BIOS Setup

ASRock X58 SuperComputer mainboard uses BIOS based on AMI code. The BIOS functionality is as unique as the board itself, so we will go in a little more detail about it. You need to press F2 on system boot-up to access the BIOS:

The “Main” section serves mostly informational purposes. Here you can set current date and time, check the name of the mainboard, BIOS version, CPU type and current clock speed, memory size and frequency. Nothing unusual here. However, I was very pleased with what I saw in the next section called “Smart”.

Long time ago some BIOS maker decided that all options dealing with loading the default settings or optimized settings should be located in the very last BIOS section. But why, if they are used frequently? And why ASRock was the only one who came up with an idea to make these standard operations automatic? Of course, once you figured out the BIOS structure and found the necessary sub-section and the specific parameter in it, you can switch your HDDs into ACHI mode yourself. But why take the trouble if you can do it in one easy move from one of the first sections instead of digging deep into the BIOS? All in all, we would really like to give ASRock quite a few extra points for creating this extremely useful “Smart Settings” section.

However, the functionality of “EZ Overclocking section” didn’t really impress us that much, although the description of the changes in the new BIOS versions suggests that the developers focused primarily on this section. “Load Optimized CPU Setting” allows you to apply all parameters necessary to overclock the CPU to the desired frequency from 3.6 to 4.0 GHz with 100MHz increment. The latest beta BIOS version L1.44 had an increased interval with 4.2GHz maximum frequency. However, it is done in a very rough manner: all processor power-saving technologies and “Turbo Boost” function get disabled, the multiplier is locked, the voltages get increased significantly and the base frequency is pushed to the necessary level. The “Load Optimized DDR3 OC Setting” works similarly, only here you can’t actually choose: all settings are adjusted to ensure that the memory frequency reaches 2000MHz.

Almost all parameters important for proper system configuring are gathered in “Advanced” section. The names of the sub-sections here will tell you about the settings they contain:

“CPU Configuration” sub-section tells about your CPU and allows adjusting the corresponding parameters.

“Chipset Configuration” sub-section has most settings. It allows changing the whole bunch of them – from frequencies and timings to voltages.

Most settings here do not need an explanation, their names indicate their functions clearly enough. You can notice that you can’t change the QPI bus frequency, because the “QPI Frequency” parameter is inactive. However, you don’t really need to change the QPI bus frequency during the CPU overclocking: the lowest multiplier will be used by default. Moreover, the latest beta BIOS version L1.44 already allows adjusting the QPI bus frequency, so we believe that this parameter will be unblocked in the next official BIOS release. I would also like to draw your attention to the “Intelligent Energy Saver” parameter. Until this day only MSI mainboards allowed enabling mainboard’s power-saving technologies right from the BIOS without any additional utilities.