Introduction

The Basic Input Output System - aka BIOS -resides in a small Flash EEPROM memory
module on the motherboard. It's a form of read-only memory, but may be rewritten
or programmed when the right tools and techniques are applied. During PC startup,
the processor on the motherboard always executes the program stored in the BIOS
as its first major maneuver.

When a PC dawdles through the boot process, the system runs slowly, Windows
crashes, or the hardware fails, a badly configured BIOS may be at fault. In this
article, we show you how to manipulate the switch center of your PC, to make your
system run faster and work better.

The section entitled "Basics" covers BIOS fundamentals. There, you'll learn what a
BIOS is, how you can access it, and how to find your way around it with confidence.
The section entitled "Key Settings" explains important BIOS options about which
every computer user should know. Advanced users may want to jump straight into
the section entitled "BIOS Tuning"; there, they'll find out how to use hidden settings
to activate unused power reserves, enable new functions, clear bottlenecks, and get
rid of dead weight in the system.

Basics

As the first program executed by the processor at boot time, the BIOS introduces
the CPU to the primary components on the motherboard, and instructs the CPU
regarding which program to run next when the BIOS code has completed. As a rule,
the BIOS then accesses the boot sector on the boot device, which might be a floppy
disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD, or a hard disk. The boot sector in turn loads a boot manager
program of some kind, which starts up the primary operating system for the
machine, such as Windows or Linux.

After the start-up process ends, the BIOS still isn't finished with its chores. Many
types of hardware access in a PC really involve the operating system accessing the
BIOS, which then accesses the hardware on the operating system's behalf.

Main Options
Let's start with the BIOS Main Options Menu, found by clicking on the "Main" tab in
the upper left-hand corner.

Just below where you set the date and time you can define the specifics of your
hard drives and other storage devices installed in the PC. Each time the PC boots, it
most likely has to auto-detect and determine what storage devices are installed on
the system. While this takes only a second or two on most systems, if you define
these specifics rather than use auto-detection, your boot-up will be that much
quicker.

To do this, simply select the drive, usually by highlighting it and pressing Enter.
Then write down the numbers currently displayed for the Cylinders, Heads, Sectors,
and LBA. On some BIOSes, you'll also have options for Block Mode as well as 32-Bit
Transfer Mode. Change the drive type from AUTO to USER. Then key those numbers
and options in exactly as they were displayed. On most modern computers, you will
want LBA Mode, Block Mode, and 32-bit Transfer Mode all turned ON for your hard
disk drive, even if they weren't before.
If there is no device attached to any one of the four possible drive location
combinations, select NONE. For example, if you have one hard drive configured as a
Primary Master and one CD-RW configured as a Secondary Master, be sure to set
both the Primary and Secondary Slave options to NONE. If you leave the AUTO
setting where there is no device, the computer will always look to see if a device is
plugged in at that location each time the computer boots. By changing this setting
to NONE, the computer will boot slightly faster.

Advanced Features

Next, select the Advanced tab on the top of the screen to show advanced options,
which are broken into sub-menus. The first branch is labeled "Advanced BIOS
Features."

Is it really necessary to thoroughly test your memory and floppy drive every single
time you turn on the computer? Unless you suspect a problem with either one, I see
no reason to continually test them with BIOS diagnostics. In this part of the BIOS
we'll be able to reduce system start up time by enabling or disabling specific
features - such as those just mentioned - to optimize the start-up process. Here are
the recommended settings:

Boot Virus Detection : Enabled. Sometimes this is located under the Standard or
Main section of some BIOS. While boot sector viruses are no longer the major threat
they once were, enabling this feature will protect your data should you boot from an
infected floppy disk or CD-ROM.

CPU Level 1 Cache : Enabled.

CPU Level 2 Cache : Enabled.

Quick Power On Self Test : Enabled. This will skip the repetitive memory count
that occurs when you turn on your PC; chances are that if you really do have bad
memory, this basic test won't catch it anyway.
First, Second, or Third Boot Device : Set your boot order, and disable any boot
device here that you do not want to boot from.

Boot Other Device : Disabled, unless you are booting from a network or SCSI card.

Boot Up Floppy Seek : Disabled. It's a waste of time and a noise maker.

Boot Up NumLock Status : Your choice. Some folks like the NumLock on their
keyboard activated when Windows starts, while others want it disabled.

Gate A20 Option : FAST. While this feature is made more or less obsolete by
Windows XP, I still recommend you leave it on. Older versions of Windows and OS/2
perform better with this parameter set to FAST. The only reason I can imagine
someone would set it to normal would be if they are running DOS.

Typematic Rate Setting : Disabled. Your choice, really. This feature determines
how long the keyboard waits when holding down a key until it starts repeating it,
and how fast that happens.

APIC Mode : Enabled. This is the Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller,

which is responsible for multi-processor support, more IRQs, and faster interrupt
handling.

OS/2 Onboard Memory > 64M : Disabled. This setting only applies to users
running the now defunct OS/2 operating system from IBM.

Full Screen LOGO Show : Your choice. When enabled, the memory count and
Power-On Self-Test (POST) are hidden behind a "curtain" - a graphic logo. For
example, when you first turn on a Gateway computer, you might see GATEWAY in
big letters across the screen. When disabled, the "normal" initiation sequence is
displayed on the screen - the way most computers look when you first turn them on
before the operating system begins to load. Some people prefer to hide the POST
screen, while others prefer to always see it.
POST Complete Report : Your choice. This setting, when enabled, will display the
results of the POST.

Speech POST Reporter : Your choice. This setting, when enabled on a PC with
speakers, will "talk" over your speakers at boot time to tell you the status of the
POST. The voice quality is a far cry from that of the computers on Star Trek, but
some people think it's cool.

How To Overclock Using Advanced Chipset Features

Overclockers are PC enthusiasts who attempt to increase their system's

performance by raising bus speeds and increasing their CPU speed beyond the
figure at which it was sold and designed to run. They also quite frequently need to
raise the voltage of these devices, since they are pushing them harder, which also
generates more heat.

Overclocking no longer makes the performance difference it used to. It will also void
your CPU warranty, could cause complete system failure requiring component
replacement, and can cause random system instability. For that reason, many of
the frequency and voltage settings offered in this part of the BIOS should be left
alone or set to AUTO. But if you do want to adjust them, click on the ADVANCED tab
on the BIOS screen.
CPU External Freq. (MHz) : Be sure to set this in accordance with the
specifications of your processor.

CPU Frequency Multiple Setting : AUTO.

CPU Frequency Multiple : Be sure to set this in accordance with the

specifications of your processor.

Asus should have called this the CPU Multiplier. To understand what this means,
realize that the CPU processes data at a different speed than the rest of your
system. In this example, an AMD Athlon 2600 CPU is used, which runs at 2.133 GHz.
It talks to the motherboard at 133.33 MHz, which is referred to as the Front Side Bus
(FSB) speed. Therefore, 133.33 MHz (generally referred to as 133 MHz) is the FSB
speed, while the CPU processes data at a multiple of 16 x 133.33 for a total of
2,133, or 2.133 GHz. So the multiplier is 16.

Through testing, AMD has determined - as have many independent magazines -

that their 2.133 GHz CPU runs as fast as (or faster than) an Intel CPU rated at 2.6
GHz. Knowing that most consumers shop looking for large numbers to equate to
performance, AMD had to come up with a way to convince consumers that even
though their clock speed number was smaller, the processor's performance was the
same or better than an Intel system with larger numbers. This explains why an AMD
Athlon 2600 (as used in this example) actually runs at 2.1333 GHz and not the
implied 2.6 GHz.

System Performance : Optimal.

CPU Interface : Optimal.

Memory Frequency : By SPD. Most memory-chip manufacturers include a Serial

Presence Detect (SPD) chip, which reports to the computer's BIOS the size, data
width, speed, and voltage of the installed memory. These settings are determined
by the manufacturer to ensure maximum performance and reliability, so "By SPD" is
considered a safe, recommended setting. By adjusting these settings yourself, you
may be able to squeeze more performance out of your system, but if you're not
careful, you might cause your system to constantly crash, not boot properly, or not
boot at all.

How To Overclock, Continued

Memory Timings : Optimal.

FSB Spread Spectrum : Disabled. This feature helps systems pass European
electromagnetic interference (EMI) tests. It accomplishes this by constantly varying,
ever so slightly, the frequency of the Front Side Bus (FSB). Be warned that enabling
this feature with large values can result in Internet connection disruption, as well as
stability problems if you overclock your system.

AGP Spread Spectrum : Disabled. The description above applies here as well,
except that this is for modulating the frequency of the Advanced Graphics Port
(AGP) interface.

CPU VCore Setting : AUTO.

CPU VCore : Be sure to set this in accordance with the core voltage requirements
of your processor.

There are so many processors out there that I don't know if one example would be
better than none. Instead, here is a partial chart, showing the name of the CPU, its
actual operating speed, its core voltage requirement, and how hot it can get before
failing.Athlon Processor Speed (GHz) Core Voltage (V) Max. Temp. (°C)

XP 1700 1.467 1.50 90

XP 1900 1.60 1.50 90

XP 2000 1.667 1.60 90

XP 2100 1.733 1.60 90

XP 2200 1.80 1.60 90

XP 2400 2.0 1.60 85

XP 2600 2.133 1.65 85

XP 2700 2.171 1.65 85

XP 2800 2.250 1.65 85

Graphics Aperture Size : 64 MB or 128 MB. This feature controls the size of the
Graphics Address Relocation Table (GART) and the amount of memory address
space used for AGP memory addresses. Regardless of how much on-board memory
a system's video card has, a setting of 64 MB or 128 MB is recommended. This will
allow the video card to remain optimized in the event that an application requires
more memory for texture storage, while simultaneously limiting the GART to a
reasonable size.

AGP Frequency : AUTO.

System BIOS Cacheable : Disabled. You might be under the impression that all
cache is good, but that's not true. This feature can cause problems such as system
crashes if a program tries to write to the BIOS area being cached. This is a great
feature to enable if you're still using DOS.
Video RAM Cacheable : Disabled. This option allows the Video RAM to be copied
directly to your L2 cache, which is considerably faster to access than ROM.
However, Windows is so much more advanced than DOS, Windows rarely ever uses
this ROM. Because the L2 cache is quite limited in size, it is recommended you let
Windows use the L2 cache for enhancing the efficiency of other tasks.

DDR Reference Voltage : 2.6V. This setting controls the voltage of the Double-
Data Rate (DDR) memory in your system.

AGP VDDQ Voltage : 1.5V. VDDQ is an engineering term meaning Voltage

between Drain and common for Data Quad-band. In English, this refers to how much
voltage should be supplied to the video card.

AGP 8X Support : Enable this if the system's video card supports 8X AGP speeds.
You must install the VIA 4-in-1 drivers to take advantage of this feature on VIA-
based motherboards.

AGP Fast Write Capability : Enabled is recommended. This feature, when

enabled, allows the AGP device to bypass main memory when performing write
transactions from the chipset to the AGP device, increasing performance by as
much as 10 percent. However, some games and PCI cards may experience
problems with this setting enabled. It is recommended that you experiment with
this setting to determine what works best for your PC.

Integrated Peripherals

This section of the BIOS setup program contains settings for built-in peripherals
included with the motherboard. This includes serial and parallel ports, as well as
audio, LAN, and USB ports. Unused ports that are enabled represent a significant
drain on resources and should be disabled.
Primary VGA BIOS : This setting is used only when there are two video cards
installed in the PC: One AGP (accelerated graphics port) and one PCI (peripheral
component interconnect). The system wants to know which card to initialize first
and make its "main" card. If you only have one video card, it is most likely AGP. For
most people, the default setting is wrong and should be changed to AGP VGA Card .
If you have two video cards, select the video card that you want to be the "main" or
primary card. The primary video card will show the Windows splash screen and
POST results during initial boot-up.

USB Controllers : This feature allows you to limit the functionality of the Universal
Serial Bus (USB) controllers on your system. You may choose to allow only USB 1.1,
USB 1.1 & 2.0, or disable USB altogether. Most people will want to set this to USB
1.1 & 2.0 for maximum versatility.
USB Legacy Support : This setting must be enabled if the PC has a USB keyboard
and the user wants to use this keyboard either in a DOS environment or before the
operating system loads (in boot menus, for example). If this setting is disabled, then
booting to a floppy disk or CD-ROM will render the keyboard useless. Also, ironically,
trying to enter the PC's BIOS may be impossible if this setting is disabled and a USB
keyboard is connected. If the PC has a USB keyboard with a rectangular connector,
then set this to Enabled . If it has a PS/2 keyboard (round connector), set this to
Disabled . Be aware that enabling this feature may result in problems with the
computer waking up from Standby or Hibernate mode, or cause the computer to not
shut down properly. In other words, enable this only if you must.

USB Mouse Support : Same as above. Disabled is the preferred setting.

Onboard AC97 Audio Controller : If a sound card such as a Soundblaster Audigy

has been added to the PC, or the system does not have speakers, be sure to Disable
the motherboard's on-board sound card. This will free up precious resources and
prevent potential conflicts. For most systems, however, this feature should be set to
Enabled .

Onboard AC97 Modem Controller : Some motherboards are sold with built-in or
proprietary dial-up modems. This is rare on white-box systems, but many tier-one
manufacturers utilize these devices. If the system lacks a modem, or if the modem
is plugged into a standard PCI slot on the motherboard, then this setting should be
Disabled. Otherwise, it should be Enabled.

Onboard LAN (nVidia) : This lets you enable or disable the built-in network
interface card (NIC). The options are Auto or Disabled. The ASUS motherboard I
used for this article has two built-in network interface cards, which is particularly
useful for people who want to use the PC as a router to share their high-speed
broadband Internet connection: One NIC plugs into the cable modem, while the
other plugs into a hub, switch, or other PC via a crossover cable. If you use only one
NIC, disable the one you are not using, to free up valuable resources.

Onboard LAN (3Com) : This is the second built-in network interface card (NIC), as
mentioned above..
Integrated Peripherals, Continued

Onboard 1394 Device (Firewire) : This feature enables or disables the built-in IEEE
1394 (Firewire) port on the PC. If the system does not have any Firewire devices, or
if the Firewire connector is not plugged into the motherboard, disable this device to
free up valuable resources.

Floppy Disk Access Controller : Most PCs today do not have floppy drives. If that's
the case for your PC, or if you never use your floppy drive and would rather have
resources available for other uses, then disable this device. Note: If you have a
floppy drive and decide to disable it here, the drive will not function unless you go
back in to the BIOS and re-enable it.

Onboard Serial Port 1 : Most people no longer use serial ports for connecting
external peripherals, as most have been replaced by USB equivalents. If you do not
use the system's serial ports, disable the ports and free up the resources. On the
other hand, if you do use the serial port, then this option should be set to 3F8/IRQ4 .

Onboard Serial Port 2 : Same as above, if you do not use this. If you do use it, then
set this to 2F8/IRQ3 .

UART2 Use As : A UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) is a chip

that receives and transmits data serially; each serial port you have will use one,
though it is possible that several may be integrated onto one chip. Many
motherboards offer an infrared device to use in place of Serial Port 2, and this is
where you can make that decision. You will need the infrared adapter installed on
your motherboard - usually sold separately - to utilize the Infrared feature.

Onboard Parallel Port : This setting lets you decide whether to select parallel port
mode resources or disable the parallel port completely. If you have nothing plugged
into the parallel port, disabling it will free up valuable system resources. But if you
use the parallel port, then I recommend you set it to 378/IRQ7 .

Parallel Port Mode : If you have disabled the parallel port, then this setting is
irrelevant. However, if the parallel port is enabled, you should configure it to run in
EPP (enhanced parallel port) or ECP (enhanced capabilities port) mode. EPP mode is
recommended if the system has just one device, such as a printer, plugged into its
parallel port. Select ECP if you have daisy-chained more than one device - such as
an external Zip drive, scanner, printer, or tape drive - to the system's parallel port.
To take full advantage of these settings, make sure you're using IEEE-1284-
compliant parallel cables.

ECP DMA Select : If you select ECP or EPP plus ECP as your parallel port mode
above, then this option is made available to you. With it, you can select which DMA
(Direct Memory Access) channel you want it to use. I recommend the default setting
of 3.

Onboard Game Port : If you have added a sound card to your system, or if you do
not use either MIDI-devices or obsolete joysticks, then this feature should be
disabled to free up resources. If, however, you do use the onboard game port, then I
recommend the default setting of 201.

Onboard MIDI I/O : The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) defines the
standard that lets musical instruments, computer hardware, and software
communicate. If you do not use your computer for making or playing MIDI music,
you can safely disable this device. Otherwise, I recommend the default setting of
330.

Onboard MIDI IRQ : Same as above. If enabled, I recommend the default setting of
10.