Need help Optimizing my BIOS settings - MSI K9A2 Platinum - Overclock.net

woody86 · 07-12-09

Ok, well I feel that my BIOS is lacking as I haven't much of an idea on how to set it up properly, and I was hoping someone more experienced with tweaking BIOS and this motherboard in general can help me out here. My Vista Home Premium install seems to take FOREVER to load, and is really laggy once it does boot. I'm hoping with some BIOS tweaks I can decrease my boot time, as well as take some of the lag out of Windows.

I already have the BIOS setup to only boot from the HD, so there is no delay in it trying other devices first, however, my boot times are still astronomical. When my computer first boots there is a long delay between the time the BIOS post ends, and the Windows loading screen appears. Then when the loading screen does come up, it takes 12-15 full sweeps across the little loading bar until the loading screen goes away. Then it'll have another lag before it automatically logs me in to the system. Once the computer is booted up, I still get a lot of lag in the system. Opening menus has a noticable delay, and when I right-click on the desktop there is usually about a 10 second lag while the 'busy' mouse icon appears, before the menu will pop up. Also, popup notifications make the system lag noticeably. I don't have any programs that start up with the system - that includes no Anti-virus software or 3rd party firewalls.

My system:
-MSI K9A2 Platinum V. 1 - Upgraded to newest BIOS for Phenom II support
- Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition. Only overclocked to 3.2Ghz, voltage set to 'Auto' in BIOS, Runs very stable 24/7 @ 100% usage
- 2x1GB OCZ Platinum DDR2 800mhz RAM - I hear this is rated to run between 1.8-2.2v, but when I set it to 2.0v in BIOS, it still doesn't come up as 2.0v in Everest or CPU-z
-Dual 9800GX2's - not running in SLI. Latest GeForce Drivers. Dummy plugs on DVI outputs to make them active for F@H.
- WD 500GB Cavar Blue - Windows is only thing on disc, but partition only takes up 100GB, rest is unpartitioned
-Nothing else is hooked up to the rig besides a PS/2 keyboard, a USB mouse, LAN ethernet cable, and my monitor

I'm open to any and all suggestions you guys may have! Anything I can disable in the BIOS, or any settings I should keep on... Any advice or tips are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

woody

woody86 · 07-13-09

Nobody has any ideas on this??

shadow_419 · 07-17-09

Bios tweaks wont help you. what you need is either a re-install or to use msconfig - starup tab to reduce the number of background applications that load up when you boot. Things like aim, itunes, quicktime, ect. Non essential services that load up when you boot can make boot times extremely slow. The best solution is a re-install, but if that's not an option for you the look through the list and any apps that you recognize that don't need to start when you boot you should disable by unchecking. Do not, I repeat, do not disable any services or apps you do not recognize as these may be essential start up services.

woody86 · 07-17-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadow_419

Bios tweaks wont help you. what you need is either a re-install or to use msconfig - starup tab to reduce the number of background applications that load up when you boot. Things like aim, itunes, quicktime, ect. Non essential services that load up when you boot can make boot times extremely slow. The best solution is a re-install, but if that's not an option for you the look through the list and any apps that you recognize that don't need to start when you boot you should disable by unchecking. Do not, I repeat, do not disable any services or apps you do not recognize as these may be essential start up services.

That's what I thought at first too. However, it was this slow directly after my last clean install, I don't have anything that starts automatically (not even AV), I keep the computer decluttered and defragmented, and I've tweaked my services with the help of Black Viper, but nothing seems to help in any way. I've run memory tests, HDTune, and anything else I can find, and nothing comes out slower than it should. I'm using all of the latest BIOS and drivers for everything. And the Windows 'Performance' program thing, ranks all the aspects at 5.9, so I'm really confused by this

LoneWolf3574 · 07-17-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by woody86

That's what I thought at first too. However, it was this slow directly after my last clean install, I don't have anything that starts automatically (not even AV), I keep the computer decluttered and defragmented, and I've tweaked my services with the help of Black Viper, but nothing seems to help in any way. I've run memory tests, HDTune, and anything else I can find, and nothing comes out slower than it should. I'm using all of the latest BIOS and drivers for everything. And the Windows 'Performance' program thing, ranks all the aspects at 5.9, so I'm really confused by this

Have you made sure you have quick boot enabled? Other than that, clearing the CMOS, or reflashing, I've got no other BIOS ideas.

woody86 · 07-17-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneWolf3574

Have you made sure you have quick boot enabled? Other than that, clearing the CMOS, or reflashing, I've got no other BIOS ideas.

I do have Quick Boot enabled. I tried it with QB disabled, and it really wasn't that much longer, just displayed some info towards the end of post. I recently had to clear the CMOS, but it didn't help at all. I had to go back in and set the proper timings for my RAM. Speaking of which, if the timings on your RAM are off a little bit, would that make enough of a lag on the system to cause something like this? Even though Vista rates my memory as 5.9?? I did have to upgrade my BIOS when I first got it so it would play nicely with my Phenom II, but everything seemed to go fine, so I'm not sure how much of a chance there is that I messed that up?

woody86 · 07-17-09

Ok, I re-flashed the BIOS with the latest version, just to make sure nothing got messed up the first time. Still same issues. Tried it with everything set to default, and then tried it with all my BIOS 'tweaks' and the BIOS boots quicker than default, but Windows still load horribly slow

I'm not understanding what's going on here. Like I said, even with unnecessary services disabled, and no programs starting at boot, it still takes forever. Are there any boot tools I can use to record an entire bootup and see what is taking so much time?

woody86 · 07-17-09

Also, I just reinstalled all the drivers I could find for the mobo. Would this have an effect on the system if I didn't have them installed from the start? I'm not sure if I did or not, but even after making sure everything is up to date now, the system is still slow. I decided to time the bootup, and from pushing the power button until the desktop appears, it takes 1 minute 25 seconds

The delay between when I right-click on the desktop, and until the menu pops up is ~15 seconds.

R00ST3R · 07-17-09

Need a faster HDD. My load time is way faster since I got this velociraptor.

woody86 · 07-17-09

Well yeah, that would make it quicker, but my current HD is rated 5.9 by Vista, and when I ran HDTune on it, it came out pretty quick, so I don't think that's the issue here. My laptop with a 1.7MHz Celeron M, 2GB of RAM, and some crappy 80GB HD feels MUCH quicker than my sig rig.

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Need help Optimizing my BIOS settings - MSI K9A2 Platinum

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