BIOS
The AI7 Springdale purports to be an intelligent motherboard, so the BIOS should offer a few novel features. Let's find out.
ABIT's SoftMenu BIOS is at the helm again. It's a tweaked derivative of Phoenix's AwardBIOS, and it's generally loved by enthusiasts everywhere. The SoftMenu subscreen is shown on the right. We don't like how ABIT decideds that the default FSB speed is 204MHz. That kind of artificial FSB inflation can often lead to skewed benchmark results.
External CPU clock speeds range from 100 - 412MHz in 1MHz increments. You can key-in your desired FSB without the usual cycling through each one. The estimated new clock speed is shown underneath. FSB-to-DRAM ratios are the usual SPD, 1:1, 5:4, and 3:2, assuming the use of an 800MHz FSB CPU. ABIT now introduces a totally fixed AGP and PCI bus speed. One can fix the speeds from 66MHz to 99MHz in 1MHz increments. The bus speeds don't alter with FSB changes; they're totally independent.
Voltage-wise, for a 3.2GHz ES CPU, it's 1.55v - 1.925v in 0.025v increments. We'd prefer it if ABIT gave the user the full choice from 1.1v - 2v. Some prefer passively-cooled running. DDR voltage sees the default 2.5v to a very healthy 3.2v. Inputting 3v resulted in a BIOS load of 2.92v and a Windows' load of 2.89v. Maybe the enthusiast needs a nominal 3.2v to play with.
The most interesting part here is the on-the-fly overclocking. Enter your desired parameters and simply press F8 and confirm.
The AI7 immediately applies the settings without having to save, exit and reboot, so the user needs to ensure that the components are capable of the inputted settings. It was strange to toggle the voltages without having to reboot; a nice touch. BIOSes usually contain a single page that highlights the various voltages and temperatures of key motherboard components and rails. With the µGuru monitoring chip, ABIT has been able to provide more enthusiast-friendly information than ever before.
A handy feature on the AI7 is the ability to be able to save a certain BIOS configuration for almost instant loading later. For example, you might have a performance-orientated set of values that are used for benchmarking, including elevated levels of voltages and speeds. Simply press F6 to save a certain BIOS and F7 to load pre-saved settings. The selected BIOSes are applied instantly, and you can store up to 5 different configurations. Pretty useful if you know exactly what your components can do; it defintely saves on having to input key values manually each time.
One problem we ran into with the supplied BIOS was the hit-and-miss application of voltages when profiles were selected. You could have two different profiles that, say, had DDR voltage levels of 2.55v and 2.9v respectively, but toggling between the two, via F6 and F7, simply changed the value in the SoftMenu screen and not in the hardware monitoring section. ABIT may have a little work to do before it's perfect.
Almost every imaginable voltage rail is covered in the aptly named voltage monitoring section. The values change immediately if on-the-fly overclocking is used from the SoftMenu screen. The AI7 exhibited under-volting tendencies on both the CPU and DDR voltage lines, so it's thoughtful of ABIT to include plenty of voltage to play with.
The fan control subscreen is a tweaker's dream. The CPU and North Bridge's fans can be set to work at differing speeds depending upon relative temperature. Limits are between 25 and 75c. What's more, you can assign a precise voltage input to either the CPU or North Bridge fan, ranging from 8.0v to 12.0v in 0.1v increments. So if you're often pottering about in an OS environment without placing a load on the CPU, it's wise to keep fan speeds to a minimum.
A total of 4 usable fan headers and their corresponding speeds are highlighted in the fan-speed monitoring section. The sample AI7 seemed to read a high CPU temperature; with it often hitting 60c+ in BIOS. That's with a stock 3.2GHz P4 and default voltage, all cooled by a Thermaltake AX478 and 25CFM fan. ABIT does the right thing in allowing for a shutdown temperature.
The usual memory latencies can be applied and ABIT keep the performance-enhancing Game Accelerator settings intact in this BIOS. We chose to run with 2-6-2-2 timings at DDR400 and Street Racer with Enhanced refresh cycle G.A settings.
Plenty of features to keep the board busy. About the only feature missing is additional storage potential, be it SATA or PATA, although the former is available in another AI7 variant. A BIOS that's geared up totally to a tweaker's taste. It's a shame that there's no multiplier adjustment or low voltage selection. Otherwise, it's a first-class effort.
