![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Thursday , May 28, 2009
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS Rampage II Gene
The Rampage II Gene is the newest release from ASUS in its Intel Core i7 motherboard line. While it may seem small in stature, this Republic of Gamers branded board looks to be able to easily compete with the big boys, and do it with a much smaller footprint!
BIOS
The Rampage II Gene’s BIOS is based on the AMI BIOS template, with version 0803 shown below.
The Storage Configuration submenu, with can be accessed from the Storage Configuration link within the Main menu, contains settings for configuring the ICH10R controlled SATA 2 controller. 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 Extreme Tweaker menu is a centralized location housing all system performance related settings and submenus. The Tuning Mode setting controls the options that are user configurable, with the Extreme OC setting giving access over all configurable performance options. The AI Overclock Tuner option determines the amount of control the user has over system configuration, with settings for BIOS controlled and manual overclocking available. All available performance settings are 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 the proper setting from the AI Overclock Tuner option is selected. OC from CPU Level Up setting contains preconfigured CPU speed settings, with a maximum setting of 4.0GHz available. The OC From Memory Level Up setting similarly contains preconfigured memory overclocking settings, with a maximum memory speed of 2000MHz available. Note that the OC From settings are mutually exclusive, with full user control only available when both are set to Auto. The CPU Ratio Setting option sets the CPU multiplier, which determines with CPU operation speed when multiplied by the selected setting from the BCLK Frequency. The CPU Turbo Power Limit option allows for all cores to remain running when CPU Turbo mode is active under full load conditions. The BCLK Frequency setting determines the board’s base clock frequency, with a maximum setting of 500MHz 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 Configuration submenu shows read-only statistics on the in use processor, as well as contains setting for internal CPU related functionality. The configurable CPU functions include: 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 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 at least +1 when enabled, allowing for CPU overclocking at the default base clock speed. The amount of multiplier increase depends on the current processor in use.
The EPU II Phase Control determines power regulation settings for the board, with the Full Phase option giving the best power output. The CPU Load-Line Calibration setting configures the board CPU vDroop regulation, 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 NB OCP setting configures the status of the Northbridge over current protection circuitry, while the DRAM OCP does the same for the system memory. The Exteme OV option allows for the CPU Voltage setting to be set to a maximum of 2.50V when enable. The CPU Voltage option controls the base processor voltage, with a maximum setting of 1.8V when the Extreme OV option is disabled. The CPU PLL voltage configures the CPU power regulation circuitry power, with a 2.50V maximum settable. The QuickPath Interconnect and Uncore clock bus voltages are set via the QPI/DRAM Core Voltage settings, which has a 1.80V ceiling with the QPI overvolt jumper disabled and a 2.50V ceiling when enabled. The Northbridge chipset voltage is configured through the IOH Voltage setting, with a 2.199V maximum, and the IOH PCIE Voltage setting, with a 2.78V maximum. Similarly, the Southbridge chipset voltage is split between the ICH Voltage setting, with a 2.00V ceiling, and the ICH PCIE Voltage setting, with a 2.05V maximum.
The DRAM Timing Control submenu, accessed via the DRAM Timing Control link, contains all memory timing related options which including the following: 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 memory voltage is set via the DRAM Bus Voltage option, with a 2.50V maximum. 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 processor. The Debug Mode setting controls the output of the system boot up debug messaging, with 2 options available, code based or string based. The Keyboard TweakIt Control setting allows for the linking of specific keyboard keys to preconfigured TweakIt configurations when enabled. 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 REF Voltages submenu, accessed via the DRAM REF Voltages link, contains all memory related reference voltage settings. 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 added to or subtracted from the base DRAM Bus Voltage setting. For all DRAM reference voltage settings, the maximum additive voltage setting is +200mV (0.200V), while up to -157.5mV (0.1575V) can be subtracted from the base dram voltage.
The Advanced menu contains submenus with options for configuring board’s subsystems and integrated devices. Note that the CPU Configuration submenu shown in this menu contains the same settings as the CPU Configuration submenu located within the Extreme Tweaker menu.
The Onboard Devices Configuration submenu contains the settings tied to board integrated device configuration, including the JMicron drive controller and its associated SATA 2, eSATA, and IDE ports, the Realtek GigE LAN controller, the IEEE 1394 controller, and the ADI SoundMAX HD audio subsystem.
The USB Configuration submenu contains all USB related configuration settings, including those related to port speed mode. When the system detects a USB device connected, the USB Mass Storage Device Configuration submenu link will display. This submenu contains 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 not allow direct manipulation of the IRQ interrupt or pool assignment related settings in this version of the BIOS.
The LCD Poster and LED Control submenu houses options for configuring the onboard LEDs, as well as the LCD Poster diagnostic device. The LCD Poster operating mode is set via the LCD Poster Mode setting. The device itself can be configured to display system time, or a rolling display of monitored voltages, temperatures or fan speeds, which would display after system initialization has completed. The Voltminder LED setting controls the operating state of the onboard voltage status LEDs, with the individual LEDs configurable to show status on specific device voltages.
The iROG Configuration submenu contains settings that become useful in the event of a system crash. The iROG Timer Keeper option configures a time mechanism to keep track of mean time between crash type events.
The Hardware Monitor submenu contains submenus containing settings for monitoring real-time statics on system voltages, temperatures, and fan speeds, in addition to configuring system response to specific events. This submenu is accessed via the Hardware Monitor link located within the Power menu.
The Voltage Monitor submenu displays real-time values for all system voltages. Similarly, the Temperature Monitor submenu displays real-time values for system device temperatures, with settings that can initiate system shutdown based on a pre-set temperature threshold. The Fan Speed Monitor submenu shows real-time speed statistics for fans connected to any of the onboard fan headers.
Using the Fan Speed Control submenu, you have the ability to configure each of the onboard fan headers for BIOS monitored control based on pre-set temperature thresholds or static speed settings.
The Hard Disk Drives submenu, accessed from a link in the upper level Boot menu, displays all hard drive style devices detected by the system at boot time including any connected USB 2.0 type devices. Hard disk access order can be changed via pull-down menu selection.
The Tools menu is a repository for the proprietary ASUS developed BIOS utilities, including the EZFlash2 BIOS update utility, a BIOS profile storage mechanism, and the TweakIt setting storage / retrieval system
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 8 BIOS profiles. These profiles contain all BIOS settings active at the time of profile creation. 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 TweakIt Batch File submenu allows for setup up to 2 customized configurations that can be instantly applied via key press from within Windows when the TweakIt utility is installed. The customized configurations can be configured with board voltage, base clock frequency and CPU ratio settings.