![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Thursday , April 07, 2005
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ABIT Fatal1ty AN8
The Fatal1ty AN8 is ABIT’s entry in to the nForce4 race. While it is a little late to market, it is still anticipated by many. Let’s find out if it stands up to all of the marketing claims.
BIOS
ABIT chose to base the Fatal1ty AN8’s BIOS on the Phoenix AwardBIOS template. The BIOS version shown below is version 12.
ABIT chose to replace their famous SoftMenu BIOS interface with a newer and sleeker design, and dubbed it uGuru. The uGuru Utility menu is split into 2 individual sections – OC Guru and ABIT EQ. The OC Guru section allows for manipulation of most board bus speeds and all board voltages, while the ABIT EQ section contains PC health type monitoring and system level response settings.
With the CPU Operating Speed option within the OC Guru screen set to User Defined, various component frequency related settings are user accessible. The External Clock option controls the main CPU FSB, with a not too shabby maximum of 410MHz allowed. Note that this setting also affects the memory and HyperTransport bus speeds as well. The Multiplier Factor option controls the CPU multiplier, with a minimum of 4x allowed. The actual CPU speed is determined by multiplying the External Clock and Multiplier Factor settings. The bus speed for all PCI-Express devices is asynchronously set through the PCIE Clock option. This option allows for a 145MHz maximum bus speed.
With the exception of the reference voltage options, all voltages become user accessible with the Voltages Control option set to User Define. The CPU Core Voltage option determines the voltage supplied to the CPU. Note that the minimum voltage shown is the default voltage of the CPU currently seated in the board, with the maximum shown as +.35V over the default level. The CPU voltages allowed with a 90nm CPU in use would be different due to the lower voltage requirements of that chip. The DDR SDRAM Voltage configures the base voltage supplied to the DDR modules, with a maximum of 2.80V allowed. The DDR VTT Voltage option configures the DRAM termination terminal voltage, which needs to be set to at least half of the current DDR voltage for maximum module stability. The maximum of 1.40V should be more than enough power to keep the memory running smoothly. The voltage supplied to the nForce4 Ultra chipset is set via the nForce4 Voltage option, with a hefty maximum of 1.80V allowed. The HyperTransport bus voltage is set through the HyperTransport Voltage option. This option allows for a scant maximum of 1.35V. The DDR Ref. Voltage option controls the initial reference voltage supplied to your DIMMs on system initialization, with the option of increasing or decreasing the voltage by 0.1V. Similarly, the CPU Ref. Voltage option offers the same 0.1V latitude for the initial CPU voltage setting. The Power Cycle Statistics option leads to the Power Cycle Statistics submenu, which lists total board usage and uptime.
The ABIT EQ screen within the uGuru Utility menu offers options for viewing real time statistics on BIOS monitored resources, as well as the ability to configure triggered events based on system resource monitoring. The Temperature Monitoring submenu shows all monitored system temperatures, allowing for configuration of warning and shutdown triggers based on pre-configured temperature values. The Voltage Monitoring submenu offers similar capabilities, with warning and shutdown triggers available for all monitored system voltages. The Fan Speed Monitoring submenu offers warning and shutdown event configuration based on monitored feedback from the onboard fan headers. The ABIT EQ Beep Control option, located within the main ABIT EQ menu, enables the issuance of warning tones over the onboard speaker when the system detects a problem with one of the monitored fans, temperature or voltage related items.
The FanEQ1 Control and FanEQ2 Control submenus contain settings for configuring the fan speeds for fans attached to one of the onboard fan headers. The fan speed is controlled with a specified temperature threshold based on a selected system temperature device. The monitored temperature device is configured for the individual fan header through the Reference temperature option. The temperature thresholds are set using the Control Temperature High and Control Temperature Low settings. The fan speed is configured using the DC Fan Voltage High and DC Fan Voltage Low options that are not user configurable. When the monitored temperature is below the selected Control Temperature High setting, the fan header only supplies the voltage configured within the DC Fan Voltage Low setting. If the temperature climbs above the Control Temperature High setting, the supplied voltage changes to the configured DC Fan Voltage High setting. By varying the power to the fan headers, the BIOS can automatically manipulate the fan speed.
The Advanced BIOS Features menu contains a number of settings for configuring system initialization behavior, including boot drive access order. With a USB 2.0 type hard drive device connected at system startup and properly detected by the BIOS, the drive will show as a selectable device in the Hard Disk Boot Priority submenu. The priority of specific items in this menu can be changed using either the + and – keys or the PageUp and PageDown keys.