Quite often... and it does help stability and CPU compatibility

For exampe the PC that my parents use for internet didn't detect th AMD Sempron out of the box, so i flashed it and now it does detect it.

Further there are some improvements in speed, USB controllers, SATA and other devices that are worth the effort (and most newer ASUS boards have an emergency mode)

For my latest BIOS update: i have to test the most recent one for the school PC, says to get rid of the 'power dip hanging' syndrome that has been irritating me from the beginning (usually strikes when going 100% load on the PCI bus and having loads of harddisk IO at the same time)

@Fozzer: What is the date difference between the installed and the new BIOS...

Most important things from the BIOS list for that board:
F6 and up: Improve STR compatibility
F7 and up: Support new AMD Duron model8 CPU (64K L2 Cache FSB 266)
F9 and up: Support low power Barton 2500+ (CPUID=6A0)
F10 and up: Fixed ATI9600 AGP card unstable issue. and Update Xpress Recovery(Build 2011).
F14 and up: Added AMD Sempron CPU support

Apart from these improvements, there is usually a small improvement in total system speed.
The version you need is the topmost (F15)

After calling my post 'amusing' - you bl**dy sadist - I'd say do it , do it, do it...

Safest way is by booting in DOS mode with a floppy

http://www.bootdisk.com/ and get the second one
Then copy the DOS flash utility to that floppy and the BIOS file
reboot the system and run the flash util as stated in the manual (and remember to make a backup of the old one just in case)

Like mentioned before, it does help to update the BIOS every so often. BTW, a good practice is to google a specific BIOS versian and see if anybody has any problems with it.

Fozzer,

If it works, don't touch the BIOS.

BIOS upgrades always fix a problem, and that problem may be as silly as giving the wrong namestring for a CPU when the bootscreen appears.

Practice bios upgrades on your motherinlaw's PC first, then do yours if yer still keen, but I reckon it won't make a spec of difference to your PC as there are no upgrades addressing any issues you have....... you have no issues.

For us geeks, we wouldn't be caught dead without the latest bios........ but that's just a geek thing, it isn't needed unless there is a problem.

Autopilot noted that some performance benefits may be obtained, but that only applies to a flawed BIOS, those problems are usually sorted early in a board's market lifespan, and subsequent board's are fitted with the new bios.

The fact that you got a great big error screen means you did it wrong is all, so tread carefully, because this is exactly the way to kill your board.

For example, when you used the utility to update your BIOS, maybe you didnt unzip the bios file, or, if you dont have file extensions enabled, maybe you tried to load a shortcut as a bios file or some other silly error.

Suffice to say, that you were lucky the util prevented you from screwing it up.

Many mobo's today have a second BIOS that will autorecover the main BIOS in case of curruption during flash.

Generally, mobo's today are pretty smart at preventing themselves from being screwed. As long as you follow the directions to the letter, it should be ok. I flashed more mobo's then I can count and have never had a problem.

Going to update my BIOS soon... but a little afraid that the changes (SATA redo) could kick XP into 'activation-in-30-days' mode