BIOS Option Of The Week

Adrian Wong · Aug 18, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - CPU Drive Strength

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the CPU Drive Strength BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

The system controller has auto-compensation circuitry that automatically compensates for impedance variations in motherboard designs. But since the motherboard impedance is more or less fixed for each motherboard design, some manufacturers may choose to pre-calculate the optimal drive strength for a particular design and use it instead.

However, when the auto-compensation logic is bypassed and a fixed drive strength is used, the amount of impedance compensation may not be sufficient sometimes. Hence, the need for this BIOS feature. This BIOS feature allows you to...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - CPU Drive Strength

Adrian Wong · Aug 24, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - Boot To OS/2

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the Boot To OS/2 BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

Older versions of IBM's OS/2 operating system use the BIOS function Int15 [AX=E801] to detect the size of installed system memory. Microsoft Windows, on the other hand, uses the BIOS function Int15 [EAX=0000E820].

However, the Int15 [AX=E801] function was later scrapped as not ACPI-compliant. As a result, OS/2 cannot detect the correct size of system memory if more than 64 MB of memory is installed. Microsoft Windows isn't affected because the BIOS function it uses is ACPI-compliant.

This BIOS feature is designed to correct the memory size detection problem for OS/2 systems that have...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - Boot To OS/2

Adrian Wong · Sep 2, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - Host Burn-in Mode

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the Host Burn-in Mode BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

This BIOS feature allows you to overclock the processor and memory modules, even if Intel stamps its foot petulantly and insist that it is not meant for this purpose. While it does not give you direct control of the bus clocks, it allows some overclocking of the processor and memory modules.

Please note that while this BIOS feature allows some adjustment of the processor and memory bus clocks, it does not allow you to modify individual clocks. Whatever you set using this BIOS feature affects both bus clocks...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - Host Burn-in Mode

Adrian Wong · Sep 7, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - DRAM Termination

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the DRAM Termination BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

The higher speed (and lower signal voltages) of DDR2 and DDR3 memory though require much better signal quality and these high-speed modules have much lower tolerances for noise. The problem is also compounded by the higher number of memory modules used. Line termination resistors are no longer good enough to tackle the problem of signal reflections. This is where On-Die Termination (ODT) comes in.

On-Die Termination shifts the termination resistors from the motherboard to the DRAM die itself. These resistors can better suppress signal reflections, providing much better a signal-to-noise ratio in DDR2 and DDR3 memory. This allows for much higher clock speeds at much lower voltages. It also reduces...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - DRAM Termination

Adrian Wong · Sep 13, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - DRAM Refresh Rate

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the DRAM Refresh Rate BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

Although JEDEC standards call for a 64 msec refresh cycle, memory chips these days can actually hold data for longer than that. So, using a longer refresh cycle is quite possible. With a longer refresh cycle, the memory chips are refreshed less often, reducing both the amount of bandwidth wasted on refreshes and the amount of power consumed (which is great for laptops and other portable devices).

This BIOS feature allows you to set the refresh interval of the memory chips. There are three different settings as well as an Auto option...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - DRAM Refresh Rate

Adrian Wong · Sep 21, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - DVMT Memory Size

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the DVMT Memory Size BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

Intel's Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT) takes that concept further by allowing the system to dynamically allocate memory resources according to the demands of the system at any point in time. The key idea in DVMT is to improve the efficiency of the memory allocated to either system or graphics processor.

This BIOS feature is used in conjunction with the FIXED Memory Size BIOS feature to select the operating mode as well as the maximum amount of graphics memory that can be allocated to the onboard graphics processor...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - DVMT Memory Size

Adrian Wong · Sep 29, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - Host Bus In-Order Queue Depth

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the Host Bus In-Order Queue Depth BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

For greater performance at high clock speeds, motherboard chipsets now feature a pipelined processor bus. The multiple stages in this pipeline can also be used to queue up multiple commands to the processor. This command queuing greatly improves performance because it effectively masks the latency of the processor bus.

This BIOS feature controls the use of the processor bus' command queue. Normally, there are only two options available. Depending on the motherboard chipset, the options could be (1 and 4), (1 and 8) or (1 and 12). This is because this BIOS feature...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - Host Bus In-Order Queue Depth

Adrian Wong · Oct 5, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - 32-Byte Granularity

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the 32-Byte Granularity BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

Generally, the larger burst length of 64-bytes is faster. However, a 32-byte burst length is better if the system uses an onboard graphics chip that uses system memory as framebuffer and texture memory. This is because the graphics chip would generate a lot of 32-byte system memory accesses.

Keeping that in mind, the 32-byte burst length is only supported if the DRAM interface is...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - 32-Byte Granularity

Adrian Wong · Oct 13, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - Idle Cycle Limit

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the Idle Cycle Limit BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

The key to maximizing performance lies in achieving as many page hits as possible with the least number of page conflicts and page misses. One way of doing so is by implementing a counter to keep track of the number of idle cycles and closing open pages after a predetermined number of idle cycles.

This is where the Idle Cycle Limit BIOS feature comes in. It sets the number of idle cycles that is allowed before the memory controller forces open pages to...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - Idle Cycle Limit

Adrian Wong · Oct 19, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - TV Type

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the TV Type BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

There are three different systems used to encode colour information for analog televisions - NTSC, PAL or SECAM. Depending on your location, your television set may support one or more of the three analog colour systems.

This BIOS feature controls the colour-encoding system used by motherboard's built-in video encoder. Setting this correctly allows the video encoder to produce the correct analog video output for your television set...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - TV Type

Adrian Wong · Oct 27, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - AGP Capability

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the AGP Capability BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

This BIOS feature is only found in AGP 8X-capable motherboards. AGP 8X is backward-compatible with earlier AGP standards. This BIOS feature allows you to set the motherboard's maximum supported AGP transfer protocol...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - AGP Capability

Adrian Wong · Nov 2, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - AGPCLK / CPUCLK

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the AGPCLK / CPUCLK BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

The AGP bus clock speed is referenced from the CPU bus clock speed. However, the AGP bus was only designed to run at 66 MHz while the CPU bus runs anywhere from 66 MHz to 133 MHz. Therefore, a suitable AGP bus to CPU bus clock speed ratio or divider must be selected to ensure that the AGP bus won't run way beyond 66 MHz...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - AGPCLK / CPUCLK

Adrian Wong · Nov 9, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - AGP Spread Spectrum

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the AGP Spread Spectrum BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

Spread spectrum clocking works by continuously modulating the clock signal around a particular frequency. Instead of generating a typical waveform, the clock signal continuously varies around the target frequency within a tight range. This "spreads out" the power output and "flattens" the spikes of signal waveform, keeping them below the FCC limit.

This BIOS feature controls spread spectrum clocking of the AGP bus. It usually offers two levels of modulation - 0.25% or 0.5%. They denote the amount of modulation around the AGP bus frequency. The greater the modulation...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - AGP Spread Spectrum

Adrian Wong · Nov 17, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - Primary VGA BIOS

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the Primary VGA BIOS BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

This is where the Primary VGA BIOS feature comes in. It allows you to select whether to boot the system using the AGP graphics card or the PCI graphics card.

If you are only using a single graphics card, then the BIOS will detect it as such and boot it up, irrespective of what you set the feature to. However, there may be a slight reduction in the time taken to detect and initialize the card if you select the proper setting for this BIOS feature. For example...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - Primary VGA BIOS

Adrian Wong · Nov 24, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - AGP to DRAM Prefetch

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the AGP to DRAM Prefetch BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

This feature controls the system controller's AGP prefetch capability. When enabled, the system controller will prefetch data whenever the AGP graphics card reads from system memory. Here is how it works.

Whenever the system controller reads AGP-requested data from system memory, it also reads the subsequent chunk of data. This is done on the assumption that the AGP graphics card will request for the subsequent chunk of data. When the AGP graphics card actually initiates a read command...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - AGP to DRAM Prefetch

Adrian Wong · Nov 30, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - IDE Prefetch Mode

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the IDE Prefetch Mode BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

This BIOS feature controls the IDE controller's prefetch buffer. Whenever the processor requests for data from a drive, the IDE controller can prefetch the data following it. If the processor requests for the subsequent blocks of data, it can be quickly satisfied by the prefetched data.

This is especially useful if you do a lot of sequential data reads, like playing a music file or a video clip. By prefetching the following data blocks after each data request, the IDE controller can...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - IDE Prefetch Mode

Adrian Wong · Dec 8, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - Reset Configuration Data

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the Reset Configuration Data BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

This is where the ESCD feature comes in. It stores the IRQ, DMA, I/O and memory configurations of your system's devices in a special area of the BIOS Flash ROM. The BIOS will snoop and re-use the stored configuration data when it boots up the system. As long as there are no hardware changes, the BIOS does not need to reconfigure the ESCD.

If you install a new piece of hardware or modify your computer's hardware configuration, the BIOS will automatically detect the changes and reconfigure the ESCD. Therefore, there is usually no need to manually force the BIOS to reconfigure the ESCD. However, the occasion may arise where...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - Reset Configuration Data

Adrian Wong · Dec 14, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - Max CPUID Value Limit

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the Max CPUID Value Limit BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

When the computer is booted up, the operating system executes the CPUID instruction to identify the processor and its capabilities. Before it can do so, it must first query the processor to find out the highest input value CPUID recognizes. This determines the kind of basic information CPUID can provide the operating system.

The maximum CPUID input value determines the values that the operating system can write to the CPUID's EAX register to obtain information about the processor...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - Max CPUID Value Limit

Adrian Wong · Dec 21, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - IDE HDD Block Mode

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the IDE HDD Block Mode BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

This BIOS feature speeds up hard disk access by transferring multiple sectors of data per interrupt instead of using the usual single-sector transfer mode. This mode of transferring data is known as block transfers.

When you enable this feature, the BIOS will automatically detect if your hard disk supports block transfers and set the proper block transfer settings for it. Depending on the IDE controller...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - IDE HDD Block Mode

Adrian Wong · Dec 29, 2014

BIOS Option Of The Week - AC PWR Auto Recovery

Since 1999, we have been developing the BIOS Optimization Guide, affectionately known as the BOG. From a meagre beginning of a single page, it now covers over 440 BIOS options. As old BOG readers will know, we started offering two editions of the BOG since Revision 8.0 - a simplified edition and the complete edition.

Normally, the complete edition is only available to subscribers who help sponsor the development of the guide through a small fee. However, that changes today! From now on, we will post a BIOS option from the complete edition of the BIOS Optimization Guide every weekend.

This week, we will be taking a look at the AC PWR Auto Recovery BIOS setting. Here's an excerpt :

When power is inadvertently cut to your PC, it powers off and stays so until you start it up again. While this should not be a problem for most users, it is a problem for servers that need to stay online, or get back online as soon as possible.

That normally means waiting by the server and switching it on when the power comes back. If you cannot be physically close to the server, then it may have to remain powered off until someone is there to turn it on again. Wouldn't it be great if the server could automatically turn itself on again?

This is where the AC PWR Auto Recovery BIOS feature comes in...
Click to expand...

Link : BIOS Option Of The Week - AC PWR Auto Recovery

Log in or Sign up

BIOS Option Of The Week

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

BIOS Option Of The Week

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches