X-bit labs

Biostar TP35D2-A7 and TP35D3-A7 Deluxe Mainboards Review (page 13)

Category: Mainboards

by Doors4ever

[ 08/27/2007 | 12:51 PM ]

Overclocking

Overclocker experiments aimed at revealing Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe’s features in this field started with the new BIOS version. However, the board booted, but couldn’t load the Windows operating system even at 450MHz FSB frequency. We studied the monitoring data in the PC Health Status section and discovered that the processor Vcore doesn’t rise and remains nominal. I didn’t want to deal with this new BIOS version any more because it was “loosing” Serial ATA and couldn’t increase processor Vcore, so I returned to the old one, just like in the previous case. However, the situation with the older BIOS version turned out even worse, although all the voltages corresponded to the settings. The board couldn’t start at 450MHz FSB, 430MHz FSB and 410MHz FSB. At 390MHz FSB is finally booted, but failed to load Windows OS again.

Conclusion

You may be surprised, but after those issues I pointed out in the detailed description of Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe and Biostar TP35D2-A7 mainboards, I am still going to make a positive conclusion about these solutions. It is true, both Biostar mainboards we discussed today appeared unstable during overclocking, and revealed some strange feature disappearances. It is a pity that improper implementation turned some of their advantages into drawbacks. But at the same time, Biostar is actually one of the few companies that put a lot of effort into adding new features to their products. Of course, it is the results, but not the efforts that actually matter in the end of the day, but we should give Biostar due credit for working real hard and eventually this effort should pay back.

Hopefully, Biostar engineers will take into account our comments and make the overclocking and BIOS of their solutions as strong and thorough as their PCB design.