Does UEFI have anything to do with anything after the operating system boots up?

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

The reason I'm asking is that it seems that my system seems more stable after I went back to a stable, non-beta version of my motherboard's UEFI.

My motherboard vendor, Gigabyte, only provides a beta version of UEFI with Resizable BAR support. There's no stable version.

Mussels · Mar 22, 2022

No, but yes.

A new BIOS can alter default RAM timings, voltages, CPU settings etc etc...
So yes it can affect stability. Rebar can also glitch in some games.

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

Resizable BAR was causing graphical glitches in just about everything from Microsoft Word to Microsoft Edge (Google Chrome). Just about anything that used GPU hardware acceleration had glitches. However, this is the funny part. Games didn't glitch at all. I could be playing games the FPS could be as high as 160 FPS yet no glitches could be seen.

R-T-B · Mar 22, 2022

I can't say I've seen the same on my rtx 3070. Odd. Gigabyte must've botched that bios yeah...

trparky said:
Games didn't glitch at all. I could be playing games the FPS could be as high as 160 FPS yet no glitches could be seen.

Remember for rebar nvidia uses a game whitelist to turn it on.

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

R-T-B said:
I can't say I've seen the same on my rtx 3070. Odd. Gigabyte must've botched that bios yeah...

Considering how I've had issues with two Gigabyte boards (one Intel, another AMD), you can bet what company I ain't buying from again.

R-T-B said:
Remember for rebar nvidia uses a game whitelist to turn it on.

I did not know that. Perhaps the games I'm running aren't ReBAR-enabled yet things like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Edge and anything else that uses GPU hardware acceleration will use ReBAR.

R-T-B · Mar 22, 2022

trparky said:
Considering how I've had issues with two Gigabyte boards (one Intel, another AMD), you can bet what company I ain't buying from again.

I hear a lot of hate from then but honestly the only real fear I have of them is RMA. My firmware experience on my board has been alright. But the RMA horror stories are enough reason to avoid really...

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

I have an Gigabyte AMD motherboard where if you use any of the Gigabyte-provided software to change any setting on the motherboard including as simple as RGB settings, it will corrupt the onboard fTPM chip causing you to have to completely reload UEFI from a UEFI image or Windows will not boot. I wish I was kidding.

And I'm afraid to update the UEFI version on the motherboard since I have a 2600X in the system and who knows if newer versions of the UEFI still has the required AMD-provided firmware to bootstrap the older 2600X CPU. Because... well, you know. UEFI onboard chip memory limitations and all that shit.

eidairaman1 · Mar 22, 2022

trparky said:
I have an Gigabyte AMD motherboard where if you use any of the Gigabyte-provided software to change any setting on the motherboard including as simple as RGB settings, it will corrupt the onboard fTPM chip causing you to have to completely reload UEFI from a UEFI image or Windows will not boot. I wish I was kidding.

Sounds like you need to report those problems to GA or switch to AsRock.

UEFI CMOS and Windows Since 7 are pretty meshed with eachother.

Also betas are always 0-98% on stability.

R-T-B said:
I hear a lot of hate from then but honestly the only real fear I have of them is RMA. My firmware experience on my board has been alright. But the RMA horror stories are enough reason to avoid really...

Heard they will damage product and then claim you didn't pack it properly.

Wasn't it a GA board a few years back that you helped someone purge a firmware worm?

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

Sometimes I wonder how the hell Gigabyte is still in business. Oh, and the ever classic exploding Gigabyte power supplies that were completely meme worthy.

eidairaman1 · Mar 22, 2022

trparky said:
Sometimes I wonder how the hell Gigabyte is still in business. Oh, and the ever classic exploding Gigabyte power supplies that were completely meme worthy.

Last time they had anything worth a look was in 2012 in my book for AM3 also go on their site and you will see how many revisions they make to their cards and mobos (each revision=compromise in quality due to cheaper and cheaper components used)

R-T-B · Mar 22, 2022

eidairaman1 said:
Wasn't it a GA board a few years back that you helped someone purge a firmware worm?

ASUS IIRC. But that was a really really exceptional case.

ASRock is really my fave manufacturer nowadays. Next board will probably be from them.

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

Firmware worm? Seriously? Talk about something that would keep a security researcher up at night.

R-T-B · Mar 22, 2022

trparky said:
Firmware worm? Seriously? Talk about something that would keep a security researcher up at night.

It would (and did for a while) except for how targeted to the individual it was. It's not a broadly attackable sort of thing.

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

R-T-B said:
It would except for how targeted to the individual it was. It's not a broadly attackable sort of thing.

Which three-letter government agency did that poor bastard piss off? :laugh:

R-T-B · Mar 22, 2022

trparky said:
Which three-letter government agency did that poor bastard piss off?

None. He did turn to few for help if he followed my advice though.

I can't say more, sorry. Please change the subject.

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

Damn. I have to wonder how one would ever end up being targeted like that. Then again, I suppose that I really don't want to know. It has to be a nation state kind of thing.

Shrek · Mar 22, 2022

Doesn't the BIOS/UEFI alter the CPUs microcode?

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

Andy Shiekh said:
Doesn't the BIOS/UEFI alter the CPUs microcode?

Yes, but according to Gigabyte's UEFI page for my motherboard they didn't include any microcode updates after UEFI version F15. Meanwhile, version F15 seems stable.

R-T-B · Mar 22, 2022

Andy Shiekh said:
Doesn't the BIOS/UEFI alter the CPUs microcode?

It can be included via an update package in the uefi yes. But it often is just left alone.

Mussels · Mar 22, 2022

trparky said:
Resizable BAR was causing graphical glitches in just about everything from Microsoft Word to Microsoft Edge (Google Chrome). Just about anything that used GPU hardware acceleration had glitches. However, this is the funny part. Games didn't glitch at all. I could be playing games the FPS could be as high as 160 FPS yet no glitches could be seen.

you may need to update your GPU BIOS

Mine has an official rebar BIOS, but then the other models from the same vendor that are 99% the same have much newer updates available

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

Mussels said:
you may need to update your GPU BIOS

MSI, the maker of my RTX 3060 card, doesn't list a new BIOS for it.

Mussels said:
Mine has an official rebar BIOS, but then the other models from the same vendor that are 99% the same have much newer updates available

I don't even know how I would go about doing that without bricking the card.

ThrashZone · Mar 22, 2022

Hi,
I stay away from beta bios on main machines mostly think I'm still on an old beta bios on my z490 rig.
After three years asus bios are all beta/ eol= beta.

But main policy is if it isn't broken don't fix it :laugh:

trparky · Mar 22, 2022

ThrashZone said:
But main policy is if it isn't broken don't fix it

Yep, it's just annoying that Gigabyte has basically said... Yep, your board is five years old. Off with you!

ThrashZone · Mar 22, 2022

trparky said:
Yep, it's just annoying that Gigabyte has basically said... Yep, your board is five years old. Off with you!

Hi,
Well asus does it after three so cry me a river lol

R-T-B · Mar 22, 2022

ThrashZone said:
Hi,
Well asus does it after three so cry me a river lol

At a point they all do.

System Name	My Ryzen 7 7700X Super Computer
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling	DeepCool AK620 with Arctic Silver 5
Memory	2x16GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 EXPO (CL30)
Video Card(s)	XFX AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
Storage	Samsung 980 EVO 1 TB NVMe SSD (System Drive), Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB NVMe SSD (Game Drive)
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Power Supply	MSI A850GF
Mouse	Logitech M705
Keyboard	Steelseries
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Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
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Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
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System Name	My Ryzen 7 7700X Super Computer
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling	DeepCool AK620 with Arctic Silver 5
Memory	2x16GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 EXPO (CL30)
Video Card(s)	XFX AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
Storage	Samsung 980 EVO 1 TB NVMe SSD (System Drive), Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB NVMe SSD (Game Drive)
Display(s)	Acer Nitro XV272U (DisplayPort) and Acer Nitro XV270U (DisplayPort)
Case	Lian Li LANCOOL II MESH C
Audio Device(s)	On-Board Sound / Sony WH-XB910N Bluetooth Headphones
Power Supply	MSI A850GF
Mouse	Logitech M705
Keyboard	Steelseries
Software	Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	https://valid.x86.fr/liwjs3

System Name	Pioneer
Processor	Ryzen 9 9950X
Motherboard	MSI MAG X670E Tomahawk Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon, Phanteks and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
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Keyboard	WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
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System Name	My Ryzen 7 7700X Super Computer
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling	DeepCool AK620 with Arctic Silver 5
Memory	2x16GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 EXPO (CL30)
Video Card(s)	XFX AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
Storage	Samsung 980 EVO 1 TB NVMe SSD (System Drive), Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB NVMe SSD (Game Drive)
Display(s)	Acer Nitro XV272U (DisplayPort) and Acer Nitro XV270U (DisplayPort)
Case	Lian Li LANCOOL II MESH C
Audio Device(s)	On-Board Sound / Sony WH-XB910N Bluetooth Headphones
Power Supply	MSI A850GF
Mouse	Logitech M705
Keyboard	Steelseries
Software	Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	https://valid.x86.fr/liwjs3

Does UEFI have anything to do with anything after the operating system boots up?

trparky

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

trparky

R-T-B

trparky

R-T-B

trparky

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

trparky

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

R-T-B

trparky

R-T-B

trparky

R-T-B

trparky

Shrek

trparky

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Mussels

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trparky

ThrashZone

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R-T-B

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Power Supply	EVGA 500W1 (modified to have two bridge rectifiers)
Software	Windows 11 Home

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