![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Sunday , August 31, 2003
- Author:
- Keith Dugger
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
EPoX 8KRA2+
EPoX adds to their product line with the new 8KRA2+, wielding a VIA KT600 chipset. Will this new motherboard satisfy the enthusiast and step ahead of the nForce2-dominated AMD market?
BIOS
The 8KRA2+ uses the Phoenix AwardBIOS v6.0. The main screen displays a list of available menus and functions. The Standard CMOS setup and Advanced BIOS features enable users to configure drives, boot priority, and, among other standard features, set the date and time.
The Advanced Chipset Features submenu allows control over the chipset. Among other bus functions, DRAM adjustments can be made here to control every aspect of RAM performance. Changing the DRAM Timing to Manual (under the DRAM Clock/Drive Control submenu) enables the user to change the memory system parameters. Other options are Auto By SPD, Turbo, and Ultra.
The following is a list of available settings: CAS Latency: 1.5, 2, 2.5, or 3; Bank Interleave: Disabled, 2 Bank, or 4 Bank. The default (disabled) uses SPD and should satisfy most users’ needs; Precharge to Active (Trp): 2T, 3T, 4T, or 5T; Active to Precharge (Tras): 6T, 7T, 8T, or 9T; and, Active to CMD (Trcd): 2T, 3T, 4T, or 5T.
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Other settings are: DRAM Burst Length: 4 or 8; Write Recovery Time: 2T or 3T; and tWTR: 1T or 2T.
Other RAM settings are available in the Power BIOS menu and will be discussed next.
In addition to memory settings, the manner in which options that allow user control over the CPU clock and ratio are implemented are among the most important usability aspects of a good BIOS. The Power BIOS menu allows manual control for fine-tuning of almost every characteristic of a computer’s performance.
The System Performance parameter offers six settings ranging from Standard to Expert. Ours is set to Expert to open up the other options. Other settable parameters are the CPU Timing, ROMSIP Table, the DRAM Command Rate, and DRAM Clock
The CPU Clock can be set from 100 to 250 and the CPU Ratio can be set to AUTO or a range from 5 to 23.
Often, such overclocking will require more than the default voltage and this is where you would increase the CPU and DIMM voltage settings.
The CPU Vcore Voltage can be adjusted from 1.400V to 1.850V in 0.025V increments and 1.850V to 2.000V in 0.050V increments. 2.0V is simply not high enough for an extreme overclock. A high of at least 2.2V is desired.
The DIMM voltage can be changed by selecting an amount of voltage to add to the default of 2.70V. Six settings from 0.00V to 0.50V in 0.10V increments are available. This is a great range.
Surprisingly missing is the ability to change the VDD and AGP voltage.
The PC Health Status submenu allows the user to enable and control shutdown temperature and displays speeds of the system monitored fans. The range for CPU warning and shutdown temperatures is shown in the pictures above and is acceptable for most. I always find it odd, though, that you can set a warning temperature higher that the shutdown temperature.
As a note, the SATA and IDE RAID, on-board sound, and NIC can be disabled in the Integrated Peripherals submenu of the BIOS. This is useful for increasing boot speed and saving valuable system resources.