Because I'm mainly an Intel person, I have questions about BIOS settings on AMD systems

Almost all of my systems are Intel CPU based systems. It's not because I have anything against AMD at all, it just worked out that way and it's what I am familiar with.

Amazon delivered a new Mini PC to me today, at 4:30 AM no less, and this system uses an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U CPU. It is my second Mini PC with a Ryzen CPU. Both of these Mini PCs have some BIOS related differences from all of my Intel based systems, so I simply wanted to find out if this is typical for all AMD mobile CPU based systems, or even desktop CPU systems.

1) Every one of my Intel based PCs have multiple hotkeys that perform different functions when the system is booting / posting. As an example, on one of my systems, if I keep tapping DEL during POST, that will take me into the BIOS setup. However, if I keep tapping F8 instead, this will bring up a boot menu. From that menu I can select what device to boot from or I can choose an option that will take me into the BIOS setup. On my AMD based systems, there appears to be no hotkey to bring up a menu. If I want to boot from an alternate device, such as a USB Flash Drive, I need to go into the BIOS setup and choose an alternate device to boot from there. Is that typical in AMD based systems?

2) I have a ridiculously fast USB Flash Drive. When I attached it to this system, I was only able to read data from the flash drive at a rate of about 40 MB/s. This is insanely slow for this drive. Since this is a brand new, fresh out of the box factory installation of Windows 11, I thought it not too likely to be a problem a Windows so I went right into the BIOS to explore. In the BIOS I found this:

Advanced > USB Configuration > Mass Storage Devices > <My USB Flash Drive>

For that drive, I can select any of these options:

Auto
Floppy
Forced FDD
Hard Disk
CD-ROM

The default setting was set to Auto. For grins, I set this to Hard Disk, saved my settings, and then rebooted. Now my performance is back to normal (well in excess of 800 MB/s). That is not an error - it is over 800 megabytes, not megabits per second. Huge difference vs 40 MB/s.

Is this normal behavior for AMD based systems, or at least AMD Mobile CPU based systems?

I'm very happy that I homed in on the second issue so fast, basically the very first thing I tried, but this is something that could have easily taken hours to stumble upon for many persons, if they ever figure it out at all.

hsehestedt said:

Almost all of my systems are

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1. Every motherboard manufacturer uses their own key to bring up the boot menu. Below is a list of the Boot menu keys and the BIOS keys. If your MiniPC isn't on the list, you'll need to find that info in the manual, or from the manufacturer.







2. @Ed Tittel knows about USB stick/port speeds, etc. This thread of mine, may help.
He was explaining the way it worked, to me.

Is there any reason that you didn't post the make/model of the mini PC?

Things like hotkeys are determined by the PC maker.

40MB/s is within the nominal range for USB 2.0 (480Mb/s, or 60 MB/s.)

Thanks for the responses.

This particular PC is an AOC "Powered by Acemagic" model AM16 with the Ryzen 7 5700U CPU. I have 7 Mini PCs from this company. 5 of them are Intel and 2 are AMD. All 7 use AMI BIOS. All 7 are current models made within the past 2 years or so. Both AMD models seem to have no boot menu while every Intel system does.

I'm going to post on their forum, but I was just curious whether this is the norm for other AMD based systems which is why I posted my question here.

hsehestedt said:

but I was just curious whether this is the norm for other AMD based systems

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In most cases the BIOS chip is soldered to the motherboard.
So... the motherboard manufacturer, buys a generic BIOS from say... AMI, then adds their final touches to it.

A BIOS chip is just an EPROM, (erasable programmable read-only memory), chip.
The sell little devices that allow someone that knows how... to program these chips.

This is how/why different motherboard manufacturers have, for example, different "tabs" in the BIOS.
There will be different things in different orders, on those tabs.


Long story short... only the motherboard manufacturer knows what F-key will bring up the Boot Menu.
For the common laptops and motherboards... there will be a list of those F-keys, like I posted above.

For uncommon motherboards, you'll need to check the manual or call the manufacturer.




Here's the common motherboards from the pic up above.
It doesn't matter if the CPU is Intel or AMD...






I have an ASUS mobo, with an AMD CPU. My Boot Menu is the F8 key.

This is my Boot Menu...

bobkn said:

40MB/s is within the nominal range for USB 2.0 (480Mb/s, or 60 MB/s.)

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As noted, once I made the change in the BIOS, I was getting sustained read speeds well OVER 800 MB/s so I assure you that I was not using a USB 2 port. I do some stupid things, but I'm not quite at the level of ignorance that I would mistakenly use a USB 2 port

I should point out one other thing...

That option in the BIOS for Mass Storage Devices shows up in the BIOS only when a mass storage device is actually connected. That entire section actually disappears and reappears on the fly when you unplug / plug in a storage device. In other words, if I had gone into the BIOS looking for settings but I didn't have the thumb drive connected then I would never have even seen this setting.

Ghot said:

In most cases the BIOS chip is soldered to the motherboard.
So... the motherboard manufacturer, buys a generic BIOS from say... AMI, then adds their final touches to it.

A BIOS chip is just an EPROM, (erasable programmable read-only memory), chip.
The sell little devices that allow someone that knows how... to program these chips.

This is how/why different motherboard manufacturers have, for example, different "tabs" in the BIOS.
There will be different things in different orders, on those tabs.


Long story short... only the motherboard manufacturer knows what F-key will bring up the Boot Menu.
For the common laptops and motherboards... there will be a list of those F-keys, like I posted above.

For uncommon motherboards, you'll need to check the manual or call the manufacturer.




Here's the common motherboards from the pic up above.
It doesn't matter if the CPU is Intel or AMD...

View attachment 97049




I have an ASUS mobo, with an AMD CPU. My Boot Menu is the F8 key.

Click to expand...

Well, you have answered my question. Apparently this is NOT the norm for AMD based systems.

I thank you!

hsehestedt said:

Well, you have answered my question.

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Yep.

It's based on the motherboard (the BIOS chip), not the CPU.


This is my motherboard (AMD CPU), and the 8 pin BIOS chip is shown in the RED box (right above the battery)...
When I hit the F8 key, the BIOS chip "hears" that and then brings up the Boot Menu.
If I hit the DEL key, that same chip, opens the BIOS.

Ghot said:

@Ed Tittel knows about USB stick/port speeds, etc. This thread of mine, may help.
He was explaining the way it worked, to me.

Fast little USB thumb drive. - Windows 10 Help Forums

Just got one of these. It arrived today. Macrium Reflect accepts it as a place to save a backup. My backups are about 16GB, so I tested it's speed at defaults and for 16GB sized files. Pretty fast.

www.tenforums.com

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Thanks, Ghot. My personal preference is the "PNY 1TB Pro Elite V2". First, it is WAY less expensive. At the time of purchase, I got this for $89 (vs $279 for the Corsair) and on top of that this drive is significantly faster than the Corsair. As an added bonus it looks better, and I don't have to deal with a cap like on the Corsair.

The PNY is also seen by the system as a full SSD. It even supports TRIM

The PNY is spec'ed at 500 MB/s write and 600 MB/s read but a lot of people report that they actually get faster speeds. Clearly, I am one of them since I am getting over 800 MB/s reads (sustained) now.

hsehestedt said:

the "PNY 1TB Pro Elite V2"

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Yes, but mine has a titanium case and a little blue activity light.
Currently the Corsair GTX 1TB is $289



Pics or it didn't happen... LOL

Ghot said:

t's based on the motherboard (the BIOS chip), not the CPU.

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Thanks. That's why I asked, because I simply had no idea. But you have educated me now. Mission accomplished!

Ghot said:

Yes, but mine has a titanium case and a little blue activity light.

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The PNY is also metal (don't know if Titanium) but I admit I have no activity light on the PNY. It's the one thing that is missing.

BTW, I made a mistake. The 1 TB Corsair is not $279. It is $297. Ouch.

Don't have thumb drive with me now, otherwise I would whip up a screenshot. Will have to do that later.

hsehestedt said:

The PNY is also metal (don't know if Titanium) but I admit I have no activity light on the PNY. It's the one thing that is missing.

BTW, I made a mistake. The 1 TB Corsair is not $279. It is $297. Ouch.

Don't have thumb drive with me now, otherwise I would whip up a screenshot. Will have to do that later.

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I'm just messing with you.


I guess it's not titanium... [Premium rugged zinc-alloy housing with aluminum accents]
It's sure heavy though. I bet a Ninja could kill someone with it.

hsehestedt said:

As noted, once I made the change in the BIOS, I was getting sustained read speeds well OVER 800 MB/s so I assure you that I was not using a USB 2 port. I do some stupid things, but I'm not quite at the level of ignorance that I would mistakenly use a USB 2 port

(snip)

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The USB 2.0 thing was something of a non sequitur.

Sorry about the reading comprehension failure (mine). I thought that you expected 800MBps for the drive, not that you had managed to get it.

AOC AM16? Google doesn't give much for that.

bobkn said:

AOC AM16? Google doesn't give much for that.

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I'm sorry. I should have included a link...


BTW, This gets confusing. Their web site lumps in a number of companies that I get the impression are really all the same company. There is AOC, Kamrui, Acemagic and Acemagician - at least those are the brands that I own. But they seem to all be the same company. In fact, this AOC says right on the lid "Powered by Acemagic".

Ghot said:

Pics or it didn't happen... LOL

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Note in the above image that CrystalDiskMark shows my disk as only 250GiB. This is because I have that flash drive partitioned into multiple partitions.

Again, this is just a USB Flash Drive, but it seems to actually be a full on SSD since it even supports TRIM. Oddly, it's small - even smaller than many typical "junk" flash drives. I consider this one of my all-time best purchases. I liked it so much that I got a second one, even though I really have no use for a second yet and I'm even considering a third.

This computer habit is way more expensive than any drug habit I could have taken up instead

hsehestedt said:

I am getting over 800 MB/s reads (sustained) now.

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With USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 (USB 3.1 Gen 2) at 10 Gbps the sustained transfer speed that you should be getting from any half decent NVMe SSD in an external enclosure is ~1,050 MB/s.

hdmi said:

With USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 (USB 3.1 Gen 2) at 10 Gbps the sustained transfer speed that you should be getting from any half decent NVMe SSD in an external enclosure is ~1,050 MB/s.

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Just remember that this thing is not sold as an SSD. It is sold as a USB thumb drive. So even getting anywhere remotely close to that speed is stunning for me.

BTW, don't you just hate the naming scheme for USB now? When you typed "USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 (USB 3.1 Gen 2) at 10 Gbps" didn't it make you feel dirty?

hsehestedt said:

This computer habit is way more expensive than any

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Yeah my USB stick is only USB 3.1

@hsehestedt

I just noticed something...
In my motherboard manual (BIOS section)(PDF), it says that it tells me on the Boot tab in my BIOS... which F-key brings up the Boot Menu...