Ryzen 5 5600X paired with MSI B550M Mortar
Ryzen 5 5600X paired with MSI B550M Mortar
Hello, I just bought the Ryzen 5 5600X and an MSI B550M Mortar motherboard. I’ve heard some of these boards might need a BIOS update. Should I update the BIOS for the B550M Mortar? Is it possible to do it without installing my CPU? Or would I need to reach out to AMD for their Boot kit? Thanks.
Hi, AMD has confirmed after the release of the Ryzen 5000 series that you must update the BIOS on B450 series motherboards (which are one generation older than your board) to support the new processors. I don’t think any B550 boards need updating since 500 series boards are recommended for the latest Ryzen chips. However, I’m not certain about your specific model—check the official MSI website for your motherboard and look at the compatibility list. If it shows 5000 series processors, you should be good. Let me know if you need more help.
Most B550 mobos currently available lack the appropriate BIOS for the 5000 series CPUs, except those released in the past few weeks when the BIOS was released. However, the B550M Mortar includes a BIOS flash feature that allows you to update the BIOS using a USB flash drive even without a CPU installed. That should resolve any concerns.
Updating the BIOS is simple using the flash button on the motherboard. Just connect the 24-pin ATX and 8-pin CPU pins, and you don’t need to install any CPU or RAM. Follow the steps in the manual: download the latest BIOS for your board from MSI’s site. Rename the file to MSI.ROM and place it on your USB drive. Connect the power supply to the CPU_PWR1 and ATX_PWR1 ports. Insert the USB drive with the BIOS file into the Flash BIOS port on the rear I/O panel. Press the Flash BIOS button to flash the BIOS, and the LEDs will flash until the process finishes.