ASrock Bios explained

[rub900]

Re: ASrock Bios explained

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[rub900]

Re: ASrock Bios explained

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Re: ASrock Bios explained

rub900, I can understand your frustration with the UEFI/BIOS options and the lack of documentation and explanation of their purpose, etc. But I can assure you that you would find that ALL mother board manufactures do not provide the information that you are looking for. If you were to check the manual of any Z97 mother board, from ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, etc, you'll only find a very basic description about the options. I'm not trying to defend ASRock, but just simply stating the reality of the situation.

I can also tell you that having a degree in IT/Computer Science (which I do) will only help you in small ways when you build a PC and configure its BIOS options. It also depends upon what specific area your degree is in, if it is software for example, that will be very little help.

A PC's BIOS options are specific to the board's components, based on the processor and chipset used (AMD or Intel) and are different depending on the generation of the processors. For example, Intel's Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors have some different options than your Haswell processor does, and AMD processors have other different options. There are some basic, common options shared by all current processors, but board manufactures may use different terminology, and have different options depending on the board. Many BIOS options are not static and defined once and never change, so any guide from several years ago will not be applicable to a new board's BIOS.

As you saw, there are very few if any complete BIOS option explanation guides on the Internet, which seems astonishing, right? That is partially because BIOS options are closely tied to the CPU, chipset, and other mother board hardware. The hardware is the source of the terminology and technology, BIOS options just use it.

Frankly, I learned about BIOS options over a long period of study, reading technical documents and forum guides about over clocking, for example. I would also suggest Wikipedia for basic explanations of the terms, it can be surprisingly useful.

Here's the Intel datasheet for your processor, it hopefully will provide some of the basic information you need:



Since your board uses an Intel processor, and Intel has made many contributions to general PC technology, they are are great source of information about many PC related topics, like AHCI and RAID.

[cdoublejj]

Re: ASrock Bios explained

rub900, I can understand your frustration with the UEFI/BIOS options and the lack of documentation and explanation of their purpose, etc. But I can assure you that you would find that ALL mother board manufactures do not provide the information that you are looking for. If you were to check the manual of any Z97 mother board, from ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, etc, you'll only find a very basic description about the options. I'm not trying to defend ASRock, but just simply stating the reality of the situation.

I can also tell you that having a degree in IT/Computer Science (which I do) will only help you in small ways when you build a PC and configure its BIOS options. It also depends upon what specific area your degree is in, if it is software for example, that will be very little help.

A PC's BIOS options are specific to the board's components, based on the processor and chipset used (AMD or Intel) and are different depending on the generation of the processors. For example, Intel's Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors have some different options than your Haswell processor does, and AMD processors have other different options. There are some basic, common options shared by all current processors, but board manufactures may use different terminology, and have different options depending on the board. Many BIOS options are not static and defined once and never change, so any guide from several years ago will not be applicable to a new board's BIOS.

As you saw, there are very few if any complete BIOS option explanation guides on the Internet, which seems astonishing, right? That is partially because BIOS options are closely tied to the CPU, chipset, and other mother board hardware. The hardware is the source of the terminology and technology, BIOS options just use it.

Frankly, I learned about BIOS options over a long period of study, reading technical documents and forum guides about over clocking, for example. I would also suggest Wikipedia for basic explanations of the terms, it can be surprisingly useful.

Here's the Intel datasheet for your processor, it hopefully will provide some of the basic information you need:



Since your board uses an Intel processor, and Intel has made many contributions to general PC technology, they are are great source of information about many PC related topics, like AHCI and RAID.

WELL SAID!!! That's what I was trying to say about the degree but, I said it in a more A hole/rude way, though not my intent. However the more I thought about it, I think he may have been stating that to give the person he is working with a better idea of his technical skills level.

I do agree though experience is the best tool, book smarts only go so far but, I digress. I would add though in depth bios settings guide for a motherboard is probably a lot of work, i might venture to say that probably the highest end of mobos probably have such guide because most people upgrade after a few boards where a top of the line motherboard with have decent following and tend to age better and be used longer.

I definitely understand not answering the question at hand and how that can be frustration. It's one my biggest sin and biggest complaints about online forums.

However I digress So I'll stop there.

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Re: ASrock Bios explained

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First, most if not all high performance memory has default/standard speed data that is used by a mother board when the memory speed option in the BIOS is set to Auto. All memory has multiple data entries about the appropriate speed and voltage settings it works with, in general that is called the SPD data.

The default speed is not the advertized speed of the memory, and is always lower/slower than the advertized speed. Memory manufactures do this because they have no idea what the technical proficiency level of the user will be, or what board it will be used with, and they want to be certain that the memory will work when it is first put into a mother board. This is a "safety" feature they use, due to their experience with having the default memory speed set to the full/advertized speed. Some people will use the memory in a board/CPU combination that does not support the full speed of the memory, and when it fails to work for that reason, the user assumes the memory is defective when it really isn't. The manufacture also has to deal with their memory being used in all kinds of boards with many different BIOS', so the default speed data is conservative. So in a sense we have dumbed down default memory speed data programmed into all DRAM memory that is sold. Frankly, it is a good idea, and not an issue.

This memory speed setting is definitely not a BIOS bug, the BIOS is doing exactly what it should be doing when the memory speed is set to Auto. JEDEC is an organization that defines RAM memory specifications, which is why you see "JEDEC" as the header of those columns. The behavior of your board's BIOS with your memory and having the memory speed option set to Auto is following JEDEC specs perfectly.

You can see the default memory speed data in your screenshot, in the JEDEC #5 and #6 columns. They are set to 666/667MHz, so for DDR (Dual Data Rate) memory, the resulting speed is 1333Mhz.

You can also see the XMP-2400 data columns, that is the data for the rated full speed of the memory. XMP is eXtreme Memory Profile, a specially identified set of SPD data. Your board's BIOS should have a XMP option setting that when enabled will tell the BIOS to automatically use the XMP data entry to set the memory speed. You can always set memory speed manually as well.

Not all memory has XMP profile data included in its SPD data. One example of that is the Samsung Green/Miracle memory mentioned by Wardog, it does not have any XMP data. When no XMP data is found by a BIOS, the XMP option is not displayed. No problem, just set it manually.

Higher speed memory tends to run at higher voltages, you may be able to reduce the voltage and still have the memory run at its highest rated speed. If you don't like the voltage set that high, you must check the specs of the memory before you buy it.

If I may say, most of this explanation was needed for one BIOS option, Memory speed. IMO, this is an example of why we don't get decent explanations of BIOS options, the manual would be huge, and most people don't even read the manual. My real point is there is a lot of background information related to BIOS options, which I think is really what you are interested in, at least in some cases. It took me years to learn all this, from various sources. Welcome to PC building.

[cdoublejj]

Re: ASrock Bios explained

the problem is when you start setting things manual and the bios runs it a speed or setting you did not specify. so if he specifies 1600mhz manually it should run at 1600 not 1333, however if it's happening when he selects performance mode perhaps it's over riding the manual settings and trying to read from the SPD tables? all assuming i'm reading remembering correctly.

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Re: ASrock Bios explained

The Performance mode thing the OP mentioned is:

Thanks Wardog for the links. I am looking them over now. I have noticed they are not specific to ASrock's BIOS and they are a little dated. I am thinking I will have to start my own webpage and slowly gather the information myself. I am confused way there is not a guide to the bios on the ASrock website. The manual and guide included in the bios is weak as best. It took me too long and too much clicking to stop the computer from freezing. I have found out several things in the process. If you have a NVIDIA Geforce GTX 660 you need to pick gen2 in the video options. If you have a USB 2.0 mouse you need to use the front USB header connecting to the USB 2.0 header on the mother board and disable the USB 3.0 support in the BIOS. Two things I cannot figure out. Why my memory is changing from 2400 to 1333 and how to change from performance mode to standard mode in the bios. I used the A-Tuning software to do it, but it does not save it. It defaults back to what the mother board is set at and I cannot figure out how to set it in the bios. I like to figure out computer settings. I do it all the time at work, but this puzzle has been more than I wanted to do in my spare time.

What he is really referring to are Windows Power plans, custom ones defined by ASRock, Performance or Normal (although just based on available Windows options and settings) that can be selected in A-Tuning. Those options obviously cannot be selected in the BIOS, they don't exist there. They also do not affect memory speed in any way. Apparently those power plans are changed back by Windows when it boots, I don't think that is what happens but I don't use those power plans.

I'm not using my Z97 EX 6 PC now, but i don't think you can change the memory speed in A-Tuning. If you can, unless you tick the Auto Run box on the OC Tweaker screen and Auto Run A-Tuning, then that speed won't be set when Windows boots.

If the memory speed was set in the BIOS and is reset after a boot (my board does not do that) that could be a bug in A-Tuning, assuming that it is being Auto run, but we don't know any of these things, given what the OP has said. Do we even know what is being used to check the memory speed in Windows, etc?

[cdoublejj]

Re: ASrock Bios explained

IN my thread wardog said it might be B.F.G., some kind of safe boot guard that changes your settings if it doesn't pass some post check at boot. Which i i think i hate with passion as it masks the problem. idk if the intel asrock boards have this feature too?

[rub900]

Re: ASrock Bios explained

The Performance mode thing the OP mentioned is:



I'm not using my Z97 EX 6 PC now, but i don't think you can change the memory speed in A-Tuning. If you can, unless you tick the Auto Run box on the OC Tweaker screen and Auto Run A-Tuning, then that speed won't be set when Windows boots.

If the memory speed was set in the BIOS and is reset after a boot (my board does not do that) that could be a bug in A-Tuning, assuming that it is being Auto run, but we don't know any of these things, given what the OP has said. Do we even know what is being used to check the memory speed in Windows, etc?

Thanks for the tips. It must of been an option I clicked in A-tune when I was first learning the software, because it stays in Standard mode now. It is running at 4.4 so I am happy. The memory thing has me stumped. The below is from A-tuning. Why in the world if I set the memory to auto is it picking this? If you guys think I should set it manually in the BIOS I will do that. What setting should I use?

[cdoublejj]

Re: ASrock Bios explained

Thanks for the tips. It must of been an option I clicked in A-tune when I was first learning the software, because it stays in Standard mode now. It is running at 4.4 so I am happy. The memory thing has me stumped. The below is from A-tuning. Why in the world if I set the memory to auto is it picking this? If you guys think I should set it manually in the BIOS I will do that. What setting should I use?

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this is why, http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/5...tml#post485191

Either the SPD table is missing, or defaulting to one of the SPDs we don't want or it's wigging out due to a bios glitch.

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Re: ASrock Bios explained

Thanks for the tips. It must of been an option I clicked in A-tune when I was first learning the software, because it stays in Standard mode now. It is running at 4.4 so I am happy. The memory thing has me stumped. The below is from A-tuning. Why in the world if I set the memory to auto is it picking this? If you guys think I should set it manually in the BIOS I will do that. What setting should I use?

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I explained the memory speed Auto setting on page 2 of this thread. The default memory speed when Auto is selected is a low, safe for 90% of boards speed that lets the memory work in more boards. You must select the XMP option in the BIOS or set the speed manually to 2400 to have it run at that speed. This is the normal way high performance memory works, it's not a board or BIOS problem. The XMP setting is in the OC Tweaker screen.

Now another step in your PC building learning journey, what is the full model number of your memory? You can't just use any DDR3 memory, it must be compatible with the memory controller (that is on the CPU itself). Your memory is probably fine since it works at 1333, but just checking.

Another thing, are you using 16GB or 32GB of memory? You're using 8GB DIMMs, right? I noticed you have a DIMM in slot 1 of your board. When using two DIMMs, you should use slots A2 and B2 for best compatibility, check the manual to confirm this.

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Re: ASrock Bios explained

IN my thread wardog said it might be B.F.G., some kind of safe boot guard that changes your settings if it doesn't pass some post check at boot. Which i i think i hate with passion as it masks the problem. idk if the intel asrock boards have this feature too?

Boot Failure Guard (BFG) is a common feature on most ASRock boards, including Intel based boards. It is meant to catch a failure of CPU or memory OC settings that are beyond what the CPU or memory can handle, which it does. If the OC setting(s) fail, you will get a screen that tells you in general that the setting(s) failed, and you can go into the BIOS to change them, or just boot into the OS, since this feature will reset the offending setting(s) to a value that will allow the PC to boot.

Regarding "masking the problem", I don't understand that. The user should know what they just changed in the BIOS, and should also know that any OC settings might fail to boot. I've used OC settings that did not fail during POST, but would BSOD in Windows. I don't see BFG as artificially limiting any OC, if a start up failure occurs, it can catch it and rather than the PC going into a boot loop, it stops that and lets you fix things without doing a BIOS/CMOS reset so you can get into the BIOS.

[cdoublejj]

Re: ASrock Bios explained

Boot Failure Guard (BFG) is a common feature on most ASRock boards, including Intel based boards. It is meant to catch a failure of CPU or memory OC settings that are beyond what the CPU or memory can handle, which it does. If the OC setting(s) fail, you will get a screen that tells you in general that the setting(s) failed, and you can go into the BIOS to change them, or just boot into the OS, since this feature will reset the offending setting(s) to a value that will allow the PC to boot.

Regarding "masking the problem", I don't understand that. The user should know what they just changed in the BIOS, and should also know that any OC settings might fail to boot. I've used OC settings that did not fail during POST, but would BSOD in Windows. I don't see BFG as artificially limiting any OC, if a start up failure occurs, it can catch it and rather than the PC going into a boot loop, it stops that and lets you fix things without doing a BIOS/CMOS reset so you can get into the BIOS.

http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/58118-asrock-extreme-4-990fx-bios-glitch-post485225.html#post485225

I never got any warning at all, my ram will just run at the wrong speed. War dog suggested that it wasn't the bios but, BFG silently changing the settings.

[- wardog -]

Re: ASrock Bios explained

CJJ, let's continue your problems/discussions in your thread and not muddle up rubs. It's the polite thing to do.