[ The PC Guide | Systems and Components Reference Guide | Motherboard and System Devices | System BIOS | BIOS Components and Features ]

The BIOS ROM

The main hardware component of the system BIOS is the system BIOS ROM itself. This is normally located in an electrically-erasable read-only memory (EEPROM) chip, which allows it to be updated through software control. This is commonly called a flash BIOS.

The BIOS ROM is located in a socket on the motherboard and is relatively easy to locate because it is usually labelled with the name of the BIOS manufacturer. Most times this is Award, American Megatrends (AMI) or Phoenix. There is also often a version number on the chip, although the actual BIOS version within the chip may be different from what is labelled, because of the ability to flash the BIOS mentioned above.

Under normal circumstances, the BIOS ROM is permanent and there is normally no reason to need to deal with it in any way. If for some reason the BIOS ROM were to become corrupted due to an aborted flash update, for example, you might find your PC left in a state where it could not be booted. In this situation, you might have to physically replace the BIOS ROM, but this is a very rare happening.

Next: BIOS CMOS Memory

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