Meltdown and Spectre Patched BIOS for X58 Motherboards

[Regeneration]

Linked below is a database of modified BIOSes for X58 motherboards patched with the latest microcode (0x1F for Westmere, 0x1D for Bloomfield) against Meltdown and all variants of Spectre. Make sure the operating system is also updated to be fully protected from speculative execution side-channel vulnerabilities (CVE-2017-5715, CVE-2017-5753, CVE-2017-5754).

While most of Nehalem CPUs received a new microcode from Intel, there is an early stepping (C0) that hasn't and therefore still vulnerable at the moment. However, these very few CPUs will also benefit from increased security and stability due to more recent microcode. In addition, the ROMs feature TRIM support for SSDs in RAID0 and extended CPU compatibility table for all motherboards.

Unofficial ROMs! use at your own risk.

ASRock *updated on 11/8/2018*

• ASRock X58 Deluxe
• ASRock X58 Deluxe3
• ASRock X58 Extreme
• ASRock X58 Extreme3
• ASRock X58 Extreme6
• ASRock X58 SuperComputer

ASUS *updated on 11/8/2018*

• ASUS P6T
• ASUS P6T SE
• ASUS P6T Deluxe
• ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
• ASUS P6TD Deluxe
• ASUS P6T Deluxe/OC Palm
• ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution
• ASUS P6T7 WS SuperComputer
• ASUS P6T WS Professional
• ASUS P6X58D Premium
• ASUS P6X58D-E
• ASUS P6X58-E WS
• ASUS P6X58-E PRO
• ASUS Rampage II Gene
• ASUS Rampage II Extreme
• ASUS Rampage III Gene
• ASUS Rampage III Formula
• ASUS Rampage III Extreme
• ASUS Rampage III Black Edition
• ASUS Sabertooth X58
• ASUS Z8NA-D6
• ASUS Z8NA-D6C
• ASUS Z8NR-D12
• ASUS Z8NH-D12
• ASUS Z8PE-D12
• ASUS Z8PE-D12X
• ASUS Z8PE-D18
• ASUS Z8PH-D12 SE/QDR
• ASUS Z8PH-D12/IFB

Biostar *updated on 11/8/2018*

• Biostar TPower X58
• Biostar TPower X58A

DFI *updated on 11/3/2019*

• DFI LANParty DK X58-T3eH6
• DFI LANParty DK X58-T3eH6-A
• DFI LANParty JR X58-T3H6
• DFI LANParty UT X58-T3eH8

ECS *updated on 19/8/2018*

• ECS X58B-A
• ECS X58B-A2
• ECS X58B-A3 SLI

EVGA *updated on 11/8/2018*

• EVGA X58 SLI Micro (121-BL-E756)
• EVGA X58 SLI3 (131-GT-E767)
• EVGA X58 SLI (132-BL-E758)
• EVGA X58 FTW3 (132-GT-E768)
• EVGA X58 SLI LE (141-BL-E757)
• EVGA X58 SLI Classified (141-BL-E759)
• EVGA X58 SLI Classified (141-BL-E760)
• EVGA X58 SLI Classified (141-BL-E761)
• EVGA X58 SLI Classified Hydro Copper (141-BL-E764)
• EVGA X58 SLI Classified Hydro Copper (141-BL-E769)
• EVGA X58 Classified3 (141-GT-E770)
• EVGA X58 Classified 4-Way SLI (170-BL-E762)
• EVGA Classified SR-2 (270-WS-W555)

Foxconn *updated on 11/8/2018*

• Foxconn Bloodrage
• Foxconn Bloodrage GTI
• Foxconn FlamingBlade
• Foxconn FlamingBlade GTI
• Foxconn Renaissance
• Foxconn Renaissance II

Gigabyte *updated on 11/8/2018*

• Gigabyte G1.Assassin
• Gigabyte G1.Sniper
• Gigabyte G1.Guerrilla
• Gigabyte GA-X58A-OC
• Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9
• Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7
• Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 (Revision 2.0)
• Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5
• Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 (Revision 2.0)
• Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
• Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (Revision 2.0)
• Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3
• Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME
• Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5
• Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P
• Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4
• Gigabyte GA-EX58-DS4
• Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI
• Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
• Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R (Revision 1.6/1.7)

Jetway *updated on 6/4/2021*

• Jetway BI-600

MSI *updated on 11/8/2018*

• MSI X58 Pro
• MSI X58 Pro SLI
• MSI X58 Pro-E
• MSI X58 Pro-E SLI
• MSI X58 Pro-E USB3
• MSI X58 Platinum
• MSI X58 Platinum SLI
• MSI X58A-GD45
• MSI X58A-GD65 (M)
• MSI X58A-GD65 (N)
• MSI X58M
• MSI X58M SLI
• MSI Eclipse Plus
• MSI Eclipse SLI
• MSI Big Bang-XPower

Sapphire *updated on 11/8/2018*

• Sapphire Pure Black X58

Shuttle *updated on 19/8/2018*

• Shuttle SX58H7
• Shuttle SX58H7 Pro
• Shuttle SX58J3

XFX *updated on 19/8/2018*

• XFX X58i

Zotac *updated on 19/8/2018*

• Zotac X58SLI-A-E

Other useful downloads

• Gigabyte @BIOS (flash with this utility if you get errors with Q-Flash or SPI Flash on Gigabyte motherbards)
• Intel Microcode Boot Loader (alternative method to update microcode in case your motherboard isn't listed)
• Enable/Disable Meltdown and Spectre Protections (try this if the system appears vulnerable after flashing patched ROM)
• GRC's InSpectre
• Rufus 3.1 Portable (to create bootable USB flash drive with DOS)
• Intel Chipset Device Software 9.4.0.1017
• Intel Rapid Storage Technology 11.7.4.1001

All of ROMs are mirrored in this location just-in-case.

Some 3DMark and AIDA64 benchmark results are available here.

 

[Arrakis9]

Thank you for taking the time to do this for the community.

 

[shifter]

Attached below is a collection of modded BIOSes for all ASUS X58 motherboards patched with the latest microcode (0x1F for Westmere, 0x1D for Bloomfield) against Meltdown and all variants of Spectre.

Unofficial ROMs! use at your own risk.

No Asus Rampage II Extreme

 

[agent_x007]

No Asus Rampage II Extreme

Official BIOS : LINK.
Adding "beta", with updated OpRoms would be nice touch...

 

[Tomgang]

I am not so sure i am gonna update. Dont wanna lose performance and oc stability.

Have others update and exsperiencet any stability problems?

 

[shifter]

I

I am not so sure i am gonna update. Dont wanna lose performance and oc stability.

Have others update and exsperiencet any stability problems?

I don't mind loosing minor perf. for improving security.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I am not so sure i am gonna update. Dont wanna lose performance and oc stability.

I cannot speak for the unofficial/unauthorized updates, but I note most who have upgraded with the official updated codes have not experienced any "noticeable" performance degradation.

 

[Regeneration]

I added Rampage II Extreme to the collection.

The forum attachment limit gave me a hard time, so I moved it to MediaFire.

OC stability seems normal. Expect the usual performance degradation.

 

[agent_x007]

I'm pretty sure you only need IDE mode on controller, and a FAT32 file system, for EZ Flash 2 to see partition on a hard drive. I can be wrong though...

 

[Regeneration]

I'm pretty sure you only need IDE mode on controller, and a FAT32 file system, for EZ Flash 2 to see partition on a hard drive. I can be wrong though...

EZ Flash 2 works with AHCI and NTFS. But only the first HDD is visible.

 

[Vario]

Linked below is a collection of modded BIOSes for all ASUS X58 motherboards patched with the latest microcode (0x1F for Westmere, 0x1D for Bloomfield) against Meltdown and all variants of Spectre.

Unofficial ROMs! use at your own risk.

• ASUS P6T
• ASUS P6T SE
• ASUS P6T Deluxe
• ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
• ASUS P6TD Deluxe
• ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution
• ASUS P6T7 WS SuperComputer
• ASUS P6T WS Professional
• ASUS P6X58D Premium
• ASUS P6X58D-E
• ASUS P6X58-E WS
• ASUS Rampage II Gene
• ASUS Rampage II Extreme
• ASUS Rampage III Gene
• ASUS Rampage III Formula
• ASUS Rampage III Extreme
• ASUS Sabertooth X58

Easiest way to flash: place the ROM in C:\ and boot to EZ Flash (press Alt+F2 during POST).

Thanks for your work, considering using this ROM on our P6X58D-E but waiting for more feedback in the meantime I downloaded it.

 

[Regeneration]

Computer Specifications
Intel Xeon W3680 @ 4.4 GHz
ASUS P6T (vanilla)
12GB G.Skill DDR3 10-12-12-31-1T @ 2266 MHz
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 @ 1516 MHz / 7364 MHz
Windows 7 up-to-date

3DMark Fire Strike
Original ROM: 11177
Patched ROM: 11149

AIDA64
Memory Read
Original ROM: 24179 MB/s
Patched ROM: 24618 MB/s

Memory Write
Original ROM: 20646 MB/s
Patched ROM: 20648 MB/s

Memory Copy
Original ROM: 27227 MB/s
Patched ROM: 26809 MB/s

Memory Latency
Original ROM: 51.0 ns
Patched ROM: 51.0 ns

CPU Queen
Original ROM: 68989
Patched ROM: 68958

CPU PhotoWorxx
Original ROM: 14755 MPixel/s
Patched ROM: 14749 MPixel/s

CPU ZLib
Original ROM: 440.9 MB/s
Patched ROM: 438.4 MB/s

CPU AES
Original ROM: 14873 MB/s
Patched ROM: 14871 MB/s

CPU Hash
Original ROM: 3821 MB/s
Patched ROM: 3821 MB/s

FPU VP9
Original ROM: 6238
Patched ROM: 3688

FPU Julia
Original ROM: 21861
Patched ROM: 21843

FPU Mandel
Original ROM: 10531
Patched ROM: 10530

FPU SinJulia
Original ROM: 9074
Patched ROM: 9072

FP32 RayTrace
Original ROM: 3135 KRay/s
Patched ROM: 3135 KRay/s

FP64 RayTrace
Original ROM: 1734 KRay/s
Patched ROM: 1734 KRay/s

 

[Tomgang]

I
I don't mind loosing minor perf. for improving security.

Well i do and according to notes for old CPU's. performance loss can be up to 10 % or maybe even higher. I am not ready to lose that from my system.

I cannot speak for the unofficial/unauthorized updates, but I note most who have upgraded with the official updated codes have not experienced any "noticeable" performance degradation.

Then i have to ask how old cpu´s has the patch been tested on then.
Cause what i have read the older CPU, the higher performance loss. With the oldest gen like mine is shut get the biggest hit from these patch.

 

[PurSpyk!!]

Thanks for making these modified BIOS files, does this support fixes for the i7 990x? I have an ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard.

If I am not happy with any performance loss, can I reflash to the official BIOS with no side effects?

 

[Regeneration]

Thanks for making these modified BIOS files, does this support fixes for the i7 990x? I have an ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard.

If I am not happy with any performance loss, can I reflash to the official BIOS with no side effects?

Yes, and yes. You can backup the stock ROM within EZ Flash.

 

[PurSpyk!!]

Thanks, are these just the default bios with the fix, or are there any other updates included?

 

[Regeneration]

Thanks, are these just the default bios with the fix, or are there any other updates included?

Just original BIOS rom with Intel's most updated microcode.

 

[Deleted member 178884]

Yeah I'll pass - Spectre is BS and it's easier to hack a system with a virus - nobody has been recorded using spectre to hack systems before it got hyped

 

[hat]

Yeah I'll pass - Spectre is BS and it's easier to hack a system with a virus - nobody has been recorded using spectre to hack systems before it got hyped

For now. I feel like we're still in the early stages of this hardware vulnerability nonsense...

 

[Deleted member 178884]

For now. I feel like we're still in the early stages of this hardware vulnerability nonsense...

Exactly - out of the millions and millions of viruses released each day that can infect systems I can guarantee it's no more than 0.1% using spectre before the discovery and taking a performance impact however minimal is pathetic. My x58 system is never online anyway - I've got nothing to lose.

 

[shifter]

Thank you @Regeneration !

 

[R-T-B]

and taking a performance impact however minimal is pathetic.

Or you know, smart, depends on your use case really.

 

[hat]

Exactly - out of the millions and millions of viruses released each day that can infect systems I can guarantee it's no more than 0.1% using spectre before the discovery and taking a performance impact however minimal is pathetic. My x58 system is never online anyway - I've got nothing to lose.

The point I was trying to make is that these vulnerabilities could potentially get a lot worse in the future. Maybe attackers using Spectre will be commonplace in days to come. Of course don't know nearly enough about hardware design or anything like that to say whether that can or can't happen, just saying it wouldn't surprise me. I think many of us were surprised to learn that processors as far back as the Pentium Pro could be affected... so this has been possible for a very long time, just unknown. Now that it's known I'm sure the bad guys are trying to figure out how to use it, use it more effectively, and try to find other similar attacks.

Of course... it's a moot point if your system is offline anyway. It would be pretty hard to hack a system that's not even connected to the Internet. That said, if it's still connected to your network, only with Internet access disabled, it could still be vulnerable if another device on your network becomes compromised.

 

[Deleted member 178884]

The point I was trying to make is that these vulnerabilities could potentially get a lot worse in the future. Maybe attackers using Spectre will be commonplace in days to come. Of course don't know nearly enough about hardware design or anything like that to say whether that can or can't happen, just saying it wouldn't surprise me. I think many of us were surprised to learn that processors as far back as the Pentium Pro could be affected... so this has been possible for a very long time, just unknown. Now that it's known I'm sure the bad guys are trying to figure out how to use it, use it more effectively, and try to find other similar attacks.

Of course... it's a moot point if your system is offline anyway. It would be pretty hard to hack a system that's not even connected to the Internet. That said, if it's still connected to your network, only with Internet access disabled, it could still be vulnerable if another device on your network becomes compromised.

Correct, that's thanks to trojans and worms that can pass through to other devices. I still think hackers won't use hardware vulnerabilities yet - take a look how long it took to discover Spectre and it affects old processors and it's been a vulnerability for years. Thing is it takes too long to discover hardware vulnerabilities and it's more practical for a hacker to create a virus that exploits software vulnerabilities.

 

[hat]

If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? "Traditional" viruses are far more prevalent, sure... and you're right that it took a long time for anybody to find out about Spectre (or Meltdown for that matter), but now that it's known, I fully expect the bad guys to try to use it. They didn't know about it before, so they couldn't use it... but now they can, because they know about it. I also expect the bad guys to try to find other hardware vulnerabilities now, since they seem to be a popular thing these days. Have you ever thought about what else inside your computer may be affected by some as of yet unknown security vulnerability? Though not quite the same thing, I remember reading some months ago about some game or something that could potentially link up with your wireless router and use the radio to try to make a map of your house, so advertisers could use that data to target you with specific ads. It was here on TPU, in the news section I think... right around the time that big uproar about microtransactions in games was fresh. Though not the same thing as Spectre/Meltdown, I mention it to bring up the possibilities of what can be done. It would be pretty hard to surprise me with anything like that anymore.