Thinking of building a new computer...

[premier69]

My computer is 2 years old now so I figure it'll be time for a new one in the upcoming months..

Now, I would like to make it a bit faster, but since I got SSD the slower part of the boot process is actually that damn BIOS post check process.

I was looking for EFI mainboards but couldn't find any, this is the only non BIOS PC option? How about turbo BIOS or whatever? are there any? I've had a hard time finding anything new that would be faster than my current standard BIOS mainboard.

 

[pparks1]

In looking at your specs and considering that you already have an SSD drive, I think you are likely only going to be able to make it "a bit faster" if you decide to build another one.

How long does your BIOS post take on your current machine? From a power button press on mine to about the time that it says starting Window...it's around 20 seconds. But then once that starts, I'm into Windows within about 15 seconds...so it's only 35 seconds or so from a power button press and I don't find that I restart often.

 

[premier69]

yeah about 20 seconds, I can't believe how slow the BIOS is.. who would have thought booting up windows would almost be faster?

I've heard of Turbo bios and such, but they seem to be brand specific and haven't managed to find out which maker and what model has the feature.

 

[Mellon Head]

Sorry man, but if the 20 second BIOS thing is causing you enough distress to make you want blow the money on a a new "faster" build, I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for you.

There are plenty of people here, including me, that can only dream of a 35 to 40 second boot to desktop. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but come on...

 

[premier69]

I am saying that when i decide to do an upgrade, build a new computer form scratch because some parts in my computer are fairly much older then other parts i would like the whole computer experience to improve as much as possible, and while you can't possibly be thinking that the BIOS is still with us is a good thing, when buying new, i would in fact prefer if it was new.

EFI sounds pretty cool but I'm having a hard time finding out if they have any such mainboards for pc desktops... and if not, when buying a new mobo, might I then buy one of those I've heard of but cant remember if they where gigabyte or DFI or whatever their name was... A turbo BIOS sounds pretty neat blowing threw that part in a few seconds.

 

[Mellon Head]

I dunno. My board is a month old and my BIOS screen is still 20 seconds. My SSD gets here tomorrow, and by Monday my BIOS screen will still be 20 seconds, and Windows might load in another 20 seconds. So what?

Basically, I'm asking what's the hurry? It's only a third of a minute. Most of the newer motherboards are so complicated now, that it takes that much time to register everything, validate the drives, and get the housekeeping in order so that the PC can even think about loading Windows/Linux/Whatever.

I guess I'm just confused why someone would want to pay a premium (and you will), for a "Turbo" BIOS that might shave 10 seconds off your boot time. I see the point of owning an SSD. It's a great overall performance increase, but worrying about how fast your BIOS loads is a little pointless, unless you're going for bragging rights or trying to win a contest.

 

[premier69]

No no, I will happily live with a brand new mobo that has about the same speed as now, I don't reboot too often. It's just one thing I might have hoped for. Like boot time isn't that important for windows either, but it's still nice when it's faster.

 

[Mellon Head]

No no, I will happily live with a brand new mobo that has about the same speed as now, I don't reboot too often. It's just one thing I might have hoped for. Like boot time isn't that important for windows either, but it's still nice when it's faster.

Ah, okay, that makes a little more sense. Maybe I read your OP wrong, but it sounded to me like 20 seconds was a critical performance issue and I couldn't understand the logic of the complaint. Thanks for clearing that up for me.