DFI BIOS Guide For Intel Chipset Based Motherboards.

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Important Update As Of October 2008!

From October 2008, all DFI motherboards will have their advanced BIOS settings hidden by default.

This means that you now need to press F9 to see the advanced settings.

DFI Lanparty P35/X38/X48

BIOS Setting Guidelines

I have re-written DFI's BIOS guidelines to try and make them a little more easy to understand for most people. Thanks to Jimmy at DFI for the info - See also C2D Overclocking Guide For Beginners - DFI Add-On.

You can also download the latest Beta BIOS from here, or the latest final release BIOS from here. Please note that running a Beta BIOS may invalidate your warranty!
BIOS setup screen.



Genie BIOS settings: This section of the BIOS contains everything you need for overclocking, including, CPU settings, DRAM timings, Voltage settings, PCI-E speed and lots more!



Genie BIOS: Main setup screen



Exit Setup Shutdown: Mode1/Mode2

Intel boards are well known for shutting down unexpectedly after changing settings. DFI has given us two modes for this.

Mode 1 - If the FSB hasn't changed too much (value unknown at this time) the system will run a quick self diagnostic test and if everything is ok, it will skip the shutdown stage and rewrite the clock generator directly.

Mode 2 - Regardless of how much the FSB has changed, the system will shut down and reboot after you have changed any settings.

Shutdown after AC Loss: Enable/Disable (This setting is not on the later X48 BIOS)

If enabled, this will cause the system to automatically restart after a power failure.

OC Fail Retry Counter: 0~3 times

If the system fails to boot because of a bad overclock, this setting determines the amount of times that the system will attempt to restart before it reverts the FSB back to default to boot the system. If you set it to 1, it will attempt to restart once before resetting the FSB.

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Clock VCO Divider: Auto / 2 / 3 / 4

"This function is use to fix the clock generator’s divider and “NB Strap” by its jumper. Then, system wouldn’t be reboot again because it presumed itself is not in an overclock status. (This function needs to cooperate with particular jumper)"

I will update this as soon as I can find out the description. Until then, DFI's description is above



CPU Clock ratio: An easy one this - This is the Multi for your CPU. 6-11 for locked processors, 6-50 for unlocked processors.

CPU N/2 Ratio - Use this setting to enable half multis.



CPU Clock: Enter the requred FSB here.



Boot-up clock: Auto/ 100MHz ~410MHz

This setting acts as a buffer if you have your FSB set too high to boot successfully. If you set it to 100Mhz, it will drop the FSB by that value, until the system is booted, and then it will increase the FSB to the higher value.

DRAM Speed: See also this post on DRAM Speed Converted To DRAM Ratios.



PCIE Slot Config:

PCI-E #2 and PCI-E #4 transfer status:

• 1x 1x: PCI-E 2 / 4 are running at 1x speed.
• 4x NC: PCI-E #4 is running at 4x speed, PCI-E #2 will be disabled and on board LAN2 will also be disabled.

(I will add the X38 & X48 PCI-E info ASAP)

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CPU Feature:

For maximum stability at higher overclocks, disable everything except "Core Multi-Processing" - If you disable this on a quad core CPU, you will run with two cores, similarly, if you disable this on a dual core, you will run with one core - may be useful for squeezing every last drop for a superpi run.



DRAM Timing:





Enhance Data Transmitting: Auto / Normal / Fast / Turbo
"DFI specifically designed a “fine-tune mode” for DATA transmitting performance, Normal for lowest performance, Fast for highest performance, Default AUTO will automatically adjust performance based on current system Front Side BIOS."

Enhance Addressing: Auto / Normal / First
"DFI specifically designed a “fine-tune mode” for DATA addressing, “Normal” for lowest performance, “Fast” for highest performance, Default AUTO will automatically adjust performance based on current system Front Side BIOS."

T2 Dispatch: Auto/ Enabled / Disabled
"DRAM performance parameters patch, enabling for getting optimized and disabling to relax DRAM timing for running higher working frequency on modules."

Performance level:
This is the tRD setting for your DRAM.

Read delay phase adjust:
This is the fine tuning for the performance level (tRD above).

MCH ODT Latency:
"DRAM ODT read/Write latency, (Basically ODT is On Die Termination, it likes a variable resistor termination to protect DATA signal integrity from high frequency interference)"

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CLK setting fine delay:

Top


Bottom.


Ch1 / Ch2 Clock Crossing Setting:
Auto / More aggressive /aggressive / Nominal / Relaxed / More Relaxed

"Giving an easy explanation, after the CPU, PCIE, DRAM locked the clock phase by “PLL phase locked loop”, we can utilize the DRAM DLL to adjust DRAM operating phase by tuning DRAM DATA output phase forward or backward to create a better match with current DATA operating phase.
The BIOS will automatically calculate a parameter after system boot up.
The BIOS will show the current value of this parameter.
The best tuning range for finding the best DATA operating phase will be 3 ranks before or after this current value."

Ch1Ch2 CommonClock Setting:
Auto / More aggressive /aggressive / Nominal / Relaxed / More Relaxed
"As above, it is PLL fine-tune for Common clock signals of DRAM modules"

Ch1/Ch2 RDCAS GNT-Chip Delay: Auto /1~7 CLK
"Read command rate, 1Clock is Intel Command rate 1N mode, 2~7Clock are 1N disable mode"

Ch1/Ch2 WRCAS GNT-Chip Delay: Auto /1~7 CLK
"Write command rate, 1Clock is Intel Command rate 1N mode, 2~7Clock are 1N disable mode"

Ch1/Ch2 Command to CS Delay: Auto /1~7 CLK
"DRAM module bank selecting command rate, 1Clock is Intel Command rate 1N mode, 2~7Clock are 1N disable mode"

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Voltage Settings:



CPU VID Control: 0.90000v - 1.60000v - This is your main CPU Voltage. (Older BIOS = 0.44375v - 1.60000v)





CPU VID Special Add: +100.23% - 130.00% - This will allow you to fine tune the CPU voltage. A calculator will be handy (unless you are good at maths ). All this does is add voltage in very fine increments. An example would be if you set 1.6v and you wanted 1.68v - you simply multiply the set vcore (1.6v) by the percentage value (104% in this case) and that gives you 1.68v. You don't have to use it for higher voltages either, and it can give you finer increments than the standard Vcore settings allow.

I have also been doing some tests and it would appear that the CPU special VID when set to AUTO adds a small amount of vcore, so it may be best to set this to it's lowest value if you aren't using it, and I will update this when I know for sure.

Update 23-04-08: After updating to BIOS 0320, I noticed that the CPU VID Special wasn't available unless at least 1.2v CPU VID Control (Vcore) was set. I asked DFI why this was, and they explained that when less than 1.2v is selected for Vcore and VID Special is used, excessive ripple can be generated so, they decided to only allow the VID Special to be utilised after 1.2v.





DRAM Voltage range: 1.71v - 3.040v





CPU VTT Voltage range: - 1.1v - 1.603v (Older BIOS = 1.211v - 1.805v) This ties in closely with CPU GTL ref, so if you start tweaking this, you will need to keep an eye on the GTL ref as well - See the GTL REF/VTT Guide.



Clockgen Voltage Control: 3.45v
This is the overall IC working voltage. You can increase this if you are going for insane FSBs in the 600-700 range, otherwise, leave it at 3.45v.

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SB Core / CPU PLL voltage: (1.51V-2.38V)

"These two voltages are controlling by same adjustable circuit, increasing CPU PLL voltage higher is better for gaining a stable OC situation." - Be careful with this! By raising this value, you can achieve stability at higher FSBs, but too high and you can degrade your CPU quite quickly, so if it's 24/7 settings you are looking for, try and keep this under 1.64v for 65nm CPUs.



NB Core Voltage: (1.265V-2.040V)
NorthBridge Voltage.





Vcore drop control: Enable / Disabled
"Enabling to control Vout level by PWM, disabling to get a maximum output." - Reduces Vdroop.

GTL+ buffer Strength: Strong / Weak
North-Bridge reference voltage strength adjustment.

Host Slew Rate: Strong / Weak
North-Bridge voltage driving strength adjustment.

GTL REF Voltage control: Enable / Disabled
"CPU VTT reference voltage for determining host bus high / low level." - This setting can be useful or detrimental and is highly dependant on your individual CPU. You may find that you can acheive a higher and more stable overclock by tweaking these values. The values are strongly tied in with the CPU VTT voltage, so it can take a bit of experimenting to find the correct settings. See the VTT/GTL REF guide here.

Update: After further testing with another 45nm dual core cpu (E8400 & E8500), I have found that on my systems, there was absolutely no need to have the GTL REF Voltage Control set to Enabled. I was able to hit 500FSBx9.5 with relative ease, and 540FSBx9.5 later on - Of course, as VTT & GTL REF settings can be different for each setup, you may find that a small amount of tweaking will work for you. The trick is, for 24/7 overclocks of relatively sane proportions, less is more for the VTT (i.e. Leave it alone unless you are unstable), and the same goes for GTL REF.

One of the reasons that the board can retain stablity when the GTL REF is set to Disabled is that rather than it actually being disabled, it is simply fixed at 67% and 67% is what DFI have found to be the optimum value for GTL REF at any given VTT.

Enabling the GTL REF setting will allow you to fine tune the percentage figure should your setup require it, however, it is very easy to tweak these settings too much +/- and miss that sweet spot, and often, you will find that the sweet spot was at 67% to begin with.

I have tested with a Q6600 G0 and this responded well to the 67% (Disabled) setting. Again, this doesn't automatically mean that yours will. My last Q6600 G0 responded better to fine tuned GTL REF and a slight bump in VTT, so it really is a case of experimenting and seeing what works best for you.

There is another factor that can have adverse effects on your VTT/GTL tweaking results and that is temperature. From my own tests, I have found that GTL REF tweaking is less effective when using air cooling and a higher Vcore, and similarly, when using sub zero cooling, I found the GTL REF to be incredibly sensitive and the slightest changes caused adverse affects - This is something that I would like other people to comment on because I would like to explore it further

Also, if you would like a more in depth read on GTL REF, click here to go to EdgeOfStability.com.

I will add more as I get to it...

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A Quick CMOS Reloaded Walkthrough.

This is pretty straightforward feature to use, but for those that haven't used it before, here is a brief tutorial.

CMOS reloaded allows you to save four banks of BIOS settings. This is a godsend when overclocking because you can easily make the board non-bootable, and then you have to clear the CMOS, and then you have lost your BIOS settings and you suffer mental anguish

Saving Your BIOS Settings.

To save your current BIOS settings in CMOS Reloaded, simply open the CMOS Reloaded section of the BIOS and you will see this;



Move the cursor to "Save To This Bank" and press enter, it will ask if you want to save the settings to this bank, hit enter, done! - that's your settings saved.



Next, move the cursor up to "Bank Description" - you will be presented with a box to enter the title of your settings. Enter your chosen title and then hit enter.



You can enter three lines of text for the description - If you only need one line, hit enter twice again to clear.



That's all there is to it as far as saving the settings are concerned.

Re-Loading Your BIOS Settings

If you have just cleared the CMOS after a bad overclock, simply load up the CMOS Reloaded page and move the cursor down to "Load From This Bank" and hit enter. You will be asked if you want to do this, and obviously you do, so hit enter and that's your settings re-loaded.

If you look at the above screenshots, you will also see that there is a hotkey setting, and each bank corresponds to a different hotkey numbered 1-4.

If you know which bank you want to load from, press the corresponding key on your keyboard at power up and it will load the settings from that bank.

That's it, easy

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EZ Clear CMOS methods

To clear the CMOS with the PC turned off, but power in standby mode, press the Power & Reset buttons simultaneously for 5 seconds.

You can also do this by pressing the on board Power & Reset switches for 5 seconds.




If you manage to do a bad overclock and the motherboard doesn't recover by itself, try holding down the HOME key when you power on the system and it should reset the FSB to default, allowing you to enter the BIOS.



Similar to the last step, if the system won't boot, try pressing the INSERT key when you power on the system and it should reset the CMOS for you - If you do this, you will have to re-enter your settings (or load them from CMOS reloaded )



I will add more as I get to it

Feel free to submit to DIGG if you find the information useful

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DFI Post Code Errors - Debug CODE explanation (Award code) V002.

Section 1: General debugs, LED post and troubleshooting.







Section 2: Abnormal debugs LED post and troubleshooting.

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DRAM Speed converted to DRAM ratios - P35/X38/48 series.

Here we have a quick conversion table from the values that you will see in the BIOS for your memory to the values that you will see in software such as CPU-Z.

In case you don't know what the numbers mean, the column on the left "DRAM Speed" has values such as 333:667 and 400:1066. The first number (highlighted in red) is simply the FSB speed and the second set of numbers (highlighted in green) are your DRAM speed.

So, at stock settings, if you select any of the settings below, that is what you will get. 200:667 = 200FSB + 667Mhz RAM and so on.

These settings serve as a base or starting point for your overclock, and can also be useful when you want to run the RAM faster than the FSB.

Be aware though, that if you start off with your RAM running fast, when you up the FSB, the RAM will quickly start running out of spec, and unless you have high clocking RAM, you can experience instability, so best to start off lower until you know what everything does