Help with slow boot/start up on new build

[monrocito]

I just completed my first build (with a lot of help and guidance from a seasoned builder). It went relatively smoothly, but I have one small problem. The initial start up or boot up takes a while (one full minute) to get past the Asus Logo screen and continue to the rest of the start up. That just seems like an awful long time. It is much longer than my old computer that I replaced and it just doesn't seem right to me. We updated all of my drivers, and flashed the BIOS with the most current version. So, the only thing that my friend could think of was the hard drive. It's one year old, Western Digital 160GB. But, all the diagnostic tools say that there's nothing wrong with it. Can anyone help me out?

By the way, here are my current system specs:
Asus A8N5X Mobo
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego Core Socket 939
Windows XP Professional SP2
eVGA 6600GT PCI Express Video Card
Enermax 465P-VE 460 Watt Power Supply
1 GB (2 x 512) Patriot Signature Series DDR400 (PC 3200)
1 x Western Digital 160 GB IDE Hard Drive
1 x Lite-on Dual Layer DVD burner

 

[mdd1963]

There will be an option in the BIOS for enabling fast mem test, which will only cycle thru the mem test once, as opposed to 4 times...

Is the first boot device specified in the BIOS the proper hard drive, vice uselessly looking for the floppy, tehn CD ROM, etc.?

 

[luminaris]

Yeah, there are all kinds of little tweaks you can do to the BIOS to make the machine post faster. Turn off floppy seek, enable fast boot up, etc. to streamline the process. Just roll thru your BIOS and disable the things you don't need. If you run into a snag or have a question about it, we're here to help.

If that doesn't solve the problem at all, I would venture to say the BIOS chip might have a problem more so than the HDD. After all, its the post where its stuck and thats BIOS.

 

[monrocito]

Thanks for the help guys. I did change the boot device order and enabled "fast boot" and a few other things, but it still seems to sit there for a while. The rest of the time things run great, so I don't know if I should even worry about it or not. Should I even bother contacting Asus and asking them?