All GIGABYTE P67 and H67 chipset motherboards produced today ship with GIGABYTE’s Hybrid EFI Technology, and we have started porting this new BIOS to other chipset platforms with the intention to make it available on every currently shipping GIGABYTE motherboard. You’ll see the statement below start to appear on various online forums around the web as we start to promote this unique new GIGABYTE feature.
DualBIOS™ 3TB+ HDD Support (Hybrid EFI Technology)
3TB+ HDD support is an essential new feature for 2011 and has been one of the most talked about technologies accompanying the launch of the new Socket 1155 6 series motherboards. GIGABYTE not only supports booting from 3TB+ HDDs on all new P67 and H67 chipset motherboards, we offer the ability to boot from 3TB+ HDDs on all currently shipping GIGABYTE motherboard models (from high-end X58 chipset models down to the entry level new G41 chipset models) through GIGABYTE’s unique Hybrid EFI Technology. Hybrid EFI Technology combines the benefits of GIGABYTE’s mature BIOS platform including stability and compatibility with 3rd party products with 3TB+ HDD support from EFI technology, allowing GIGABYTE to offer the best of both worlds through a quick and easy BIOS update using GIGABYTE’s @BIOS utility that is freely available from the GIGABYTE website.
Tech companies love a good Q&A because we tell ourselves that people are interested in our new tech and are asking these pertinent questions of it. So here is our GIGABYTE Hybrid EFI Technology Q&A:
Question 1: When will GIGABYTE introduce an EFI compatible BIOS for their motherboards?
Answer 1: GIGABYTE has already introduced Hybrid EFI Technology that is fully compliant with EFI aware operating systems. This BIOS is shipping now with all GIGABYTE P67 and H67 chipset motherboards, and we have started introducing this BIOS on motherboards using other chipsets with the intention of making is available on all GIGABYTE motherboards.
Question 2: Why did GIGABYTE choose to use a hybrid EFI instead of a standard EFI technology?
Answer 2: GIGABYTE Hybrid EFI Technology allows us to quickly offer EFI functionality to a whole range of motherboards, not just the latest 6 series products, because it is based on GIGABYTE’s tried and tested BIOS.
Question 3: Why does GIGABYTE’s Hybrid EFI Technology not support using a mouse or have a mouse-friendly graphical interface?
Answer 3: Mouse support and the accompanying graphical interface are not part of the EFI spec. That’s why some motherboard makers have chosen to have mouse support with their EFI BIOS while others don’t. One of the features of the EFI BIOS is that it is modular, so mouse support and a graphical interface are additional modules that some vendors have added to their EFI BIOS. This also explains how GIGABYTE has been able to add an EFI module to our stable and reliable BIOS. GIGABYTE’s Hybrid EFI technology keeps the same familiar interface that millions of users are used to. It is quick, easy to use and overclockers can enter the BIOS and change settings as quickly (or even quicker) than if they were using a mouse.
Question 4: What are the advantages of GIGABYTE’s Hybrid EFI Technology?
Answer 4:
1. It supports booting from 2.2TB+ HDDs. GIGABYTE mentions 3TB+ because the next size up from a 2TB HDD is actually 3TB, not 2.2TB. GIGABYTE Hybrid EFI Technology provides headroom for a maximum disk and partition size of 9.4ZB (9.4 x 1021 bytes; kB, MB, GB, TB, PB, EB, ZB, YB, etc…)
2. It uses a reliable, tried and tested GIGABYTE Award BIOS that has been updated and improved over many years. Our BIOS is compatible with thousands of ICs, components and 3rd party products – a new BIOS needs a lot of compatibility testing before it is as mature as our Award BIOS. So basically we have the Best of Both Worlds with our Hybrid EFI Technology: stability of a mature BIOS and the 2.2TB+ support of an EFI BIOS.
3. Because of its design, it is easier to be backwards compatible with older motherboard models –X58 chipset down to new G41 chipset models will be able to enjoy Hybrid EFI Technology. So we are protecting our customers buying decision and helping to future proof their purchase. No other EFI solution can offer this!
4. GIGABYTE Hybrid EFI Technology is fully compliant with both EFI aware and non EFI aware operating systems.