Slow boot times on your AM5 build?

[ecomorph]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a new build soon and I've run into comments/videos online pointing out slow boot times with AM5. I don't mind the minutes it takes to boot the first time to train the memory sticks, but once that's done, how long does it take normally for your system to boot? I'd be hard-pressed to spend a grand+ to upgrade my system and end up with a slower boot time than a 10yo PC with abysmal specs -I'd probably lean towards a system built around LGA1700 instead-.

Is this issue overblown? Have newer BIOS versions solved this for good? Would be nice if you could add which CPU/mobo/memory combo you have, just in case the long boot time issue is brand-dependent (also the mem speed/xmp profile in case that's part of the problem).

Thanks!

 

[bug]

This doesn't directly answer your question, but, while I'm not sure whether Zen4 has a particular problem with boot times or not, slower boots may be happening across the board. I've upgraded from a 6600k to a 12600k (motherboard and everything, kept the RAM) and also found the boot process to be slower. I was initially booting MBR, but have converted to UEFI since. No impact on the boot time. OS boot time is still fine, is just getting to the point where you select (or not) a boot drive takes significantly longer.

 

[JohH]

I have very slow boot times on my ASRock X670E 'Steel Legend' motherboard.
Consistently 50+ seconds. Even with XMP and EXPO disabled. Using the latest beta BIOS.
The last stable BIOS was 3+ months ago. Between S3 sleep requiring a beta BIOS, long boot times, almost no BIOS updates I do recommend to avoid ASRock at the very least.

 

[ecomorph]

This doesn't directly answer your question, but, while I'm not sure whether Zen4 has a particular problem with boot times or not, slower boots may be happening across the board. I've upgraded from a 6600k to a 12600k (motherboard and everything, kept the RAM) and also found the boot process to be slower. I was initially booting MBR, but have converted to UEFI since. No impact on the boot time. OS boot time is still fine, is just getting to the point where you select (or not) a boot drive takes significantly longer.

Out of curiosity, what's your current boot time with a 12600k i.e. from pressing the button to windows desktop loading up? (b660 or z690, ddr4 I assume?)

 

[Super Firm Tofu]

MSI Pro X670-P, G.Skill 32GB (16x2) 6000 CL30 EXPO settings, 7700X

27 seconds from power button to the monitor turning on with the flashing cursor. Another 3-5 to the Windows loading logo. Another 10 seconds or so to the Windows login screen. This is every boot. BIOS updates dropped this to 27 seconds from the original 30. I had the board/CPU the day after launch.

You'll notice in my system specs I don't use it any more.

I haven't timed my new system, but that's because it's back down to something I wouldn't consider abnormal. I can time it later today and update with that info.

 

[bug]

Out of curiosity, what's your current boot time with a 12600k i.e. from pressing the button to windows desktop loading up? (b660 or z690, ddr4 I assume?)

I will check later on an let you know. DDR4, but with H670 (I wanted the southbridge bandwidth since I have 4 SSDs in total).

 

[Arco]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a new build soon and I've run into comments/videos online pointing out slow boot times with AM5. I don't mind the minutes it takes to boot the first time to train the memory sticks, but once that's done, how long does it take normally for your system to boot? I'd be hard-pressed to spend a grand+ to upgrade my system and end up with a slower boot time than a 10yo PC with abysmal specs -I'd probably lean towards a system built around LGA1700 instead-.

Is this issue overblown? Have newer BIOS versions solved this for good? Would be nice if you could add which CPU/mobo/memory combo you have, just in case the long boot time issue is brand-dependent (also the mem speed/xmp profile in case that's part of the problem).

Thanks!

Overblown, I don't know why boot times of 30 seconds would affect you either way. As everything else starts up quickly. From my experience, it starts in to login in 15-20 seconds. 32GB of 6000@CL36, 7950x, and a X670E Steel Legend.

 

[Bill_Bright]

what's your current boot time

This has been asked over and over again in these forums and every time - the correct answer is "it depends".

There are just too many variables that essentially makes each and every computer out there unique. Even two identical systems that come off the assembly line, one after the other, become unique within the first couple minutes after the very first boot.

"It depends"...

...on...

Motherboard,​

CPU,​

CPU clock/voltage settings,​

OS,​

OS settings,​

User personalizations,​

Amount of RAM,​

Speed of RAM,​

Security solution,​

SSD or HD,​

Speed of boot drive,​

Startup apps,​

Network connection,​

OS update status,​

etc.,​

etc.,​

yadda yadda yadda,​

and so forth.​

Much more important than boot times is, "how does the computer run once the boot process is complete?"

 

[JohH]

I forgot to include some example why I say to avoid ASRock AM5 boards

 

[ir_cow]

128GB takes a good minute. Most complaints about slow boots times is when you first enable XMP/EXPO or lose power. After that its like 20-30 seconds max.

 

[JohH]

128GB takes a good minute. Most complaints about slow boots times is when you first enable XMP/EXPO or lose power. After that its like 20-30 seconds max.

Not on some boards. See example above. That's with 64GB XMP/EXPO disabled.
ASRock messed up the default behavior. It does "memory training" basically every boot.
Edit: Actually it may have been after unplugging the PC, could be a power off boot. But it's pretty typical for me to see 50+ second POST times.
And I'd consider 20-30 seconds is still a long time.

 

[ecomorph]

In case it helps, from the latest hardware unboxed 'budget' AM5 mobo testing:

 

[thewan]

Arguably it should be measured from the moment you press the button to the windows boot logo. Windows adds too many variables to get a "consistent" benchmark. Meanwhile your hardware doesn't change unless you change it. So only the hardware part should be measured, until the boot logo.
I've seen it as short as 15s to as long as 30s. To the boot logo.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Arguably it should be measured from the moment you press the button to the windows boot logo.

And after a "cold" start. That is, after the computer was shut down, and unplugged from the wall (or the power supply's master power switch - if it has one - is set to "0" or Off). This is the only way to totally remove all remaining voltages, primarily the +5Vsb standby voltage required by the ATX Form Factor standard that keeps various settings (including boot data in RAM) alive.

Then, after 15 seconds or so, plug it in (or set master power switch to "|" or On), then press the power on button on the case. Time that. Then when the log in screen appears, enter the log-in credentials, press Enter and time it until the Desktop fully appears. Add those two times together. That is the boot time you should use for comparison.

 

[trparky]

I have a Ryzen 7700X-based system with a Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard and yes, boot times with EXPO enabled did result in slow boot times. Every reboot resulted in a period of time where I'd be looking at a black screen, not even a UEFI screen, for about ten or so seconds. Yes, this was EVERY reboot.

Until, I flashed a new BIOS update for my motherboard that came out this morning that included AMD AGESA version 1.0.0.5C and instead of sitting at the black screen for about ten seconds, that time has been DRASTICALLY reduced to about two or three seconds. The way I look at it is, AMD fixed it. Let the hallelujah chorus sing.

 

[tpa-pr]

I have a Ryzen 7700X-based system with a Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard and yes, boot times with EXPO enabled did result in slow boot times. Every reboot resulted in a period of time where I'd be looking at a black screen, not even a UEFI screen, for about ten or so seconds. Yes, this was EVERY reboot.

Until, I flashed a new BIOS update for my motherboard that came out this morning that included AMD AGESA version 1.0.0.5C and instead of sitting at the black screen for about ten seconds, that time has been DRASTICALLY reduced to about two or three seconds. The way I look at it is, AMD fixed it. Let the hallelujah chorus sing.

Thanks for reminding me to check for a BIOS update myself.

On my X670E AORUS MASTER (full specs in my system specs if you need them) with:
- BIOS version F8c (AGESA version 1.0.0.5C)
- No overclock.
- 64GB RAM, No EXPO.
- Boot logo disabled.
- NVMe boot SSD.

I get 57.89 seconds from a power-on to Windows 10's lock screen. Longer than my previous computers, completely acceptable though. The hardware seems pretty complex so I expect there to be some more checks.

 

[trparky]

I get 57.89 seconds from a power-on to Windows 10's lock screen.

UEFI/Boot screen to lock screen for me is 25.3 seconds. That's a warm boot.

Cold boot, meaning telling Windows to shut down, letting the fans spin down, and then pressing the power button to the lock screen is 33.9 seconds.

 

[Override17]

Among these options, which one would you choose, that have a low boot time?

ASUS ROG Strix B650-A Gaming WiFi.​

MSI MPG B650 Edge WiFi.​

GIGABYTE B650 AERO G.​

ASUS Prime X670-P WiFi.​

 

[kapone32]

I just installed my system today. The first boot took about 45 seconds. I out the wrong NVME drive in as my boot so there was no OS. As a new build I decided to reinstall Windows. That literally took about 3 minutes. I unplugged the machine to install the rest of my array and had to reset the Expo profile. Now it takes about 25 seconds from pushing the power button to seeing my login screen. When you are in the system it feels so fast you won't believe the feeling or appreciate it until after about 2 hours of full use. My AM4 system took about 7 seconds to boot to the login screen so I do feel it though but the experience is stellar. The 7900X3D does not go above 61C in my PC.

 

[Steevo]

Who turns their computer off entirely if they expect it to be on when they get there? While Inhate that feature on my Intel laptop cause it drains the battery in a day, I leave my desktop idling 24/7/365 cause when I want to use it it’s not waiting for a RAID card and array to sync after a full memory test (yep I still let it run a full memory test instead of fast boot) booting to windows and hell, it takes longer for domain login and secondary authorization than windows to boot.

If you can afford a new AMD platform with overclocked RAM you can afford the 50W it takes to idle the system, if you can’t afford that then buy a Intel system that burns that during peak performance and cry about how AMD requires DDR5 but how Intel also needs it to get the same performance as AMD and how AMD is somehow more costly while buying more expensive RAM for your Intel system…

.

 

[Bill_Bright]

While Inhate that feature on my Intel laptop cause it drains the battery in a day

Then keep your laptop plugged in. Contrary to what many think, that does not hurt the laptop, battery or charger. This is because the system is smart enough to know when the battery is fully charged, then automatically stop charging - and this is how it has been for decades!!!

The main reason you may see precautions recommending unplugging the charger when not in use is because shysters... err... lawyers made the makers put that caution in there to protect the company from being sued in the very rare event a faulty device catches fire and burns Chicago down to the ground - again. You see this warning on just about everything that plugs in. I just looked at my toaster oven manual and even it says, in all caps, "UNPLUG FROM OUTLET WHEN NOT IN USE". Who does that? Who wants to reset the clock every time they use the oven?

Of course some will have anecdotes to suggest otherwise, but those are exceptions, not the norm. For example, I recently retired my 12 year old Toshiba laptop that remained plugged in for months at a time. It still had the original battery and charger. It was retired only because the little i3-330M CPU and 8Gb of DDR3 could not keep up with today's software.

Just remember, every couple months, unplug it and let the battery run down, then charge it up again. This ensures the battery and the battery monitoring circuits are in sync.

 

[OkieDan]

Every single time the MB boots, it does some memory training. The first time you enable XMP, its like 2-3 minutes, every time after that is 30~ seconds. I did notice a option to disable the memory extra memory training, but it did some wacky stuff to perf. Also I see you have dual-rank memory. Those take even longer to boot I've noticed. I spend a lot of time watching the codes haha.

I haven't tried this, but maybe typing in all the timings will speed up the boot sequence. It does for DDR4 and for Intel DDR5.

Edit: If you do set those timings, don't forget to manually set the voltages as well for VDDIO_MEM and SoC. These will change based on the timings when its set to auto every single time.. Also UCLCK DIVI and FLCK. That is part of the memory training process. Set those and the process speeds up quite a lot.

I was wrong for AM5 (for GB at least). nothing really helps the speed up unless you do the memory training restore function. I get all the motherboards mixed up now and the features in the BIOS. I do remeber BIOSTAR X670E being the worst. Like 2 minute boot every single time.

Time to BIOS From Power OFF state: Seconds
XMP + Auto Everything =33
Just FLCK and DVI set = 32
FLCK + DVI + Voltage = 32
FLCK + DVI + Voltage + Timings typed in =30
Context Restore = 17
FLCK + DVI + Voltage + Timings typed in + Context Restore =15

Gigabyte Context Restore:
View attachment 269147

OP: Enabling context restore helped my POST times.