Hi folks. This whole process has become a bit of a headache for me and I'm hoping you may be able to answer a few queries and perhaps resolve a few problems in the process!
This all started as my 32Gb SSD (don't laugh, it was cutting edge when I got it!) system disk rapidly began running out of space - no surprise! So I decided to wipe and reconfigure my system before a fresh install on a 1Tb HDD. As I hadn't updated any drivers or BIOS since building the system about 2 years ago, I thought it would be a good idea to carry our a bit of a system update in the process and decided that updating to UEFI would be a good idea.
So after much head banging and hair pulling, I worked out how to update the BIOS using a flash drive (to UEFI U1e as provided by Gigabyte website for my mobo with correct revision) and managed to install Win 7 on the 1Tb HDD (GPT partition) with the 32Gb SSD running as a cache using Intel RST. I've also updated all drivers from Gigabyte website so should now be up to date.
The first problem I encountered is the loss of USB 3.0 connectivity on the front USB port. The rear ports still run at USB 3.0 rates, but the front port (which is definitely USB 3.0 and used to run fine on the old F? BIOS) now only runs at USB 2.0 transfer rates. I've updated the Etron USB 3.0 driver to the latest version which resolved the initial problem of my external USB 3.0 HDD not being detected and it cutting out my wireless mouse and keyboard receivers plugged in next to it - apparently this is a know issue relating to USB 3.0 connections creating interference around the 2.4GHz wireless frequency (Intel have written a brief report on this but couldn't find a cure -
http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/white-papers/usb3-frequency-interference-paper.pdf). I'm assuming these are now working ok because the USB 3.0 port is only running at USB 2.0 and therefore not creating the interference.
Whilst the simple work around for this is to use the USB 3.0 ports at the rear of the computer, it's a pain losing the front connection - especially as it worked with no problems on the old BIOS and without any interference to the mouse and keyboard receivers. Does anybody know if there are any true fixes for this (i.e. getting USB 3.0 connectivity back on the front ports without the interference)?
My second gripe with UEFI is that I can no longer install or access EasyTune 6 to OC my Intel i5 2500k. Although I don't do a lot of gaming, one of the reasons I built the system was to have something I run quietly for web and media work and then at the click of a button, ramp up to 'sillyspeed' (yes, that's an official term!) to run with my MSi GTX570 Twin Frozer iii PE for playing high end games.
Again, running on the old BIOS, this worked beautifully - but not any more. Is there another utility or updated version of EasyTune that I can use with UEFI that has the same simplicity and reliability for OC'ing my system? Whilst I dabble in PC building and OC'ing, I'm by no means a tech guru and wouldn't know where to start messing around with voltages and multipliers.....and neither do I wish to learn - the idea of bricking my system scares me!
Whilst I see why there is a need for UEFI over BIOS and the prospect of a faster, more stable front end is appealing (that's why I updated!), I can't help feeling this is still very flawed and I'm not sure I'm happy with it (maybe that's 25 years of being used to BIOS showing through.....I don't like change!).
So with that last statement in mind, my final question is - if I decide to invest in a new SSD to use as a system disk and therefore negate the desire to have a faster booting UEFI, is it possible for me to roll back to a previous BIOS and if so, which one and how do I go about it? Do I have to use a bootable flash drive again or can I use QFlash in UEFI?
Seriously, I'm tying myself up in knots trying to get my head around all these little UEFI improvements (read: quirks and annoyances!), so any help you guys can offer would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
