Operational Specifics

Just like other mainboards, Biostar TPower I55 displays different info during POST. It is pretty unusual that here we have the whole bunch of options available by pressing hot keys from F9 to F12 including.

We already know about some of them: by pressing F11 you can launch the integrated memory test. Some other functions are pretty obvious: F9 displays a list where you can temporarily change the startup device. And what does “BIOSTAR easy OVER-CLOCK” stand for? I expected the opportunity to choose some of the preset processor overclocking profiles, for example, up to 3.6, 3.8 and 4.0 GHz. However, I was pretty surprised with what I saw after pressing F10.

We already know that Biostar guys like to use widely spread abbreviations and provide them with new unique meaning. For example, “G.P.U.” is not a graphics processing unit, as you may have thought, but “Green Power Utility” power-saving technology. Same way “O.M.G.” is not the abbreviation for “Oh, my god!”, but the short form for “OverClocking Matrix Genie”. We can change the base clock, PCI Express frequency and a few other parameters without even entering the BIOS.

Of course, this express-system can’t fully replace the original BIOS functionality. For example, we can’t change the memory frequency, which can become an issue during overclocking. However, it may still be useful while you are still figuring out the most optimal settings, when all you have to do is slightly lower or increase the base clock, slightly adjust the voltages.

Speaking of the fact that the BIOS of Biostar TPower I55 mainboard has everything necessary, I wasn’t completely honest. In fact, there is one thing missing: built-in BIOS reflashing utility. However, you can always launch it by pressing F12 on system boot-up. “BIO-Flasher” utility looks just like the older programs for updating the BIOS, which we used to run from floppies. Now everything is way faster, simpler and more convenient, you can even use a flash drive. The only thing this utility lacks is the opportunity to save the current BIOS version.