data on the drive?

 

[lee32uk]

I think that will work for updating the BIOS, but doesn't the windows boot file need to be the only data on the drive?

I would imagine that Windows would just look for the files it needs, and ignore anything else. If you don't have access to another USB drive/pc then I would give it a try. There is a good chance that your board already has an up to date bios so you might not need to worry about updating it anyway.

 

[The_Arbiter]

I've switched motherboard and cpu under windows 10 with no issues.

Was from Intel h110 to B550 mortar. But i knew i was upgrading my main boot/OS drive in the future and would be doing a fresh install of OS so wasn't that bothered. If it's backed up then you can't do any harm.