Calling all 8gb+ users, Slow boot during post

provoko

Gawd
Joined
Aug 6, 2004
Messages
656
Anyone else experiencing a slow post? When I say post I mean before you see the post screen and not after. The only fix I have is going back to 2-4gb of memory.

I've tried disabling everything in bios, yet I still get a slow post. It's such a huge difference too. From 4gb to 8gb, it's not even double, it's like quadruple the time difference.

Please post only if you have 8gb or more and experiencing slow post or you have a fix.

Lets get to the bottom of this.
 
I have seen this on many server/workstation boards in the past and it never went away even with bios updates. I have seen 30 to 60 second times before any text appears on the screen. I have not looked very hard on solving this because these machines are generally not rebooted often however.
 
I've been running 8g for something like 2 years (give or take) and do not notice this. Post is about 5-10 seconds from hitting the switch to text. There is another slight (2-3 second) pause during the memory part of the BIOS screen. Honestly I getting a bigger slow down from the Intel Matrix RAID than anything else.
 
I've been running 8g for something like 2 years (give or take) and do not notice this. Post is about 5-10 seconds from hitting the switch to text. There is another slight (2-3 second) pause during the memory part of the BIOS screen. Honestly I getting a bigger slow down from the Intel Matrix RAID than anything else.

What are your specs: Cpu, motherboard, ram speed?
 
E8400 @ 3.6g (400x9), Asus P5Q Pro (Bios 0506), G.Skill DDR2/800 (@800) 5/5/5/15/2T (it'll run at 4/4/4/12, but I don't want to push it past 1.8v) [F2-6400CL4]; 8800gt @ stock, 8600gts @ stock. Windows 7 RC1.
 
I do not have this on my 8GB i7 860 system with a msi 7613 motherboard at work. This is on a hp 150f system. I would not recommend this as the bios is completely locked, power supply is puny (350W) and is only 1 pci-e slot that is greater than 1x pci-e. On top of that the onboard video is locked off even though the motherboard has a header. I also do not have that on my old desktop at work. ASUS M2N + Athlon X2 5600 + 8 GB of Corsiar XMX2.
 
I see this, but not 100% of the time. Before I saw this, I thought maybe it had something to do with my overclock. I have an ASUS board as well (P7P55D with i7 860 @ 3.5 and 1.21v) so that may be the common element. I'm using the stock BIOS.

Like I said, sometimes it POSTs fine. I don't reboot that often though. When it happens, it will stay on the initial logo screen for ~30 seconds.
 
I see this, but not 100% of the time. Before I saw this, I thought maybe it had something to do with my overclock. I have an ASUS board as well (P7P55D with i7 860 @ 3.5 and 1.21v) so that may be the common element. I'm using the stock BIOS.

Like I said, sometimes it POSTs fine. I don't reboot that often though. When it happens, it will stay on the initial logo screen for ~30 seconds.

So maybe the P7P55D and P7P55D-E are the problem.
 
I have 12GB and it only takes 3-4 seconds to POST (ASSuming I get all my memory... other story)

Some of the servers at work will take quite a while to get past the memory check, but they also use ECC and do full checks at boot. Most are HPs, some Dells, some Suns.
 
What do your timings look like? Could you post up a SS of CPU-Z with Main, Memory, and motherboard tabs open.
 
I have 8 gigs, but do not experience this problem. Is your bios up to date? It could have been a known problem that was patched by an update.

Is your ram running at its rated voltage? Maybe your NB needs a voltage boost to compensate for 4 dimms? I'm leaning more towards a bios issue.
 
I have seen this on many server/workstation boards in the past and it never went away even with bios updates. I have seen 30 to 60 second times before any text appears on the screen. I have not looked very hard on solving this because these machines are generally not rebooted often however.

Me too, server boards did this all the time.

I run 8gb (on a desktop board) and do not notice anything too outrageous. I'll try to reboot when I get home with only a 4gb stick in and see if its faster, and report back.
 
Is is possible that some option in your bios is set to do a FULL post (with full memory check) at boot? As opposed to quickboot/quickpost (will be worded different in each bios)?
 
Speaking of 8 GB is it worth it over 4 for gaming on Win 7? I find it hard to believe it will make any difference.
 
Speaking of 8 GB is it worth it over 4 for gaming on Win 7? I find it hard to believe it will make any difference.

For gaming? Probably not.

For my uses (programming, browsing, folding, work), it's nice. I think it's worth it to be able to run and keep open 20+ tabs in firefox along with a VM, Eclipse, a tomcat server, thunderbird, and the kitchen sink. Who needs a fast SSD for load times when you can just keep all your most frequently used apps running 24/7...
 
I have 8 gigs, but do not experience this problem. Is your bios up to date? It could have been a known problem that was patched by an update.

Is your ram running at its rated voltage? Maybe your NB needs a voltage boost to compensate for 4 dimms? I'm leaning more towards a bios issue.

From cpu-z:
ram.png
ram2.png


Official site:
http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=222

I can go from 16 seconds to 13 seconds if I OC my ram to 1600mhz....
 
Last edited:
I noticed no difference on my computer when I pulled out a 4gb, and left the other 4gb stick in. Mine also goes through POST in a matter of a second or so.
 
My old Intel 965 board had extremely slow boot times after a RAM upgrade from 2GB to 6GB. Like 5-7 minutes to desktop.

Turns out the problem was the combo of 64-bit addressing (Vista 64) and > 2GB of RAM.

Some googling found there was a BIOS issue. Folks were rolling back to an earlier BIOS for a while, apparently. Th Intel folks had just rolled out a newer BIO that re-fixed it. Updated and it cleared right up.
 
Last edited:
My ip35 Pro has 8GB in it, and the slowest thing is usually Windows itself. Followed by the POST screen, but we're taking 5 second POST versus 45 second Windows load here.
 
Back
Top