i7 5960x
rampage v (0901 bios)
plextor 256gb m.2
ocz vertex 3 120gb
g skill ddr 2800 32gb
windows 7 ultimate x64

so this is my first build in 3 years. after running an amd/msi system rock solid stable for 3 years, i decided to go back to intel and asus. build went smooth, booted fine, installed windows fine. started installing the misc software and started to notice windows was taking a long time to boot. sometimes 20 seconds (acceptable but not great), and then somtimes over a minute (not at all acceptable). the win7 squares just sat there pulsing, no drive activity. once finally at the login screen, i entered my password, windows takes another 25 seconds (yes, every time that iv been counting its 25 seconds, it always seems constant) to load and bring me to the desktop. my old system would go to the desktop almost immediately, even if it then took a min or 2 to load everything up. there was no hanging around the login screen.

i started reading around here about the UEFI windows install. i did NOT install this way. i used diskpart to check, and i dont have a gpt install of windows. trying the F8 boot menu, i dont get a UEFI option for my dvd drive. infact i dont get ANY uefi boot options. i tried changing the boot settings in bios to the uefi modes, that didnt seem to help. im about to try creating a UEFI bootable usb stick and install windows from that as Chino mentioned in his thread about getting m.2 to work.

i have m.2 set in the bios, that hasnt helped. i have fast boot enabled. i have left bios settings basically untouched aside from small things like boot order, disabling bluetooth, etc. i tried activating xmp as my ram is currently sitting at 2133, not 2800, and it wouldnt boot at all. used the safeboot button, restored bios to defaults, and then booting was back to (slow) normal.

im also finding copying files is slow. i just copied 1.5gb to a usb drive connected to a usb 3 port (i dont think the stick was a usb 3 stick), and it took about 5 min. i put it in my laptop usb2 port, and copied over approx the same amount of data, and it took maybe 30 seconds. i was then copying about 35gb between 2 OCZ Vrtx3 drives. that took probably over 5 min... longer than it should have. i ran AS SSD on my plextor and OCZ. plextor scored approx 1100, OCZ around 450... so i think those are in the ballpark. i never had an issue with the OCZs in my previous system. this is my first time using an M.2, so i dont know what to expect. what i DID expect was super fast booting.

once in windows, aside from the stupid realtech drive that has always "stopped working" that everyone complains about, things seem mostly fine. iv only been using the system 1 day, and only to install apps and get windows in order. but overall i have this sense that there is something slightly lagging the system.

i have 4 days left where i can return this board to the store if its bad. after that i need to start RMAing directly to asus which will take much longer, so im hoping i can solve this issue asap. i appreciate any insight anyone might have on this.

thanks