BIOS -
BIOS is an acronym that stands for Basic Input/Output System. It is meant to control your product at a very low level.  As of right now there are three regularly used BIOS formats (there are actually more than that but there are three common ones). These are the AMI (American Megatrends Incorporated), Award, and Phoenix. Of course with the introduction of the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) we now have a solid basis for the “BIOS” on new motherboards. This actually gets away from the term BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) and becomes more of a software interface. Each manufacturer will have their own take on how to implement this; some good, some not so good. If trace layout and component choice is the front line on performance then the BIOS is right behind them. In many cases the system BIOS is used to overcome problems with the initial design of the board. Asus has always been out in front when it comes to the new UEFI designs, their implementation is one of the most responsive that we have played with. You can check out the UEFI BIOS on the Z87-Expert in the video below.