MSI's First EFI BIOS, More Now Available

btarunr · Dec 13, 2008

MSI has launched the first EFI BIOS based motherboard "P45D3 Platinum & P45 Platinum". EFI, Extensible Firmware Interface, is intended to replace the legacy BIOS firmware interface used by current PCs. It offers a new and more flexible enviroment that supports colorful graphical interfaces, multiple languages and has mouse support. The EFI BIOS will encourage users to experience the full potential of MSI motherboards. Even at this early stage MSI has seen excellent OC potential using the current generation of MSI motherboards in combination with EFI BIOS.

New Type of Graphics BIOS Settings

MSI has started to adapt EFI into its next generation motherboard platform. The ability to use a GUI and mouse provides the opportunity to fully experience the possibilities of MSI motherboards. EFI also supports LAN, pre-OS applications such as live update, games, instant messenger, media player and a browser. Microsoft will add EFI support to the x64 versions of Windows Vista with Service Pack 1.

What is EFI BIOS?

The Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) is a specification that defines a software interface between an operating system and platform firmware. EFI is intended as a significantly improved replacement of the old legacy BIOS firmware interface historically used by all IBM PC compatible PCs. The EFI specification was originally developed by Intel, and is now managed by the Unified EFI Forum and is officially known as Unified EFI (UEFI).

Benefits of EFI BIOS:

Supports graphical menus and features
Supports mouse-controlled interface
Supports pre-OS applications, file oriented (ex: System
recovery, games, media player, Internet browser, etc.)
Supports multiple languages
UEFI support for x64 versions of Windows Vista are included in Service Pack 1

To find out more and download MSI Click BIOS for you P45 Platinum based motherboard, visit this page!

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

James1991 · Dec 13, 2008

i have been using EFI on my board for ages(have gone back to normal now because of problems), it is nothing new.

btarunr said:
Even at this early stage MSI has seen excellent OC potential using the current generation of MSI motherboards in combination with EFI BIOS

with EFI i found that i can get higher stable clocks(normal bios i cant get past 420 FSB stable but with EFI i was pushing past 470). i would not recomend it to anyone though until it comes out of BETA. after a while it just says BOOT FALIURE and you cant boot again until you reflash it(clearing CMOS doesn't work).

32bit colour in the BIOS is good though

douglatins · Dec 13, 2008

This mean i can run Leopard?

Mussels · Dec 13, 2008

douglatins said:
This mean i can run Leopard?

its a step towards it, at least.

Weer · Dec 13, 2008

I don't know.. it sound a little.. Eee-Fee. I don't know if I want to risk it

DrPepper · Dec 13, 2008

I've been dying for the switch to EFI bios' they sound so cool.

Mussels · Dec 13, 2008

DrPepper said:
I've been dying for the switch to EFI bios' they sound so cool.

same. they just seem to be a long overdue improvement.

I mean, having a BIOS with data recovery/driver storage would be epic. i wonder how far they'll go, and if we'll start seeing mobos with built in drivers etc, making windows installs easier.

James1991 · Dec 13, 2008

Mussels said:
same. they just seem to be a long overdue improvement.

I mean, having a BIOS with data recovery/driver storage would be epic. i wonder how far they'll go, and if we'll start seeing mobos with built in drivers etc, making windows installs easier.

at the moment it's ok. it currently has a drive backup program in it :cool:

. You can access the internet from it :eek:

. they are planning to add a internet browser to it.

the BIOS chip is 30mb(all the extra programs are on a disk that you need to put in to use them)

Mussels · Dec 13, 2008

James1991 said:
at the moment it's ok. it currently has a drive backup program in it. You can access the internet from it. they are planning to add a internet browser to it.

the BIOS chip is 30mb(all the extra programs are on a disk that you need to put in to use them)

well 30MB can include a SATA AHCI driver, a LAN driver and a web browser to update them for new OS's. i think its brilliant, and will save lots of hassle with future system installs.

James1991 · Dec 13, 2008

Mussels said:
well 30MB can include a SATA AHCI driver, a LAN driver and a web browser to update them for new OS's. i think its brilliant, and will save lots of hassle with future system installs.

yes it could quite easily include all that stuff. at the moment the BIOS file size is only 4mb. they have alot to add

currently when in the BIOS you can use a live update program to update the BIOS so they could probably integrate it into that to update the drivers.

mikek75 · Dec 13, 2008

Wow, what a nightmare that was..... Got it flashed alright, but the BIOS OC options didn't match the original BIOS. The memory divider that I normally use was missing, the CPU voltage options were too widely spread, it kept freezing on startup, just generally a scary experience. Managed eventually to use the inbuilt bios flash utility to go back to original. Nice idea and all that, but be warned, it ain't finished

kysg · Dec 13, 2008

What in the sam hill internet browser, geez making windows installs easier if anything it may as well oust windows if it's going to have all this extra stuff in it.

philbrown23 · Dec 13, 2008

this sounds awesome, I'll wait for asus to adopt it though because I dint much trust newer msi boards, anything P35 and back is ok but newer and they are a night mare.

mikek75 · Dec 13, 2008

Have to disagree with you there philbrown23, my MSI P45 Zilent (Platinum) is very good, I've managed an extra 200mhz stable over my DFI P35. Its very stable with a clear and powerful BIOS. The only problem I've had is with this EFI bios, which just doesn't feel finished.

James1991 · Dec 14, 2008

mikek75 said:
Have to disagree with you there philbrown23, my MSI P45 Zilent (Platinum) is very good, I've managed an extra 200mhz stable over my DFI P35. Its very stable with a clear and powerful BIOS. The only problem I've had is with this EFI bios, which just doesn't feel finished.

The EFI BIOS still has a long way to go. I also noticed the voltages being to far apart. you should have given it a shot overclocking with it. I can get alot more out of the EFI than i can with the normal BIOS.

hmmmm...... this thread makes me want to reflash it

EDIT:

mikek75 said:
The memory divider that I normally use was missing

Which memory divider isn't there. I didn't notice any missing :confused:

mikek75 · Dec 14, 2008

James1991 said:
EDIT: Which memory divider isn't there. I didn't notice any missing

The 1:1.25 wasn't there. Annoying cos I run my q6700 @3.2ghz, and that divider runs my PC6400 at stock 800mhz.

I would have played with it more but it kept stopping at the splash screen, could still ctrl alt del to restart but it would do the same thing over and over.

James1991 · Dec 14, 2008

mikek75 said:
The 1:1.25 wasn't there. Annoying cos I run my q6700 @3.2ghz, and that divider runs my PC6400 at stock 800mhz.

I would have played with it more but it kept stopping at the splash screen, could still ctrl alt del to restart but it would do the same thing over and over.

it takes a litle while to get it to go. there are a few options that you dont want to change(like disabling a piece of onboard hardware) or it does make it freeze. i thought 1:1.25 was there :confused:

. i am going to reflash it now so i can overclock higher(it sounds wierd but it's true). i will have a look in my v1.0B

mikek75 · Dec 14, 2008

Ah, yes I did disable the extra stuff I never use such as onboard audio, firewire, esata. Thanks for the tip!

Nope, definately wasn't there for me. I had 1:1.20 and 1:1.33, but my RAM is fussy and this wasn't good enough.

V1.0b? Is there another version then?

I did find it really slow to boot too..

James1991 · Dec 14, 2008

mikek75 said:
Ah, yes I did disable the extra stuff I never use such as onboard audio, firewire, esata. Thanks for the tip!

Nope, definately wasn't there for me. I had 1:1.20 and 1:1.33, but my RAM is fussy and this wasn't good enough.

V1.0b? Is there another version then?

I did find it really slow to boot too..

hmmmmm..........1:1.25 isn't in it. i thought it was :ohwell:

Yes, it's fairly slow to boot. if i disable anything including the floppy disk controller it freezes(it looks better so it's worth the wait).

v1.0b is a newer version that i got from MSI Support because i was having problems with 1.07

. v1.0b is dated 28th of october 2008. it is a 1.08 BETA or something(i think)

After you flashed it were you able to boot with more than 1 stick of RAM in the first time?

mikek75 · Dec 14, 2008

Aye, both sticks were in. Mmm, I might have to give MSI a shout and see if I can get that. I like the theory, they just need to work on the execution, LOL. Preferably before they release it!

I really thought I'd borked my board, gave me a right scare. Fortunately clearing the CMOS allowed me to get to the bios flash utilty and I was able to get the normal 1.4 bios back. Nice having that utility built in, just as well as when I tried to flash from my usb stick it said the bios was write protected, and I couldn't find that setting in the menus.

James1991 · Dec 14, 2008

mikek75 said:
Aye, both sticks were in. Mmm, I might have to give MSI a shout and see if I can get that. I like the theory, they just need to work on the execution, LOL. Preferably before they release it!

I really thought I'd borked my board, gave me a right scare. Fortunately clearing the CMOS allowed me to get to the bios flash utilty and I was able to get the normal 1.4 bios back. Nice having that utility built in, just as well as when I tried to flash from my usb stick it said the bios was write protected, and I couldn't find that setting in the menus.

mine will not boot with more than one stick in the first after clearing the CMOS :wtf:

http://ocss.msi.com.tw/
that is the site i used to contact them. if you want to you can PM me with an email address and i can just send it to you

(you will be waiting for a while to hear from MSI and they dont really like giving people access to their FTP server)

write protected :confused:

. there isn't an option in there so dont look too hard

. i flashed mine back with a usb stick and it didn't say it was write protected :cool:

.

Formula350 · Dec 15, 2008

hmmm 30mb BIOS, I don't think my board has that much room

At most I'm sure I only have 8mb (4mb main, 4mb backup). So I guess that rules EFI out for my dinosaur board!

EDIT: Damn, I hate being right heh. "2 X 4M bit flash ROM, Award BIOS"

thebeephaha · Dec 15, 2008

EFI is pretty neat. Thats what the new Intel Macs use. You can mod those for cool bootloaders and stuff. I can see EFI taking off pretty soon, will be nice to see them get modded too.

James1991 · Dec 15, 2008

thebeephaha said:
EFI is pretty neat. Thats what the new Intel Macs use. You can mod those for cool bootloaders and stuff. I can see EFI taking off pretty soon, will be nice to see them get modded too.

apperently it is designed so that it is easy to make your own BIOS(i cant remember where i read it). that would be sweet having a fully customized BIOS that is exactly how you want it :rockout:

Edit:

i was just looking at the other thread that has been closed and saw a few questions so i will answer them here.

the EFI BIOS that MSI is using IS an AMI BIOS

if you have the standard BIOS and flash to the EFI BIOS you you do not have to reinstall the operating system. After flashing the EFI, when you boot into windows(i am using vista x64) the only thing i noticed was it installed drivers for 6 PCI Express Root Ports, restart your computer and it works fine

mikek75 · Dec 15, 2008

One thing I've found is that it won't let me into my XP HDD! I selected it as the first boot drive (as it has the XP and Vista bootloader), but every time it would ignore it and boot from the Vista 64 HDD! Back to the old BIOS for me...

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

Processor	i7 2600
Motherboard	ASUS P8P67 EVO
Cooling	lots and lots of fans
Memory	8GB DDR3
Video Card(s)	2 x ATI(yes, ATI) Radeon 4850
Storage	lots of 500 gb drives
Display(s)	Acer P221W, LG L1732S, Samsung 32 inch HDTV
Case	big one
Audio Device(s)	onboard stuff
Power Supply	big one
Software	Windows Vista Ultimate x64
Benchmark Scores	boots into windows is that ok?

System Name	Sovereign // HTPC
Processor	i7 3770k 4.2 // i7 3770k 4.2
Motherboard	Maximus V Gene // Sabertooth Z77
Cooling	Noctua D14 // Intel HSF
Memory	16GB Samsung // 16GB VengeanceLP
Video Card(s)	Deciding // 660 DC2
Storage	OS (X25-M), Data (Seagate 1TB) // Samsung 840 120GB & bunch of drives
Display(s)	Samsung T240HD // LG TV
Case	TJ08e // Grandia GD08
Audio Device(s)	DT880 Pro 250 ohm // TV speakers
Power Supply	Seasonic Plat 1000 // Seasonic Gold 760
Software	Windows 8 Pro x64 // Windows 7 Pro x64

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	//////////////////////////////////////Crunching/Folding Builds\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Processor	Q8400@ 4.0Ghz \| Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz \| E7300 @ 3.8Ghz \| E5300 @ 4.3Ghz \| E5300 @ 3.9Ghz \| E2180 @ 2.0Ghz \|
Motherboard	ASUS P5Q-E \| Asus P5Q Pro \| Gigabyte EG45-DS2H \| Gigabyte EP35-DS3H \| Gigabyte NV73 \| E-Sonic P35-G
Cooling	TRUE [Lapped] \| TRUE \| Thermalright SI-128 \| Stock \| Stock \| Stock
Memory	G.Skill 8192MB @ 1066Mhz \| G.Skill 4096MB \| OCZ 2048MB \| G.Skill 2048MB \| PNY 2048MB \| OCZ 1024MB
Video Card(s)	GTX 280 + 8800 GTS 512 \| 9800 GX2 + 8800 GTS 512 \| 6600 GT \| 8800 GS \| 9600 GSO 512
Storage	G.Skill 64GB SSD (OS) \| Segate 750GB [Downloads] \| 5TB JBOD [Movies] \| 3TB JBOD [Else] \| 1.5TB [Ex]
Display(s)	QUAD Monitors: Dell 2007FP [20"] + Dell 3007WFP-HC [30"] + Dell 2007FP [20"] \| Dell 2407WFP-HC [24"]
Case	Antec P190 \| Antec Three-Hundred \| Antec NSK2400 \| Thermaltake Strike MX \| HEC 6T10 \| HEC 8K01
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI + [Audiophile HD600] + [Creative G500 + Logitech X-530 = 10 speakers]
Power Supply	OCZ 750w [62A] \| OCZ 750w [62A] \| Antec 380w [31A] \| Antec 650w [54A] \| OCZ 400w [33A] \| GeN [20A]
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit + Windows XP 64-bit \| Windows Vista SP2 64-bit \| Windows 7 RTM 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	////////////////////////////////66,666 [Crunching] + 45,455 [Folding]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

System Name	Rusky
Processor	Intel Core i7 D0 3.8Ghz
Motherboard	Asus P6T
Cooling	Thermaltake Dark Knight
Memory	12GB Patriot Viper's 1866mhz 9-9-9-24
Video Card(s)	GTX470 1280MB
Storage	OCZ Summit 60GB + Samsung 1TB + Samsung 2TB
Display(s)	Sharp Aquos L32X20E 1920 x 1080
Case	Silverstone Raven RV01
Power Supply	Corsair 650 Watt
Software	Windows 7 x64
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06 - 18064 http://img.techpowerup.org/090720/Capture002.jpg

System Name	As easy as falling off a lorry
Processor	Core I5 2500K auto tuned to 4.2ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P
Cooling	Corsair H80 sealed water cooler
Memory	16gb Gskill Ripjawz 1600mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6970 2GB
Storage	Corsair 120GB Force 3 SSD, OCZ 60 GB Agility 3 SSD, Seagate 500GB, 2x80gb Maxtors
Display(s)	DELL 2309w 23" Widescreen 1920x1080+ LG M2294D 22" 1680x1050 LCDtv/monitor
Case	Zalman Z9 Plus
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro
Power Supply	PC Power&Cooling 750w Silencer Quad PCIe
Software	Windows 7 x64 Home Premium

System Name	Workhorse lappy
Processor	AMD A6 3420
Memory	8GB DDR3 1066
Video Card(s)	ATI radeon 6520G
Storage	OCZ Vertex4 128GB SSD SATAIII
Display(s)	15inch LCD
Software	Windows 7 64bit

System Name	Dominator
Processor	INTEL C2Q Q6600 FTW!!
Motherboard	ASUS P5Q-E!!!
Cooling	TEC cooled cpu, everything else is under water :D
Memory	4GB CELL SHOCK D9GMH 1066MHZ/4GB CRUCIAL REDS
Video Card(s)	4850 (VT)/ 4850 IN CROSSFIRE!
Storage	western digital= 1X 250GB, 1X 500GB, IDE 160GB (BOOT DRIVE ONLY). SEAGATE FREE AGENT 500GB EHDD
Display(s)	viewsonic 19" hd widescreen
Case	ROCKETFISH FOR NOW :(
Audio Device(s)	ONBOARD WORKS JUST FINE FOR ME :p
Power Supply	ULTRA X3 1KW MODULAR
Software	win vista ultimate 64 TWEAKED!!!
Benchmark Scores	http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=434759 3dm06: http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm0

System Name	Firebird
Processor	Ryzen 7 1700X
Motherboard	MSI X370 Titanium
Cooling	Tt Water2.0 PRO (They use the same bracket as 3.0)
Memory	G.Skill TridentZ 2x8GB 3200 15-15-15-35 B-Die (@3333 ATM)
Video Card(s)	ASUS STRIX R9 390 8GB
Storage	Too many. Samsung 750GB, 120GB 850 EVO, Seagate 1TB, Toshiba 1TB, OCZ 32GB Cache Drive
Display(s)	Samsung 46" UN46D6050 1080P HDTV
Case	Home-made tech bench.
Audio Device(s)	ASUS Xonar Essence STX (I use HDMI though cry)
Power Supply	CWT PUC1000V-S 1000W, Abee Supremer (import) 1200W currently used as primary.
Mouse	Razer Copperhead (circa 2005)
Keyboard	Tt Challenger Pro (AVOID! Keys wear super fast)
Software	Win 10 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	Meh.

System Name	0BL1V10N
Processor	Intel Core i7 11700K @ 5.1GHz all-core turbo
Motherboard	ASRock Z590 Taichi
Cooling	Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 (with stock CM fans), 12x Pccooler Moonlight Series ARGB 120mm fans
Memory	(4x16GB) 64GB Mushkin Redline Lumina 3600MHz 16-19-19-39 XMP
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID 24G (not using stock fans) (+150MHz core, +1000MHz memory)
Storage	Western Digital Black SN850X 2TB Gen4 NVMe
Display(s)	1x Alienware AW3821DW (3840x1600@144Hz), 2x Dell SE2717H (1080p@75Hz)
Case	Phanteks Enthoo 719 Anthracite Grey
Audio Device(s)	Schiit Modius + Drop THX AAA 789 + Custom Planar Magnetic Headphones
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 1200W (12VHPWR)
Mouse	Logitech G502 X Plus
Keyboard	Too many custom mechanical builds to list...
Software	Windows 10 Pro 22H2

MSI's First EFI BIOS, More Now Available

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