ABIT IC7/IC7-G/IC7-Max3/IS7-X Failsafe BIOS settings. Read First!

[crotale]

I've seen alot of posts in the last couple of months with troubles regarding instability and overclocking.

I thought I could post the basic BIOS setup to get a good
overclocking start. The images shown here are version 1.9 for IC7. The layout of the BIOS is similar, if not the same, on all the IC7 and IS7 series of motherboards.

This is the Soft Menu Setup with the settings I recomend for a start:
http://www.nordiccrew.com/crotale/abit/sms2.jpg
People with 2.8C CPUs or higher might not be able to post with this FSB, start at 200 and find a sweet spot with ClockGen for example.

This is the Advanced Chipset Feature page:
http://www.nordiccrew.com/crotale/abit/acf2.jpg
The last two settings are very important!
Remember! PC4000 memory will likely not work with these settings, for them I recommend 3-8-4-4 timings.
After you've find a sweet spot for your CPU, try lowering the first four settings (called timings). Lower are faster.

As always, use your favorite stressing program to make sure your system is stable. I recommend Prime (http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm) for stressing,
ClockGen (http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php) for overclocking and CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php) to keep an eye on clocks. :cool:

[batboy]

Nice post. I'm going to put a link for this in my IC7 sticky.

[shortbus_]

does increasing the agp voltage help wth stability? and will it hurt my video card?

[crotale]

Some people say it helps the chipset in some way, but I can't swear on that one... You could try, I don't think it'll destroy a vid card, but I can't promise...

[unreal]

perfect, just what i was looking for

[batboy]

Some people claim that using the AGP voltage at max setting will provide a little more voltage to the chipset which might help stability when max overclocking. Personally I can't tell any difference and since I have expensive vid cards, I don't run high AGP voltage very long since it don't help my O/C. Your mileage may vary.

[Shane5578]

i have the stock ic7-max3. and can reach 310fsb at 1.6vagp (i can also use 1.55v at 310fsb but it is less stable)

i didn't see any improvements using 1.65v (prolly cos i'm using stock cooling on the chipset)

[crotale]

That's interesting Shane5578. I'm fiddling around to get a couple of more MHz FSB over 300... I'll try this!

[barondekalb]

thanks very much for this thread . this is my first post.
i have a new system on the way close to this, here are the specs.

cpu : p4 2.8c
mombo : abit is7-e
mem : 512k (256x2) pc3200 400mhz
vid : (move from old system)-raydon9500pro-oc360core-310.5m
hd : 80gb ata100
case : aspire x-deeamer 350/w power:
fan : intel certified cpu fan heatsink + 3 extra case fan.

- was wondering what settings i should start with or if before
i do anything should i change the cooling. all i hope to get is
a conservative o/c of 3.4 . (if possible) i dont want to go crazy.

- thanks, baron
:rolleyes:

[spclwpns]

System & video cache to 'enable' ? Thought that was a no-no for awhile now ?

[crotale]

barondekalb: Just use the settings described above. But start a little lower with the FSB. 220 to be on the safe side.

spclwpns: I've never tried to change system/video bios cacheable. Maybe someone can give us a hint what it's about.
This thread is not meant to be a complete, optimized, bios guide, just some basic settings.

[barondekalb]

thanks crotale,

still waiting for cpu to get here from cyber, just trying to read up
first :)

i did find this really well written quide for ic7 boards which could
help readers of this thread, didn't see it linked yet.

Starters quide to O/C IC7 Motherboards (http://www.jscustomcomputers.com/overclocking.htm )

this was very helpful for me, to get the basics down.

[crotale]

barondekalb: That's nice to hear! Keep us updated on your progress! Good Luck!

[Edward2]

I have also heard that you should set the System & Video Cache to Disabled, although maybe this is only necessary when you are actually benchmarking. I think that it frees up some of your RAM memory by disabling these 2 items. It could also be that this was more important when computers were much slower.

[crotale]

I will try it as soon as I have time to do any extensive testing.

[spclwpns]

It's really suggested settings from the video card companies to have these disabled.
Both ATI and nv have suggested this for a couple years now I believe.... I forget but it was something about caching being old and outdated and system/vcard memory now handling the job and is much faster ;)
I also wonder if that's true, why are these functions still in place, oh well..........

[jhl3]

The max3 is not on the clockgen chart. Does it work on them anyway?

[crotale]

Originally posted by jhl3
The max3 is not on the clockgen chart. Does it work on them anyway?

Yes, the version for IC7 will work...

[jhl3]

Thanks crotale

[Shane5578]

adjusting the the agp to 68 on the max3 makes my system more stable at any fsb. i'm using ide hardrive though

[crotale]

Originally posted by spclwpns
It's really suggested settings from the video card companies to have these disabled.
Both ATI and nv have suggested this for a couple years now I believe.... I forget but it was something about caching being old and outdated and system/vcard memory now handling the job and is much faster ;)
I also wonder if that's true, why are these functions still in place, oh well..........

I've checked this up now... (BIOS 1.9)
It seems like both of them are disabled after the CMOS been cleared, but after loading failsafe or optimized defaults, they're enabled.
The next weekend I'll try to do some testing to see if they have any performance impact.

I will also check the default state of them with the 2.1 BIOS.

[Grampa]

bump..you are very welcome,even though I am a noob and I am choosing to use amd cpus, I found this thread and it helped me alot in understanding how a bios works:) have fun Kosmic

[Kosmic]

Thanks for bumping that, Grampa. I'm getting an IC7 & 3.0c tomorrow, and this post was very helpful. This will actually be my first every intel system. :) I always look for the best bang for the buck, and Intel had it this time around.

[RubiX³]

Hey all

There's a few things you really should change in your BIOS settings. First, disable "system" and "video" bios cacheable. This is fact, and has been for a few years now. This helps older systems free up RAM by caching this information to the BIOS.

If you have 1 Gig of RAM or above, up the AGP Aperture to 256. You will see a performance increase.

Change "delay prior to thermal" to 4 minutes. This enables the CPU's built in "cool down" function over the specified time. It doesn't take any of us 16 minutes to boot, does it?

Hope this helps, these are all confirmed. Look them up if you disagree - specifically. 99% of all the "Bios Guides" out there are wrong.

Take care
Pat

[Shaun_Dark_Lord]

Thankyou!

http://www.3dxl.com/shaun/cpu.jpg

[crotale]

Thanks for the input RubiX³!

The image sure needs to be updated, I will try to do it in the next
few days.
For more information about "delay prior to thermal", here's a link:
http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=8&var1=0&var2=57

As far as the System and BIOS cacheable goes, I've tried it and it didn't have any impact or increase in performance, but is sure worth a try!

[RubiX³]

Yeah, there isn't much of a performance hit/gain with the cacheables, but it can effect stability at times. I used to get invalid page fault, and agp440.sys BSODs with this enabled on my old Abit BP6 w/Voodoo 3s, 5s, and GF2s. After some research and trial/error, disabling these eliminated them.

Soon after, the board caught fire - but that, of course, had nothing to do with these settings.

The only thing you have to worry about with that system is accidently tripping up a space/time continuum. 4.1 Gigs! Insane! EXQUISITE work.

[donny_paycheck]

Excellent post.

[bair]

Hey all
If you have 1 Gig of RAM or above, up the AGP Aperture to 256. You will see a performance increase.
Pat
Well, I have 512mb of ram, but I have a 256mb video card, should I use 256 or 128?

[arnoldma]

I've seen alot of posts in the last couple of months with troubles regarding instability and overclocking.

I thought I could post the basic BIOS setup to get a good
overclocking start. The images shown here are version 1.9 for IC7. The layout of the BIOS is similar, if not the same, on all the IC7 and IS7 series of motherboards.

This is the Soft Menu Setup with the settings I recomend for a start:
http://www.nordiccrew.com/crotale/abit/sms2.jpg
People with 2.8C CPUs or higher might not be able to post with this FSB, start at 200 and find a sweet spot with ClockGen for example.

This is the Advanced Chipset Feature page:
http://www.nordiccrew.com/crotale/abit/acf2.jpg
The last two settings are very important!
Remember! PC4000 memory will likely not work with these settings, for them I recommend 3-8-4-4 timings.
After you've find a sweet spot for your CPU, try lowering the first four settings (called timings). Lower are faster.

As always, use your favorite stressing program to make sure your system is stable. I recommend Prime (http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm) for stressing,
ClockGen (http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php) for overclocking and CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php) to keep an eye on clocks. :cool:

is this meant to be funny? :p i see nothing about bios settings in the 1st psot :(

[g0dM@n]

ASUS AS8... my friend's got it. Bad OCer or what? I gave him Buffalo pc4300 2x512 RAM with Hynix btd43 chips. I wanted to see if he could push some Mhz into the ram. Is it a waste of time to try? If not, give me pointers b/c he's got an LGA775 3.4 with a 17x multi. I guess he needs to raise the VCore while he tries to up the FSB for the RAM. =(

[Ir192]

I like this thread but I cannot see the pics in the first post, anyone else have this problem, or is this just at my end?

[batboy]

You are right, the images have broken links now. He probably lost his web hosting space or something. Crotale, if you need me to host the pics for you, just let me know.

[crotale]

The pics will be online during this week hopefully.

I'm also planning on doing a similar guide for the AS8 mobo, and the AA8XE Fatal1ty.
(But I have neither of these boards as of speaking, but soon, hopefully :p )