How do I setup MSI Z77A-GD65 MB ?

M

Mark3Max

New member
Ok , before I start , I have never built a pc and I haven't bought the MB or processor yet , I'm here to get information first .
I went to MSI's webpage and was reading on how to flash the bios using usb , I'm guessing a small capacity thumb drive will be fine.
Do I flash the bios and also download Live Update 5 on the same thumb drive and let the MB update complete , then configure bios and the drive(s) and install operating system ? Recommendations and info please.
 
1: Download the bios from Msi website.
2: Put it on your usb key and plug it in your mobo
3: Enter the Bios of the GD65 and there you will find a utility to flash it
 
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I'd personally stay away from the Live Update stuff, I always prefer to do stuff manually.
You'll only need a small USB drive, but it shall need to be formatted to FAT32.
It may be a good idea to download all the latest drivers from MSI's website and include them on the same drive.

Personally, i'd do it like this:
1) Power on the system and enter the UEFI BIOS straight away. Flash the BIOS with the USB stick but keep all the other settings as they are.
2) Install Windows with a clean install.
3) Start to install all the latest drivers.
4) Work on the other settings from the UEFI BIOS - overclocking etc.
 
Thanks for the input FTR.4500MHZ & Josh Weston ,
That sounds simple enough, thank you both for the step by step.
I want to power on the board before I install it in the case to make sure it posts,
should I have memory , graphics card and boot drive (ssd) installed or connected ?
 
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All you should need is the CPU and RAM. The board will complete the POST and go on to say how you haven't any BOOT media installed. You'll then know that your board is working hunky dory, and you can proceed with the rest of your build.
 
Thank You Josh , I really appreciate you answering my questions.
This eases my mind , hopefully my build will go as easy as you say.
I have some things arriving this week and a cart started with the rest.
Thanks again for your time.

Can I add you as a contact?
 
Yar, your mobo wont even post without cpu and ram. if your ram is faluty youll get beeps, if the cpu is faulty you wont even get beeps. Thats one way you can tell if your cpu is working or not. The mobo will not do ANYTHING if theres a bad cpu in the socket.

You might get lucky and have the very latest BIOS on the board when you purchase it,making this thread a moot point :) Note that on the MSI page for the GD65, it says "if your motherboard is working fine then dont flash the BIOS as this can potentially cause problems" or something to that effect. I reckon you should at get get the system cranked up and have a play with it before you go flashing things you might not need (like the page said).

The very latest BIOS only adds support for Windows 8. So if youre not on Windows 8 you dont need that one, and wont need it until you install Windows 8. ;)
 
Bang,
not true.. on some of the new boards some can power-up nekkid.
my GD65 will power-up with/without CPU/RAM.

airdeano
 
Thank you for your posts Bang and airdeano ,
I will be using windows 7 ult. , so there might be a chance I won't have to flash the bios.
Airdeano , Do you think I should try without cpu & ram first , just to confirm it powers up? If it does , should it be fine ?
 
Wow, thanks Deano, thats news to me. Its been a while since I took IT classes so I'm not up to snuffon all the modern stuff. By powering up do you mean you can access BIOS without cpu and ram? I mean as in like Yes the psu will power up but you cant get into BIOS, at least in the old days. Not having a working cpu is like removing the brain from a cat - all you have is a dead cat, same with ram. So if you can access BIOS without cpu or ram, that is truly a new one to me.

And yes Mark, run it before you go flashing bios. You need to run it just to see what BIOS you have anyway. If it's not broke don't fix it ;) Besides, if you have no Before, how can you compare the After performance?

As late as it is in the life of this mobo, its highly possible you could get a very recently manufactured board with the latest BIOS, though the most recent is Oct 25 and only adds support for Winidows 8, but you wont know it till you boot it up and check. If youre not on Windows 8 youll most likely want to go to the Sept 21 BIOS release.
 
a lot of new Z77 platform boards have this option. due to the fast tech uprise
a solution was needed to fix the latter issue.
Z68 boards using Ivey processors. you had to boot, flash and POST with a
Sandy, then install Ivey processor. ummm NO! peeps don't wanna buy two
processors to make their product functional...
so giggy and Asus went into it with no hardware flash. then MSI on their
second BIOS from shipping BIOS.

buy, install and evaluate... dont think too much into it.. as they say:
"think long, think wrong" when one over-thinks processes, it'll manifest into
a non-issue and send wrong signals into the project.

airdeano
 
Thanks for the replies Bang and airdeano,
Sorry it took so long for me to reply back.
I will be using windows 7 ult. so it sounds like I might not have to flash the bios , just install the most recent drivers.
I have my case , power supply and graphics card , and I have a shopping cart on Newegg for the rest of the build.
I'm not sure where else to ask this but,
Does anyone know about newegg's Replacement Extended warranty and their Accidental Damage Service Plan ? Are they worth the extra money ?
I thought about 1 or both just for the motherboard.
Thanks in advance for any input or feedback.
 
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Bump.

Help needed to find discrete GPU in GD65 bios/windows. I bought the GD65 today with a 3570k and tried two GPUs in the mobo and the fan spins on both, but neither windows nor BIOS sees any discrete card and I need some help with it. I know the GPU's are pcie 2.0 but i thought 3.0 was backwards compatible. this is getting really frustrating. How do I set up BIOS to look for the GPU's? I already have it set to initialise PEG first and that does nothing.
 
Bang said:
Bump.

Help needed to find discrete GPU in GD65 bios/windows. I bought the GD65 today with a 3570k and tried two GPUs in the mobo and the fan spins on both, but neither windows nor BIOS sees any discrete card and I need some help with it. I know the GPU's are pcie 2.0 but i thought 3.0 was backwards compatible. this is getting really frustrating. How do I set up BIOS to look for the GPU's? I already have it set to initialise PEG first and that does nothing.
Click to expand...
I'd contact MSI customer support if I were you, the cards should be available as soon as they are plugged in without the need to play with anything in BIOS.
 
I was going to purchase this but decided to pay a bit extra an get the MPower. Waiting until after christmas to purchase.

I do have a question regarding flashing bios with these boards. This board does have a bios switch, I was wondering if you have the left (green light?) bios selected and flash to recent version will this also flash or affect the right (blue light?) bios. Or if you wanted to completely update the two bios switches would I have to flash twice or can you flash both at the same time.

I know for certain not to update bios using the live update 5.
 
Hi , I finally got everything to build my rig.
I installed the i7 3770k in my MSI z77a-gd65, installed the H100i , the ram , graphics card and hooked up all the power cables to the power supply and did a post on a table. It posted and I went to the bios to check the bios version , I have the most recent bios for windows 7. On my other computer I downloaded all the windows 7 motherboard drivers to a usb .
Do I finish the build in the case , then install windows and then the MB drivers?
I need a little info to help me Please.
 
Mark3Max said:
Hi , I finally got everything to build my rig.
I installed the i7 3770k in my MSI z77a-gd65, installed the H100i , the ram , graphics card and hooked up all the power cables to the power supply and did a post on a table. It posted and I went to the bios to check the bios version , I have the most recent bios for windows 7. On my other computer I downloaded all the windows 7 motherboard drivers to a usb .
Do I finish the build in the case , then install windows and then the MB drivers?
I need a little info to help me Please.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the normal way of doing things. Now you know your hardware's all good you can proceed to build the system into the case.
Happy building :)
 
Thanks for the reply Josh ,
I just wanted to make sure I'm doing everything right for my first build.
It was getting late last night and I just needed to get some sleep to think clearer...lol
Now that the nervous part is over , I can do the fun part and finally build.
Thanks for your help , it's good to know I have people to ask questions if I need to.
OC3D is a great forum with alot of helpful and nice people.
Thanks

Mark
 
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