15 March 2023

UEFI Vs CSM | Difference | Comparison

 You have probably heard of UEFI and CSM if you have ever experimented with operating systems, hardware, or overclocking. It is not enough to know what the acronyms mean and what they stand for; you also need to know what they do and how they work. This article will explain what UEFI and CSM are, why one is preferable in certain situations, and their difference.

Learn more about MBR vs GPT

What is UEFI?

UEFI stands for unified extensible firmware interface. In contemporary motherboards, this new type is the most prevalent. It provides more advantages than BIOS. Its ability to provide a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) is its most important feature (GUI). The BIOS offers a blue colour screen with options. Standard BIOS cannot identify large storage drives. Thanks to UEFI, which also supports large storage drives, this issue can be effectively solved.


What is CSM?

CSM stands for compatibility support module. For contemporary computers, the UEFI firmware comes with a tool that enables backward compatibility. Using CSM boot, you can perform legacy BIOS-style booting on a modern UEFI-based system. This can be useful if you want to boot from an old storage drive that doesn't support UEFI BIOS mode or if you are using an older operating system.

UEFI Vs CSM | Difference between UEFI and CSM 

  • CSM can only be used with 32-bit processors, whereas UEFI can work with both 32-bit and 64-bit processors.
  • UEFI does not support older versions of windows, CSM on the other hand, is compatible with a wider range of operating systems, including older versions of windows.
  • UEFI supports drives with a capacity of up to two terabytes(TB), and CSM, on the other hand only supports drives with a capacity of up to four gigabytes(GB).
  • UEFI offers faster boot times than CSM, and UEFI uses a faster boot loader than CSM.
  • UEFI BIOS mode uses GPT(GUID partition table), while The CSM BIOS mode uses MBR(Master boot record) disk partition table format.
  • From power-saving modes like sleep, reboot, and hibernation, UEFI boots almost immediately. It contains features that bypass the power on the self-test process, which slows down a CSM boot system.
  • UEFI can work with discrete drives, and CSM boot, the drive support is stored in ROM.
  • UEFI includes advanced security features, such as secure boot, which can help protect the system from malware and other security threats, due to the lack of these security features, CSM is more open to security risks.

Thank you for reading this article. Still, if you have any questions or queries in your mind on the UEFI Vs CSM then please ask us in the comment section below.

Explore more information:

  1. UEFI Vs BIOS
  2. UEFI Vs Legacy
  3. Advantages of Legacy system
  4. Disadvantages of Legacy system