Is a Dual-BIOS Motherboard Worth Considering?

Motherboards typically rely on a single chip to store the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) - this is the essential, barebone software for your hardware and Operating System to function. While rare, there are scenarios where that chip becomes corrupted or simply ceases to work anymore - converting your motherboard to a paperweight.

With a motherboard that features Dual-BIOS, at least you'll have a backup chip in the scenario that one BIOS does fail. A BIOS can especially susceptible to failure due to a bad update (ex. power outage during BIOS update), virus, or aggressive overclocking. Switching between the primary and secondary BIOS is just a physical toggle on the motherboard - easy to do.

Aside from being a safety net, the capability for dual-BIOS yields benefits for overclocking & legacy support.

• Overclocking - For the PC enthusiasts who want to push their hardware to their limits and squeeze every ounce of performance they can get, overclocking is an enticing rabbit hole to descend upon. There can be multiple trials & errors before landing on an overclocking profile that you're happy with. With dual-BIOS capability, at least you know you know you'll be able to overclock more freely without completely sacrificing your motherboard, and have a cushion to fall back on in case you push the boundaries too far.
• Legacy Support - If you're someone who likes to tinker with older hardware or custom firmware (ex. injecting microcode), then the secondary BIOS can prove useful so you aren't risking bricking your motherboard entirely.

Here's a list of modern motherboards that feature dual-BIOS:

AM5

• MSI MEG X870E GODLIKE / GODLIKE X
• MSI MEG X870E ACE
• GIGABYTE X870E AORUS XTREME (AI TOP)
• ASRock X870E Taichi / Taichi Lite
• ASRock X870E Nova WiFi

LGA 1851

• MSI MEG Z890 GODLIKE
• MSI MEG Z890 ACE
• MSI MEG Z890 UNIFY-X
• ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF (OC Formula)
• ASRock Z890 Taichi / Taichi Lite

Having a dual-BIOS capable motherboard definitely doesn't hurt (besides your wallet, maybe) and is worth considering if you feel like you'll want to seriously dive into overclocking or need legacy support. It's safe to say that any motherboard featuring dual-BIOS is designed in mind for overclockers.

If you aren't someone who's planning to overclock, then the dual-BIOS feature is one that can be skipped or lower on the priority list. In the case you do run into an issue with your BIOS, many motherboards do feature BIOS flashback, which gives you a great chance at recovery by installing your motherboard's BIOS file via USB - no CPU or RAM even required.

In case you're planning to overclock or at least curious about it, you can find out more in our "What is Overclocking?" article. Aside from the motherboard, you'll also want to equip yourself with the following:

• Case - one with a design to provide proper airflow so all your components receive healthy ventilation (ex. FRAME 4000D)
• Sufficient Cooling - to properly cool your CPU (ex. iCUE LINK TITAN RX 360, custom Hydro X liquid cooling)
• Power Supply - to meet the increased power consumption from overclocking (ex. HX1200i SHIFT, HX1500i SHIFT)