![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Sunday , March 15, 2009
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS P6T
The ASUS P6T Intel Core i7 motherboard is one of the less expensive in the marketplace. While the board itself does not have all the bells and whistles of the others in the ASUS lineup, the P6T’s performance rivals that of the best boards in the bunch. Does 8+2 phase power make a difference? How does it overclock for the dollars spent?
BIOS
The P6T’s BIOS is based on an AMIBIOS style design, with the BIOS shown below being version 0202.
The Storage Configuration submenu, with can be accessed from a link within the Main menu, contains settings for configuring the ICH10R controlled SATA 2 ports. The SATA Configuration setting determines the system port access type in conjunction with the Configure SATA as setting. With the Compatible mode setting selected for the SATA Configuration option, the system is restricted to accessing to a total of 4 SATA 2 devices. The Enhanced mode setting allows for use of 6 devices in standalone IDE, AHCI, or RAID mode, configured via the Configure SATA as option. This option becomes user configurable only when the SATA Configuration set to Enhanced mode. Note that the Intel RAID boot BIOS will only show with drives connected to the onboard ICH10R’s SATA 2 ports.
The System Information submenu, also accessed from a link within the Main menu, displays read-only information concerning the current BIOS, CPU, and memory related default speed and type configuration settings.
The Ai Tweaker menu contains numerous submenus and options directly controlling the system performance settings. The AI Overclock Tuner option determines the amount of control the user has over system configuration, with settings for BIOS controlled and manually controlled overclocking available. All available settings become user configurable with this option set to Manual. The hidden settings DRAM O.C. Profile and eXtreme Memory Profile, which use BIOS controlled memory voltage, speed and ratio settings, show when their tied setting from the AI Overclock Tuner option is selected. The CPU Ratio Setting option controls the base CPU multiplier, which determined with CPU operation speed when multiplied by the selected setting from the BCLK Frequency. The Intel(R) SpeedStep(TM) Tech setting controls the state of the processor SpeedStep technology, allowing for manual manipulation of the CPU multiplier when disabled. With SpeedStep enabled, the Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech setting display. This option works to boost the default CPU multiplier by +1 when enabled, allowing for CPU overclocking at the default base clock speed. The BCLK Frequency setting determines the board’s base clock frequency, with a settable 500MHz maximum allowed. This setting directly controls the speed of many other board devices, including the processor and memory speeds. The PCIE Frequency setting controls the PCI-Express bus frequency, which can be set as high as 200MHz. The memory speed is controlled through a series of pre-determined ratios contains within the DRAM Frequency option. These ratios are shown as physical speed settings, and change with the BCLK Frequency setting. The UCLK Frequency option controls the bus speed for the Uncore clock, connecting the internal memory controller and the memory slots. The QPI Link Data Rate setting sets the speed for the QuickPath Interconnect bus, which connects the CPU and Northbridge chipset. For both the Uncore and QPI bus speeds settings, the values shows are based on static ratios that change with the BCLK Frequency setting.
The CPU Voltage option controls the base processor voltage, with a maximum setting of 2.10V when the CPU overvolt jumper is enabled. The CPU PLL voltage, which controls the power provided to the CPU power regulation circuitry, can be set to a 2.50V maximum. The QuickPath Interconnect and Uncore clock bus voltages are set via the QPI/DRAM Core Voltage settings, which has a 1.90V ceiling with the QPI overvolt jumper enabled. The Northbridge chipset voltage is configured through the IOH Voltage setting, with a 1.70V maximum, and the IOH PCIE Voltage setting, with a 2.76V maximum. Similarly, the Southbridge chipset voltage is split between the ICH Voltage setting, with a 1.40V ceiling, and the ICH PCIE Voltage setting, with a 1.80V maximum. The board’s memory voltage is set thru the DRAM Bus Voltage setting, with a maximum allowed voltage of 2.46V with the DRAM overvolt jumper enabled. Note that due to the fact that the memory controller is internal for the Core i7 processors, using more than 1.65V could cause permanent internal damage to your costly processor. The DRAM DATA REF Voltage and DRAM CTRL REF Voltage options control the DRAM reference voltage settings for the board on a per channel basis, with the settings shown corresponding to voltage ratios based on the DRAM Bus Voltage setting. For all DRAM reference voltage settings, the maximum ratio value settable is 0.630x. The Load-Line Calibration option determines the manner in which the CPU vDroop is regulated, with the Enabled option allowing for direct BIOS regulation of the voltage. The CPU Differential Amplitude setting controls the CPU base clock driving control voltage, with a 1000mV maximum setting allowed. The CPU Clock Skew option sets the CPU base clock delay, with a maximum of 1500ps available. Similarly, the IOH Clock Skew sets the Northbridge clock delay also settable to a 1500ps maximum.
The DRAM Timing Control submenu, accessed via the DRAM Timing Control link from within the Ai Tweaker menu, contains all memory timing related options including: CAS latency; RAS to CAS delay; RAS precharge delay; active to precharge delay (DRAM RAS# ACT Time); RAS to RAS delay; row refresh cycle delay; write recovery delay; read to precharge delay; four activate window delay; burst read delay (DRAM Back-To-Back CAS# Delay); command rate (DRAM Timing Mode); per channel latency; write to read delay across DIMMs; read to write delay across DIMMS; read to read delay across DIMMS; and write to write delay across DIMMS. The write to read delay across DIMMs, read to write delay across DIMMS, read to read delay across DIMMS, and write to write delay across DIMMS settings are broken in to three categories: different DIMM modules (DD); same memory chip placement between modules (SR); and different memory chip placement between modules (DR).
The Advanced menu contains a series of submenus containing setting controlling the operation of the various board subsystems and integrated devices.
The CPU Configuration submenu shows read-only statistics on the currently seated processor, as well as acting as a central location for configuring CPU specific functionality. The configurable CPU specific functions include the following: CPU multiplier (CPU Ratio Setting), C1E support, hardware prefetcher support, adjacent cache line prefetch support, Intel virtualization technology, CPU Thermal Module function (CPU TM Function), Execute Disable Bit, HyperThreading operation control, core operational controls (Active Processing Cores), A20M support, SpeedStep, processor turbo mode, and CPU idle C-state support. Note that the processor turbo mode setting will not display unless the SpeedStep setting is enabled.
The Onboard Devices Configuration submenu contains settings for configuring the various onboard devices, such as the JMicron RAID controller and associated SATA 2, eSATA, and IDE ports, the Realtek GigE LAN controller, the IEEE 1394 controller, and the Realtek HD audio subsystem.
The USB Configuration submenu contains USB related configuration settings, including those related to port speed mode. With an active USB device connected to the system, the USB Mass Storage Device Configuration submenu link displays to the user. This submenu controls device specific emulation settings for the attached USB device.
The Advanced PCI/PnP Settings submenu houses the configurable plug and play and PCI bus related configuration options. Surprisingly enough, ASUS chose to no allow direct manipulation of the IRQ interrupt or pool assignment related settings in this version of the BIOS.
The Hardware Monitor submenu, accessed via a Power menu link, displays real-time statistics on BIOS monitored fan speeds, device temperatures, and device voltages. The fan speed settings for fans connected to the CPU and Chassis fan headers can be configured for BIOS controlled operation via the header specific Q-Fan Control settings as well.
The Removable Drives submenu, accessed from a link in the upper level Boot menu, displays all removable type devices connected to the system at boot time including properly detected USB 2.0 type devices.
The Tools menu is a repository for the proprietary ASUS developed BIOS utilities, including the EZFlash2 BIOS update utility, a BIOS profile storage mechanism, the Drive Xpert hard drive configuration tool, and the Express Gate configuration options. Express Gate is ASUS’ proprietary startup screen, which allows access to various applets without having to access the OS. The ASUS EZ Flash 2 utility is accessed via the ASUS EZ Flash 2 link in the Tool menu. The application allows you to update the system BIOS from any connected drive device, including properly detected USB 2.0 devices.
The O.C. Profile Configuration submenu allows for storage and retrieval of up to 2 BIOS profiles. These profiles contain all BIOS settings active at the time of profile generation. The Start O.C. Profile option from within the submenu allows for file based storage of the current BIOS settings for storage. The interface is very similar in design to the EZ Flash 2 interface, with access to all attached system storage devices for save and load operations, including attached USB 2.0 devices.
The Drive Xpert Configuration submenu contains settings for configuring the operational mode of the JMicron controlled SATA-2 ports. Through this submenu, you can configure the attached drives for standalone, Super Speed, or EZ Backup. The Super Speed mode treats the drives connected to the SATA ports as a single device, configuring the drives similar to a RAID 0 array type setup, while the EZ Backup mode creates a mirror of the drive attached to the primary SATA port on the secondary SATA port drive, more similar to a RAID 1 array type setup.