Question Are graphics cards UEFI only these days?

[mikeymikec]

If I wanted to upgrade the graphics card in a pre-UEFI system, is this something I need to worry about? I ask because the opposite seems to hold true (pre-UEFI graphics cards require the system to be run in legacy rather than UEFI mode, I've seen it with an 8400GS and a Radeon HD 6670).

 

[Stuka87]

I cannot think of any cards made in the last few years that will work in a pre-UEFI system. Even AMD Polaris based cards are UEFI, and those came out 2016. I think nVidia is in a similar boat for GTX10 series and newer.

I have read about some work arounds to get cards that only support UEFI to boot in legacy BIOS systems, but I have never had to try them myself.

 

[CP5670]

I used a EVGA 1080ti in a legacy bios PC. The board did support UEFI, but I wanted to dual boot an older OS.

 

[Spjut]

When I've looked for videos how old CPUs perform in modern games, some of them claim to have RTX 3000 cards in AM3 systems.

I tried an RX 5700 XT once in an AM2+ motherboard, and no matter what I did, it first showed the BIOS logo and then stopped at a black screen.
One possible workaround though is having a compatible primary display card but use the UEFI one for gaming.

Many LGA 1155 motherboards got BIOS updates to resolve the issue with UEFI cards.

 

[Stuka87]

I used a EVGA 1080ti in a legacy bios PC. The board did support UEFI, but I wanted to dual boot an older OS.

So maybe what I recall (and just saw in some searches) was a motherboard issue more than a card issue. Or, some 10 series cards had support, while others did not.

 

[Ranulf]

In my experience with AMD cards mostly, it was mostly motherboards. My R9 290 cards (from 2014/15) were tempermental but usually worked. The MSI ones I had came with a physical switch between legacy and uefi modes. Polaris cards (RX 480/580 etc.) were much more cranky about it. I have a RX 570 that will have a brief scrambled graphics on boot but run mostly fine on a gigabyte AM3+ mobo. The rx480 I ran for 1.5 years on it seemed to overheat or have stability problems in some games, 2-3 times a month with the same boot issue.

I know Gigabyte boards from 2009-2013 were more cranky with bios issues than other brands, just from what I saw in a few AMD forums reports 3-4 years ago. Intel or AMD cpu based systems could have problems.

Nvidia side I think some have had problems starting with the 10 series/Pascal chips and newer. My GTX 960 and 970 cards had no glitches/scrambled graphics on that AM3+ mobo when I tried them. I don't have any experience with it on 10 series or later though. I didn't bother to try out my 2060 Super in the fx8350 system.

 

[scineram]

This makes curious does AM5 even support legacy BIOS compatibility? I would hope not but who knows.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I would be much more apt to choose a 10-series Nvidia GPUs, rather than Polaris or newer on AMD side, if you wanted a card that would boot in a legacy / pre-UEFI rig, or using CSM boot.

I've seen NVidia cards with "hybrid BIOS" work in legacy and CSM boot modes, far more often than AMD GPUs. Sapphire cards in particular seem to be "picky" about having a mobo with a UEFI BIOS in UEFI (non-CSM) boot mode. Conversely, I've heard, but not tested, that PowerColor cards will supposedly work in a legacy board. I don't think that I've tested that, could just be a word-of-mouth rumor, and could be totally incorrect.

 

[Heartbreaker]

I've seen people testing RTX cards with old Core 2 Quad CPUs, and it worked fine.

 

[bba-tcg]

I have a 1080ti on an i7 920 system.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Had no problems with MSI GF 1060. XFX RX 580 was a PITB. Zotac 3090 only shows display once Windows comes up. So for best experience on pre-UEFI mobos, stick with Geforce 1000 and below.

 

[zir_blazer]

On the Video Card EEPROM you usually have two images, legacy style VBIOS (Still available in all cards as far that I know) and UEFI GOP. Your Motherboard Firmware should be able to identify them based on a header signature (You should have seen at some point that you could load Option ROMs in either "UEFI First" or "Legacy first" mode or whatever). Old Firmwares will not recognize UEFI GOP but they will legacy VBIOS.
The problem is that in many cases old Motherboard Firmwares may have issues loading newer cards VBIOSes and hang, but this is a Firmware side issue only, not Hardware itself. I recall a single case of a person that had POST issues with a card that worked when hotplugging it after OS boot (Don't do that at home, kids!). It may be possible to mod the Video Card to remove the UEFI GOP image, too, assuming it helps.

Basically, using a modern card in an old system should work because VBIOS is still available, but you need to test because there are other compatibility issues.

 

[Ranulf]

I would be much more apt to choose a 10-series Nvidia GPUs, rather than Polaris or newer on AMD side, if you wanted a card that would boot in a legacy / pre-UEFI rig, or using CSM boot.

I've seen NVidia cards with "hybrid BIOS" work in legacy and CSM boot modes, far more often than AMD GPUs. Sapphire cards in particular seem to be "picky" about having a mobo with a UEFI BIOS in UEFI (non-CSM) boot mode. Conversely, I've heard, but not tested, that PowerColor cards will supposedly work in a legacy board. I don't think that I've tested that, could just be a word-of-mouth rumor, and could be totally incorrect.

My RX 480 Sapphire cards were the ones with the most issues. The 570 is an Asrock. I do have a MSI 480 but I don't think I tested it on the older mobos.

 

[Shmee]

If I wanted to upgrade the graphics card in a pre-UEFI system, is this something I need to worry about? I ask because the opposite seems to hold true (pre-UEFI graphics cards require the system to be run in legacy rather than UEFI mode, I've seen it with an 8400GS and a Radeon HD 6670).

What card and system are we talking about? As mentioned, support can vary. FWIW, I have had R9 290s of various models working in X58 systems, but the 290s are getting pretty old now as well.

 

[mikeymikec]

@Shmee

AM3, M4A78T-E board. It's currently got a 750ti, and Warthunder isn't performing too well on it at 1080p. I guess my plan is going to be to contact the manufacturers of whichever cards I'm interested in.