Optimal bios setting for bioses

[straffo]

Disclaimer : I use this settings on my configuration (Athlon 1ghz+256Mo+GeForce II MX) it's intended for general use but before trying theses settings write down your bios setup and proceed step by step with the modification (change one item reboot to try etc ...).
Next I'll accept do responsablity in case of malfunction (however I will help you to return to the last known good configuration   ))

virus Warning ou Antivirus protection : OFF
CPU Level 1 Cache (Enabled / Disabled) : ENABLED
CPU Level 2 Cache (Enabled / Disabled) : ENABLED
CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking (Enabled / Disabled) : ENABLED
Quick Power On Self Test (Enabled / Disabled) : ENABLED
Boot Sequence : as you like
Boot Device :  HDD-0
Boot Other Device (Enabled / Disabled) : ENABLED
Boot Up Floppy Seek (Enabled / Disabled) : DISABLED
Swap Floppy Drive (Enabled / Disabled) : DISABLED
Boot Up NumLock Status (On / Off) : ON
Typematic Rate Settings (Enabled / Disabled) : As you like
Gate A20 Option (Normal / Fast) : FAST
Security Option (Setup / System) : as you like
MPS Version Control For OS (1.1 / 1.4) : 1.4
OS Select For DRAM > 64 MB (OS2 / Non-OS2) : Non-OS2
HDD S.M.A.R.T Capability (Enabled / Disabled) : DISABLED
Report No FDD For Win 95 (Yes / No) : NO
Delay IDE Initial (Secs) : depend of ide drive should not be used with modern drives

SDRAM CAS Latency Time (2 / 3) ou SDRAM Cycle Length : 2 if possible
SDRAM RAS-to-CAS Delay (2 / 3) : 2 if possible
SDRAM RAS Precharge Time (2 / 3) : 2 if possible
SDRAM Precharge Control (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled (disabled if crashes)
DRAM Data Integrity Mode (ECC / Non-ECC) : Non-ECC ( general case)
Read-Around-Write (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled
System BIOS Shadowing (Enabled / Disabled) : disabled
System BIOS Cacheable (Enabled / Disabled) : disabled
Video BIOS Shadowing : disabled
Video BIOS Cacheable (Enabled / Disabled) : Disabled
Memory Hole At 15M-16M (Enabled / Disabled) :disabled
CPU Latency Timer (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled
Delayed Transaction (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled

AGP Graphics Aperture Size :1/2 of the total RAM or the amount of ram to disable AGP
AGP Data Transfert Rate (4X / 2X) : disabled (marginal gain if enabled)
AGP Master 1WS Read (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled (disabled in case of troubles)
AGP Master 1WS Write (Enabled / Disabled) : cf previous

Onboard IDE-1 / IDE-2 Controller (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled (except if you have a full SCSI machine)
IDE Prefetch Mode (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled
Init Display First (PCI Slot / AGP) : AGP
USB Controller (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled if need usb support (disabled it save an IRQ)
USB Keyboard Support (OS / BIOS) : BIOS if you use your USB keybord under DOS
IDE HDD Block Mode (Enabled / Disabled) : ENABLED (except if you use Windows NT)
Onboard FDD Controller (Enabled / Disabled) : disabled only if you don’t have a floppy driver (save an IRQ)
Onboard Parallel Port : disabled if you don’t have any printer (save an IRQ)
Parallel Port Mode (ECP / EPP / ECP + EPP / Normal (SPP)) : EPP 1.9 in general (if you have a // zip choose ECP)
PnP OS Installed (Yes / No) : No ,the bios do is work better than windows
Force Update ESCD (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled re init the PnP parameters (re assigne ressources)
Resources Controlled By (Auto / Manual) : Auto except in case of IRQ troubles
PCI/VGA Palette Snoop (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled for some additional MPEG card
Assign IRQ for VGA (Enabled / Disabled) : ENABLED
Assign IRQ for USB (Enabled / Disabled) : enabled if you use it
PIRQ_0 Use IRQ No. :  in case of manual assignement of IRQ
 
VIA specific
SDRAM Bank Interleave (2-bank / 4-bank / Disabled) :
4-bank interleave if you have more than 64 Mo for each bank or 2-bank Interleave if you have <=64Mo

Fastwrite Supported : depend of the video board for geForce it can lead to trouble see http://www.geforcefaq.com

AGP Driving Control : dig the net for more informations

SoftMenu II / III Setup
DRAM Clock : for 133 MHz ram select HCLK+PCICLK otherwise choose HCLK

Last word avoir using the PCI slot near the AGP port it’s often shared with the video board and can produce UNEXPECTED resuls  


et voila  
I hope it will help some of us

[This message has been edited by straffo (edited 02-14-2001).]

[Dowding]

Nice one Straffo.  

Will check out if I have a probelm with my new KT7A-RAID set-up.

[bloom25]

Your system will be more stable if you allow the RAM's internal ID chip to set timings latency etc.  Unless you have REALLY good memory (Crucial, Mushkin, Kingmax) manually setting these settings will likely result in lockups.

Memory interleaving can really improve performance.  Most cheap memory sticks will lock with 4 way, but may be ok with 2 way.

Agp speed should be set to 2x in most cases for stability on VIA chipsets.  4x will likely result in occasional lockups.  You may be able to run stable at 4x if you set the AGP driving value up some.  WARNING:  If you screw the driving value up you won't be able to see the screen to fix it.  You will need a PCI video card to get back into the bios, or clear your cmos settings.



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bloom25
THUNDERBIRDS

[straffo]

 

Next I'll accept do responsablity in case of malfunction

you should read : Next I'll accept NO responsablity in case of malfunction
   

[Ghosth]

Cool, saved as a text file for reference.  

Thanks Straffo

[MrSiD]

Bloom: At least Abit motherboard bios's can be reset upon boot by holding down the insert key after a cold boot. Very handy if you manage to render your computer unbootable due to overclocking or other bios tweaking  

Other option is to short circuit the 'clear CMOS' jumper which can be found on the mobo. Instructions for these can usually be found in the manual..

[bloom25]

I believe the ASUS key for the same thing is home or end.

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bloom25
THUNDERBIRDS

[PakRat]

Why do you disable caching system and video BIOS? That is a big performance gain when you do.

 

System BIOS Shadowing (Enabled / Disabled) : disabled
System BIOS Cacheable (Enabled / Disabled) : disabled
Video BIOS Shadowing : disabled
Video BIOS Cacheable (Enabled / Disabled) : Disabled

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Rape, pillage, then burn...

[Lephturn]

I don't know how much of a performance gain you would get from that.  One would think it would be a small one.

Generally you disable these things for stability reasons.  If they are enabled and you are having weirdness, try disabling them.

Hmmm, I should test those on and off in AH and see if there is any difference.

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Lephturn - Aces High Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs  http://www.flyingpigs.com
 
Check out Lephturn's Aerodrome!

"Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know." - Michel Eyquem, seigneur de Montaigne. (1533–1592)

[214thCavalier]

Disabling Cacheing of System and Video Bios etc is indeed a good idea with modern systems, it does have no negative impact that i have seen and it certainly gains 3Dmark 2001 points when disabling.
It used to speed things up on my much older systems by enabling it, but now the opposite is true.
Nvidia also recommend you disable them as well, especially the Video bios as it can be handled faster by the Vid card itself.


This is an excerpt from this site, http://www.rojakpot.com/Speed_Demonz/BIOS_Guide/BIOS_Guide_Index.htm

However, modern operating systems bypass the BIOS completely and access the graphics card's hardware directly. So, no BIOS calls are made and no benefit from BIOS shadowing is realized. In light of this, there's no use in wasting RAM just to shadow the Video BIOS when it's not used at all.




[This message has been edited by 214thCavalier (edited 02-16-2001).]

[PakRat]

Well, looks like I need to run a quick test! OK, so it used to be shadowing BIOS was a good thing  

Thanks for the heads-up!

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Rape, pillage, then burn...

[straffo]

 

Originally posted by PakRat:
Why do you disable caching system and video BIOS? That is a big performance gain when you do.

 

System BIOS Shadowing (Enabled / Disabled) : disabled
System BIOS Cacheable (Enabled / Disabled) : disabled
Video BIOS Shadowing : disabled
Video BIOS Cacheable (Enabled / Disabled) : Disabled

[/b]

It's due to the hypothese that we are now using  mainly windows not DOS as primary OS in fact under DOS there is a performance difference if shadowing is enabled but under windows there is no gain (the driver do direct access to the hardware by passing the bios).

<edit> should have read the last msg from cavalier  

[This message has been edited by straffo (edited 02-17-2001).]

[PakRat]

That's OK Straffo - I needed to post a followup anyway.

That was a great link to information and the most telling part is where the guy accidentally wiped out his video BIOS but Windows continued to run like a champ.

I've never had any stability issues with my BIOS shadowed and cached, but apparently I've been wasting the high-speed cache to do it.

I didn't do any hard core numbers testing yet, but I don't notice any difference at all between shadowed and not - which is the minimum I would expect based on the above information.

Cool stuff.

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Rape, pillage, then burn...

[Tyro48]

Whats the benefit of interleaving the ram if the graphics card ram is being used?

[Lephturn]

The whole system will run faster.

The video card is only doing the video rendering.  The CPU and Ram must do the all the math, positional stuff.. etc. etc.  Turning on 4-way interleaving will speed your entire system up slightly, and should give you a small performance gain in AH unless you are currently very video card limited.

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Lephturn - Aces High Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs  http://www.flyingpigs.com
 
Check out Lephturn's Aerodrome!

"Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know." - Michel Eyquem, seigneur de Montaigne. (1533–1592)