BIOS

BIOS are generally a bit trickier to configure after the upgrade to DDR5.

Context Memory Restore

Once a newly installed computer boots up, expect it to stay black for ~1-2 minutes during boot while DDR is trained.

To avoid this, you can enable Memory Context Restore and DDR Power Down found here on the ASUS B650E-F:

• Advanced - Ai Tweaker - DRAM Timing Control - Memory Context Restore - Enabled
• Advanced - Ai Tweaker - DRAM Timing Control - Power Down Enable - Enabled
• Advanced - AMD CBS - UMC Common Options - DDR options - DDR memory features - Memory Context Restore - Enabled
• Advanced - AMD CBS - UMC Common Options - DDR options - DDR Controller Configuration - DDR Power Options - Power Down Enabled - Enabled

NOTE that you HAVE to change it in ALL places! I have no idea why ASUS have done it this way. When you save and exit, it will show only 2 changed settings (even though you have changed 4), but if you do not change it in ALL places, your computer WILL not run stable!

By enabling this, the computer will then do one training on the next reboot, and then reuse that data for upcoming boots, giving the same kind of boot behavior as DDR4 and below.

AMD EXPO

This allows for auto overclocking according to your DDR5 memory. This may increase DDR training time.

Enabling both AMD EXPO and Context Memory Restore should work well, but sometimes it gives stability issues, and you have to refrain from using one of them.

For me, it worked fine with the 1807 BIOS, but not with the 2616 or 3014 BIOS.

No display

Sometimes the displayport can not be used while configuring BIOS. This is the case on the ASUS B650E-F in conjunction with a RTX 3070 graphics card. You have to connect the HDMI to see the BIOS screen every time.

Method for BIOS updating for ASUS Rog Strix B650E

• Connect HDMI to monitor
• Disconnect Displayport to monitor
• Put BIOS CAP file on USB stick and reboot into bios (DEL after DDR5 training)
• Advanced - Tools - EZ Flasher, update BIOS
• After full update, hit F1 to enter BIOS, do a "Load Optimized Defaults" and reboot again
• Go into BIOS and change the following to clock up DDR speed from DDR-4800 to DDR-6000 and boot Windows in proper UEFI mode:
  • Advanced - Ai Tweaker - Ai Overclock Tuner: EXPO I
  • Advanced - Boot - Secure Boot - OS Type: Windows UEFI Mode
  • Advanced - Boot - Secure Boot - Secure Boot Mode: Standard
• Save and reboot, verify that Windows boots and is stable. Verify DDR frequency is 3GHz (DDR-6000).
• Reboot again, hit DEL (after DDR training) to enter BIOS and change (MUST set ALL of them, and they have to be set to Enabled, not Auto!):
  • Advanced - Ai Tweaker - DRAM Timing Control - Memory Context Restore: Enabled
  • Advanced - Ai Tweaker - DRAM Timing Control - Power Down Enable: Enabled
  • Advanced - AMD CBS - UMC Common Options - DDR options - DDR memory features - Memory Context Restore: Enabled
  • Advanced - AMD CBS - UMC Common Options - DDR options - DDR Controller Configuration - DDR Power Options - Power Down Enabled: Enabled
• Save and reboot (DDR training will happen one final time)
• Verify that Windows boots and is stable.
• Reboot, DDR training should now be much faster. Verify that Windows is stable. Verify DDR frequency is 3GHz (DDR-6000)
• Finally disconnect HDMI and reconnect Displayport.