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The table below shows the BIOS settings and values that I am using on the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard. Italics indicate settings and values that are not updateable, although they might be under different BIOS settings.
The settings I am using are, for the most part, the values put into place when the Optimized Defaults option is selected on the BIOS main screen. The changes I made are for personal preferences.
MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.)
The settings in this menu are for overclockers and other advanced users, allowing clocks, frequencies and voltages to be adjusted and tweaked. It is not necessary to modify them at all. In many cases, adjusting a setting within this menu can cause the computer to be unstable or fail to boot. It's handy they have been grouped like this so they can be more easily ignored.
Main menu
- System Time, System Date
- The date and time, with the time expressed in military hours.
- IDE Channel 0 Master WDC WD6400AAKS-00A7B
- Shows the device connected to the SATA 1 connector on the motherboard. The Western Digital 750GB SATA hard drive is on SATA 1. Press Enter on the device entry to bring up the sub-menu for the device.
- Extended IDE Drive Auto
- Access Mode Auto
- Set to Auto to allow the BIOS to automatically detect the SATA drive. If a drive is detected then the physical characteristics of the drive are filled in.
- Capacity, Cylinder, Head, Precomp, Landing Zone, Sector
- Shows the physical characteristics of the Western Digital 640GB SATA hard drive.
- IDE Channel 1 Master TSSTCorp CDDVDW SH-S223Q
- Shows the device connected to the SATA 2 connector on the motherboard. The Samsung dual format SH-S223Q DVD RW optical drive is on SATA 2. Press Enter on the device entry to bring up the sub-menu for the device.
- PIO Mode Auto
- UDMA Mode Auto
- When the interface has a drive then set the value to Auto and let the BIOS determine if each drive is capable of DMA support, and its respective PIO mode.
- Primary IDE Master/Slave Auto
- Access Mode Auto
- Set to Auto to allow the BIOS to automatically detect devices on the IDE. If a device is detected then the physical characteristics of the drive are filled in.
- Capacity, Cylinder, Head, Precomp, Sector, Transfer Mode
- Shows the physical characteristics of the Sony DVD RW drive, but don't be concerned if most values simply show as zero.
- Drive A 1.44M, 3.5"
- Use a value of Disabled if you do not have a floppy drive installed.
- Floppy 3 Mode Support Disabled
- Floppy 3 is the Japanese standard floppy drive mode. It stores 1.2MB on a 3.5" diskette instead of 1.44MB.
- Halt On All, But Keyboard
- Halt on all errors except Keyboard Absent error. This enables the computer to boot without the keyboard plugged in.
- Base Memory 640K
- Standard.
- Extended Memory 4094MB
- The BIOS reserves 2MB. The operating system reserves a much bigger chunk, so the actual amount of system memory available to applications is closer to 3000MB (3.00GB).
- Installed Memory 4096MB
- A total of 4GB of system memory is installed in My Super PC.
Advanced BIOS Features menu
- Hard Disk Boot Priority
- Specifies in what order the computer try hard drive type devices in order to boot. Many computers, like My Super PC, typically have just the one hard drive actively available.
- First Boot Device
- Second Boot Device
- Third Boot Device
- Specifies in what order the computer try devices in order to boot. Normally I have the first boot device set to the Hard Disk and the others don't matter, they may be set to Disabled or also set to Hard Disk. At times it's necessary to boot from a CD or DVD, so in that case the first boot device gets set to CDROM.
- Password Check
- Values are Setup and System.
- HDD S.M.A.R.T. Cpability Disabled
- It's no use having it set to Enabled unless you're also running software that monitors the S.M.A.R.T. status, and who does? Setting to Disabled will give best performance.
- Limit CPUID Max. to 3 Disabled
- Should be set to Disabled for modern operating systems, including Windows XP and Windows Vista.
- No-Execute Memory Protect Enabled
- Provides protection by controlling whether or not the processor is allowed to execute instructions that reside in data areas. Should always be set to Enabled to activate the protection, however, it is only supported in AMD processors and certain operating systems.
- CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) Enabled
- A power saving function.
- C2/C2E State Support Disabled
- A power saving function.
- C4/C4E State Support Disabled
- A power saving function.
- CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) Enabled
- A CPU overheating protection function.
- CPU EIST Function Enabled
- A power saving function.
- Virtualization Technology Enabled
- Enables hardware support for running multiple operating systems simultaneously. Otherwise it has to be supported solely by software. As if anyone is doing that, anyway.
- Delay For HDD (Secs) 0
- Certain hard disk drives require some extra time to spin up in a cold boot. If the system does not start after the memory test, try adding time in this field.
- Full Screen LOGO Show Disabled
- Splash screen size.
- Init Display First PEG
- Set to PEG if your primary display is your PCI Express adapter, or to PCI if the primary display is a PCI video card.
Integrated Peripherals
- SATA RAID/AHCI Mode Disabled
- Other values are AHCI and RAID. The default value of Disabled operates the SATA hard drive using IDE legacy mode, which is fine and less troublesome under Windows XP. Under an operating system that supports SATA without installing additional drivers, such as Windows Vista, a setting of AHCI allows the full capabilities of the SATA hard drive to be used, such as Native Command Queueing (NCQ) and hot-plugging. However, there will no noticable performance difference. The RAID setting is for hard drives configured in a RAID configuration.
- SATA Port0-3 Native Mode Disabled
- Ditto. With the Disabled setting, the SATA devices operate like legacy IDE devices, which is fine and even best under Windows XP. Operating systems with native SATA support, such as Windows Vista, would be fine to use a setting of Enabled.
- Azalia Codec Disabled
- This is for the on-board audio. Values are Disabled and Auto. I'm using a value of Disabled since I have an add-on sound card. Use a value of Auto if you're using the sound capabilities built into the motherboard.
- Onboard H/W 1394 Enabled
- Enables the built-in support for FireWire (IEEE 1394).
- Onboard H/W LAN1 Enabled
- Onboard H/W LAN2 Enabled
- Enables the built-in LAN support to connect to the Internet.
- Green LAN Disabled
- When the Enabled setting is used, the LAN connections are automatically disabled when there is no cable connected.
- SMART LAN1
- SMART LAN2
- Press enter on this setting to perform a diagnostic on the connection.
- Onboard LAN1 Boot ROM Disabled
- Onboard LAN2 Boot ROM Disabled
- When set to Enabled, the computer can boot without a hard drive by loading the operating system over the network.
- Onboard SATA/IDE Device Enabled
- Applies to the controllers on the SATA2 chip.
- Onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode IDE
- Applies to the controllers on the SATA2 chip. Other values are AHCI and RAID/IDE. As before, IDE is best for Windows XP and AHCI is fine for Windows Vista.
- Onboard Serial Port 1 3F8/IRQ4
- Standard.
- Onboard Parallel Port 378/IRQ7
- Standard.
- Parallel Port Mode SPP
- Set this to SPP unless you have a device or printer that specifically requires use of ECP/EPP modes such as a parallel port scanner, zip drive, etc.
- USB 1.0 Controller Enabled
- USB 2.0 Controller Enabled
- USB Keyboard Function Enabled
- USB Mouse Function Enabled
- USB Storage Function Enabled
- Enables these USB capabilities, but doesn't mean they have to be used (such as for the keyboard and mouse).
Power Management Setup
- ACPI Suspend Type S1(POS)
- This setting controls how the PC goes into power saving mode (standby mode). S1(POS) is the safest setting. Other settings, such as S3(STR) and S1&S3 will save substantially more power, but may not work with older hardware and operating systems. If you don't let your PC go into standby mode that often then you may just want to stick with the safe setting. But if you do then another setting is worth a try.
- Soft-Off by PWR-BTTN Instant-Off
- It is standard operation for a computer that if you hold the power button on the computer down for more than 4 seconds it will power off. This setting controls what the computer should do if the power button is held down for less than 4 seconds. The other option is Suspend.
- PME Event Wake UP Disabled
- I've seen this setting called "Power Up On PCI/PCIE Devices" on other motherboards. Can be used to allow the computer to wake up via add-on cards or the built-in LAN support.
- Power Up On Ring Disabled
- I've seen this setting called "Power On By External Modems" on other motherboards. Can be used to allow the computer to wake up via the modem.
- Resume by Alarm Disabled
- Date (of Month) Alarm 0
- Alarm Time (hh:mm:ss) 0 : 0 : 0
- I've seen this setting called "Power On By RTC Alarm" on other motherboards. Wake up due to a real time clock event, specified by date and time.
- HPET Support Enabled
- For best performance. Microsoft describes this setting, the High Precision Event Timer, here.
- HPET Mode 32-bit mode
- The other possible value is 64-bit mode. Use the 32-bit mode value unless you're using 64-bit Windows Vista.
- Power On By PS/2 Mouse Disabled
- Power On By PS/2 Keyboard Disabled
- KB Power ON Password
- I don't use the mouse or keyboard to power on the PC.
- AC Back Function Soft-Off
- I've seen this setting called "Restore on AC Power Loss" on other motherboards. I don't want the computer re-booting on its own when I'm not there after power has been restored from a power loss.
PnP/PCI Configurations
- PCI1 IRQ Assignment Auto
- PCI2 IRQ Assignment Auto
- The more the BIOS automatically figures out the IRQ settings the better I like it.
PC Health Status
- Reset Case Open Status Disabled
- I'm not concerned about case intrusions.
- CPU Warning Temperature Disabled
- Can be used to set a temperature at which the BIOS will beep if exceeded by the CPU.
- CPU FAN Fail Warning Disabled
- SYSTEM FAN2 Fail Warning Disabled
- POWER FAN Fail Warning Disabled
- SYSTEM FAN1 Fail Warning Disabled
- When enabled, the BIOS will emit a beep if the fan is not detected or is not spinning.
- CPU Smart FAN Control Auto
- A value of Auto or Enabled allows the CPU fan speed to vary depending on the temperature of the CPU. A value of Disabled means the fan always spins at full speed.
- CPU Smart FAN Mode Auto
- A value of Auto allows the BIOS to automatically detect how the CPU fan is connected.
