UEFI - does it really make a difference to boot times?

Alexrose1uk · 10 Sep 2011 at 12:26

I've not built a desktop in a while, so haven't been paying the closest attention, but I'm in the process of overhauling my HTPC and thus I was originally going to buy the cheapest board I could find that natively supported WoL; I'd more or less ignored UEFI as just a flashy way to make BIOS easier or more approachable. That was until I read a comment saying that UEFI based boards boot faster than BIOS based boards. As I start my machine from scratch each time rather using sleep due to a few programme compatibility issues, that's suddenly more interesting.

Is this correct, does UEFI really knock time off boot? If so can anyone point me to the cheapest board at OcUK that uses this new UEFI, as it doesn't always seem to be clear based on listings

Cheers!

Surveyor · 10 Sep 2011 at 12:34

UEFI knocks a few seconds of the time it takes to go through the BIOS part of startup but it's loading Windows which takes the longest time.

The only way to get super fast startup times is to use an SSD.

Alexrose1uk · 10 Sep 2011 at 12:48

I'm already using SSD, and as it's a HTPC I run a pretty light, no-GUI boot, with my media centre set as shell instead of explorer to improve load times. My boot times are already sub 30 seconds to useable with the old setup, which the faster hardware will hopefully improve by a few seconds (x2 5200+ AM2, 2GB RAM up to an i3-2100, 4GB RAM so a bit of a jump

), but I'm always interested in ways to speed up the process without having to hack the system to pieces.

I just figured if UEFI really does knock some time off, for a few extra quid on a board, as I'm already going to be spending I might as well go for it

Surveyor · 10 Sep 2011 at 12:55

What motherboards you can use depends on what processor you are using.

Go on, give us a clue.

Alexrose1uk · 10 Sep 2011 at 12:58

Apologies, I'm going to an i3, as per my last post

Surveyor · 10 Sep 2011 at 13:07

Alexrose1uk said:
Apologies, I'm going to an i3, as per my last post

After you edited it

Have look at the motherboards from Asus, MSI and ASRock.

You'll need to check the specifications of the ones you're interested in to see which ones use a UEFI BIOS.

Most of their Sandy Bridge boards use a UEFI BIOS but I can't guarantee they all do without checking each one.

Alexrose1uk · 10 Sep 2011 at 13:26

Haha, no worries, cheers for the heads up

dazzerd · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:50

Boot time is the same but it takes longer to boot up as my msi goes through about 4 steps before it even gets to the loading bar

nice board though.

bilston · 10 Sep 2011 at 18:58

Yeah, Ive not noticed any quicker from my previous board. Got a P8Z68 now and had a P5Q-E. The new one faffs around for about 5 seconds before it even gets to POST, which I've set to 1 second.

All in all, it's roughly the same

Alexrose1uk · 10 Sep 2011 at 19:31

Well as long as it's not much longer, that's the main thing

I've gone for the MSI H67-MA-E35 as MSI told me directly it'd support the Realtek onboard ethernet's WoL function. At current I use this to switch my PC back on with my current board, so it was kinda key for me the new board also supported WoL

Davefran · 10 Sep 2011 at 19:37

I know mine can boot into windows and be useable in about 4 secs but it's a full size atx, bit too big for a HTPC

nightmare99 · 11 Sep 2011 at 10:07

You'll need to check the specifications of the ones you're interested in to see which ones use a UEFI BIOS.

No you wont all of thier 6 series boards use UEFI BIOS, gigabyte is the only one that come to mind that uses a legacy BIOS.

Surveyor · 11 Sep 2011 at 11:41

nightmare99 said:
No you wont all of thier 6 series boards use UEFI BIOS, gigabyte is the only one that come to mind that uses a legacy BIOS.

The MSI H67MA-E35 doesn't, for example, so just covering my bases

Alexrose1uk · 11 Sep 2011 at 11:52

Oddly enough the entry for that board explicitly states new UEFI BIOS so I hope that's not a mistake!

nightmare99 · 11 Sep 2011 at 11:53

The MSI H67MA-E35 doesn't, for example, so just covering my bases

Yes it does I built three machines this week using that board.

Are you associating UEFI with a flashy GUI/skin?

Alexrose1uk · 11 Sep 2011 at 12:13

I couldn't care less if it gives you the flashy GUI or not, just as long as the benefits from UEFI are there haha although MSI's site vs OcUKs entry seem to disagree on it having ClickBIOS now I put them side by side. Although if it arrives and it's not a UEFI BIOS, then I could send it back under DSR/incorrect description.

Nightmare, as you've built a few machines with this board, did you find the 'BIOS' period of boot any faster than traditional BIOS?

Surveyor · 11 Sep 2011 at 12:24

Alexrose1uk said:
Oddly enough the entry for that board explicitly states new UEFI BIOS so I hope that's not a mistake!

The spec. listed on OcUK says "New UEFI BIOS with graphical menu".

It certainly doesn't have a graphical menu.

Alexrose1uk · 11 Sep 2011 at 12:50

We shall see I guess then. Ill check the manual it arrives and see if it mentions 3TB HDDs for example.
Hopefully Nightmare is correct and its using light UEFI, which'd be fine. It was never the flash of UEFI that interested me, just potential boot speed improvements.

nightmare99 · 11 Sep 2011 at 12:50

Nightmare, as you've built a few machines with this board, did you find the 'BIOS' period of boot any faster than traditional BIOS?

It is a few seconds quicker than a legacy BIOS with no annoying oproms slowing post down as well.*

The spec. listed on OcUK says "New UEFI BIOS with graphical menu".

It certainly doesn't have a graphical menu.

Yeah that is incorrect it uses a text style layout although you can navigate with the mouse if you wish.

From AMI

* AMI Text Setup Environment (TSE), advanced UEFI functionality with a familiar BIOS interface

Hopefully Nightmare is correct and its using light UEFI

It is not really a 'light' UEFI its just on the entry level boards its not really worth the hasstle of skinning them.

*I did not try with the Lan option rom enabled

Alexrose1uk · 11 Sep 2011 at 12:53

Perfect

Sounds like the best of both worlds then! I'm hoping the GT430 I've got coming won't insist on showing me the VBIOS splash like my current 220 does either, hopefully this will knock boot times down by about 4-5 seconds.