GIGABYTE's new DriverBIOS feature unleashed on its refreshed AORUS ICE mobos at Computex 2025

GIGABYTE has introduced a very user-friendly new feature to a selection of its refreshed AORUS ICE motherboards at Computex 2025. The DriverBIOS feature of the new boards features an integrated WIFI driver directly into the BIOS that eliminates a time-consuming hassle if Windows does not install a driver upon completing a fresh Windows installation.

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Obviously, you need access to the internet to download a driver, yet you often need a driver to access the internet. That's a chicken and egg scenario that GIGABYTE just made a lot less relevant.

The driver makes use of Microsoft's WPBT (Windows Platform Binary Table), which is a feature that allows systems to run executable programs directly from a UEFI BIOS. The idea is that users are able to access the internet from the first boot, without having to manually install a driver.

It's not the first such use of BIOS executables. Vendors have embedded LAN drivers previously, but using this feature for a larger WiFi driver is more challenging. To enable this functionality, GIGABYTE has increased the size of the BIOS chips from 32MB to 64MB in order to accommodate the larger size of the driver.

And, there's an added benefit. Incorporating a larger BIOS chip allows GIGABYTE to add compatibility for the ever-growing number of AM5 CPUs, including next-generation Zen 6 models. The imitations of smaller chips became apparent on some AM4 boards, where smaller BIOS chip sizes necessitated the omission of support for some pre-Ryzen and early-gen Ryzen AM4 CPUs.

GIGABYTE says this feature will roll out to other motherboards in the future.

As a motherboard reviewer, this is the kind of feature that will save a lot of stuffing around. The days of CDs and DVDs are long gone, and only high-end motherboards come with a bundled flash drive with software and drivers. Guaranteed internet access from the first boot is a god send.