I started looking into this and have gotten pretty far on my own but I am at a point where I want to start asking questions.
I found the right mod tool and believe that I have found the right entries to modify but want to double check.
Is this the only line I need to modify (default -> USER) or are there other setting that need to be changed as well?
Once I have this BIOS modified to unlock XMP I assume that I can’t just directly flash it in the visual BIOS, these things must have some kind of security to prevent that.
What is the best way to flash modify AMI Aptio V BIOS?
If I go through and set everything from default -> USER will that break stuff? I am wondering if I am being too careful in selecting just the stuff I want to change.
Thanks in advance.
@nosirrahx - Link me to the stock BIOS download, that may or may not be the correct location to enable that setting.
But yes, in general you set to User to make visible (only works if you can already see this section/root menu) Or you leave Access as it is and change the actual setting in the optimal column.
XMP only works if your memory actually has XMP profiles, not SPD. Did you check with CPU-z in SPD tab, or HWInfo64 or AIDA64 to see if your memory kits have XMP programmed profiles?
You can try setting everything to user, but it’s waste of time unless you can already see the main menu entry you are editing settings in (Root menu)
Example, if you cannot see “Overclocking performance menu” then setting any setting inside there or any submenu inside there will not have any effect, you still wont see it.
To flash modified Asus BIOS there is several ways, all explained here
[Guide] How to flash a modded AMI UEFI BIOS
I suggest my method if this is an Intel based system, pay attention to the red warning
[GUIDE] Grub Fix Intel FPT Error 368 - BIOS Lock Asus/Other Mod BIOS Flash
Thanks for getting back to me. Of course my RAM has XMP, the only reason I am interested in this. This laptop overall is amazing, likely the best laptop I have ever owned minus the disabled XMP support.
I have been in IT for ages but this is the first time I have thought about modifying a BIOS, kind of cool that there is always new stuff to learn.
My BIOS is located here:
https://www.asus.com/Laptops/ASUS-VivoBo…pDesk_Download/
If I enable XMP even without enabling the menu that shows it in BIOS, will a tool like Intel’s XTU be able to enable XMP from desktop?
Good it has XMP, I mentioned only because some users not sure how that works, and sometimes XMP ram is missing it’s XMP programmer so always best to check/verify first.
If you enable XMP in a menu setting you cannot see, then XMP will already be enabled, XTU will not be needed to enable it after that.
If you set XMP Profile 1, then it will be used, same for profile 2, provided your CPU/chipset and other BIOS settings allow the exact profile to be used (referring to Bclk used, QCLK Odd ratio enabled or not, memory reference clock setting value, memory multiplier set)
I checked your BIOS, and that is the correct place to make these changes. If they do not apply, or have no effect at all, let me know what you want set for all of the above mentioned and I can set for you in the setup module via IFR/Hex
Thanks, I will let you know.
BTW, the reason I love this laptop so much is that it has SATA, M.2 NVMe and full Optane support on top of a great CPU and decent GPU.
Check out the CDM scores on this laptop (obviously it did not come with this hardware).
Try to find anything (even a desktop) that has both sequential and 4KQ1T1 scores like this. Boot time and app load is crazy fast. XMP is going to be the icing on the cake.
Very nice, reminds me I need to purchase NVME soon! 
I am running into a lot of dead ends.
Asus does not have flashback on laptops.
EZFlash and flashing from desktop reject the modified BIOS.
I am able to disable secure boot and fast boot but there is no CMS option, I believe this is what is blocking from from booting into DOS on a flash drive (I have a copy of AFUDOS.exe that has /GAN support, I just cant boot into DOS so I cant use it.)
I am about to try AI_Suite_III but I thin I remember this only supporting ASUS motherboards, not laptops.
What version of AFUWINGUIx64.EXE/AFUWINx64.EXE supports /GAN? I am out of ideas
Yes, for modified BIOS you have to use my guided method linked above. CMS is automatically enabled if you disable secure boot. I can give you a zip of AFU’s that support /GAN, but I highly suggest you use the method I linked instead.
To boot to DOS, simply format a USB Stick to FAT32 and make it DOS bootable, then at startup hit the boot menu hotkey and choose the USB by name (Not UEFI-USB)
Or you can boot to grub and make these changes via Setup_var without having to modify or flash a modified BIOS. If you want more information on this method let me know, it’s similar to the guided method I linked above, since in that you also boot to grub and use setup_var to disable BIOS lock so you can flash via FPT.