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3-3 Advanced Chipset Features
By choosing the [
Advanced Chipset Features
] option from the CMOS Setup Utility
menu (Figure 3-1), the screen below is displayed. This sample screen contains the
manufacturer's default values for the motherboard.
Figure 3-4 Advance Chipset Features Screen
All of the above settings have been determined by the motherboard
manufacturer and should not be changed unless you are absolutely sure of
what you are doing. Explanation of the DRAM timing and chipset features
setup is lengthy, highly technical and beyond the scope of this manual. Below
are some abbreviated descriptions of the functions in this setup menu.
DRAM Clock/Drive Control:
The function allows you to enable or disable the DRAM timing by SPD. When set to
Manual, you can select the DRAM CAS Latency, SDRAM Cycle Length and Bank
Interleave configuration.
AGP & P2P Bridge Control:
1. AGP Aperture Size
This function determines the amount of system memory that is given to the AGP
card. Options range from 4MB to 256MB. This is a dynamic memory allotment in
that the AGP card will only use the amount of memory that it needs. The remaining
memory not in use will be available for the system to use. For example, if 16MB is
allotted to the AGP card and the card only needs 8MB, the remaining 8MB will be
available for system use.
2. AGP Mode
Enable this setting to utilize the 4X mode (twice as fast as 2X) offered by advanced
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AGP cards. Your VGA card must support 4X mode in order to take advantage of the
faster speed.
CPU & PCI Bus Control:
1. PCI1/PCI2 Master 0 WS Write
When Enabled, writes to PCI bus are executed with zero wait states.
2. PCI1/PCI2 Post Write
When Enabled, writes to PCI POST bus are executed with zero wait states.
3. PCI Delay Transaction
The chipset has an embedded 32-bit posted write buffer to support delay transactions
cycles. Select Enabled to support compliance with PCI specification version 2.1.
Memory Hole
Enabling this function will allow a 1MB memory space for ISA card usage. It is
advice to leave the default setting at disabled for better performance. Available
options include [
Disabled
] and [1
5M – 16M
].
System BIOS Cacheable:
Enabling this function allows caching of the system BIOS ROM at F0000h-FFFFFh,
resulting in better system performance. However, if any program writes to this
memory area, a system error may result. It is advised to leave this setting. Caching the
system BIOS results in better performance than shadowing the system BIOS.
Video RAM Cacheable:
Enabling this function will allows caching of the video RAM, resulting in better
system performance. However, if any programs write to this memory area, a system
error may occur.
Flash BIOS Protection:
The motherboard manufacturer developed BIOS protection technology that protects
the System BIOS from accidental corruption by unauthorized users or computer
viruses. When enabled, the BIOS data cannot be changed when attempting to update
BIOS with the FLASH utility. When disabled, the BIOS data can be updated by using
the FLASH utility.
