Gigabyte incorporates 64MB BIOS chip on X870 motherboard to integrate the WiFi driver

Gigabyte just released the X870 Aorus Stealth ICE motherboard, which features a bigger BIOS than most other competing hardware. According to Uniko’s Hardware, this is the first AM5 motherboard to feature a 64MB chip, four times larger than the 16MB BIOS chip that most AM4 motherboards used when it was new. However, the larger capacity, which Gigabyte calls Driver BIOS, seems to be mainly used to store the Wi-Fi driver, as the motherboard’s spec sheet says that the BIOS is still 256 Mbit flash, which translates to 32MB.

Still, having the Wi-Fi driver already pre-installed on the motherboard makes setting up a new computer more convenient, especially as Microsoft now requires you to create an online Microsoft Account (or log into your existing one) when setting up Windows 11 for the first time. A workaround still lets you start your new Windows PC offline, but this will likely be unfamiliar to most users.

The company did not just stop at having the Wi-Fi driver already pre-installed on the motherboard. It also added other conveniences, like the Wi-Fi EZ-Plug, which integrates the antennas into one adapter for an easier and cleaner install, various EZ-Latch designs, making it easy to add and remove PCIe components and M.2 drives and their corresponding heatsink, as well as the EZ Debug Zone, which helps you troubleshoot your motherboard if you run into any error. It also introduced pressurized thermal pads for M.2 SSDs, reducing operating temperatures by up to 12 degrees Celsius.

These innovations help make Gigabyte’s high-end motherboards stand out from the competition. Hopefully, they will eventually trickle down to mid-range and entry-level motherboards, especially the Driver BIOS feature.

With Computex 2025 just around the corner, we’re excited to see if we spot any of these on the motherboards that Gigabyte will show off at the expo. Maybe this could even start a trend where these components already come with a Wi-Fi driver out of the box to make both hardware and software installation and initial setup easier.

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