I just got my new computer, well NEARLY all of them to be precise... I bought most of the parts online and still waiting for the cooler and casing to arrive and then I'm set.
Anyway I got the following specs:
K7N2 Delta-L mobo
512 MB Infineon DDR400 CL3
Athlon Throughbred XP 2400+
MSI GeForce Ti4200+ 128MB
and so on and so on...
So while waiting impatiently for the remaining stuffs to arrive, I was going through the mobo manual and bumped into so many questions regarding the BIOS options... now I'm not a tech newbie but I ain't the cream of the crop anyway, at least not when compared to you guys.
Anyhow I'll number my questions since there's so many of them. Hope all of you can help out.
** Note: If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can download the colourful manual here. Then scroll down to page 63 onwards out of a total of 116 pages.
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/suppor...il.php?UID=436 **
ADVANCED BIOS FEATURES
1) External Cache
enable or disable
Definitely enable. But one thing which I have wondered all these while, why have such an option? Does disabling the external cache serve any purpose?
2) Gate A20 option
two options, Fast or Normal
I'll choose Fast, of course. Why not, I mean.
But what the hell is Gate A20 in the first place?
3) MPS Table Version
1.1 or 1.4
Man this one is a real bummer. I guess I'll chose 1.4, simply because it ought to represent a newer version, since I will be using Windows ME. I hope I'm right. Right?
4) Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T
enabled or disabled
I was actually thinking of leaving this disabled. I guess it will be using some system resources when SMART is enabled, and I'm gaming a lot. Has anyone anything to share regarding this? Is having SMART enabled worth it?
5) Video BIOS Cacheable
disabled or enabled
Disabled as default. Says here that enabling it allows caching of the video BIOS RAM at C000h to C7FFh, resulting in better video performance. However, if any program writes to this system area, a system error may result.
Any opinions?
ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES
6) CPU FSB Clock
100 - 200 MHz at 1 MHz increments
Well I guess it should be 133 MHz for me, being a Thoroughbred processor. If I do overclock it, should I go in increments of 5 MHz? What kind of programs should I run to make sure if it is stable?
7) FSB/DRAM Ratio
By SPD, 2:1, 5:3, 3:2, 4:3, 5:4, 6:5, 1:1, 5:6, 4:5, 3:4, 2:3, 3:5, 1:2
I have read in several places that it defaults at 1:1, and that is the fastest because tge FSB and DRAM is running in sync. How true is this?
8) T-(RAS)
1 through 15
This setting controls the number of clock cycles for DRAM to be allowed to precharge from the active state.
Hmmm, I guess this is RAM specific. How do I find out what values to give?
9) T-(RCD)
1 through 7
The smaller the value, the faster it is. So says the manual.
Any ideas?
10) T-(RP)
1 through 7
Again, same question as the previous two.
11) CAS Latency
2, 2.5, 3
Well mine is Infineon CL3, but I guess I can try out 2.5, I've heard it works. But just how stable will it be?
12) FSB Spread Spectrum
Disabled, 0.5%, 1%
Manual: This item is used to enable or disable the FSB clock generator's Spread Spectrum feature. When overclocking the FSB, always set it to disabled.
I've neither seen or heard of this before. What is this?
13) AGP Spread Spectrum
Disabled, 0.5%, 1%
Manual: This item is used to enable or disable the AGP clock generator's Spread Spectrum feature. When overclocking the AGP slot, always set it to disabled.
Ditto as above.
14) AGP Fast Write Support
Disabled or Enabled
Says in the manual that Fast Write allows CPU to write into the graphics controller without passing anything through the system memory. Enable only if AGP card supports it.
How do I know if my Ti 4200 supports it or not? How much improvement will I see? Anything bad if I enable Fast Write?
15) System BIOS Cacheable
Enabled or Disabled
When enabled, allows caching of system BIOS ROM at F000h-FFFFh, resulting in better system performance. However if any program writes to this memory area, a system error may result.
Should I enable or not? Is it worth the consequences? What kind of apps will write to the ROM anyway?
16) Video RAM cacheable
Enabled or Disabled
When enabled, allows caching of video memory (RAM) at A000h-AFFFh, resulting in better system performance. However if any program writes to this memory area, a system error may result.
Ditto as above.
17) AGP Aperture Size
32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB
This setting controls how much system RAM can be allocated to AGP for video purposes. Lalalalala...
I guess the more I set aside for this Aperture Size, the better it is, as long as I have enough RAM to spare. So with 512MB total system RAM, should, say, 128 MB be a good value?
Okay, I'm done for now. Please help me out, oh PC-yuppies out there!