How do I set up BIOS on my ASUS motherboard?

[Naten]

I'm almost done rebuilding an old desktop tower into a new, fast gaming PC, but I can't seem to figure out where to get ASUS' BIOS. I'm told support.asus.com is the place to go, but all there is that I can see there is a search feature for prebuilt computer models from them. So, where do I get the BIOS? I'd get bored of a computer that doesn't start in a few seconds.

Any help? Thanks,

-Naten.

[sjwt]

Most PC's are the same, use the Del key to enter bios early during boot.

[Faark]

If you want to download and install a BIOS for your mainboard: support.asus.com is absolutely the way to go. Just enter your mainboards actual name into the search bar, select it from the list and click download. Never had any problems with this page on my 2 previous boards. Also you shouldn't expect any major changes due to a bios update. A more recent version (every mainboard has a BasicInputOutputSystem pre-installed) most of the time only contains may compatibility fixes and other minor issues.

For configuring the BIOS settings you have to press some key, as mentioned by sjwt. Common ones are Del, F2, F10-F12. It should be shown somewhere on the screen anyway. Other buttons like TAB might have a function as well, e.g. for showing the text about what is going on instead of a startup logo.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Faark

[Kerbin Dallas Multipass]

If you have trouble finding out the name of your mainboard and you are running Windows you can take a look at CPU Z http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

See if the asus website finds something under that name.

[K^2]

Your motherboard already has BIOS installed, or it wouldn't boot at all. Updating BIOS might get you a few extra optimization features, but it wont make any significant difference to boot time.

If you want your computer to boot really fast, your best option is buying a solid state drive (SSD), setting it up as your master disk, and installing your operating system on it.

[Camacha]

If you want your computer to boot really fast, your best option is buying a solid state drive (SSD), setting it up as your master disk, and installing your operating system on it.

Be sure to enable AHCI if you do before you install Windows. Just be aware that buying the fastest SSD will be of little use, as a moderately fast one will give the same performance upgrade. Your computer simply is not capable of making the most use of modern SSD's. It should be a quite noticable upgrade nonetheless.

However, there is some room for improvement in the BIOS. Any and all devices that need to be enabled or checked cost a small amount of time, so to ensure the least time possible is spent in the BIOS, make sure to disable all unnecessary devices. Not going to use that IEEE 1394 port? Disable it. Don't really need that old HDD? Take it out. Got a discrete GPU? Disable the on-board completely. Stuff like that will add up. Not by minutes, but every second you can shave off is a profit every boot.