We’re at T-minus eight months before Microsoft officially gives Windows 10 the boot. PC gamers in particular seem unready to let go of the operating system, which might start causing headaches if they intend to upgrade their hardware. For example, AMD’s new Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT graphics cards will require UEFI instead of ye olde BIOS.
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is an upgrade to the pre-boot BIOS setup that most people are used to, and odds are good that you already have it if your desktop PC — or the motherboard inside — is less than 10 years old. (In fact, lots of people use the terms UEFI and BIOS interchangeably. Even some technology journalists… ahem.)
AMD just announced that all its graphics cards starting with the 9000 series and onward will have “UEFI-only support,” in a document spotted by VideoCardz.com.
As I said, most PC users are already on a UEFI system at this point, since Windows 11 requires UEFI for Secure Boot and other security features. But “most” is a long way from “all” — in fact, more than 40 percent of Steam users are still on Windows 10, which boots just fine on older BIOS setups. (It’s impossible to know which Windows 10 users are still running an older motherboard with BIOS instead of UEFI based on Steam data alone.)
As VideoCardz points out, AMD’s announcement doesn’t flat-out declare that the new 9000-series cards won’t work on a motherboard running BIOS, or on a UEFI board with the more forgiving CSM (Compatibility Support Module) enabled. But support and performance won’t be guaranteed for these older boards, even with CSM turned on.
It’s worth noting that, even if you decide to keep running Windows 10 on your desktop past Microsoft’s self-imposed end-of-service date, there’s no reason you can’t upgrade your motherboard and install Windows 10 instead of Windows 11. But as we reach and move beyond that date, these kinds of issues are likely to pop up more frequently.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.