Bios Setup

In this section we will go over some of the more important sections of BIOS. I will show you where to find the different settings that will enable you to configure your system for optimal performance and overclocking.  You can click on the pictures for a larger view.

Main BIOS Screen

This is the main screen from which you can navigate to all the different sections. Use your arrow keys to navigate up or down.  Once the section you want to enter is highlighted, simply hit the enter key to enter that section.  If you look carefully at the bottom right of the screenshot, your BIOS version is listed there.

Soft Menu III Setup

The Soft Menu III section is where many of the most important functions are located.  It is here where you set you CPU multiplier (if your lucky enough to have an unlocked processor), the front side bus speed and all the different voltages.  Some settings that I recommend in this section are the CPU FSB/Dram Ratio to be set at 6/6, CPU interface as enabled, and a setting or two over default for CPU voltage.  The NF7 series of boards tend to under volt the CPU a bit, and that is why I suggest a slight increase even if your not overclocking.  Remember to keep an eye on your CPU temps while increasing the CPU voltage as it will rise when more voltage is applied.  As you start to overclock your probably going to have to raise the DDR Sdram voltage and the chipset voltage to reach those upper end speeds.

Standard CMOS Features

I put this picture up only because I think its important to see if all the devices you have hooked up to your IDE channels are shown correctly.  If you do not have your devices jumpered correctly this section will not show all the devices properly.  This is also the section that you set the proper date and time.

Advance BIOS Features

This section allows you to set your boot order, security options, and APIC mode.  As you can see I'm using the SATA controllers for a RAID0 array and that is why the first boot device is set to Serial ATA.  Once you have set a password up in the password settings section, you can make it impossible for someone to change the BIOS settings unless they enter the correct password.  Furthermore by changing the security option to system, the computer will not start unless the correct password is entered.  I also set the APIC mode to disabled as in most cases it will allow for a higher overclock.

Advanced Chipset Features

In this section you can set your memory timings by using the expert memory timings function.  Correctly set memory timings can be critical to overall systems stability and performance.  There is no set number that will give you the best performance as all memory is a little different then the next.  Finding the best settings for your particular brand and speed of memory will take some trial and error.  As you can see I set most things in this section to disabled except for the AGP Fast Write and AGP Data Rate.  The AGP Data Rate should be set to 4X, or 8X, depending on what your video card supports.  Refer to the overclocking section of this site for a detailed description of all the options in the Advanced Chipset Features section of BIOS.

PC Health Status

In this section you can view all of your voltage readings, temperatures, and fan speeds.  This can be a very useful section when diagnosing problems.  Low voltage readings can help determine if a power supply unit is causing you problems, or if your temperatures are the culprit.  Most of these readings can also be monitored from the desktop by various utilities.  You can also set warnings and automatic system shutdowns if the CPU fan fails or the temperatures get to high.

Other BIOS Setup Tips

If your having trouble installing WIndows on a new system, you might consider using the "Load Fail-Safe Defaults" until you get Windows installed.  Once Windows is installed you can re-enter BIOS and make the appropriate changes. 

You must decide weather or not you want the APIC mode enabled or disabled before installing Windows.  If you decide to change APIC after Windows is installed, your going to have to either re-install Windows or do a repair install, as your system will not boot if you change it after WIndows is installed.

Don't forget to save your changes when your done making adjustments in BIOS!