Audio PC boot time (AMD Ryzen 5950X, Wind 10)

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Had a custom built PC by audio specialists last year. High spec system:

AMD Ryzen 5950X CPU
ASRock Taichi X570 board with Thunderbolt
64GB RAM
3 TB M.2 storage
ASUS Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU

I noticed the other day that it seems to take longer than it used to for boot up. I've never timed it before so hardly a scientific appraisal but from power on to Windows login takes 54 seconds. Most of that time is spent with the ASRock logo & a 'spinning wheel' which apparently is Windows booting up (this bit is around 30 secs).

I'm sure it used to be quicker...

I'm not an audio pro so I use it for other stuff too but aside from music stuff (Cubase 11 Pro, MOTU 2 interface, couple of MIDI controllers & various plugins) there's not much else on there apart from antivirus software (Bitdefender).

The only thing that's changed recently is I updated Windows 10 to 21H2 a week ago.

I've tried uninstalling antivirus software, disconnected interface & keyboards, ran diagnostics (RAM, storage etc.) & disabled all startup processes, all tests fine & no change. I even booted in Safe Mode (& also a 'clean boot') but again no change.

The Task Manager says BIOS startup time is 20 secs. Internet searches reveal that PCs with SSD's (mine is M.2 so very fast SSD!) can boot up in 9-10 secs so I'm wondering if something isn't right.

I've spoken to tech support (part of package) & they say it sounds OK because all PCs vary & actually high spec PCs can sometimes take longer than lower spec machines due to extra motherboard, GPU processes etc.

They also say that since it performs as expected when running (e.g. no freezes, BSOD, performance issues etc). then if anything it's a software issue.

Their advice if it really bothers me is to sequentially uninstall everything or do a complete Windows reinstall.

Perhaps I'm imagining it but I'm sure it used to be quicker. As a comparison, my 5-year-old DELL XPS 13 laptop takes under 40 secs from power on to Windows login.

Hence I'm curious what others experience with PC boot time. For info, the 54 secs I mention is broken down as follows:

- 11 secs from power on to motherboard logo (ASRock appearing)
- 13 secs until 'spinning wheel' appears
- 30 secs until Windows login screen appears

Many thanks!

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FJ5 wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:05 pm

- 11 secs from power on to motherboard logo (ASRock appearing)
- 13 secs until 'spinning wheel' appears
- 30 secs until Windows login screen appears

Many thanks!
Is this from a cold start or a reboot?

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My Sony Vaio laptop from 2010 that i fitted an SSD back in early 2011 still cold starts completely within 20s from hitting the button until the windows GUI is finished loading an ready for use.
Haven't even tweaked much.
Not sure how it's usually handled on PC as i rarely buy new systems but that laptop has the BIOS startup / checkup disabled and goes straight into booting Windows.

In general though, things that most commonly slow down your systems are:
- much installed software. Even if uninstalled they usually leave a hefty mess inside your registry which will after dozens and dozens of programs significantly slow down boot up times
- full hard drives
- malware

of course there might be some faulty sectors on your HD aswell
Last edited by FapFilter on Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The GAS is always greener on the other side!

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Thanks for that. As mentioned it's pretty new & nothing really on there aside from music stuff. I also avoid installing/reinstalling stuff (I use my laptop to test stuff!).

Of the 3TB, 1.5TB remaining so that shouldn't be an issue.

Actually I don't think either of my PCs have booted within 20 secs!

Good tip RE: BIOS check though, will have a look...

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Scotty wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:21 pm
FJ5 wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:05 pm

- 11 secs from power on to motherboard logo (ASRock appearing)
- 13 secs until 'spinning wheel' appears
- 30 secs until Windows login screen appears

Many thanks!
Is this from a cold start or a reboot?
Hey, that's from a cold start, i.e. from pushing the physical power button.

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I also forgot to mention that i'm still on Win 7.
Later versions have even way improved boot up times.
I think it was mentioned when 8 (or 10, i forgot) came out that 7-8s boot up times were easily achievable on an SSD, so your times indeed sound pretty long, especially regarding how new and powerful your system is
The GAS is always greener on the other side!

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FapFilter wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:42 pm I also forgot to mention that i'm still on Win 7.
Later versions have even way improved boot up times.
I think it was mentioned when 8 (or 10, i forgot) came out that 7-8s boot up times were easily achievable on an SSD, so your times indeed sound pretty long, especially regarding how new and powerful your system is
Yeah I think so. More detective work required! Doesn't seem hardware related though as I assume there would be other issues...

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After some Windows update the boot can take more time.

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If the slow boot time is consistent...

See if it boots any faster if you unplug your non essential USB devices...like the midi controllers and such.

If not, then you could try to disable CSM support In BIOS and see if it will boot, and if so if it's faster....
I'm not familair with the AsRock BIOS but I suspect the CSM setting is on the BOOT tab...

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Do you keep any files/folders on the desktop

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Kr3eM wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 4:56 pm If the slow boot time is consistent...

See if it boots any faster if you unplug your non essential USB devices...like the midi controllers and such.

If not, then you could try to disable CSM support In BIOS and see if it will boot, and if so if it's faster....
I'm not familair with the AsRock BIOS but I suspect the CSM setting is on the BOOT tab...
Ta for that. I disconnected all USB stuff, no change.

No expert on BIOS! ASRock support have said my time isn't unusual given the onboard functionality (M.2, RAM etc.) as it takes longer to detect/test on power up. They've suggested a BIOS update that has improved bootup time but then I'd lose all the optimised settings by the supplier (Scan Computers Pro-Audio who optimised it for audio). Scan don't recommend BIOS update unless critically required although have said that if I wanted to they would walk me through it & help re-install all of the audio settings.

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FrettedSynth wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:44 pm Do you keep any files/folders on the desktop
Nope, nothing apart from a shortcut to my OneDrive folder.

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Check BIOS for boot timers, start with "Show boot logo = OFF" so you can see exactly what is taking time during boot.

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FJ5 wrote: Tue Feb 01, 2022 2:25 pm No expert on BIOS! ASRock support have said my time isn't unusual given the onboard functionality (M.2, RAM etc.) as it takes longer to detect/test on power up. They've suggested a BIOS update that has improved bootup time but then I'd lose all the optimised settings by the supplier (Scan Computers Pro-Audio who optimised it for audio). Scan don't recommend BIOS update unless critically required although have said that if I wanted to they would walk me through it & help re-install all of the audio settings.
Fair enuff, also agree with Scan on the subject.

However, I suggest you learn the basics of a BIOS to at least be able to save your BIOS settings to an USB stick in case something happens....or if you actually need to update your BIOS in the future.

There is a function in the BIOS to save settings to profiles as well as save active settings/profile to a USB stick which you can have as a backup and load in case of a BIOS reset, which can happen for various reasons besides an BIOS update. Perhaps not that common but not unheard of...and eventually the battery will run out ;)

(not sure if the stick need to be a FAT32 and/or a USB 2.0...perhaps that is not a thing these days)
Image
Manual wrote:Save User Default
Type a profile name and press enter to save your settings as user default.

Load User Default
Load previously saved user defaults.

Save User UEFI Setup Profile to Disk
Save current UEFI settings as an user default profile to disk.

Load User UEFI Setup Profile to Disk
Load previously saved user defaults from the disk


The CSM (Compatibility Support Module) setting is under the Boot tab if you want to check, perhaps it's already Disabled.

And as cnt said above.... it's on the same tab as CSM

Image

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Kr3eM wrote: Tue Feb 01, 2022 5:33 pm
Thanks for all this everyone (good BIOS info Kr3eM, thanks!).

I heard back from ASRock who suggested the BIOS startup time (as per Task manager) was slower than they thought it should be. They did their own test on a similar spec'd system & said the BIOS startup time was around 11 seconds (so nearly half mine!).

So in consultation with Scan, I changed the BIOS profile settings from the Scan one to default - this then led to a BIOS startup time of... 11 seconds!

So it seems there is something in the Scan profile that means slower boot time - I'm waiting to hear back as to what the profile actually is. Apparently it optimises the PC for audio.

Windows (as expected) still takes the same time to boot (around 30 seconds) but I appreciate this is a bit needle-in-a-haystack to speed this up as various software applications (& combinations of!) can affect this. I see on another thread that one user cut the Windows boot time massively by simply changing DAW!

Anyway, my main concern was a possible hardware fault but since I've managed to reproduce ASRock's test then I'm happy all appears to be OK.

Thanks for the inputs guys...! :tu:

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