I modded the P7.10 BIOS for the ASRock Z170 gaming-itx/ac to be able to accept Coffee Lake CPUs (probably only the 6C ones). @thewkong has tested the i3-8100 successfully with the 4 and 6 core bios mod. [s]I did not mod anything to fix HT nor change the SKU.[/s] (1/29/19: I did end up fixing some additional things and changing the SKU to Z370 a few iterations ago). If you are a well-informed brave soul, please let me know if this works for you. Reference to the Coffee Lake on Z170/270 thread: [GUIDE] Coffee Lake CPUs on Skylake and Kaby Lake motherboards

CHANGELOG:

-Update EFI GOP SKL-CFL 9.0.1080
-Update OROM VBIOS SKL-KBL 1059

-Update Intel CPU Microcode 506E3 SKL rev C2 #Spectre fix for Sky Lake
-Update Intel CPU Microcode 906E9 KBL rev 84 #Spectre fix for Kaby Lake
-Add Intel CPU Microcode 906EA CFL rev 96 #Support for 6C Coffee Lake CPU e.g. i5-8400, i5-8600K, i7-8700K (?)
-Add Intel CPU Microcode 906EC CFL(r) rev 84 #Support for 9th gen Intel CPU e.g. i9-9600K



8/31/2018 UPDATE

-Removed Intel CPU Microcode 906EC
-Add Intel CPU Microcode 906EB CFL rev 72 #Support for 4C Coffee Lake CPU e.g. i3-8100

12/12/2018 UPDATE

-Changed SKU to Z370
-Updated the 6 core BIOS download (top file)
-Updated description of the second file download to reflect that it will probably only work with 4 core CFL (unchanged SKU)

With the pin short and pin isolation mods, I was able to get a 9600K running on this mobo. I'm having some issues with Windows and SATA devices, but I'm posting this from Safe mode, so it's not a total disaster!

12/12/2018 UPDATE #2

-Update Intel CPU Microcode 506E3 SKL rev C6
-Update Intel CPU Microcode 906E9 KBL rev 9A
-Update Intel CPU Microcode 906EA CFL rev 9A
-Update Intel CPU Microcode 906EC CFL rev A2
-Fixed ACPI tables
-Updated network drivers

Now I'm able to boot into Windows normally, but my SATA hdd is still not recognized. I also got a bluescreen a few minutes into Windows. I may need to clean install windows and move the HDD to external to see if that clears up my issues.



12/13/2018 UPDATE

-Patched all core sync with @svarmod's CoffeeTime utility. Now changes to CPU ratio apply to all 6 cores on the 9600K when stress testing, nice! Download link updated with this latest BIOS.

Also, I learned that leaving voltage on Auto for the stock clocks results in freezes in Windows and BSODs because I don't think the mobo is feeding the CPU enough power. Maybe it's an LLC thing? Setting voltage manually ensures stability, so if you use one of these modded BIOSes, I would manually set voltage until you figure out your sweet spot, just to be safe.

12/14/2018 UPDATE

Did some more work in CoffeeTime, replacing some of my manual mods with scripts from that utility (specifically chang SKU to Z370, ACPI patch, all core sync patch. Vbios and gop patched myself. Latest microcodes for 506E3, 906E9, 906EA, and 906EC added myself)
-iGPU works
-My SATA ports work again
-Stock clocks and auto voltage still result in freezing/BSOD in windows, so need to pay attention to voltage yourself.

Link updated.

DOWNLOAD:

ASRock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac P7.10 BIOS Coffee Lake mod (supports 6 core CFL 8xxx and 9xxx series--updated with new microcodes, changed SKU to Z370, ACPI fix, and all core sync)

ASRock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac P7.10 BIOS Coffee Lake mod (supports 4 core CFL, would not try this with 6 core 8xxx series)

Last Update:
12/14/2018

5/16/2021 edit:

I haven't looked at this for a couple of years, but sounds like the 6core bios file got lost in the ether somewhere. I am not 100% sure this is the bios file I am currently running, but it's the most likely candidate from looking through my old hard drive back ups.

https://mega.nz/file/fvhUkRSA#25O_ecCiaZ...E0iLdy4r5da8j5M

I have this motherboard however I have an I3-8100 which is only a 4 core CPU. Hopefully it will work because I’m not sure if I can I figure out how to mod the bios by myself. I will report back after I test it.

Hey @thewkong, I didn't include the microcode to support the 4-core Coffee Lake CPUs, so it's probably not going to work. If you give me a couple of days, I could probably edit it to work.

UPDATE: @thewkong I removed the microcode for unreleased CPUs and added in the microcode for 4 core Coffee Lake. It should also still support the first-run Skylake and Kabylake CPUs, which you will need to update the BIOS. New modded bios here.

Oh that is great. I will test it later today and report back. Thanks in advance.

Ok. I was able to flash the BIOS and my Skylake CPU still works but the computer would not stay on when I installed the i3-8100 coffee Lake CPU. The power light stayed on for about 1 second and then it would turn off. When I reinstalled my Skylake CPU, the computer turned on and seems to be running fine. Hopefully we can figure out how to make the i3-8100 work on this motherboard.

Zitat von thewkong im Beitrag #5

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Ok. I was able to flash the BIOS and my Skylake CPU still works but the computer would not stay on when I installed the i3-8100 coffee Lake CPU. The power light stayed on for about 1 second and then it would turn off. When I reinstalled my Skylake CPU, the computer turned on and seems to be running fine. Hopefully we can figure out how to make the i3-8100 work on this motherboard.

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Ok I will post it.

What BIOS were you on prior to flashing the modded BIOS? What is your current Intel ME version? This might account for your issue.

I was thinking ME version was not mentioned too, I believe it needs to be an older version like 11.0.0.1911

I was on BIOS 7.3

I thought of that also. Is there a way to downgrade Intel ME

Yes, it's possible, through many various methods. Search around for how to on Asrock and you'll find a way. Easiest is if you have flash programmer, but it's usually possible without.

Ok I just checked. My motherboard has ME 11.8.50.3425

See posts #116 here and #122 on next page, for how to downgrade your ME - [GUIDE] Coffee Lake CPUs on Skylake and Kaby Lake motherboards (8)

Yes, that ME is too high. Need to shoot for 11.6.x or lower I believe.

Edit: The behavior you describe where it turns on for a second and then powers down mimics the behavior others have experienced where it is thought to be a result of the Intel ME shutting down the system when it encounters a CPU that it does not want to allow to boot through.