[SOLVED] Long BIOS load times

[pcgamer_4123]

Motherboard: ASRock Phantom Gaming 6
CPU: 9700k
Storage: 1 x Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe 500GB + 1 x Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
RAM: 2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 CL15

Hi all,

Recently, I have been experiencing very long BIOS load times (the time it takes for the BIOS to hand over to Windows).

From a cold boot after the system has been shut down overnight, it takes as long as 63 seconds.

However, any reboots further throughout the day and it's back to normal at around 9-10 seconds.

This seems to have started once I enabled Secure Boot and the TPM built into the CPU. Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?

Edit: BIOS is flashed to the latest version.

Thanks.

 

[Lutfij]

For the sake of relevance, can you mention the BIOS version at the time of writing? What OS are you working with? As for your SSD, have you checked using Samsung's Magician app to see if the SSD is pending any firmware updates?

 

[pcgamer_4123]

Thanks Lutfij, I was not aware of the Samsung Magician app. I have installed it and of course, there is a firmware update for the 970 EVO. I was also not aware that Samsung provided dedicated NVMe drivers for the 970. I have updated both and will check if boot time changes tomorrow. Thanks!

• OS is Windows 10 21H1
• BIOS is v4.30

 

[Lutfij]

When installing the NVMe drivers(or any drivers for that matter), install them in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator. Speaking of drivers, reinstall your chipset driver as well. You should be able to find the latest version off of Intel's site.

 

[geofelt]

Activating TPM invokes added checking of your components to reduce the possibility of virus infections.
I would expect it to take added time.

As a solution, why not just use sleep to ram(no hibernate)
That will put your pc and monitor into a low power state, essentially like a full power off.
sleep/wake will then be in the 5 second range.

 

[pcgamer_4123]

Thanks Luftij - it turned out to be the chipset drivers. I thought I had the correct ones installed (just grabbed the latest version of Intel Management Engine) but instead got the ones specific to my chipset here. Startup times are now back to normal ~10-12 seconds and shutdowns are much faster as well. Marked as solved, thanks!

@geofelt Yes, I had been using that as an interim solution throughout the day, thanks for the suggestion.