The BBC recently published an article regarding the emergence of the new Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) in 2011 as a replacement to the traditional BIOS. Many computer users questioned the validity of the article based on the claims that it would boost boot times and on previous claims that UEFI was simply not a stable system. After having experienced it personally, all I can say is that the future is here and the future looks bright.
Sure, boot times may not improve significantly since that is largely down to other factors, but UEFI is definitely a more flexible system than the now out dated BIOS. The key benefit for users is its OS like operation and intuitive GUI. UEFI also has support for mouse control and touch so its implication for multimedia is promising. Enthusiasts accustomed to BIOS will no doubt see this as a massive change and potentially dismiss the idea but the ASUS demonstrations settled our scepticism by showing us the BIOS like layout of the interface. UEFI will come standard with the entire range of ASUS P67 motherboards, marking an evolutionary step in PC usage.
Typically, the delete key opens BIOS on boot and that hasn’t changed. Instead of the regular daunting blue screen that generally strikes fear into the minds of newcomers, they will instead be greeted by a colourful OS like GUI filled with information, sliders and pictures, a drastic change if ever there was one. ASUS call this screen ‘EZ Mode’ and their motivation is clear. The CPU and motherboard details are listed at the top of the screen along with the time and language settings. Moving down are a set of bars indicating motherboard parameters such as temperatures, voltages and fan speed. Users also have the ability to configure their CPU performance from Power Saving, Normal to Extreme mode utilising the EPU+TPU micro-processors. Navigation has to be the biggest evolution here as you can see from the mouse cursor in the top right. That’s right, you can now use your beloved mouse in UEFI and not have to put up with the cumbersome task of pressing the arrow keys continuously!
Of course, EZ Mode is targeted to new users who merely want to quickly configure their PC. Going to Advanced mode, overclockers will be welcomed by a more familiar screen, albeit in a flashy disguise. Just as in BIOS, the main screen details the CPU, Motherboard and RAM information.
AI Tweaker hasn’t been discarded in UEFI and still presents users with the same vast number of options that can be configured, be it clock speed, voltages or DRAM timings. The main difference is that the GUI is more user friendly and also much more responsive than BIOS. Another unique aspect of UEFI is the ability for users to take screenshots of their settings by pressing F12 so they can share them more easily with the community. It also proves invaluable to reviewers like ourselves who are generally useless at taking photos of the BIOS screen.
The options in the Advanced menu remains the same so accustomed users will be very familiar with the layout traditionally employed on the AMI BIOS.
The Monitor tab lists a number of options which can be altered such as fan speed, and also displays various temperatures and fan speeds.
Finally, the functionality to save profiles has been retained so overclockers can rejoice (Overclocking on the P67 platform hmmm).
ASUS will not be the only ones employing UEFI into their motherboards based on early reports so it will be interesting to see how competing solutions differ.
