FlashFire

Hey everyone!
I wanted to throw this out there, and hopefully some of you along the way,
may stumble across this thread and recognize some of these Phoenix AwardBIOS
options and hopefully help explain what they are and what the best setting is for them. My goal for this thread,
is to get some answers as to what these options and their settings mean, and how they affect your normal computing environment
booted into Windows. They seem like pretty simple options compared to some BIOS'.
So, here it goes...I will explain in sections exactly what I see in my BIOS as of today 4.1.08,
and the sub-sections/options for each main section:

Advanced BIOS features:
-CPU feature

a)Thermal Control
b)Limit CPUID MaxVal
c)C1E Function
d)Execute Disable Bit
e)Virtualization Technology
f)EIST Function

-Comments: a is not too important. b I wonder about, should this value be changed at all?
c, d, e, & f definitely need to know more about these...One quick question:
In one of the sticky guides here (I believe it is the "Intel Overclocking Redefined"
& "Intel Overclocking Guide - original...) it is explained that you must turn off certain BIOS features before
you overclock (one of which was SpeedStep Technology - or otherwise known as "Virtualization" in my case.
Is this true? If so, why & what others need to be turned "off" or "enabled/disabled" for best performance?
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
Advanced Chipset Features:
-DRAM Timing Selectable

a)CAS Latency (tCL)
b)RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD)
c)RAS# Precharge (tRP)
d)Precharge Delay (tRAS)
e)Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) (new as of latest BIOS revision)

-Comments: Some of these terms, if you think about them long enough,
do make "common" sense, but it would be nice if someone could more thoroughly explain
(within reason - not too technical) what their purpose is and how you find the very best timing for your particular RAM.
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
-PCI Express Root Port Function

a)PCIe Slot 1 (auto, enable or disable)
b)PCIe Compliancy Mode (v1.0a or v1.0)

-PEG Force x1

a)enable or disable

-Comments: Anyone know anything about these settings?
What is the purpose of the PCIe Compliancy Mode?
Seems pointless to me. I mean v1.0a or v1.0? :roll:
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
PnP/PCI Configurations
-Resources Controlled By (Auto or Manual)

a)IRQ (4, 5, 7, 10, 11) these are all I have available here to see,
each one has an option for: (PCI Device or reserved)

-PCI/VGA Palette Snoop

a)enable or disable

-PCI Latency Timer (CLK)

a)Min 0, Max 255 - currently @ 32 by default; only accepts whole decimal numbers.

-Max Payload Size

a)Choices: (128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096) Currently @ 4096 by default.

-Comments: I read on a Steam Support article recently, that adjusting the PCI latency time
can possibly improve game performance and decrease the likely-hood of a crash. What is Max Payload Size?
I'm interested to understand that...I'm guessing it's related to the CPU or NB?
The PCI/VGA snoop has also got me wondering...
__________________________________________________ _________________________________
Final Word
I appreciate anyone reading this thread and commenting.
Maybe it can be sticked if it gets enough good quality responses.
I have one final question regarding my Phoenix AwardBIOS + the Abit AW9D board:

Can I turn off the uGuru Utility (that comes built in w/ the board's BIOS),
so as to reveal possible hidden options that currently I can't see and expand the BIOS'
versatility and allow more precise adjustments as opposed to preset values?

Currently, I see no way of doing this, as the uGuru seems to be fully integrated into the Phoenix AwardBIOS,
so really it's a hybrid BIOS from abit but the chip is made from Phoenix. (yes/no?)

-Flash

__________________
Without Love, Life would have no purpose; no reason to exist...

FlashFire

*bump*

__________________
Without Love, Life would have no purpose; no reason to exist...

OCec3

I prefer Asus.

__________________
"Every Second Of Life Has A Story To Tell"

mr tompo

flashfire i also want to know

__________________

FlashFire

All I can do is hope,
that someone with the right knowledge of this particular BIOS and these settings comes across this thread.
Plus, a lot of these settings are universal across all BIOS', so really I believe anyone with a
good working knowledge of a BIOS in general can comment on some of these settings/options.

__________________
Without Love, Life would have no purpose; no reason to exist...

18 is # 1

Being a fellow noob, I'm not sure how reliable my responses will be, but here are some anyway.
Advanced BIOS features:
-CPU feature
a)Thermal Control Not sure
b)Limit CPUID MaxVal On the Pro it says must be disabled for XP
c)C1E Function This is a speed step function
d)Execute Disable Bit Not sure
e)Virtualization Technology Not sure
f)EIST Function This is a speed step function

Speed step functions should be disabled until you are through tweaking your system and testing. They will slow your CPU down and save energy when engaged.

Here is a pretty good RAM guide but be careful of the numbers because its old:
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=170999

Don't know anything about the PCI stuff.
Hope this gets you started.
Look here also:
http://forum.uabit.com/index.php

__________________
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=410597

Super Pi 1M 11.672s @ 3.9GHz

For Sale: 2x1GB OCZ CL3 6400

FlashFire

Hey thanks a lot bro!
You may think your a n00b, but at least your trying to help, and I really appreciate that.
I know my thread is very specific, so I don't expect someone with specific knowledge to just wander by in a timely fashion.

Thanks for explaining about the "C1E and EIST" functions.
I really needed to know "why" they should be turned off while overclocking; now I know.

__________________
Without Love, Life would have no purpose; no reason to exist...

Sanders54

ASUS is great, I have built many many machines for friends, I used mostly ASUS or EVGA boards