Why the new EFI is so much better than the 25 year old BIOS

qubit · Jan 1, 2010, 11:20 PM

Quote:

In the end, the BIOS is still here and still does what it has been doing for the last 25 years: making sure your operating system can boot. It was never designed for today’s massive diversity of hardware. It’s still stuck with 16-bit interfaces and software interrupts, interrupt routing and maximum precision timers, limited ROM execution space (1 MB) and image size, a limited number of initializeable devices (which is critical in the server space), proprietary extensions, and missing modularity—just to name a few issues.

Sounds like EFI can't come too soon. I had no idea the BIOS had so many limitations.

Tom's Hardware

Phxprovost · Jan 1, 2010, 11:30 PM

Will be interesting to see what it can bring to the table thought honestly i don't see the need to change things...but if its beneficial bring it on

On a side note if this is ever adopted.....whats going to happen to companies like AMI and Phoenix?

FordGT90Concept · Jan 1, 2010, 11:50 PM

I've run into to not enough ROM issues on my server in using the latest BIOS and my RAID card. Server hardware is especially borderline functional due to the limits imposed by the BIOS. I just hope this new stuff is backwards compatible in terms of capabilities. I also hope it has a unified and secure means to be upgraded.

qubit · Jan 1, 2010, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FordGT90Concept

I also hope it has a unified and secure means to be upgraded.

Do you mean secure as in TPM style secure?

FordGT90Concept · Jan 2, 2010, 12:09 AM

Hell no!

I mean non-execute bit, secure memory blocks (read-only), and other technologies that dictate anything loaded on top of the BIOS platform cannot directly modify it--only read from it. It therefore prevents viruses or any software from doing permanent damage to the machine.

TPM is an Infineon technology. It is basically a money laundering scheme like HDCP and DPCP. Worst. "Technologies." Ever. They help the corporations control how you use your electronics. They, in no way, help the consumer. Where the law should prevent such practices, the law (certain members of Congress) is actually trying to see this practices implemented. It is disgusting, appalling, and by every stretch of the word, offensive.

DirectorC · Jan 2, 2010, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phxprovost

i don't see the need to change things

What an odd statement.

Phxprovost · Jan 2, 2010, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirectorC

What an odd statement.

ohh come on, your trying to twist what i said. I was simply stating i have yet to personally experience the supposed short comings of the BIOS so im in no rush to try to find something to replace it

InnocentCriminal · Jan 2, 2010, 12:39 AM

According to that article Foxconn aren't having any of it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Foxconn

Currently, our boards do not use the Unified Extensible Firmware Interace feature and we don’t have products under development utilizing this type of BIOS.

... >.<

I like the idea of having access to the internet from within my 'BIOS' - features such as being able to troubleshoot when your OS goes bad, or for when you don't want to boot all the way into your OS. Being able to download another users (with the same components as yours) OC profile would be pretty handy for those that are having issues hitting a speed someone else has.

Still - "If it isn't broken, don't fix it."

I've very keen to see EFI implemented in upcoming motherboards, even if it does turn out to be a novelty.

DaedalusHelios · Jan 2, 2010, 12:45 AM

EFI trashes legacy support. Thats why I don't like Apple's lack of support in general.

InnocentCriminal · Jan 2, 2010, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaedalusHelios

EFI trashes legacy support.

For me that isn't a problem.

Kursah · Jan 2, 2010, 12:57 AM

This is kind of interesting, might give it a go on my P5Q Deluxe after I read more of what it's about.

hat · Jan 2, 2010, 01:06 AM

As long as I can still overclock with it I'm good...

DaedalusHelios · Jan 2, 2010, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hat

As long as I can still overclock with it I'm good...

Current EFI doesn't allow it, short of clock generating software. If you ran EFI-X you could but those are expensive hardware hacks to use PC hardware on OSX and has very limited hardware support.

DanTheBanjoman · Jan 2, 2010, 01:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FordGT90Concept

I've run into to not enough ROM issues on my server in using the latest BIOS and my RAID card. Server hardware is especially borderline functional due to the limits imposed by the BIOS. I just hope this new stuff is backwards compatible in terms of capabilities. I also hope it has a unified and secure means to be upgraded.

What kind of limits? I can't really think of any apart from the capability to boot from GPT disks, which usually isn't needed.

Mussels · Jan 2, 2010, 01:39 AM

EFI is supported in vista SP1 and onwards, so we're all heading there sooner or later.

Its all down to how long it takes mobo manufacturers to release a board that uses it for the enthusiast community.

FordGT90Concept · Jan 2, 2010, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanTheBanjoman

What kind of limits? I can't really think of any apart from the capability to boot from GPT disks, which usually isn't needed.

I was booting from the RAID card and also had the itegrated RAID enabled. The card BIOS pretty much filled all the remaining memory allocated by the motherboard BIOS. The new BIOS was (I think) 4 KiB larger which prevented the card BIOS from being loaded.

DanTheBanjoman · Jan 2, 2010, 10:33 AM

That sounds more like a bug/bad design than some limit that applies to the design of whatever standards a BIOS follows.

Mussels · Jan 2, 2010, 10:41 AM

UEFI = will be awesome. but not yet.

i've heard it can have a mini OS and store drivers in there as well, so you do a "BIOS" (UEFI?) flash to update it, and you'll never need to worry about "F6" floppy drivers for RAID ever again

want to repartition a HDD, or resize partitions? no worries, your EUFI has that built in!

its got great possibilities, once they get their asses in gear.

edit: hell, if someone went totally utterly hardcore, they could make the UEFI the main OS, and run virtual machines out of it for your other OS's.
many cool, yet pointless things await!

Fourstaff · Jan 2, 2010, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mussels

many cool, yet pointless things await!

qubit · Jan 2, 2010, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mussels

UEFI = will be awesome. but not yet.

i've heard it can have a mini OS and store drivers in there as well, so you do a "BIOS" (UEFI?) flash to update it, and you'll never need to worry about "F6" floppy drivers for RAID ever again

want to repartition a HDD, or resize partitions? no worries, your EUFI has that built in!

its got great possibilities, once they get their asses in gear.

edit: hell, if someone went totally utterly hardcore, they could make the UEFI the main OS, and run virtual machines out of it for your other OS's.
many cool, yet pointless things await!

Making a BIOS the whole OS is not a new idea. All the 8-bit computers of the eighties had this and even the grown-up 32-bit Acorn Archimedes released in 1987 did it this way.

Ultimately, removing the current BIOS restrictions and adding in certain flexibilities will probably provide the best balance.

Jizzler · Jan 2, 2010, 12:58 PM

*yawn* When manufacturers actually get around to doing something about it, let me know. Otherwise it's the same discussion every couple years when someone brings up EFI

Mussels · Jan 2, 2010, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jizzler

*yawn* When manufacturers actually get around to doing something about it, let me know. Otherwise it's the same discussion every couple years when someone brings up EFI

but this is UEFI - now with 33.3% more letters than ever before!

mikek75 · Jan 2, 2010, 02:50 PM

MSI released a UEFI (or was it EFI

) bios for my P45 Platinum. I gave it a go but it was crap so I went back to the traditional one, LOL

Jizzler · Jan 2, 2010, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mussels

but this is UEFI - now with 33.3% more letters than ever before!

Heh, so it does. By the time any one takes notice we'll be up to UEFI-X Pro with Facebook support so that your system can update it's status and give out it's IP for causal encounters with other systems. Unfortunately...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikek75

MSI released a UEFI (or was it EFI

) bios for my P45 Platinum. I gave it a go but it was crap so I went back to the traditional one, LOL

... that feature and EFI as a whole still won't be implemented very well on devices other than Macs if the current trend continues

Oh well, I'm not really losing sleep over it. Just wish that if they're going to get it done - get it done! The possibilities go well beyond what the Tom's article mentions.

DirectorC · Jan 2, 2010, 04:02 PM

I'm still not 100% sure I grasp the concept of EFI. I have been playing with PCs for 16 years, taught myself BASIC and HTML in middle school, taught myself C/C++ in high school, played with the Linux kernel source dode at 16 and built my own custom Linux install, recently got my A+, and have no idea what this EFI exactly is. It's like the EFI does nothing but read data stored by the operating system to get all its configuration? But then the computer needs to have an operating system installed or an OS disk somewhere with basic BIOS-like functions so it can boot? Trying to wrap my head around this.

System Name:	Quantumville™
Processor:	Intel Core i7-2700K at 4.7GHz (hits 5 gees+ easily)
Motherboard:	Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling:	Noctua NH-D14
Memory:	16GB (4 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card:	EVGA GTX 590 Classified
Hard Disk:	WD Caviar Black 640GB / WD Caviar Green 2TB x2 in mobo RAID 1
Optical Drive:	Whatever DVD drive I've chucked in there right now
CRT/LCD Model:	Asus VG278HE (144Hz, 3D Vision 2, 1080p, 27") & LG W2363D (120Hz 1080p 23")
Case:	Coolermaster HAF 922
Sound Card:	SoundBlaster X-Fi ExtremeMusic (You ever heard one of these? Wow!)
PSU:	Corsair HX850W
Software:	Window 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Benchmarks:	Yes

Jan 1, 2010, 11:30 PM	#2
Phxprovost Xtreme Refugee Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 1,148 (0.76/day) Thanks: 240 Thanked 264 Times in 190 Posts System Specs	Will be interesting to see what it can bring to the table thought honestly i don't see the need to change things...but if its beneficial bring it on On a side note if this is ever adopted.....whats going to happen to companies like AMI and Phoenix? __________________ “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

System Name:	Result of Boredom
Processor:	AMD Phenom II X4 940
Motherboard:	M3A78-T
Cooling:	Enzo Tech Extreme-X
Memory:	Mushkin (996599) X 4
Video Card:	EVGA GTX 465
CRT/LCD Model:	Asus 22in (1680X1050) X 2
Case:	antec 300
Sound Card:	Xonar DG
Software:	WIN7 64bit HP
Benchmarks:	Push power button = It boots up and does the stuff i need it to

Jan 1, 2010, 11:50 PM	#3
FordGT90Concept "I go fast!1!11!1!" Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: IA, USA Posts: 10,575 (6.28/day) Thanks: 1,755 Thanked 2,596 Times in 1,960 Posts System Specs	I've run into to not enough ROM issues on my server in using the latest BIOS and my RAID card. Server hardware is especially borderline functional due to the limits imposed by the BIOS. I just hope this new stuff is backwards compatible in terms of capabilities. I also hope it has a unified and secure means to be upgraded. __________________ Golden Rule of Programming: Never assume. try { SteamDownload(); } catch (Steamception ex) { RageQuit(); }

System Name:	BY-2009
Processor:	Intel Core i7 920 (4 x 2.66 GHz) w/ HT and Turbo on
Motherboard:	DFI LP DK X58
Cooling:	Sythe MUGEN-2 w/ Stock Fan
Memory:	3 x 2 GiB OCZ Gold DDR3-1600 @ DDR-1066
Video Card:	Sapphire Vapor-X HD 5870 1 GiB
Hard Disk:	2 x Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200.7 RAID0
Optical Drive:	Samsung 16x DVD-ROM, Pioneer 16x DVD+/-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung Syncmaster T240 24" LCD (1920x1200)
Case:	Coolermaster HAF 932
Sound Card:	Realtek Onboard, HT OMEGA Striker 7.1
PSU:	Enermax Liberty 620w
Software:	Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Benchmarks:	Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.

Jan 2, 2010, 12:09 AM	#5
FordGT90Concept "I go fast!1!11!1!" Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: IA, USA Posts: 10,575 (6.28/day) Thanks: 1,755 Thanked 2,596 Times in 1,960 Posts System Specs	Hell no! I mean non-execute bit, secure memory blocks (read-only), and other technologies that dictate anything loaded on top of the BIOS platform cannot directly modify it--only read from it. It therefore prevents viruses or any software from doing permanent damage to the machine. TPM is an Infineon technology. It is basically a money laundering scheme like HDCP and DPCP. Worst. "Technologies." Ever. They help the corporations control how you use your electronics. They, in no way, help the consumer. Where the law should prevent such practices, the law (certain members of Congress) is actually trying to see this practices implemented. It is disgusting, appalling, and by every stretch of the word, offensive. __________________ Golden Rule of Programming: Never assume. try { SteamDownload(); } catch (Steamception ex) { RageQuit(); } Last edited by FordGT90Concept; Jan 2, 2010 at 12:20 AM.

System Name:	-= Son of a Whore =-
Processor:	E8400 @ 4.0GHz (445 x 9)
Motherboard:	Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
Cooling:	Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory:	3GB Corsair XMS2
Video Card:	EVGA 8800 GT 512
Hard Disk:	74GB Raptor + Caviars in RAID0
CRT/LCD Model:	I-Inc 19" LCD 1440x900
Sound Card:	Audigy SE & Logitech X-540
PSU:	Corsair 750TX
Software:	Win32 v6.1.7600
Benchmarks:	Logitech KB & Sidewinder X3

System Name:	BeeR 6
Processor:	Intel Core i7 3770K
Motherboard:	ASUS Maximus Gene V
Cooling:	Corsair H100i
Memory:	8GB Samsung Green 1600MHz DDR3
Video Card:	2GB XFX HD6950 (PCIe)*
Hard Disk:	256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD
CRT/LCD Model:	20.1" Viewsonic VX2025WM/32" Vistron HDTV
Case:	Fractal Design Arc Mini
PSU:	Corsair HX750W
Software:	64bit Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
Benchmarks:	* flashed to 6970.

Jan 2, 2010, 12:45 AM	#9
DaedalusHelios Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 4,262 (2.22/day) Thanks: 827 Thanked 817 Times in 699 Posts System Specs	EFI trashes legacy support. Thats why I don't like Apple's lack of support in general.

System Name:	Cosmos i1000
Processor:	i5-3570K @ 4.5Ghz 24/7
Motherboard:	TZ77B Biostar
Cooling:	new AC Freezer, Panaflo's on case
Memory:	4x4GB Ripjaws DDR3 1866
Video Card:	ASUS GTX 680
Hard Disk:	1TB F3, 2TB Seagate LP
Optical Drive:	Bluray, HD DVD, DVD Burner
CRT/LCD Model:	Auria 27" 2560x1440
Case:	CM Cosmos 1000
Sound Card:	THX trusurround w/ some logitech 5.1 system
PSU:	850watt XFX PSU 5 year warranty :)
Software:	Win7 x64 Ultimate
Benchmarks:	Wrote my name on a bench one time.

Jan 2, 2010, 12:57 AM	#11
Kursah Eligible for custom title Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Missoula, Montana, USA Posts: 6,558 (2.72/day) Thanks: 727 Thanked 1,349 Times in 1,118 Posts System Specs	This is kind of interesting, might give it a go on my P5Q Deluxe after I read more of what it's about. __________________ Overclocking is Easy! Get Results! - GTX 260/280 Unofficial Support Thread TPU's Gaming Headphone/Headset Thread - Share your experience - My Heat -

System Name:	Kursah's Rig 2011
Processor:	i5-760 2.8Ghz - 4.0Ghz @ 1.29v
Motherboard:	Asus 55i Sabertooth
Cooling:	Xigmatek Balder S1283
Memory:	2x4GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600 9.9.9.24 1.5v
Video Card:	XFX HD5870 Rev.2 @ Stock
Hard Disk:	WD Black 1.5Tb, Seagate 1.5Tb LP
Optical Drive:	Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD/CD Burner
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung 32" LN32D550 LCD TV - 1920x1080
Case:	Lian Li Lancool PC-K62
Sound Card:	Auzen X-Fi Forte 7.1 + FiiO E9 to Denon D2000, JVC HA-DX3 and a Custom Hi-Fi 2.1 setup.
PSU:	Corsair HX750 Modular
Software:	Windows 7 Pro x64 SP1, many games
Benchmarks:	Hi-Fi 2.1 setup: Dayton DTA-100a Class-T Amp to Pioneer SP-BS21-LR Speakers. Dayton Sub-100HT Sub

Jan 2, 2010, 01:06 AM	#12
hat Maximum Overclocker Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 12,236 (5.15/day) Thanks: 2,054 Thanked 2,039 Times in 1,549 Posts System Specs	As long as I can still overclock with it I'm good... __________________ My Heatware “Inb4 smartphone LN2 overclocking.” -radrok

System Name:	Starlifter // Dragonfly
Processor:	(lapped) i7 920 4GHz 1.3v // 1090T 3.6GHz 1.3v
Motherboard:	Asus Rampage III // Gigabyte GA-770T-USB3
Cooling:	(lapped) Corsair H70 // (lapped) TT Big Typhoon
Memory:	3x2GB DDR3 1600 10-10-10-30-128-1T 1.5v // 2x2GB DDR3 1333 9-9-9-24-1T 1.5v
Video Card:	HIS Radeon 5870 // BFG Maxcore 55 GTX260
Hard Disk:	Plextor M5S 128GB + 512GB OCZ Agility 4 + 2TB WD20EARS // WDC Black 500GB
Optical Drive:	SATA DVD-RW // IDE CD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Dell/Alienware AW2310 + 19" HDTV // 19" HDTV
Case:	Antec SOHO 1030B // some really old white case... but it's decent
Sound Card:	Creative X-Fi Fatality Professional // onboard (disabled)
PSU:	Antec NeoHe 550W // Corsair CX600w
Software:	Windows 7 Home Premium x64 // Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Benchmarks:	zunn zunnzunn zunn zunn

Processor:	Dual Xeon 5506
Motherboard:	Asus Z8NA-D6
Cooling:	2x Thermalright HR-01 X/passive
Memory:	6GB Corsair something
Video Card:	EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
Hard Disk:	None
Optical Drive:	None
CRT/LCD Model:	24" Asus
Case:	Thermaltake Swing
Sound Card:	Onboard
PSU:	620W CM
Software:	Win2k8

Jan 2, 2010, 01:39 AM	#15
Mussels Doctor Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bendigo, Australia (NOT THE USA) Posts: 34,557 (10.97/day) Thanks: 3,700 Thanked 8,692 Times in 6,391 Posts System Specs	EFI is supported in vista SP1 and onwards, so we're all heading there sooner or later. Its all down to how long it takes mobo manufacturers to release a board that uses it for the enthusiast community. __________________ Edumacational thread about PC Audio My external HDD's.5x samsung 1TB + 2x Seagate 1.5TB = 8 TB external storage 32 Bit OS vs 64 bit OS information How to get hardware accelerated H264 playback (DXVA) Netbook Owners United!

System Name:	Real Men use Real Cores!
Processor:	Phenom II x6 1090T: 3600Mhz undervolted (NB+HT at 2.6)
Motherboard:	Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5
Cooling:	Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (Lapped + ducted)
Memory:	8GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 - 1600Mhz 7-7-7-20 1.65V
Video Card:	AMD Radeon 5870 1GB Crossfire
Hard Disk:	Intel 520 SSD (120GB), 500GB OS + 18TB of storage (mostly external)
Optical Drive:	Samsung Blu Ray drive (SH-B083A)
CRT/LCD Model:	23.6" Samsung 1080P / Samsung 40" HDTV - 1360x768P
Case:	Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced (non window)
Sound Card:	Auzentech X-Mystique (Logitech Z5500D + sennheiser HD555 + RE2's)
PSU:	Corsair HX 1000W
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate x64 - kaspersky internet security 2013
Benchmarks:	Laptop: AMD A6 APU 1.4GHz @2.2GHz quad core + APU crossfire.Iphone 5, Samsung galaxy tab 2 7"

Jan 2, 2010, 10:33 AM	#17
DanTheBanjoman Señor Moderator Join Date: May 2004 Location: Utrecht, Utrecht, The kingdom of the Netherlands Posts: 8,498 (2.58/day) Thanks: 41 Thanked 1,453 Times in 1,077 Posts System Specs	That sounds more like a bug/bad design than some limit that applies to the design of whatever standards a BIOS follows.

Jan 2, 2010, 10:41 AM	#18
Mussels Doctor Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bendigo, Australia (NOT THE USA) Posts: 34,557 (10.97/day) Thanks: 3,700 Thanked 8,692 Times in 6,391 Posts System Specs	UEFI = will be awesome. but not yet. i've heard it can have a mini OS and store drivers in there as well, so you do a "BIOS" (UEFI?) flash to update it, and you'll never need to worry about "F6" floppy drivers for RAID ever again want to repartition a HDD, or resize partitions? no worries, your EUFI has that built in! its got great possibilities, once they get their asses in gear. edit: hell, if someone went totally utterly hardcore, they could make the UEFI the main OS, and run virtual machines out of it for your other OS's. many cool, yet pointless things await! __________________ Edumacational thread about PC Audio My external HDD's.5x samsung 1TB + 2x Seagate 1.5TB = 8 TB external storage 32 Bit OS vs 64 bit OS information How to get hardware accelerated H264 playback (DXVA) Netbook Owners United!

System Name:	Asus K50-X5DAB
Processor:	Athlon QL-65 2.2Ghz
Memory:	1x1GB + 1X2GB
Video Card:	Mobility Radeon HD4570 512mb
Hard Disk:	Samsung 840 250Gb
CRT/LCD Model:	15.6" 1366x768

Jan 2, 2010, 12:58 PM	#21
Jizzler Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Geneva, FL, USA Posts: 3,010 (1.42/day) Thanks: 567 Thanked 606 Times in 487 Posts System Specs	yawn When manufacturers actually get around to doing something about it, let me know. Otherwise it's the same discussion every couple years when someone brings up EFI

Processor:	AMD FX-8120
Motherboard:	ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional
Cooling:	Scythe Ninja 3
Memory:	G.Skill DDR3-1866 8GB x 2
Video Card:	Gigabyte GTX 660 2GB
Hard Disk:	Crucial M4 128GB, WD 640GB x 4, 2TB Seagate
Optical Drive:	Asus SATA DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Asus 24" HD+ (1920x1200)
Case:	Lian Li PC-A17B
Sound Card:	Onboard
PSU:	OCZ GameXtreme 700w
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate

Jan 2, 2010, 02:50 PM	#23
mikek75 Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Chippenham, Wilts, United Kingdom Posts: 1,171 (0.48/day) Thanks: 81 Thanked 121 Times in 115 Posts System Specs	MSI released a UEFI (or was it EFI) bios for my P45 Platinum. I gave it a go but it was crap so I went back to the traditional one, LOL __________________ Untutored carnage is useless in the face of an educated bullet The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia is decapitation

System Name:	As easy as falling off a lorry
Processor:	Core I5 2500K auto tuned to 4.2ghz
Motherboard:	Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P
Cooling:	Corsair H80 sealed water cooler
Memory:	16gb Gskill Ripjawz 1600mhz
Video Card:	XFX 6970 2GB
Hard Disk:	Corsair 120GB Force 3 SSD, OCZ 60 GB Agility 3 SSD, Seagate 500GB, 2x80gb Maxtors
Optical Drive:	HP Blue-ray DVD rewriter drive
CRT/LCD Model:	DELL 2309w 23" Widescreen 1920x1080+ LG M2294D 22" 1680x1050 LCDtv/monitor
Case:	Zalman Z9 Plus
Sound Card:	X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro
PSU:	PC Power&Cooling 750w Silencer Quad PCIe
Software:	Windows 7 x64 Home Premium

Jan 2, 2010, 04:02 PM	#25
DirectorC Banned Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Florizy Posts: 1,597 (1.23/day) Thanks: 90 Thanked 269 Times in 248 Posts System Specs	I'm still not 100% sure I grasp the concept of EFI. I have been playing with PCs for 16 years, taught myself BASIC and HTML in middle school, taught myself C/C++ in high school, played with the Linux kernel source dode at 16 and built my own custom Linux install, recently got my A+, and have no idea what this EFI exactly is. It's like the EFI does nothing but read data stored by the operating system to get all its configuration? But then the computer needs to have an operating system installed or an OS disk somewhere with basic BIOS-like functions so it can boot? Trying to wrap my head around this.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Anything better than the Z-5500 for the price ?	Yukikaze	General Hardware	5	Oct 11, 2009 08:41 PM
How much better will this be than my old card?	B1gg3stN00b	Graphics Cards	28	Aug 8, 2008 01:50 PM
are the 8800gt' better than the g80 8800gts?	mullered07	NVIDIA	6	Apr 11, 2008 08:12 PM
why does the asus pic up more ram up than the evga	Live OR Die	Motherboards & Memory	37	Jan 30, 2008 01:59 AM
Are the XBOX 360s graphics better than the X800GTO2?	andymiesta	Games	43	Apr 14, 2006 07:12 AM