Hello everyone,

does anybody have experience with Coffee Lake CPUs on ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming?
I'm a beginner in BIOS-Mods etc., maybe I have a lot of stupid questions. ;)
My actual CPU is a i5 6600k and I think about upgrading to Coffee Lake.

My actual BIOS Version Infos:
Version 0803 (Build Date 09/24/2015, very old, I know)
ME Version 11.0.0.1168

What I think I figured out since yesterday and what I did so far:

I have to hardware-mod a Coffee-Lake CPU, 2 PINs have to be connected and 2 PINs have to be covered up.

Coffee Lake CPUs with R0 Stepping don't support 4K UHD BD playback with Intel ME < 12.x.x.x.
Intel ME on this Z170 board has to be < 11.7.0.3xxx to work with Coffee Lake CPUs.
So I have to go with CFL P0 Stepping CPUs like i5 or i7 8xxx if I want to have 4K UHD BD playback, am I right?
Or does the missing support for 4K UHD BD playback only affect the integrated iGPU and not the Graphics Card GPU?
If this only affects the integrated iGPU I can go with R0-Stepping CFL CPUs like i5/i7/i9 9xxx.

The latest BIOS 3805 includes Intel ME 11.8.50.3470 (Coffeetime shows Bad)
The BIOS before 3610 includes Intel ME 11.6.10.1196 (Coffeetime shows OK)
Should I now in first place flash to stock 3610, so BIOS is up to date with
the last stock BIOS Version with ME < 11.8.x.x for any reason?
Or should I directly flash to a modded 3805 BIOS with ME 11.7.0.1229?

I created a modded 3805 BIOS with Coffeetime 0.85a. I used the Autoupdate feature, all works fine.
(Manual modding in coffeetime also functions, but why not use the Autoupdate feature.)
Should I run the "Unlock regions" function also? And do i have to setup a Mac-address?

I think I don't want flash to stock BIOS 3805 at first, because then the ME will be updated to 11.8.50.3470.
And this isn't a good idea because it's complicated to downgrade ME Version without flash programmer
if I understand that right.

At least two basic (noob) questions, can I flash a modded BIOS directly in BIOS with EZ-Flash or can I use FPT
in Windows or should I use a flash programmer? In other threads I read of ASUS Boards who only works with
older modded BIOS Versions to run Coffee Lake CPUs with more than 8 Cores (Hyperthreading).
Are there experience with this board and BIOS Versions and CFL CPUs?

Also I read in another thread of a 3805 BIOS with revealed settings (for HPET Support?), do I need this?
I think @Lost_N_BIOS did this modify, do I have to use this modded BIOS with coffeetime?
I mean this thread/BIOS: ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming & Z170-A / Z170-P BIOS + HPET Option (2)

Thanks in advance for help.
And sorry for maybe stupid questions and also for my bad english (not my first language). :)

I can answer some of that. Do not flash stock 3805 or you'll have hassles getting the older ME FW back in there.
Unlock regions only helps to allow easier flashing in future, and can only be flashed in if you have flash programmer or pinmod and unlock FD (in which case you'd already have unlocked regions right then and it would remain)

To properly put in this kind of BIOS mod you need either flash programmer or do to the pinmod (E1. here) unlock FD via pinmod, dump FD with FPT, edit it to actually be unlocked, flash it back in with FPT, then you are done.
Without the above, you cannot properly do this mod, ie you can't use Coffee CPU on this board.

Ideally, the best thing for you to do is order a CH341A flash programmer + a $1 U Type Flat IC Extractor so you can pull the chip safely
If you need links to examples of those let me know. This is easiest way to get this mod into your board, and safest way too, you don't have to short anything and you will always retain your board specific details because you will use your dumped BIOS as a whole as source to mod and program back.

Mod BIOS can only be flashed via USB Flashback (or with FPT once other locks disabled). Neither of those write ME FW or FD region, which holds the "region locks" and another byte that needs changed for the Coffee mod to work (unless pinmod done first, then FPT can)
You should use FPT now to make two backup files, in case you loose your system specific later while messing around trying to get things going
FPTw.exe -gbe -d gbe.bin << This backs up your LAN MAC ID
FPTw.exe -bios -d biosreg.bin << This backs up your BIOS region, which will have a copy of your Serial, UUID etc all board specific details you may need to fix later

As to your other questions about Hyperthreading and core counts etc, you'll have to ask in one of the main Coffee mod threads or the coffeetime thread etc.

HPET modified BIOS is unrelated, nothing to do with coffee CPU's

Here's how to use FPT
Check BIOS main page and see if ME FW version is shown, if not then download HWINFO64 and on the large window on left side, expand motherboard and find ME area, inside that get the ME Firmware version.
Once you have that, go to this thread and in the section "C" download the matching ME System Tools Package (ie if ME FW version = 10.x get V10 package, if 9.0-9.1 get V9.1 package, if 9.5 or above get V9.5 package etc)
Intel Management Engine: Drivers, Firmware & System Tools

Once downloaded, inside you will find Flash Programming Tool folder, and inside that a Windows or Win/Win32 folder. Select that Win folder, hold shift and press right click, choose open command window here (Not power shell).
FPTw.exe -bios -d biosreg.bin << Backup BIOS region
FPTw.exe -gbe -d gbe.bin << backup GbE region which contains your MAC ID
FPTw.exe -desc -d fd.bin << This dumps the FD (Flash Descriptor), this is where the region locks are located, if you do pinmod you have to dump this, edit per section B spoiler #2 here, then flash it back.
If you do pinmod, it's only unlocked during that boot, so don't reboot until you are done or you'll have to do the short again.
Once you have unlocked FD you can read/write ME region too >> FPTw.exe -me -d me.bin

Write instead of read = same as above except use -f instead of -d
Be VERY careful and exact with FPT, you can brick your BIOS in one click if you do something wrong.


If you are stuck on Win10 and cannot easily get command prompt, and method I mentioned above does not work for you, here is some links that should help
Or, copy all contents from the Flash Programming Tool \ DOS folder to the root of a USB Bootable disk and do the dump from DOS (FPT.exe -bios -d biosreg.bin)
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-add-c...creators-update
https://www.windowscentral.com/add-open-...menu-windows-10
https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/open-...ator-privileges

Or here is simply registry edit that adds "Open command window here as Administrator" to the right click menu
Double-click to install, reboot after install may be required
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fil...134606820377175

Hi Nentis, let me clear a few things up for you.

Zitat von Nentis im Beitrag #1

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Coffee Lake CPUs with R0 Stepping don't support 4K UHD BD playback with Intel ME < 12.x.x.x.

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Zitat von Nentis im Beitrag #1

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Intel ME on this Z170 board has to be < 11.7.0.3xxx to work with Coffee Lake CPUs.

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Zitat von Nentis im Beitrag #1

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So I have to go with CFL P0 Stepping CPUs like i5 or i7 8xxx if I want to have 4K UHD BD playback, am I right?

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Zitat von Nentis im Beitrag #1

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Or does the missing support for 4K UHD BD playback only affect the integrated iGPU and not the Graphics Card GPU?

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Zitat von Nentis im Beitrag #1

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If this only affects the integrated iGPU I can go with R0-Stepping CFL CPUs like i5/i7/i9 9xxx.

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Zitat von Nentis im Beitrag #1

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The latest BIOS 3805 includes Intel ME 11.8.50.3470 (Coffeetime shows Bad)
The BIOS before 3610 includes Intel ME 11.6.10.1196 (Coffeetime shows OK)
Should I now in first place flash to stock 3610, so BIOS is up to date with
the last stock BIOS Version with ME < 11.8.x.x for any reason?
Or should I directly flash to a modded 3805 BIOS with ME 11.7.0.1229?

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Wow. Thank you very much for the detailed answers. That clarifies a lot for me.
How I said I'm dealing with this topic (Mod-Bios for CFL CPUs) only since yesterday.

@chinobino thanks for clearing up those things.

Zitat von chinobino im Beitrag #3

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Intel ME v12 is not for Z170, it is for Z390, B360, H310 & C240 14nm chipsets.

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Zitat von chinobino im Beitrag #3

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Actually no, it needs to be 11.6.0.xxxx or 11.7.0.1229 or 11.7.0.1261.

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Zitat von chinobino im Beitrag #3

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The ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING does not have a MegaChips MCDP2800 HDMI 2.0 LSPCON chip, which means the motherboard does not support Advanced Protected Audio/Video Path required to playback 4K UHD Blu Ray.

So if you are planning to buy a Coffee Lake CPU for 4K UHD Blu Ray playback you would be better off getting a new motherboard that has a LSPCON chip.

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Zitat von chinobino im Beitrag #3

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You can use any stepping Coffee Lake CPU but it must have the iGPU present (so no \'F\' models such as 9400F).

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Zitat von chinobino im Beitrag #3

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Correct - you must use the Intel iGPU, you cannot use an Nvidia or AMD graphics card.

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Zitat von Nentis im Beitrag #4

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This statements relate only to the 4K UHD BD playback capability, then I have to use the iGPU for video output, right?
Otherwise if I don't want to use this possibility/feature (which my board can't do anyway without LSPCON chip)
I can use any CFL CPU and an Nvidia or AMD graphic card for video output if I have a modded bios with ME 11.7.0.1229?

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