UEFI question

Tommy Boy

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Hi, I've been out of computers for quite a bit now since I have had my laptop (6 or 7 years), and I haven't built one in longer than that.

I have a question about UEFI. Is it just the motherboard that uses UEFI or does all the associated hardware use it as well? In other words, if I get an older motherboard with the old BIOS, can I install modern hardware with it? Like video cards, SSD ETc. I want to have Windows 7 on it.

My plan is to but an XPS 8700 or something similar with that comes with windows 7 and then install an SSD and install my retail copy ofWindows 7 Pro.

Wanting to know if the newest hardware will work with the older BIOS. Thanks.
 
As long as the motherboard uses the same standards (PCI-E, SATA etc) you should be fine, it's 99% always backwards compatible

UEFI BIOS is more of a convenience thing than anything else, it's still the same old BIOS except it's visual and you can use a mouse :lol: that and it allows remote administration (like MBEX). the UEFI alliance or whatever they are called generally ensure backwards compatibility. Most modern graphics cards just have a regular old fashioned BIOS (sometimes dual BIOS), and SATA is still a universally compatible interface
 
I love my graphical bios.

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This is not your standard bios. Intel went all out with this one. This is a tweaker's paradise.

As for using modern gear on an older board, be careful how far back you go with the age of the board. If you have sata III drives and plug them in to a board that only supports sata I or II, they don't run as fast as they're rated. It's a waste IMHO. Also watch out for the PCI-e specs. You may not get all 16 lanes in older boards so graphics cards suffer.

Stuff will work just not as well as they would on a modern board. If cost is a deciding factor check out the Intel boards. I have a DZ77GA-70K. The bang for the buck ratio is excellent.
 
This is what I found:

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a standard firmware interface for PCs, designed to replace BIOS (basic input/output system). This standard was created by over 140 technology companies as part of the UEFI consortium, including Microsoft.

That puts a new spin on things. How backward compatible can it be?
 
Thanks for the replies everyone.
I agree with the comment above about "how backwards compatible can it be?" Seeing as how UEFI doesn't work with Windows 7 which isn't all that old if you think about it.....I guess it is possible to install Windows 7 on a UEFI based computer but I heard it causes as many problems as it solves....

The PC I am looking at has pretty good hardware in it, the only thing I plan to add is an SSD so I guess that is all I'm worried about at this time. I'm not a gamer so no plans to upgrade the video card.
Here is what I am looking at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-X8700-63...4&sr=1-8&keywords=dell+desktop+with+windows+7

And this SSD:
Amazon.com: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM): Computers & Accessories
 
When I installed Win 7 in my system I chose IDE instead of UEFI in the BIOS. I'm supposed to take some performance hit this way but it's been rock solid.
 
When I installed Win 7 in my system I chose IDE instead of UEFI in the BIOS. I'm supposed to take some performance hit this way but it's been rock solid.

I think you're confusing ACHI with UEFI :p

But damn son, IDE is a performance killer...


Either way, the PC you're looking at there will have the usual locked-down Dell BIOS with very few real options aside from tweaking things like Hyper-V (if it has it), hyperthreading and turbo boost and other not particularly interesting gubbins.

That's a haswell i5 in that PC you linked anyway, which until august is the current generation :) meaning the board must have a compatible chipset and BIOS
 
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