![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Tuesday , September 08, 2009
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
MSI P55-GD80 Motherboard Review
MSI pulled out all the stops in designing P55-GD80. This motherboards sports the new P55 chipset supporting the Lynnfield Core i5 and Core i7 processors. From its sharp looks to its bullet proof design, this board looks about ready to take its X58 based brethren head on.
BIOS
MSI chose to base the P55-GD80’s BIOS on the popular Phoenix AWARD BIOS template, with the BIOS version used in testing being A7581 V1.1.
Pressing the F4 function key from within the default BIOS screen spawns the CPU Spec window. This window displays statistics on the currently active processor, including physical speed, multiplier, and cache settings, as well as information about the various technologies supported by the active processor. Hitting the F5 function key spawns the Memory-Z window containing manufacturer specified SPD memory timing settings for the system DRAM modules on a per channel basis.
The System Information submenu, accessed via link from the Standard CMOS Features menu, displays read-only information about the current BIOS revision, CPU, and memory related settings.
The Advance BIOS Features menu contains various boot related settings, including boot device access order and the PCI Latency Timer setting. The Boot Sequence submenu lists the system boot device access order, with properly detected USB 2.0 devices listed as viable selection from the pull down menu.
The Integrated Peripherals menu contains configuration settings for the onboard integrated devices, including the USB 2.0 ports, the Realtek LAN controllers, the JMicron RAID controller, and the Realtek HD audio controller. The On-Chip ATA Devices submenu contains configuration settings for the P55 RAID controller. Note that the Intel RAID boot BIOS will only show on startup with drives connected to the onboard P55 chipset’s SATA 2 ports and the BIOS RAID Mode option set to RAID.
The H/W Monitor menu shows real-time status on BIOS monitored fan speeds, temperatures, and voltages. In addition, the various onboard fan headers can be set for static speed operation, with additional temperature based dynamic control available for the CPU fan header. The Dr.Mos Temperature submenu contains real-time temperature read outs for all CPU phase and CPU Vtt power MOSFETs.
The Green Power menu contains real-time power statistics on board devices, as well as settings for controlling the power phase settings for the board subsystems. The Motherboard LED Control controls the operation of the onboard subsystem monitor LEDs, while the Touch Power Panel setting enables the use of the onboard silk-screen power, reset, and green power buttons.
The Cell Menu screen is a centralized location housing submenus and settings for configuring the board performance and overclocking related settings. At the very top of the menu are real-time stats on the configured CPU, memory, and QPI bus speeds. The Active Processor setting controls how many physical processors on the CPU die are currently active, with options available to disable all but one to leaving all enabled. With the Intel SpeedStep setting enabled (shown as Intel EIST), the Intel Turbo Boost setting option becomes visible. This Turbo Boost option allows for the use a multiplier +1 over the default CPU multiplier when enabled. So if your CPU base multiplier is 20x, enabling this setting gives you access to a 21X multiplier setting. The Adjust CPU Base Frequency (MHz) setting controls the board’s base clock speed, with a 600MHz maximum settable. The OC Stepping option controls the BIOS assisted base clock speed overclocking mechanism, which can be configured for stepped type overclocking of the board’s base clock starting at the speed set via the Adjust CPU Base Frequency (MHz) setting. The Adjust CPU Ratio option controls the CPU multiplier, with the maximum value determined by the current CPU in use. The read-only Adjusted CPU Frequency (MHz) setting shows the physical CPU speed based on the selections made via the Adjust CPU Base Frequency (MHz) and Adjust CPU Ratio settings. The OC Genie Button Operation setting enables the use of the onboard OC Genie button, which dynamically overclocks the system when the button is pressed. The Base Clock Button option enables the use of the + and - base clock adjustment buttons on the board, allowing for on-demand 1MHz incremental increase or decrease of the current base clock speed.
The CPU Specifications submenu contains statistics on the currently active processor, including physical speed, multiplier, and cache settings. The CPU Technology Support submenu contains information about the various technologies which the currently active processor supports. The CPU Feature submenu contains all user configurable internal CPU settings, including: Intel SpeedStep (Intel IEST), idle C-state support, enhanced Halt state support (C1E Support), CPU current draw protection support (OverSpeed Protection), Execute Disable Bit support, CPUID maxval support, and Intel virtualization technology.
The Memory-Z submenu contains a series of submenus, with 1 submenu listed per DRAM module installed in to the system. Each individual Memory SPD Information submenu contains statistics on manufacturer recommending memory timing and speed settings, which are instituted by the BIOS when the DRAM Timing Mode setting is left in Auto mode.
Setting the DRAM Timing Mode setting to Manual enables access to the manual memory timing settings within the Advanced DRAM Configuration submenu. The Extreme Memory Profile(X.M.P) setting controls BIOS assisted advanced memory controller configuration, with the operational mode set via the Extreme Memory Profile Mode setting. The Memory Ratio option controls the physical memory speed through the use of ratios spanning the range of 3 to 5. The physical memory speed, based on the settings selected thru the Adjust CPU Base Frequency (MHz) and Memory Ratio options, displays under the Adjusted DRAM Frequency (MHz) setting. The QPI Ratio option sets the base speed of the QuickPath Interconnect bus, which is similar in function to the HyperTransport bus found on other boards. The QPI Frequency settings shown vary based on the selected base clock frequency setting selected, set via static ratio settings. The physical QPI bus speed is displayed under the Adjusted QPI Frequency (MHz) option. The Adjust PCI-E Frequency (MHz) setting controls the base PCI bus speed, with a maximum speed setting of 190MHz.
The Advanced DRAM Configuration submenu contains the following manually settable memory timing options: command rate (CH1 1T/2T Memory Timing); CAS latency; RAS to CAS delay (tRCD); RAS precharge delay (tRP); active to precharge delay (tRAS); row refresh cycle delay (tRFC); write recovery delay (tWR); write to read delay (tWTR); RAS to RAS delay (tRRD); read to precharge delay (tRTP), and four activate window delay (tFAW).
The Load-Line Calibration setting allows for BIOS oversight of the CPU vDroop voltage when enabled. The CPU base voltage is determined via the CPU Voltage (V) setting with a maximum 2.20V allowed. The CPU PLL Voltage (V) option controls the CPU power regulation circuitry voltage, with a 2.292V ceiling. The P55 chipset voltage is split between 2 settings, the PCH 1.8(V) setting with a maximum voltage of 2.60V, and the PCH 1.05(V) setting with a 1.964V maximum. The DRAM Voltage (V) setting controls the DRAM module base voltage, with a 2.63V maximum settable. The DDR_VREF_CA and DDR_VREF_DA options configure the control and data reference voltages for the in use modules on a per channel basis. For those configurable options, the values shown automatically scale with the configured base DRAM voltage with a maximum value of 1.179 settable at maximum voltage settings.
The ClockGen Tuner submenu contains voltage settings for the device specific driving clock. The CPU Amplitude Control setting controls the CPU base clock driving control voltage, with a 1000mV maximum setting allowed. Likewise, the PCI Express Amplitude control sets the PCI Express bus clock driving control voltage also with a 1000mV maximum setting.
The M-Flash menu allows for direct BIOS updating and archiving. The current BIOS can be archived to a named file on an attached USB drive, or can be updated from a file on an attached USB drive.
The Overclocking Profile menu allows for the storage of up to 6 full BIOS images, with all BIOS settings captured as configured at the time of profile creation. The actual profile management functions are housed in the Overclocking Profile submenus, number 1 thru 6. The submenu settings allow for custom naming of profiles, creation, loading, and profile setting deletion. The OC Retry option in the main menu sets the number of times the system will attempt to initialize with the current BIOS settings before reverting to a safe mode type boot up.