Configure The BIOS Parameter Settings

At this point the computer is sitting at the BIOS main menu, the "CMOS Utility menu". We're ready to setup the rest of the BIOS parameters. By now you're somewhat familiar with navigating around the CMOS Utility Menu with the arrow keys and using the keypad plus "+" and minus "-" keys to change values, so I'll simply list the values I use.

The table below shows the BIOS settings I am using on the EPoX 8RDA+ motherboard. The motherboard arrived with the 12/10/2002 BIOS. Italics indicate values that are not updateable, although they might be under different BIOS settings.

For more information about BIOS settings, the BIOS optimization guide available from Adrian's Rojak Pot is excellent.

Standard CMOS Features

Parameter	Setting	Comments
IDE Primary Master	WDC WD1200JB-22GVA0	This is the Western Digital Caviar 120GB hard drive. The hard drive should not be on the same IDE as optical drives such as a CD RW or a DVD RW since doing so will cause the hard drive to run at the speed of the slower device. Optical drives are much slower than the hard drive. Placing them on separate IDEs allows them to both run at their maximum speeds.
		IDE Primary Master (sub-menu)
		Parameter Setting Comments IDE Primary Master Auto   Access Mode Auto
IDE Primary Slave	None
IDE Secondary Master	SONY DVD RW DRU-5	This is the Sony dual format DVD RW.
IDE Secondary Slave	LITE-ON LTR-40125S	This is the Lite-On 40x CD-RW.
Drive A	1.44M, 3.5 in	This is the floppy drive.
Drive B	None
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.
Video	EGA/VGA
Halt On	All, But Keyboard	Halt on all errors except Keyboard Absent error. This enables the machine to boot without the keyboard plugged in.
Base Memory	640K	DOS device drivers, TSRs and any programs to be run, plus their data.
Extended Memory	1047552K	Memory above 1 MB is known as extended memory, and is not normally usable under DOS.
Total Memory	1048576K	Base + Upper + Extended = Total Memory.

Advanced BIOS Features

Parameter	Setting	Comments
Virus warning	Disabled	Symantec Norton Antivirus protects My Super PC.
CPU Internal Cache	Enabled	Of course.
External Cache	Enabled	Of course.
Quick Power On Self Test	Enabled	Skip Power On Self-Tests for faster boot.
First Boot Device	Floppy	Normally this should be set to HDD-0 to boot directly from the hard drive, but set it to the floppy drive for now since that's how we'll need it when we're ready for the step after configuring the BIOS parameters. When it's set to HDD-0 the computer does not look to see if there's a floppy disk in the floppy drive from which it should boot. Set this to Floppy for disaster recovery procedures.
Second Boot Device	Floppy	The First Boot Device is usually the only boot device in My Super PC, so I usually set this to the same as shown in the First Boot Device.
Third Boot Device	Floppy	Ditto.
Boot Other Device	Disabled	Gives the "ok" for the BIOS to try the Second Boot Device and Third Boot Device if the First Boot Device is a "no-go", but My Super PC just boots from the First Boot Device, which is the hard drive so - Disabled.
Swap Floppy Drive	Disabled	I've only got one floppy drive, so it's going to be A:.
Boot Up Floppy Seek	Disabled	Skipping this check makes the boot go a bit faster.
Boot Up NumLock Status	Off	This item is a matter of personal taste.
Gate A20 Option	Fast	For best performance.
Typematic Rate Setting	Enabled
Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec)	30	6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, 30
Typematic Delay (Msec)	250	250, 500, 750, 1000. This is the delay, in milliseconds, before the keyboard automatically repeats the keystroke that you have pressed continuously.
Security Option	Setup	If you have set a password, select whether the password is required every time the System boots, or only when you enter Setup. I don't even have a password set, so it's a moot point.
APIC Mode	Disabled	Setting to Enabled can cause instabilities. Once the operating system is installed, such as Windows XP in my case, this setting cannot be changed without reinstalling the operating system, regardless of whether the initial setting is Disabled or Enabled. The purpose of setting it to Enabled is to extend the number of IRQ's, which sounds like a real risky proposition. The number of IRQ's should be fine without being extended, anyway.
MPS Version Control For OS	1.1	Not changeable with APIC Mode set to Disabled.
OS Select For DRAM > 64MB	Non-OS2	IBM's relic.
HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability	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.
Small Logo(EPA) Show	Disabled

Advanced Chipset Features

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Parameter	Setting	Comments
System Performance	Expert	This value lets you make whatever changes you like.
CPU Clock Ratio	Default
FSB Frequency	166 MHz	The value for FSB Frequency should correspond to the FSB of the processor in the system: a value of 100 MHz for a 200 FSB processor a value of 133 MHz for a 266 FSB processor a value of 166 MHz for a 333 FSB processor a value of 200 MHz for a 400 FSB processor If you don't know the FSB of the processor (it should be plainly stated as part of the product description when it's purchased) then you may be able to determine it from the numbers on the processor core by using this web page to decode the numbers on the core of your Athlon XP/Thunderbird processor.
CPU Interface	Aggressive
Memory Frequency	100%	Adjust this so that the next setting has the right value for the type of RAM being used.
Resulting Frequency	166MHz	The value for Resulting Frequency should correspond to the type of RAM in the system: a value of 100 MHz for PC1600 RAM a value of 133 MHz for PC2100 RAM a value of 166 MHz for PC2700 RAM a value of 200 MHz for PC3200 RAM
Memory Timings	Optimal	This value causes the next set of parameters to become set to the recommended most stable settings for the type of RAM installed. If you instead use a value of Expert here then you can tweak the next set of parameters. But I've tried that and it always caused instability, so I'll stick with the Optimal settings which are stable.
T(RAS)	7	Active to precharge. The following values are recommended to improve stability with no real loss of performance. A value of 7 for PC2700 memory, a value of 6 for PC2100 memory and a value of 5 for PC2100 memory. The value of 7 is automatically set by the BIOS by setting Memory Timings to Optimal.
T(RCD)	3	Active to CMD.
T(RP)	3
CAS Latency	2.5
FSB Spread Spectrum	Disabled	A value of Enabled reduces electromagnetic interference by varying the frequency of the FSB slightly. But varying the frequency causes problems with system stability, so that doesn't sound like a very good trade.
AGP Spread Spectrum	Disabled	Same bad trade on the AGP bus.
AGP Aperture Size (MB)	64M	The BIOS optimization guide reference from Adrian's Rojak Pot provides a great description of how this should be set and why. A value of 64MB is best for most configurations.
AGP Frequency	66 MHz	This is the only correct value, so use this even over other allowable values such as Auto.
AGP 8X Support	Enabled	I have an 8X AGP video card in My Super PC, but if you don't then set this to Disabled.
AGP Fast Write Capability	Enabled	For best performance, but set to Disabled if any PCI cards stop working.
CPU Thermal-Throttling	Disabled	If your CPU runs hot then you can try using different values here.
System BIOS Cacheable	Disabled	This feature is only valid when the system BIOS (F0000-FFFFF) is shadowed. It greatly speeds up accesses to the system BIOS. However, this does not translate into much better system performance because the OS does not need to access the system BIOS much. As such, it would be a waste of L2 cache bandwidth to cache the system BIOS instead of data that are more critical to the system's performance. In addition, if any program writes into this memory area, it will result in a system crash.
Video BIOS Cacheable	Disabled	Set to Disabled for best performance. That may sound backwards from what you'd expect. But yes, Disabled.

Integrated Peripherals

Parameter	Setting	Comments
OnChip IDE Channel0	Enabled	Enables the first IDE interface, which for My Super PC has the hard drive on the primary.
Primary Master PIO	Auto	Set all of these to Auto and let the BIOS determine if each drive is capable of DMA support, and its respective PIO mode.
Primary Slave PIO	Auto	Ditto.
Primary Master UDMA	Auto	Ditto.
Primary Slave UDMA	Auto	Ditto.
OnChip IDE Channel1	Enabled	For the second IDE interface, which for My Super PC has the CD-RW on the primary.
Secondary Master PIO	Auto
Secondary Slave PIO	Auto
Secondary Master UDMA	Auto
Secondary Slave UDMA	Auto
IDE Prefetch Mode	Enabled	For best performance.
Init Display First	AGP	Set to AGP if your primary display is your AGP adapter, or to PCI if the primary display is a PCI video card.
OnChip USB	V1.1+V2.0	EPoX 8RDA+ supports both USB V1.1 and the newer, faster USB V2.0.
USB Keyboard Support	Disabled	I'm not using a USB keyboard and mouse.
AC97 Speaker At POST	Disabled	This is something that was added later, and with a default value of Disabled, so my guess is there was some problem with it being enabled during the Power On Self Test. I don't see any reason to enable it anyway, so I'll leave it Disabled.
AC97 Audio	Auto	It can be set to a value of Disabled if you decide to use an add-on sound card.
MAC Lan(nVIDIA)	Disabled	I'm not using the on-board LAN to connect to the internet. Looks like some kind of Apple Computer thing though, doesn't it?
Machine MAC(NV) Address	Disabled	I don't need to enter a MAC address since I'm not using the on-board LAN.
MAC(NV) Address Input	Press Enter	You'd go into this sub-menu to enter the MAC address if you are using it.
MAC Lan(3COM)	Disabled
OnChip 1394	Auto	Enables the built-in support for FireWire (IEEE 1394). I don't actually have any FireWire devices at the moment, but this could come in handy in the future.
1394 GUID	Disabled
1394 GUID Input	Press Enter
IDE HDD Block Mode	Enabled	For best hard drive performance. Windows NT 4.0 users should set this to Disabled unless they can confirm they have been updated with a Service Pack that will work with it.
POWER ON Function	BUTTON ONLY
KB Power ON Password	enter	Since I only use the power button to turn on My Super PC, this parameter is not applicable.
Hot Key Power ON	Ctrl-F1	Ditto.
Onboard FDC Controller	Enabled	Enables the Floppy Disk Controller.
Onboard Serial Port 1	3F8/IRQ4	Standard
Onboard Serial Port 2	2F8/IRQ3	Standard
UART Mode Select	Normal	If you are using an infra-red device then you would set this to the infra-red mode of the device. Since I don't have any infra-red devices, this values configures the second serial port as just a plain, normal serial port. And the next 4 parameters are not used since they have to do with infra-red settings.
RxD , TxD Active	Hi,Lo
IR Transmission Delay	Enabled
IR2 Duplex Mode	Half
Use IR Pins	IR-Rx2Tx2
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.
EPP Mode Select	EPP1.9	Not changeable since Parallel Port Mode is set to SPP.
EPP Mode Use DMA	3	Ditto.
PWRON After PWR-Fail	Off
Game Port Address	201	Standard.
Midi Port Address	330	Standard.
Midi Port IRQ	10	Standard.

Power Management Setup

Parameter	Setting	Comments
ACPI Function	Enabled
ACPI Suspend Type	S1(POS)
Power Management	User Define	My Super PC does not use the Suspend power saving mode.
Video Off Method	DPMS Support	Use this setting if you have a PnP capable monitor.
HDD Power Down	Disabled
HDD Down In Suspend	Disabled
Soft-Off By PWRBTN	Instant-Off	You don't want slow death.
WOL(PME#) From Soft-Off	Disabled	I don't use soft power off, so I don't need any kind of wake-up signal.
WOR(RI#) From Soft-Off	Disabled	Ditto.
USB Resume from S3/S4	Disabled	Ditto.
Power-On by Alarm	Disabled	Ditto.
Time of Alarm	0: 0: 0

PnP/PCI Configurations

Parameter	Setting	Comments
Reset Configuration Data	Disabled	Normally leave this Disabled. But if, for example, you add a new card and the subsequent system reconfiguration causes a serious conflict of resources (maybe the OS won't boot) then setting this to Enabled is a solution to be considered.
Resources Controlled By	Auto (ESCD)	Let the BIOS figure out IRQ's and DMA channels.
IRQ Resources	Press Enter	Inaccessible since I've selected a value of Auto for the previous pararmeter.
PCI/VGA Palette Snoop	Disabled	The VGA "palette" is the set of colors that are in use by the videocard when it is in 256-color mode. Since there are thousands of colors and only 256 can be used in that mode, a palette containing the current colors is used. Some special VGA cards, high-end hardware MPEG decoders, etc. need to be able to look at the video card's VGA palette to determine what colors are currently in use. Enabling this feature turns on this palette "snoop". This option is only very rarely needed. It should be left at "Disabled" unless a video device specifically requires the setting enabled upon installation.
Assign IRQ for VGA	Enabled	Set to Yes if you are using an AGP video card.
PCI Latency Tmer(CLK)	32	A value of 32 is typically used, but other values may provide better performance depending on the PCI usage in a particular computer. The only way to know for sure is to try the different values and see how it impacts performance.
INT Pin 1 Assignment	Auto	The more the BIOS automatically figures out the IRQ settings the better I like it.
INT Pin 2 Assignment	Auto	Ditto.
INT Pin 3 Assignment	Auto	Ditto.
INT Pin 4 Assignment	Auto	Ditto.

PC Health Status

Parameter	Setting	Comments
CPU Warning Temperature	Disabled
Shutdown Temperature	Disabled

Power BIOS Features

Parameter	Setting	Comments
CPU Voltage Regulator	Default
AGP Voltage Regulator	1.5V
DIMM Voltage Regulator	2.63V

Ok, that's done. In a moment we'll be saving the changes, exiting the BIOS and re-booting the computer. But first, insert the floppy containing the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics into the floppy drive. We've changed the BIOS settings so that the computer defaults to booting first from the floppy drive, so the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics utility will be executed when we get that far if all goes well.

Save all changes and exit the BIOS. This is done with the "F10" key on the EPoX 8RDA+ motherboard. The computer reboots after saving the changes. This time when the computer boots, the processor speed should display correctly. The computer will boot from the floppy drive, starting the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics utility.

Common Problems

A problem with the BIOS configuration can manifest itself in many ways and not always right away. That's one reason I make it a point to itemize the BIOS settings I'm using so you'll have a "known good" reference.

After pressing "F10" to save the BIOS parameter values, the computer should reset and re-boot just as when it was first turned on. If it instead powers itself off then you know there's a problem with the BIOS configuration. Or if on re-booting you get a strange message that says something like "Overclocking attempt failed" then you know there's a problem with the BIOS configuration.

In such cases when the problem is immediate and obvious the solution is to undo the offending BIOS setting. If it's not clear which setting is (or might be) causing the problem then you can load the Failsafe Defaults. If the computer no longer boots to the BIOS then you can clear the CMOS manually using the jumper or by removing the battery on the motherboard.

But BIOS settings can cause problems later, too, and these can be more difficult to trace to the BIOS. Fortunately as you'll see on the Windows installation page, installing Windows XP is actually a good stress test for the BIOS settings. Diagnostics and benchmarks that are run as a final check-out of the built computer should also shake-out any instabilities in the BIOS settings. For example, if a graphics benchmarks locks up then it may be due to a BIOS setting. But with these later tests the failure may also be due to other factors, so re-running the benchmark or diagnostic with the Failsafe Defaults loaded to see if that eliminates the problem may be just the first thing you try.

Next: Computer Assembly - Test The Standard IDE Parallel ATA (PATA) Hard Drive
Or:   Computer Assembly - Test The Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Drive

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How To Build A Computer. Step By Step Instructions To Assemble. Skip To Any Assembly Step.

	Parts List [go]
	Tools [go]
	Antistatic Wrist Strap [go]
	Computer Case and Power Supply [go]
	Motherboard [go]
	Processor, CPU Cooler and Thermal Compound [go]
	RAM - System Memory [go]
	Video Card [go]
	Monitor [go]
	Keyboard and Mouse [go]
	Floppy Drive [go]
	Hard Drive [go]
	CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD RW [go]
	Sound Card and Speakers [go]
	Modem [go]
	Install the Processor onto the Motherboard [go]
	Install the CPU Cooler [go]
	Install the RAM - System Memory [go]
	Install the Motherboard into the Computer Case [go]
	Install the Video Card [go]
	Connect the Power Supply to the Motherboard [20-pin Connector  or  24-pin Connector]
	Connect the PN1 and PN2 Indicators to the Motherboard [KS-282 to EPoX 8RDA+  or  Sonata to MSI K8N Neo Platinum]
	Ready the Monitor [go]
	Ready the Keyboard and Mouse [go]
	First Boot [go]
	First Boot Common Problems [go]
	Install the CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD RW Drives [go]
	Install the Hard Drive and Floppy Drive [PATA Hard Drive  or  SATA Hard Drive]
	Connect the Speakers (if using built-in sound) [go]
	Second Boot [PATA  or  SATA]
	Configure the BIOS Parameter Settings [EPoX 8RDA+  or  MSI K8N Neo Platinum]
	Test The Hard Drive [PATA  or  SATA]
	Install a Second SATA Hard Drive For RAID (optional) [go]
	Install the Operating System - Windows XP [on PATA hard drive  or  on SATA hard drive]
	Driver Installation [go]
	How To Copy Big Files From Another Computer Using Just a Floppy Drive [go]
	Install the Modem [go]
	Install the Motherboard Chipset Drivers [EPoX 8RDA+  or  MSI K8N Neo Platinum]
	Install the Monitor Driver [go]
	Install the Video Card Drivers [EPoX 8RDA+  or  MSI K8N Neo Platinum]
	Install the Sound Card and Speakers [go]
	Install System Information Utility - EVEREST [go]
	Diagnostic Test - DirectX [go]
	Speed Test - System Memory (RAM) Performance [go]
	Speed Test - Hard Drive Performance [PATA and SATA results]
	Speed Test - CD Performance [go]
	Speed Test - Total System Performance [go]
	Stress/Torture Tests [go]
	Connect Front Panel Ports For Audio, Firewire and USB 2.0 [go]
	Install Rear Panel Ports For Firewire And USB 2.0 [go]
	Install The Computer Case Fans [go]
	Post Assembly Needs [go]
	Graduation [go]
	Video Card Driver Settings [go]
	BIOS Flash Update [go]
	BIOS Settings [go]

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