Getting EEPROMs:
- Safe option: new EEPROMs from a reputable elecronics retailer. Exact options depend on where you live; I tend to shop at Reichelt.de, but places like Mouser ship globally (although shipping costs may be an issue).
- Cheap option: go on ebay and look around for used EEPROMs. You can get them for peanuts incl shipping from China. They might work.

As for how to program:
- Safe option: a USB EEPROM programmer such as the Xgeco TL866-II. If you do a lot of retro stuff, you'll really appreciate having one.
- Cheap option: hot-flash on a different motherboard, or use an expansion card with ROM slot to flash. Bit more involved, but on a budget both methods can work.

Word of warning: boards missing chips have usually been intentionally stripped before discarding; the previous owner most likely considered the board dead. That might have been due to a BIOS misflash, but someone harvesting BIOS EEPROMs probably knows how to fix that particular issue, so expect there to be other issues with a board sold in this condition. You don't sound very experienced, in which case this board might not be the easiest introduction...

I actually know the guy and he works at a recycling center. He knows little about computer stuff but he learned which components are valuable and sells them as untested because he doesn't really know how. I bought a lot of 4 untested awe64 gold from him and all were working straight up. So, the untested part is legit more or less.

Writing the bios myself seems like a valid option as the tool itself is not expensive. How to tell which chip do I need? And when i flash the chip with this tool, do I use the same file I use to update the bios on my computer? Or is it something else?

you can order from aliexpress/ebay/etc chip like SST 29SF010
should be suitable

Retronerd878 wrote on 2025-08-11, 10:36:

I actually know the guy and he works at a recycling center. He knows little about computer stuff but he learned which components are valuable and sells them as untested because he doesn't really know how. I bought a lot of 4 untested awe64 gold from him and all were working straight up. So, the untested part is legit more or less.

But he doesn't sound like the sort of person who'd strip the board of re-usable components before selling it on, so my point stands: whoever took that BIOS EEPROM most likely considered this board dead, and he probably did know how to test.

Writing the bios myself seems like a valid option as the tool itself is not expensive. How to tell which chip do I need? And when i flash the chip with this tool, do I use the same file I use to update the bios on my computer? Or is it something else?

Which chip? First thing is to determine the size. That's easy: the size of the BIOS image file. And yes, that's the file you'd also use on your computer (unless it's a very non-standard Intel or Compaq thing - which this Gigabyte board isn't). In this case it looks like a 128kB = 1Mb file, so you need a 1Mb EEPROM.

As for what type, ideally you should find out what was normally used on the board. To do that, google image search board+revision.

I found this:

The sticker obscures full details, but that's a Winbond chip. Almost certainly a BIOS from this era will be a 29-series EEPROM, so a Winbond 29-series 1Mb EEPROM (in DIP-32 format) will do the trick. That sounds like a Winbond W29C010 to me, but given 29-series EEPROMs are basically interchangeable, pretty much any vendor's 29-series EEPROM should do the trick. I've seen pics of rev 5 boards (which will not be any different when it comes to EEPROM) with the SST29SF010 chip mentioned above as well, so - as you'd expect - that will work too.