Exploring the BIOS

DFI uses the widely popular AwardBIOS, adding a few extra's to please the enthusiast. Easy navigation and well described settings allow you to set up the system to your liking.

The most interesting options are in the "Frequency/Voltage Control" menu, in here you can check the FSB, memory ratios, voltages and even launch Stability test programs right from the BIOS, no floppy/cdrom needed!




CPU's FSB is adjustable from 100 to 250


A couple of memory dividers so you can increase your DDR memory speed


Adjustable AGP/PCI lock


Adjustable Multipliers from 6 to 16 (if you CPU has its multipliers unlocked, not many Intel CPUs are)


Memory timings can also be tweaked for increased performance


System health monitor

Although DFI has given quite a range of BIOS tweaks, there are some more advanced/extreme options missing.

Most notable is the voltage options for both CPU and Memory, at max of 1.34v (CPU) and 2.5v (DDR) it is actually quite limited, there is no adjustable VAGP either, it is locked at 1.55v. Can you do some voltage modification on the board with the help of resistors and excellent soldering skills to overcome most of the limits, but a little birdie told me DFI is preparing a 2nd revision of their boards with improvements, including a wider voltage range for CPU and Memory in the BIOS.

I haven’t tried an OCZ DDR Booster because I’ve read that the use of this device might be dangerous. It is said you might blow a circuit on your motherboard using the booster, so might want to think twice.

Now lets move on to performance side of things, benchmarks! ->