Official GIGABYTE Forum

UEFI on any current AM3+ socket motherboards? When for those with 990FX chips?

I am pleased that GigaByte is starting to roll out true UEFI (not just hybrid UEFI) on certain existing motherboards.  Great news!  But in searching this site, I am frustrated to find that nearly all discussions related to UEFI are found under the "Motherboards with Intel processors" discussion area.

Have I missed something? Does GigaByte offer true UEFI (not hybrid UEFI) for any AM3+ socket motherboards?  

Will UEFI be offered for any currently available AM3+ socket motherboards in the near future?  Or will the UEFI feature be reserved for newly-released AMD motherboards?

I'll just note that I will be purchasing a motherboard with an AMD 990FX chipset in the near future.  I'd buy a GigaByte now (as in immediately) if I thought that UEFI would be available as an upgrade within the next three months or so.  But if not, looks like I'll have to go with a competitor.

AMD users need love too!

« Last Edit: September 21, 2012, 10:31:37 am by GizmoChicken »

Dark Mantis

  • *
  • 18405
  • 414
  • 10typesofpeopleoneswhoknow binaryandoneswhodont
    • Dark Mantis
Hi

Please don't double post as I have just answered your other post. It becomes confusing to people trying to help and also makes the forum cluttered.
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

Hi

Please don't double post as I have just answered your other post. It becomes confusing to people trying to help and also makes the forum cluttered.

Okay.  With exception of this reply, no more duplicate posts from me.

And thanks much for the reply to my duplicate post (http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,4263.msg74087.html#msg74087).  As you suggested, I wrote to GGTS.  Hopefully they'll respond back with news regarding whether GA-990FXA-UD3 will be among those motherboards receiving UEFI.

Thanks again!
« Last Edit: September 22, 2012, 07:48:34 am by Dark Mantis »

Vezina

  • 871
  • 10
  • If it s not broken, fix it until it is !
Any particular reason you want the nice looking  EFI interface ?! :)
Do you miss it while using the PC under the installed OS ?! I don t.
The normal interface gets the job done with no problems.
Over & Out !

AMD FX (APU-s included) users should install - KB2645594 & KB2646060 under Windows 7

1.ASUS Sabertooth 990FX 2.0 + FX 6300 + H60
2.MSI A88X-G41 PC Mate + A8 5600K + Hyper TX 2
3.Gigabyte F2A75-D3H + A4 5300
4.ASUS AM1M-A + Athlon 5150

absic

  • *
  • 5815
  • 529
  • Never give up; Never surrender!
    • Bandcamp
Just to add my little bit to this, I am running both a GA-990FXA-UD5 with the Award BIOS and a GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 Intel system with the UEFI AMI BIOS and although I wanted UEFI on the AMD System I have to say from my own experiences I'm pleased it still has the Award BIOS.

The AMI BIOS that Gigabyte is using on the Intel side of things is still very new to them and I don't know if it is due to the way the BIOS is written or due to the Intel chipsets but I suffer continually with cold boot issues, unable to use some devices if others are running, reboots where I am told that the system has failed due to overclocking, only to find that once it has gone through 5 - 10 minutes of POST/BOOT looping that all BIOS settings are the same as when the supposed problem occurred, occasional audio issues with the onboard sound chip and various other niggles that have still to be resolved.

Don't get hung up on UEFI it ain't all it's cracked up to be..... yet. Hopefully, by the time it comes to the AMD platform it will be a little better
Remember, when all else fails a cup of tea and a good swear will often help! It won't solve the problem but it will make you feel better.

Just to add my little bit to this, I am running both a GA-990FXA-UD5 with the Award BIOS and a GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 Intel system with the UEFI AMI BIOS and although I wanted UEFI on the AMD System I have to say from my own experiences I'm pleased it still has the Award BIOS.

The AMI BIOS that Gigabyte is using on the Intel side of things is still very new to them and I don't know if it is due to the way the BIOS is written or due to the Intel chipsets but I suffer continually with cold boot issues, unable to use some devices if others are running, reboots where I am told that the system has failed due to overclocking, only to find that once it has gone through 5 - 10 minutes of POST/BOOT looping that all BIOS settings are the same as when the supposed problem occurred, occasional audio issues with the onboard sound chip and various other niggles that have still to be resolved.

Don't get hung up on UEFI it ain't all it's cracked up to be..... yet. Hopefully, by the time it comes to the AMD platform it will be a little better

Yep, I currently have a GA-770TA-UD3 and am happy with Award BIOS for now.  It is stable and has served me well.  But because I need IOMMU support, I will be upgrading to a motherboard with the 990 FX chipset.  And since this will be an upgrade that I hope will remain in service for multiple years, I'd like to have, at least as an option, the ability to use UEFI, which is available on nearly every competing motherboard.  My reasons for wanting UEFI are outlined below.


Any particular reason you want the nice looking  EFI interface ?! :)
Do you miss it while using the PC under the installed OS ?! I don t.
The normal interface gets the job done with no problems.

The short answer to your question is that I'm upgrading and so want/expect the latest and greatest.  That said, UEFI offers more than just a pretty face.  Being more modular, developers can (within hardware limitations) offer more features than in BIOS.  To name but one example that may seem trivial to you (but isn't to me), most of the UEFI versions that I've reviewed offer considerable granularity over fan speed controls.  Beyond that, UEFI offers a number of additional features, including the option for "secure boot" that, although I don't use now, may be useful in the future. I'm told that UEFI boots more quickly.  And I'm told that some versions of UEFI (though maybe not GigaByte's version) offer some interesting options for  remotely managing systems equipped with UEFI without booting into Windows or any other OS.

I've been happy with my GA-770TA-UD3, and I hope to upgrade to a GA-990FXA-UD5.  But if for about the same price I can get a comparable Asus with UEFI, which represents the first real change from BIOS in over 20 years, then I'm a little reluctant to invest in hardware that won't support the latest and greatest.  


UPDATE:  I notice that Gigabyte will be offering UEFI on their new  GA-F2A85X-UP4  motherboard, which uses the AMD FM2 socket.  So Gigabyte is at least offering UEFI for some AMD boards.  But I want an AM3+ board, so UEFI on the GA-F2A85X-UP4 isn't of any help to me.
« Last Edit: September 22, 2012, 03:36:47 pm by GizmoChicken »

Vezina

  • 871
  • 10
  • If it s not broken, fix it until it is !
Some AMD people stated that FM 2 is a socket that will stay for a long time on the market ,as you can see you will find boards with all form factors featuring FM2 socket.This APU-s are far from being weak even if they are only 4 core.

About AM3 + on the other hand it s being stated that is on it s end.
It s being rumored that Vishera (2-nd gen Buldozer) might be the last performance CPU to use it.Steamroller may use a different socket .Most probable the AM3 + socket doesn t allow quad channel memory which for over 4 cores cpu-s  is a must.
So don t buy an AM3+ board thinking more than 2 years ahead.

The lack of UEFI for many AMD based boards is most probable due to the small AMD market share ,thus being more costly.

The UEFI pushing is not necessarily based on the features it brings , but mostly because Microsoft needs it to enforce anti-piracy  :)

LE:
My AMD 7xx and my AMD 890 chipset based boards were/are booting faster than my Hybrid UEFI based 970A-UD3 board ,so i don t know if the boot times is really shortened ,as the UEFI is another step between BIOS and OS.The BIOS is still there with UEFI or without it ,if i am not mistaking.
What i want to say is that you should look for the features you really need.

Once the Vishera cores come up on AM3+ wait and see what revisions Gigabyte brings to the 9xx chipset based boards.Do not hurry to jump A.. products as well ,you may be sorry :).
« Last Edit: September 22, 2012, 09:24:27 pm by Vezina »
Over & Out !

AMD FX (APU-s included) users should install - KB2645594 & KB2646060 under Windows 7

1.ASUS Sabertooth 990FX 2.0 + FX 6300 + H60
2.MSI A88X-G41 PC Mate + A8 5600K + Hyper TX 2
3.Gigabyte F2A75-D3H + A4 5300
4.ASUS AM1M-A + Athlon 5150