Author: Jim Stephenson

Every time a new processor from AMD or Intel comes out, we can’t help but feel left out. Newer processors from both manufacturers are running multiple CPU cores, so much so that performance will never be an issue.

Not too long ago, we were so hyped about seeing a dual core processor in the market, but in the blink of an eye, the quad core processor took over. Since then, core count was one of the most important features that a lot of PC builders, especially gamers, are more concerned with.

When you’re doing video editing or even 3D animation, you’d need multiple cores as well. But the real question you’d probably be asking is this: how many CPU cores do I need for gaming and all the other heavy processing stuff?

That’s what we’re going to talk about in this article, but first…

What Are CPU Cores?

How many CPU cores do I need for gaming or video editing? That’s probably a question that you’ll be asking first if you’re planning on buying a new CPU. You want to know how many CPU cores is enough so you don’t blow your budget, but at the same time, you don’t want to overpay for something.

We all know that the CPU or central processing unit or processor is the brains of the system unit. Your PC may function without a GPU, but it will not function without a CPU.

Back then, processors were only executing program instructions such as the adding or removing or moving of data. The first version of CPUs was only able to process one instruction at a time. Since then, operating systems, programs and even video games now process a lot of data, so the processor needs to be able to keep up. This is why we now have multiple processing units, or referred to as CPU cores, in one processor.

For better performance, CPU cores are split into threads, or what you’d commercially recognize as multithreading, or hyperthreading if it’s an Intel processor or simultaneous multithreading (SMT) for AMD processors. The operating system creates virtual cores to help utilize the CPU’s physical cores better.

What Are The Modern CPU Standards and Requirements?

How many CPU cores do you need? Well, it’s a challenge to find the exact number of cores but it’s a lot easier to spot a model that may be within range of the number of CPU cores that you need.

Simply put, if you think you need 5 CPU cores, you’re going to want to secure a 6-core (hexacore) processor. CPU cores only come in pair, so you have 2,4,6,8, and so on. If there were CPU cores with an odd core count, then that’d be a weird sell for both Intel and AMD.

For majority of CPUs, thread count is almost always double the core count (so a hexacore or 6 core processor would have 12 threads, theoretically). The only exception to this is the 12th generation Intel’s Alder Lake processors.

To make your shopping for CPUs easier, we’ve created a short guide on common core/thread combinations and how they can affect your needs.

Single-Core Processors

While you won’t be finding any SINGLE CORE CPUs nowadays, it pays to know how it all began. You might chance upon a single core CPU in Intel’s Pentium Library, but there’s hardly any stock.

The reason why you won’t find any single core processor today is that operating systems and programs now run on multiple cores or threads, or at least they run smoothly because of the CPU’s multiple processing units.

If you think you’re going to be able to run any modern program on a single core processor, think again. It’ll probably be the most infuriating experience you’ll ever go through. Single core performance is just terrible in this day and age.

Dual-Core Processors

While not as rare as single core CPU, dual core processors are just as uncommon. But you will find that Intel and AMD will still have them for new generation Pentiums and Athlon APUs respectively.

Today, dual core processors have four threads because of multithreading and if your CPU cores are fast, you’d be able to run productivity programs (like Microsoft Office) and some basic video games like League of Legends.

If you’re in the market for a dual core processor, then you might want to check these out:

• Intel Pentium Gold G6405 – Powerful enough for basic productivity tasks, almost comparable to an Intel i3.
• AMD Athlon 3000GE – Solid choice if you don’t have a dedicated GPU. The integrated GPU on the AMD Athlon is more powerful than Intel UHD.

Quad-Core Processors

Quad core processors are more common than dual core or single core processors, and good examples are the Intel i3 series. Intel i3 usually run with 4 cores and 8 threads, and they were all locked to 4 threads until AMD pushed for multithreading on their quad cores.

Quad core processors, or any CPU with higher core counts, will have at least 8 threads, and their performance is just a league of its own compared to single core and dual core processors.

Video editing/rendering and gaming is faster, but you get more performance and speed from higher core counts. Ideally, an eight core CPU would be more than enough for your video editing or gaming needs.

For gaming, a CPU with quad cores is decent enough for gaming. You should be able to use Intel i7-7700k, albeit they’re outdated compared to the more recent processors. Still, they’re powerful enough.

Aside from the Intel i7-7700k, we also put these processors up for your consideration:

• Intel i3-10300 – Cheaper than the Intel i7-7700k with the same core and thread count. There’s a six core version as well, which we recommend checking out first.
• Ryzen 5300G – Relatively faster than the two quad core processors mentioned above. But these are only found in OEM systems, so locating this particular quad core processor might be a challenge.

Hexa-Core Processors

Hexacore or hexa-core refers to the six core CPUs, which are midrange processors by today’s standards. Processors such as AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and the Intel i5-10400K are good examples of hexacore processors with great performance at budget pricing. For less than $200, you’re getting the best processors around for gaming and it’s a deal that you just can’t refuse.

A lot of gamers, streamers, content creators, and video editors are already satisfied with a six core processor’s power. Most modern games are doing well and to be honest, you don’t really see a massive FPS jump when you go up to 8 cores or higher. Running multiple programs at one time isn’t a hurdle with much CPU resources.

If you’re in the market for a six core processor, here’s our recommendation:

• Intel i5-11600K – Slower than the Ryzen 5600X, but not that much. It’s cheaper by about $40, so it’s a solid choice if you’re on a tight budget.
• Ryzen 3600/X – Considered as the best value purchase on the market as you’d find this processor for about $180 or less. The non-X version will cost less than the X version too, which isn’t a bad purchase.
• Ryzen 5600X – The fastest hexacore processor in the market right now but it’s worth the price tag (currently about $300 or so).

Octa-Core Processors

Eight core CPUs are relatively more expensive compared to the hexacore counterparts, but with Intel and AMD constantly at each other’s throats, we’ll hopefully see these prices go down.

As mentioned earlier, gaming doesn’t really see a lot of improvement when you transition to an octacore processor from a hexa core processor. You don’t really see the need to increase your physical CPU core past six unless you need more processing power for 3D animation or rendering.

If you do want to go for 8 CPU core count, then here is our short list:

• Intel i7-10700K/11700K – Identical in performance, so getting either isn’t a bad choice. They’re the best bang for your buck, so go for the one that’s more accessible (budget-wise and stock-wise).
• AMD Ryzen 5800X –  More expensive than the 11700K, but it is the fastest CPU in the market right now.
• AMD Ryzen 3700X – Another affordable octacore CPU and relatively cheaper by about $100 compared to the two other octacores.

The Wrap Up

If you want a TL:DR (too long, did not read) version of the article, here’s a short guide on how many cores you need:

• Single core processors are obsolete and hard to find. You don’t want to use them.
• Dual core processors are more than enough for basic tasks, word processing, and some light gaming.
• Quad core processors are good enough for gaming and productivity tasks, but you’ll need more.
• Hexacore processors are what you really want for gaming, and they’re also powerful enough for video rendering and heavy processing tasks.

• Octacore processors are the pinnacle of processing power, at least from a practical point-of-view. You don’t need more cores, honestly.
• But if you want ten or more cores, you’ll pay more for them, but these are just intended for 3D animation or heavier-than-normal processing power.

A not-so-often discussed topic when it comes to graphics cards is GPU usage or GPU utilization. On the surface level, we know enough that a GPU will run hotter than normal when it’s put under heavy load like gaming, rendering, video editing, and graphics design to name a few.

Regardless of how much memory your GPU has, your GPU performance will still diminish once it’s past certain limits on how it’s operating. When your graphics card overheats, it will immediately throttle its performance to give itself room to cool down. So if you’re into a heavy gaming session and the frame rate drops from 60 to 30 real quick, then that’s an indicator that the card is overheating.

However, it’s a different story when GPU utilization spikes for no reason at all. This would result in overheating and then throttling, and then sooner or later, your GPU’s durability and performance will be compromised.

In this article we’ll discuss the common reasons why your GPU utilization spikes for no reason and how to prevent this from happening.

What Are The Common Reasons For Spikes in GPU Usage?

Why does GPU usage spike for no reason? Well, it may be caused by one of these factors:

Malware

Malware, or malicious software, can spike GPU usage for no reason. Malware often affect CPU usage more than GPU usage, but it doesn’t mean that it won’t affect other components.

Some malware would hide in GPU memory which go undetected by anti-virus software, and that would probably be too late already by then. Malware like rootkits, trojans, and keyloggers will tend to hide in GPU memory, and cause severe damage.

In your performance tab, you’ll see unrecognized tasks running and eating up a lot of your GPU memory. This will cause the physical GPU to overheat and throttle, and then repeats the process all over again.

When your malware is infecting your GPU instead of the CPU, it becomes difficult to detect, but thankfully Windows has a feature to help you. Your Windows operating system will come with a pre-installed Virus and Threat Protection feature, which should help you detect and eliminate the malware GPU.

If you detect malicious apps or processes taking up GPU resources in the performance tab on Windows Task Manager. You should be able to stop these processes in the performance tab, but it’ll be tedious.

Background Apps Slowing Down GPU 

Sometimes, it’s your legitimate or regular software that end up taking a chunk out of valuable GPU resources for no reason.

If you purchase a brand-new laptop with a pre-installed Windows OS, it’ll come with some bulkware. Bulkware is considered harmless and are usually software from the laptop manufacturer to help your laptop “run smoothly”, when in fact, it doesn’t.

Normally, only applications that require graphics processing will run on the GPU, like gaming, graphics design, or video editing. But when normal apps take up dedicated GPU resources, that’s when it becomes a problem.

If you’re running Nvidia GPUs, then you can use the Nvidia Control Panel to make sure that the only apps to use the GPU are the apps that need a GPU.  

Problematic or Outdated Drivers 

Believe it or not, your graphics card driver might cause high GPU utilization. A driver is software that helps computer hardware, like GPU, to work with software. And drivers need to be updated as constantly as you’d update software.

When a GPU driver is outdated, then it might cause some problems albeit not so serious ones. Your GPU may not run optimally at this point, so it’ll end up using more GPU resources than it should.

Sometimes, we’ll update our GPU drivers, but more often than not, we don’t. For Nvidia GPUs, updating a driver is made easy with either Nvidia Control Panel or Nvidia GeForce Experience. The latter is a lot easier to use because every time you open it, it prompts up the latest version of the driver for your Nvidia GPU.

When it does prompt, you just click on the button to start the updated driver installation and you’re done. You just need to open the Nvidia GeForce Experience app every now and then to check if there are new driver versions.

Games Running At Higher FPS Than They Should

GPU engines are meant to run video games at certain resolutions. An older GPU running a newer video game will result in higher GPU utilization than a newer GPU running an older video game.

Now video games don’t necessarily require a lot of graphics processing power, but you’ll find that AAA games like Witcher 3 are one of those that’ll push your computer graphics card to the limit when you go for higher frame rates.

As long as your GPU can handle higher frame rates and higher texture quality, there shouldn’t be an issue tied to overheating caused by excessive GPU utilization. But running a game that’s way past your hardware specifications might cause issues, specifically with GPU utilization.

Graphics Intensive Software

GPU utilization for running software intended for graphics design, video editing, 3D rendering, and game development will always be at its highest because these programs need the GPU’s processing power.

When a GPU maxes out its resources on these applications, it means it’s doing its job and that the application is performing as it should. How much memory your graphics card has will determine how high the temperatures will go up. GPU temperatures shouldn’t go higher than 185°F (85°C).

If you find that your GPU is overheating when using graphics-intensive software, then you might need to purchase a decent cooling system.

Software Updates Running In The Background

If you’re running Windows 10 or 11, then you’ll know that one of the most annoying things that it does is when it updates in the background without prompting you. Sometimes, it’ll also be your anti-virus software doing this too.

When they update their software without prompting you, that means they’re running their updates in the background. Usually, you’d download the update and then install it when it’s finished.

But since this update did not prompt you, it meant that it was consuming resources, resulting in a spike in GPU usage. As long as the GPU does not overheat when there’s an update running in the background, then there shouldn’t be any issue.

However if there are instances of overheating, you might want to invest in a cooling system.

Web Browser Activity Might Cause GPU Usage Issues

Web browsers can also cause GPU usage issues, specifically those with hardware acceleration. When this feature is enabled in browsers, the GPU is used to speed up the browser performance.

Disabling this feature won’t hinder you from using your browser to its full potential, but it does get a huge workload off the graphics card.

But take note. Even without hardware acceleration, browsers might still use GPU, especially when it’s doing something that requires graphics processing. But the GPU usage will be relatively lower.

High-Performance Power Plan

While a common feature in laptops, most of the newer gaming PCs are equipped with Power Plans to help you balance power output and performance.

GPU utilization is at its highest when you go for High Performance settings, meaning it will allow you to run both CPU and GPU to its highest capacity without disregard for power consumption.

You’ll also have power modes that are economical, so CPU and GPU performance are intended to be lower than intended to help with power consumption.

GPU utilization might be affected by both high performance options or economical power options. Just go to System and then go to Power & Battery to change your settings. If the presets don’t work for you, you can create your own.

How High Should GPU Utilization Be For Gaming?

GPU usage will depend on a lot of factors, but for this section, we’ll assume that you want maximum GPU utilization for best performance possible.

If your game is running at a capped frame rate or refresh rate, then you’ll probably don’t need to worry about max GPU usage.

But…

It’s another story when the game itself is graphically intensive. Running a game capped at 60FPS won’t really do much in terms of reducing GPU usage because the graphics card is already struggling to power through that game.

For example, running The Witcher 3 at ultra settings on an Nvidia GeForce 1050Ti might cause some issues. Your frame rate might drop immensely, so much so that it’ll probably be unplayable.

Thankfully, Nvidia and AMD have provided us with their software that allows us to run games at optimal performance. You can use the Nvidia GeForce Experience to automatically set the graphics for any game that should make it run optimally.

The Wrap Up

GPU utilization only ever becomes noticed when things start to heat up, literally. GPUs are meant to handle excess heat, but it doesn’t mean that you should be pushing for that limit all the time.

Your GPU memory can only go as far as tell you how far you’d be able to push this limit. Modern graphics cards like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series might handle temperatures higher than 85-degrees Celsius without compromising its durability.

Once you understand how one GPU differs from another in terms of GPU usage, then you’ll never look at graphics cards the same way ever again.

Blender is a popular 3D modeling program because it’s free and it’s an open-source software. It has a ton of features that support simulation, compositing, rendering, motion tracking, modeling, and animation. Game production and video editing are also possible with Blender, so it’s no surprise that it’s the most widely used software for 3D artists all over the world. View our list of the best computers for Blender.

But with its ecosystem comes its downfall as Blender doesn’t really provide you with a powerful rendering solution. Thankfully, it can make use of a third-party rendering engine.

In this article, we’ll show you the best render engines for Blender and why they’re the best right now.

What’s a Rendering Engine?

A 3D rendering engine, or render engine, is software that converts your 3D scene into an actual model or animation. Rendering is the final stage of the animation or modeling process as animators and modelers add in the finishing touches such as shading and texturing process, motion blur, and other forms of visual effects.

There are three rendering methods used by 3d artists:

1. Wireframe – This is a production of an object’s structural frame. It has no surfaces to cover it. Rather, it’s made up of lines and points that shape to the object’s contour.
2. Solid – The quickest way to render 3D models and makes use of geometrical shapes to form the object.
3. Surface – This is where the object’s surfaces and edges are defined.

What’s The Best Rendering Engine For Blender?

Listed below are the most popular rendering software used in conjunction with Blender. This list is not arranged in any particular order.

Cycles

How Much Does Cycles Cost?

Free to use

What Are Its Features?

Cycles is one of the more popular choices of rendering engine for Blender because of its features and production capabilities.

Cycles is a path tracer render engine, or path tracing engine if you will, so it’s good at simulating complicated movements coming from light bouncing off of surfaces and its many reactions.

It also has powerful PBR shading nodes, vector displacement, realistic subsurface scattering, volume scattering and absorption, caustics, and more. Cycles is also constantly updated by its publisher so you can expect it to always have the newest and latest features.

Cycles also supports Multi-GPU rendering from both Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, and also hybrid GPU rendering and CPU rendering (GPU+CPU rendering).

What Can’t It Do?

Cycles currently lacks in caustics, so other rendering software might outperform Cycles. There’a no light linking available in Cycles, which is popular amongst its competitors.

Redshift 

How Much Does Redshift Cost?

$23 a month, or $274 a year (converted from EUR)

What Are Its Features?

Redshift is considered to be a powerful 3D render engine used by the people behind American Gods, and is coming to Blender for use. Redshift license holders are free to try out their beta version for the Blender extension.

Because of its biased rendering and architecture, Redshift’s GPU rendering is super fast, albeit sacrificing computation accuracy. Users get full control and customization so they get the visual fidelity they need.

Other features of Redshift include hair rendering, displacement and tesselation, volumetric rendering, and more.

What Can’t It Do?

Some functions may not be available from the present version of the addon. These functions include light-linking and motion blur, but development will still continue until the Blender plugin has the same features as the actual Redshift software.

Chaos V-Ray

How Much Does Chaos V-Ray Cost?

Monthly subscription costs you $70 a month, or you can go for an annual subscription that costs you $420.

What Are Its Features?

Like Redshift, Chaos V-Ray is a rendering engine used by a lot of commercials, film, and even for feature length animation. The rendering power is solid and readily available for many appliations, including Blender.

The Blender V-Ray Plugin is free and open-source, which you can download from GitHub. It’s another story if you want to use both V-Ray and Blender altogether.

What Can’t It Do?

You’ll need to purchase a Render Node License if you want to interface with the V-Ray Standalone Application.

Eevee

How Much Does Eevee Cost?

Eevee is free to use, and no, we’re not talking about the Pokemon.

What Are Its Features?

One of Blender’s real-time rasterization rendering engine is Eevee. Eevee now comes with Blender 2.80, replacing the software’s internal rendering feature.

Several of Eevee’s features include subsurface scattering, volume rendering, hair support, and a solid Shader-to-RGB node for NPR shading.

But what really makes Eevee great to use is that it focuses on filling in the gaps in the feature sets, providing a viable production rendering solution.

What Can’t It Do?

Eevee does not have genuine path tracing, making it difficult to create a realistic rendering.

Workbench

How Much Does Workbench Cost?

Workbench is free and is included with Blender

What Are Its Features?

The Workbench Engine is th standard engine that powers Blender’s viewport. It’s responsible for guaranteeing smooth performance for tasks performed prior to rendering, texture mapping, lighting, and shading.

What users like about Workbench is that its features make it easy to handle different tasks at the same time. Tasks such as cavity rendering, outlines, and X-ray options are a breeze for Wokrbench.

What Can’t It Do?

Some Blender users are actually attempting to use Workbench for final rendering, but it’s a lot easier said than done.

LuxCoreRender

How Much Does LuxCoreRender Cost?

LuxCoreRender is free to use.

What Are Its Features?

LuxCoreRender, formerly known as LuxRender, is one of the most powerful physically correct render engines in the market right now, and yes, it’s open-source.

LuxCoreRender allows you to create physically correct models with ease, thereby outperforming some of the commercial software developed (including Cycles).

Rendering scenes with heavy refractions is what separates LuxCoreRender from the rest of the 3D render engines in the market. It also has light grouping, something that Cycles (a free rendering software) does not have at this time.

At time of writing, LuxCoreRender is a favorite among Blender users.

What Can’t It Do?

Rendering took a long time with LuxCoreRender, but several improvements were made to shorten rendering time. These improvements focused on performance and GPU rendering.

Malt/Beer

How Much Does Malt/Beer Cost?

Malt/Beer is free to use.

What Are Its Features?

The Beer 3D render engine is free and open-source real-time Non-PhotoRealistic render engine for Blender and built using the Malt backend. Malt/Beer was also crowdfunded by the Blender NPR community.

This 3D render engine might be new to the rendering scene, but it flawlessly integrates into Blender because it was made specifically for Blender. The program’s goal was to improve upon Blender’s Stylized rendering features through the reorganization of shaders.

Rendering NPR scenes with Beer is easy as you’ll find the features such as rim light and soft edge toon ready for blend.

What Can’t It Do?

Like other free rendering software, Beer is still in the early stages of development but you can choose to support the development through crowdfunding. Some features might not be available compared to other render engines in the market.

OctaneRender (or Octane Render)

How Much Does OctaneRender Cost?

OctaneRender has various subscription packages, depending on GPU limit. OctaneRender Enterprise is the most expensive package, costing you 39,95€ (or US$ 40+) per month on an annual subscription.

What Are Its Features?

OctaneRender is one of the first GPU render engines to be released and is popular for its rapid rendering features.

OctaneRender has a spectrally correct and impartial render engine that takes advantage of the RTX graphics cards to create accurate images at rates faster than other rendering engines in the market right now.

What Can’t It Do?

The Octane Render plugin is actually Blender with the OctaneRender engine built in (as opposed to having something like Eevee or Cycles). If you use OctaneRender, you may not be able to use shader nodes and editors from Cycles or Eevee.

How Do You Choose a 3D Render Engine for Blender or any Other Software?

Out of all the rendering engines for Blender we listed, or for any other 3D software, how do you determine which one’s right for you?

These are the factors that will affect your decision in choosing the right rendering software or render engines.

Is It Right For Your Industry?

The biggest factor that’ll determine what rendering software you’ll use is what industry you belong to. Render engines aren’t exactly multi-purpose.

For example, if you’re an architect, you’re going to want to go for a rendering software intended for architectural visualization. You’re more or less using something like Rhino or Autodesk Revit, so you’ll need a rendering software that’s compatible with these software. If you’re doing animation or visual effectss, then you’re probably using Maya, Houdini, or Cinema4D. You’d need render engines that will work with these programs.

The downside here is that some rendering engines are only available to specific applications. Some applications are limited in terms of what they can do, so you’ll need to find render engines that will complement it.

How Flexible Is The Render Engine?

As mentioned earlier, 3D artists will have different needs depending on their industry, so the rendering software must be capable of doing everything (or at least close to everything). And by everything, we mean it should be capable of helping you achieve your rendering goals.

For example, architectural visualization requires billions of polygons to display buildings and interiors as detailed as possible, so you should go for 3D render engines that gives you that.

How Reliable Is It?

Render engines gather all the details that they need from your file in order to produce a single image or a frame of animation. When a software is rendering, it needs to carry out the rendering processes without a hitch. Otherwise, you’d end up with a corrupt output.

Whether you’re rendering a 10-story building with immense foliage or doing visual effects for a short film, the rendering engines you want to work with will need to be consistent and reliable.

When we say consistent, you’d need a very good engine capable of guaranteeing render quality no matter what the project.

What Level of Realism Does It Provide?

On the off chance that you’re a 3D artist that requires photorealistic rendering, then you’d need a rendering engine to give you that. A quick definition of photorealism is how close the 3D subject looks like to its real world counterpart. This could be as a simple as dew mounted on a blade of grass, or an entire workup for a fancy sports car.

Your rendering software must be able to compute for real-world lighting so your light bounces, refractions, and reflections are accurate. The material you’re rendering need sto obey real-world physics too. If you want to render the swaying of hair against the wind, the movements of the photorealistic rendering should be similar to how hair moves against the wind in real life.

How Easy Is It to Use?

Rendering software are not made equal, so the learning curve on how to use some of them will be as different to one another as their real time rendering speed.

How great is this 3D rendering software in turning your sketch into a masterpiece? And how easy will it be for you to create a such masterpiece? 3D artists want to be creative all the time, not spend hours navigating the learning curve of 3D rendering software.

What’s the Cost?

Getting the best rendering tools or engine is one thing, but managing the price is another. Remember when your parents told you about the phrase “not everything in life is free”? Well, it’s the same thing for rendering engines.

Blender has access to free rendering software like Cycles and Eevee, but they can only do so much and might not be able to meet your demands. If you want a powerful rendering engine, then you’d need to accept the fact that you’ll need to pay top dollar for it, whether it’s a monthly subscription or a one-time fee for a perpetual license.

How Fast Is The Rendering Speed?

Real time rendering needs to be fast, period. You don’t want to spend more than a couple of minutes waiting for the rendering to finish. Your rendering engine needs to be able to manage your CPU and GPU power efficiently so you can get it done as quickly as possible.

Other render engines might not be as capable of combining CPU and GPU rendering, so that might slow you down.

One of the most unfortunate things to happen after building your PC is your motherboard not booting. If this happens, you’ll need to update the BIOS. But how exactly do you update BIOS without CPU?

Isn’t the point of turning on your PC the first time is to make sure that everything’s working? Well, don’t worry. In this article, we’ll show you how to update BIOS without CPU and other tricks you’ll need in the future.

What Exactly Is a BIOS Flashback?

BIOS flashback is a common feature found in motherboards that allows you to update your PC’s BIOS without installing memory, GPU, or even a CPU.

Depending on the brand of motherboard, flashback is referred to as the following:

1. Gigabyte motherboards call it Q-Flash Plus (not the same as Q-Flash, which is the software used to update the firmware from within the BIOS).
2. MSI motherboards call it Flash BIOS Button (not the same as M-Flash, MSI’s update utility).
3. ASRock motherboards call it BIOS Flashback Button.
4. ASUS motherboards call it USB BIOS Flashback

If you want to know if a motherboard has a BIOS flashback, you’ll need to check the manufacturer’s sheet or the website itself. On the spec sheet, it will appear as the name as it’s listed on here.

What If Your Motherboard Does Not Have BIOS Flashback Feature?

On the off chance that your motherboard does not have a flashback feature, don’t worry. There’s still something that you can do. First, you need to acquire a fresh and formatted FAT32 USB flash drive.

What Do You Need a FAT32 USB Flash Drive For?

A FAT32 USB flash drive is what you need to boot up your motherboard’s BIOS without a CPU. Now, users flocked to Reddit citing that new USB 3.0 drives have certain issues when it comes to doing BIOS flashback updates. This is not guaranteed for everyone, but to be on the safe side, just use a USB 2.0 flash drive when possible.

BIOS software and updates are relatively small, so you’d only need a USB flash drive that’s about 16GB or smaller. But the main reason why you shouldn’t use larger flash drives is that older motherboards may have problems detecting them.

How Do You Update BIOS Without CPU or Do BIOS Flashback?

Check your Motherboard’s Official Website

Download the BIOS update file from the motherboard’s manufacturer website using another laptop or desktop. Never download any BIOS files outside of official manufacturer websites.

Do a quick search for your motherboard model on Google and it should take you to the official manufacturer’s page for that model.

Download the BIOS Update

Once you’re on the motherboard’s official page, click on Support tab (or its equivalent), then go to the BIOS section. This is usually found under Drive and Utilities.

You should see different BIOS versions alongside their release dates, but the more recent updates are located at the top of the list. Always download the latest BIOS version when you have to.

However, if the latest BIOS version has something with “BETA” affixed to it, don’t download that version if it’s only less than a week old. If not, then just download that version still.

Extract Download and Rename BIOS File

After downloading the file, extract the file first and then rename the BIOS file.

If you have an ASUS motherboard, it should come with a BIOSRenamer.exe utility. Just double click that and it will automatically rename the file. For MSI, Gigabyte, and ASRock motherboards, you’ll need to rename the file by yourself. Just look for the BIOS file, which should be the file with the largest file size in the folder.

Then rename them by following these formats:

• If you have a Gigabyte motherboard: rename the file to gigabyte.bin
• If you have an MSI motherboard: rename the file to msi.rom
• If you have an ASRock motherboard: rename the file to creative.rom

You’ll get a warning prompt saying that renaming might make the file unstable. Click Yes because this is a normal message prompt after renaming. It doesn’t matter if you use uppercase letters or lowercase letters as Windows reads them the same.

Format USB Drive as FAT32 and Transfer BIOS File

Plug the USB flash drive in and open My Computer or My PC (Windows 10/11). Right click on the drive and click Format. Select the FAT32 option and not NTFS.

If you recently formatted a flash drive but unsure of whether or not it’s FAT32, just right click on it and select Properties.

Copy the BIOS file (the one that you renamed) into the main directory or root of the USB flash drive.

Eject USB Drive from the PC You’re Using and Connect Power Supply To Your Motherboard

Eject your USB flash drive from the PC properly.

On the motherboard that you’re planning to update the BIOS, connect the power supply. But before you plug it into the wall, make sure that you connect the large 24-pin main motherboard power connector and 8-pin CPU power connector.

Yes, you’ll need to connect the CPU cable to the power supply even if you don’t have a CPU installed on there. Once all the cables are connected, plug the power supply to the main socket.

Insert USB Drive and Press Flash BIOS Button

Remember, for this part, you don’t need any other parts mentioned on your motherboard other than the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Insert your USB on the special USB port behind the motherboard. This special port is labeled as BIOS or some equivalent.

IMPORTANT: make sure that the power supply is turned on BEFORE inserting the flash drive. Some people have done the reverse and faced several issues. Manufacturers will also tell you to turn the power on before inserting the flash drive.

Once the flash drive is inserted, locate the small BIOS flash button somewhere next to the USB port on your motherboard and press it. Some motherboards will have it on the actual board and not behind the motherboard. For Gigabyte motherboards, the button will be labelled as Q-Flash Plus.

On some motherboards, like ASRock, you’ll need to hold down the button for three seconds. If your motherboard is MSI or Gigabyte, you’ll need to press down the button for three seconds if nothing happens the first time you pressed it.

If done correctly, the firmware will update itself with the BIOS file installed on the USB drive. This shouldn’t take you long but just make sure that there’s no power interruption as you’re updating.

When the update is complete, the LED light will stop flashing and the motherboard will either restart or shut itself off.

You can now remove the USB drive, turn off the power supply, and proceed to install all the remaining parts (i.e. CPU, GPU, and so on).

The Wrap Up

Now you know how to update BIOS without a CPU. It’s worth mentioning that there’s no actual need to update your BIOS unless you absolutely have to.