Converting your System to UEFI

[byalexandr]

Disclaimer: I am not to be held accountable for damage to your components, loss of data, or anything other fault or damage regarding this guide. Proceed at your own risk.

 

So the advantages of UEFI over a legacy BIOS include the following:

 

-Native support for SATA devices over 2TB in size without additional drivers.

-Native support for more than four partitions to a particular drive.

-'Fast booting' which integrates software and hardware even further and allows for a few seconds worth of boot time to be saved (worth it when you have a 5 second boot time, as those couple seconds are a big difference).

-More efficient power and system management.

-Better error management and more reliability.

 

Generally, if your hardware supports UEFI, it's a good idea to take advantage of it. Most people won't bother because it can be a hassle to set up, but once you have it ready as I will show in this guide, it's a big improvement and a step in the right direction towards phasing out the old legacy BIOS. To do this, you will need:

 

-A motherboard that supports UEFI. If you have the basic blue and grey BIOS, then it's likely that this guide will not help you. If your motherboard also has a fast boot feature alongside the UEFI, switching to UEFI is a good idea and will improve your system's boot time.

-A GPU that supports UEFI. A lot of GPUs support UEFI, and if you're not sure yours does, Google search your card model and 'UEFI' and there will be multiple forums with answers. If your GPU does support UEFI, it's also likely that it does not have it pre-enabled if you have, for example, a stock BIOS for a reference card like my R9 290. I will cover this in detail later.

-A GPT partitioning scheme copy of Windows 8 or Windows 10 on a USB drive that supports FAT32 file systems (most do). I will also show how to do this.

 

So after checking that you have the above, the first thing you want to do is consider whether or not it is worth your time. This will require reinstalling Windows (as you cannot change the partitioning scheme of an existing Windows installation) and possibly flashing your motherboard BIOS, your GPU BIOS, etc. and moving your backed up files to the new installation. If the above advantages do look appealing to you, then go ahead and follow this guide. If you have purchased a new SSD or are doing a clean install, consider doing a UEFI installation while you're at it.

 

Windows 8 or Windows 10 Installation USB Preparation:

 

The first thing you want to do if you are installing a GPT partitioning copy of Windows 8 or 10 if to download the appropriate ISO. To obtain Windows 10 ISO files, completely legally, you can head over to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 and click on 'Download tool now'. This will download the Media Creation Tool for Windows 10. You will also need the Rufus USB tool, which is needed to format the USB drive you will be using, this can be downloaded from the developer's website: https://rufus.akeo.ie/

 

First, open up the Media Creation Tool, and under the 'What do you want to do?', select the 'Create installation media for another PC', and then click 'Next'. Select the appropriate language, the Edition you want to install, and the architecture (usually 64 bit). Click 'Next'. The next screen should say 'Choose what media to use'. Select 'ISO file', click 'Next', and choose a location to save the ISO file. You will need this for Rufus once it has finished downloading.

 

To obtain a Windows 8 ISO, use this tool: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8 and follow the same instructions above. Note that UEFI booting is ONLY supported in Windows 8, 8.1, and Windows 10.

 

After you have your ISO file, insert a flash drive that supports FAT32 file systems, and is at least 8GB in size. This drive will be completely erased so back up any data you might need from this drive. Open the Rufus USB Tool, and in the first drop down menu, select the USB drive you will be using. Under 'Partition scheme and target system type', select 'GPT partition scheme for UEFI'. Under the 'Format Options', check 'Quick Format', 'Create a bootable disk using: (select ISO image)' and 'Create extended label and icon files'. There should be a button next to the drop down where you selected ISO image, click the button and locate your downloaded ISO image. After this is complete, verify that the 'GPT partition scheme' is still selected. Change the File System to 'FAT32 (Default)', leave the 'Cluster Size' to it's Default, and rename the the Volume Label to whatever you'd like. After verifying all of this information, click 'Start' and allow the USB drive to be imaged with the Windows install.

 

Verifying UEFI support on your GPU:

 

After this is complete, we need to verify that your GPU supports UEFI booting. Download GPU-Z: https://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/ and once it is downloaded open GPU-Z. The tool will read the card's information and if it has UEFI support, the check box next to ' UEFI' will be checked. If not, you are not able to boot using UEFI and you can either purchase a new GPU that supports UEFI or attempt to enable it in a BIOS editor (high risk and will probably not enable UEFI).

 

Installing Windows:

 

Once you have verified you have UEFI support on your GPU, as well as your motherboard, you can proceed with the Windows install. Reboot your machine into the USB drive, this is done by accessing the BIOS and changing the boot priority to have the USB selected first. Once you boot into the USB drive, proceed with the installation, following the on-screen instructions and inputting your Windows license key when asked. If you do not have a license key, you can skip this step and activate Windows later on. You can purchase keys from Reddit at a discounted price: https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap if you have misplaced yours or do not have one.

 

If your GPU does not have UEFI enabled but supports it:

 

Once the install is completed, you now have a UEFI partitioned installation of Windows, and will reap the benefits mentioned above. If you have a 'Fast Boot' feature on your motherboard, reboot to the BIOS and enable this feature. Depending on the manufacturer, you may need to download a utility in Windows to access the UEFI as it is so fast you cannot access it by pressing the BIOS key. If however, you get an error stating your GPU does not support GOP UEFI, but you verified that it does support UEFI, you need to download and flash a BIOS to your GPU that has GOP UEFI booting enabled. You can use TechPowerUp or a forum to obtain the appropriate BIOS, and follow this guide to flash it (proceed at your own risk, you can brick your GPU, I am not responsible for any losses): http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2288384/upgrade-gpu-bios.html

 

After that you should be able to enable the UEFI Fast Boot feature and shave a few seconds off of your boot time. That's all for this guide, let me know if you have anything to add.

 

[thekeemo]

Q: have you tried putting the 390 bios on your 290? http://www.overclock.net/t/1564219/r9-390x-bios-for-r9-290-290x-now-with-stock-and-modded-voltage-tables

[byalexandr]

Q: have you tried putting the 390 bios on your 290? http://www.overclock.net/t/1564219/r9-390x-bios-for-r9-290-290x-now-with-stock-and-modded-voltage-tables

I've had the following BIOS:

 

Reference ASUS 290X BIOS (no it didn't unlock those extra shader )

Modified 390X BIOS with tighter memory timings

Modified 390 BIOS

XFX R9 290 Double Dissipation (currently on the card right now as it has UEFI enabled)

AMD Reference 290 BIOS (not the XFX one that came with my card)

 

There was something else but I can't remember what it was. But yeah, I've had a 390 BIOS on my 290.

[thekeemo]

I've had the following BIOS:

 

Reference ASUS 290X BIOS (no it didn't unlock those extra shader )

Modified 390X BIOS with tighter memory timings

Modified 390 BIOS

XFX R9 290 Double Dissipation (currently on the card right now as it has UEFI enabled)

AMD Reference 290 BIOS (not the XFX one that came with my card)

 

There was something else but I can't remember what it was. But yeah, I've had a 390 BIOS on my 290.

Wouldnt hat have UEFI?

[byalexandr]

Wouldnt hat have UEFI?

I don't know, probably. But I was tired of having the instability since it was a modified BIOS so I flashed it back to my stock BIOS, but then I got my SSD yesterday and the stock BIOS didn't have it enabled so I had to flash it with the Double Dissipation BIOS since it had it enabled. I could've edited the stock BIOS in a Hex Editor but I'm not good with that stuff so I just flashed it with something that worked. I like the fan curve and slight OC of this BIOS anyway, it's much quieter than stock for some reason and my card runs cooler too.

[thekeemo]

I don't know, probably. But I was tired of having the instability since it was a modified BIOS so I flashed it back to my stock BIOS, but then I got my SSD yesterday and the stock BIOS didn't have it enabled so I had to flash it with the Double Dissipation BIOS since it had it enabled. I could've edited the stock BIOS in a Hex Editor but I'm not good with that stuff so I just flashed it with something that worked. I like the fan curve and slight OC of this BIOS anyway, it's much quieter than stock for some reason and my card runs cooler too.

lower voltage perhaps

[byalexandr]

lower voltage perhaps

Nah the tighter memory timings needed a higher stock voltage and my IPC didn't like it very much. It was stable at stock but it didn't OC without needing tons of voltage (way more than normal).

[thekeemo]

I 

 

Nah the tighter memory timings needed a higher stock voltage and my IPC didn't like it very much. It was stable at stock but it didn't OC without needing tons of voltage (way more than normal).

meant the XFX bios

[byalexandr]

I 

 

meant the XFX bios

Oh. I guess so because it's a lot quieter and cooler even though it's a reference card. The fan curve is not as smooth though, the fan speed is very sensitive to temperature changes.

[Djole123]

Fast boot was actually present in my old laptop. It meant less hardware testing on BIOS bootup (like diagnostic and seek tests), so if Fast boot was enabled,bios would skip some of tests and go on, which saved like 2 seconds of bootup time