Boot-up in seconds

Taffycat

Taffycat

Crunchy Cat
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
12,854
Reaction score
1,071
There is talk of a BIOS replacement, called UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) which, it is said, will predominate in new computers from 2011. Story HERE.
 
It should be a huge leap for most other desktop PC's though! The current BIOS used on many current motherboards doesn't seem to be too different from ones I was using 15 years ago!

I'll be over the moon if UEFI can bring boot time to under a few seconds - in fact, I'll probably hold off upgrading until those type of motherboards start to appear in 2011 :D

Thanks for the heads up TC, I didn't know about any of this until I read the article! :)
 
EvanDavis said:
Not much of a new thing really. Apple have been doing it for years :)
Click to expand...
Hmmm, not quite ... Mac's have only started using UEFI since they changed to Intels, 'cos intel invented UEFI

Windows were capable several years earlier than Apple to use UEFI, however, Apple did adopt Sun Microsystems' OpenBoot offering, was good too.


About time ... watch out how many different "boot" versions we get. :lol:


:user:
 
Im due for an upgrade aswell. Was thinking 2011 was a good year so this will confirm that now I think.
As soon as the newer boards start to come out I will seriously start looking into upgrading as my system is now approaching 7years old, although still decent.

It's done me proud!!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the heads up TC :thumb:

I was thinking of upgrading at the tail end of 2010, may as well hold off for a few months longer for the new BIOS.

I don't really need to upgrade anyway, just fancied it :)

Patience old son :D
 
BBC behind the times as usual for tech news! :p

Interesting read though, but i curious just how much better they will be..... My machine already boots in about 10-15 seconds... and about 8 second of that is the POST. Where are they getting their figures from? ;/

From what i've seen about (U)EFI, They've been available in limited numbers for a year or so. However from what I read, the implementation isn't that great. Overclocking is a no no, and there are compatability issues.

The software still needs a bit of work.

Been digging about and found this...

http://www.uefi.org/news/uefi_industry/UEFIEvaluationPlatforms_2010.pdf

and

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2009/01/11/msi-click-bios-evaluating-uefi-review/1
 
As ever, nowt's ever black and white and confusion reigns :confused:

Impressive bootup time there V_R, in your opinion more due to the SSD drive or the newer Intel Architecture?

I ain't reading that first link - it wuz dull.

But the Bit Tech article - dated january '09 I note - was quite explanatory.

I'll have to time my bootups but off the top of my head I'd say - with 4 year old systems, Intel & AMD - Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit takes about 30 seconds and XP Pro SP3 takes about two minutes.
 
V_R said:
My machine already boots in about 10-15 seconds...
Click to expand...


Thats the thing. Mine boots up pretty quickly as well. But say I want to do something in Photoshop I still have to wait a minute or so for it to load, or if I am playing a game, still have to wait. So what difference does it make if your machine boots up 30 seconds faster ?
 
floppybootstomp said:
Impressive bootup time there V_R, in your opinion more due to the SSD drive or the newer Intel Architecture?

But the Bit Tech article - dated january '09 I note - was quite explanatory.
Click to expand...
Well i'd guess it was mainly down to the SSD, In fairness the 10-15 seconds is a bit exaggerated, its probs about 20 seconds all in from power on to a usable desktop. :)

As ED sasys though, boot up time is kinda pointless, as once your there its forgotten about i guess.

But say I want to do something in Photoshop I still have to wait a minute or so for it to load
Click to expand...

A minute of so for PS to load!!? CS5 takes like ten seconds here and its not on my SSD either.
 
I don't think bootup time is pointless, in my opinion it's always been desirable to have a workable machine in the shortest time possible from hitting the power button.

To this end Asus put silly programs in the Bios to enable you to access certain functions such as e-mail instantly, though in my experience they're tosh.

I just booted PS CS5 and it took precisely eight seconds on me timer.
 
V_R said:
A minute of so for PS to load!!? CS5 takes like ten seconds here and its not on my SSD either.
Click to expand...


Bit behind times here. I still have CS3 :o
 
Got me curiosity piqued so I done a precise bootup time for two of my machines:

Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit Asus P5B Deluxe board (Intel):

55 seconds to Desktop inc entering password.
1:40 to full load.

Win XP Premium 32 Bit SP3, Asus M2N sli board (AMD):

1:40 to desktop (When welcome music plays) (no password to enter)
2:05 to full load.

Interesting, n'est ce pas? :)
 
floppybootstomp said:
I don't think bootup time is pointless, in my opinion it's always been desirable to have a workable machine in the shortest time possible from hitting the power button.
Click to expand...
Indeed 'pointess' was a bad choice of words i think. :)

Must admit i am now curious, am going to time my boot up later. :)
 
IT Pro did not know

I had a friend of mine over here yesterday and showed him the article he had not heard of this development and was flabbergasted, so we printed it off so the owner of the company could read it as he was unaware of the developments and the fact that BIOS was on its last legs. Oh and by the way my friend is now going to join PC Review.
 
Back
Top