Hello,
I have a Precision T5600, specification as follows:
- Dual Xeons
- 8Gb RAM (4x2Gb)
- Corsair SSD and two Seagate 2Tb HDDs in HDD0, 1 and 2 respectively (using the Intel C600 RAID controller in SATA/AHCI mode)
- DVDRW on SATA0
- AMD graphics card
- Windows 8.1.1 Enterprise x64
The problem I have is this:
- On power on, there is a wait of up to 10 seconds before the Dell logo is shown. I know something happens during this time as I can see the diagnostic LEDs on the front of the PC lighting up in various sequences.
- The POST sequence hangs with the progress bar at the 50% position for up to 15 seconds before continuing.
- The Intel RAID BIOS then does its thing and correctly identifies the drives. This takes no more than a few seconds.
- There is then a black screen with a flashing cursor which flashes for approximately 15-20 seconds with 1-2-3 showing on the diagnostic LEDs.
- The BIOS finally hands over to the Windows boot loader which then starts the boot process; but spends about 30 seconds showing me the Windows logo.
- Finally, the rotating dots appear but spend a further 20 seconds minimum before Windows finally boots into the GUI. Log in takes a further 20 seconds before I am finally shown the Start Menu / Metro screen.
Given that this is on a clean installation of Windows, with no other software installed, these wait times seem excessive to me; especially the 20 seconds before Windows boot starts, then the 30 seconds when the Windows logo is displayed.
Things I have tried:
- Disabling the Intel RAID and connecting just the SSD to the non-RAID controller.
- Disabling network boot
- Restricting the boot sequence to the SSD only
- Run the diagnostics (no fault found)
- Installed the latest Intel RST drivers (v3.8.0.1111)
- Installed the latest Intel chipset drivers (v9.2.3.1023)
- Flashed the latest BIOS (A13)
Other information:
- The problem exhibits with Windows 7 Professional installed, leading me to believe this is not a software fault.
I have a Core i7-4771 system with 8Gb RAM and a 256Gb Kingston SSD that boots from power-on to working desktop in less time it takes this significantly higher specification computer to even show me the Windows boot logo. I cannot believe that this is right - for the price and specification of this Precision, it should blow my i7 out of the water in terms of performance and loading times but it does not.
Any help appreciated!
Dave
