EFI booting: Why?

[VerizonLover]

BIOS requires an MBR, which is limited to 4 primary partitions.

Usually, yes. But if you use GPT partitions with a protective MBR and special boot loader it can be done. See the Chameleon boot loader (for booting Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware) for instance.

 

[Windunce]

EFI Pros & Cons? Two simple questions.

Boot Options: I use this often!

Is it possible to implement something similar with a UEFI system?

If not, why not?

 

[cluberti]

Most UEFI systems have boot options, although what you see in the UEFI OS configuration is sort of up to the vendor. On my HP laptop, for instance, I don't see many options for configuring boot devices and boot configuration (they're there, just .... limited), but on a similarly-spec'ed Dell I have lots of boot options and many configurations to choose from. Both machines still have boot device options / choices hidden behind a key press during the power on sequence, but the UEFI OS on the Dell is designed better than that of the HP. This is just an example, of course, but yes, what you see should exist in your UEFI OS configuration.

 

[Windunce]

Dear cluberti:


Wheeeew!

And thank you for the quick reply!

Windunce

 

[SIW2]

I don't think anybody here is frightened of it - or even necessarily against it.

The original question was:

I was wondering, what is the reason for Windows 8 using a EFI boot? BIOS seemed more handy and gave me more options, but I wasn't sure why Windows switched.

Cokie is getting quite upset it seems - no idea why.

Perhaps everything does MS is perfect.

 

[Mystere]

Windows 8 has both an EFI and a BIOS boot. You can install it either way. Most EFI bioses have what's called a CSM, or Compatibility Support Module, which gives full backwards BIOS compatibility to OS's that aren't EFI aware.

Still, it would be silly to NOT take advantage of the features of UEFI, such as the faster boot times, and improved performance (Windows and other OS's still make BIOS calls for certain functionality, and EFI will be faster at this than BIOS is, because EFI routes those calls back to the OS native drivers).

 

[Lazure]

Sadly, I forked out a pretty penny to build this machine in December 2010, which wasn't that long ago. I won't be able to justify spending money to upgrade/rebuild the machine again to get a mobo with UEFI (which would require me to get a new CPU because I doubt there's any socket 1366 triple channel memory boards with UEFI hanging around here in late 2012). That said, if nature forces my hand (mobo dies or something), I would look into a UEFI-enabled ASUS mobo and a decent i7 of the latest generation of Intel offerings.

Only thing is, if I had to replace my mobo, that's bye bye triple channel memory. I would have to either lose a stick or buy an extra stick of RAM to compensate. As far as I know, the socket 1366 bloomfield boards were the only ones that did triple channel memory.

 

[TheGrantFitz]

Boot Options: I use this often!

Is it possible to implement something similar with a UEFI system?

If not, why not?

View attachment 11050

Do you own and eMachines? I do.

 

[Mystere]

Sadly, I forked out a pretty penny to build this machine in December 2010, which wasn't that long ago. I won't be able to justify spending money to upgrade/rebuild the machine again to get a mobo with UEFI (which would require me to get a new CPU because I doubt there's any socket 1366 triple channel memory boards with UEFI hanging around here in late 2012). That said, if nature forces my hand (mobo dies or something), I would look into a UEFI-enabled ASUS mobo and a decent i7 of the latest generation of Intel offerings.

I feel for you. I was reluctant to give up my X58 based board as well, although my rig was getting a bit dated (bought an i7 920 back in like '08). I was concerned about the dual vs triple memory bandwidth, but my new Z77 based i7 3770K shows far better performance across the board, even with only dual channel memory.

I got this entire rig for about $400 (Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H, i7 3770k, everything else was compatible). Still, I can understand not having an extra $400 laying around. Many of the x58 boards have UEFI bioses available to download and flash. They're sort of "silent" UEFI, because they provide UEFI but still in a text-only interface.

Only thing is, if I had to replace my mobo, that's bye bye triple channel memory. I would have to either lose a stick or buy an extra stick of RAM to compensate. As far as I know, the socket 1366 bloomfield boards were the only ones that did triple channel memory.

No, because as I said, there are X58 boards that have UEFI flashes. However, an X58 chipset board is pretty expensive, and you could probably be close to buying an Z77+i7 chip for the same price. In any event, memory is so cheap.. you can get 16GB for about $100.

BTW, there are really high end boards with more than 2 channels. For example. the X79 chipset offers Quad channel, but you have to buy a socket 2011 i7 like the i7 3820

ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS P9X79

 

[Lazure]

I have a Sabertooth X58, doesn't look like it has a UEFI flash.

 

[Mystere]

Apparently, there's something called a Boot Processing Unit that will allow some motherboards to do UEFI booting via a USB dongle. According to their web forums, it supports the Sabertooth X58

[Review ] EFi-X Boot Processing Unit, unleash your PC