ST62K Zen BIOS
The Zen's BIOS amalgamates both frequency and RAM control into one screen. There's no DDR voltage adjustment and limited CPU variation (up to 1.5825v). It's safe to state that the Zen doesn't have overclocking at the top of its priority list. Further, the AGP/PCI buses can't be locked to the default speeds of 66MHz and 33MHz, respectively, and a FSB limit of 215MHz all but discourages enthusiasts' tinkering. In short, the Zen is designed to run at stock speeds.
Just like Intel's Canterwood, the 9100 IGP offers dual-channel memory support, which translates to a theoretical 6.4GB/s at 200MHz FSB. Latencies, too, can be adjusted to the usual parameters, but we found it impossible to run at anything tighter than 2-2-4-8 with proven Corsair XMS3500C2 DIMMs. Lack of extra DDR voltage is a contributing factor to loose timings, but we also reckon, on the basis of results obtained on the 9100 IGP-powered ST61G4, that the chipset just isn't happy running in high-performance mode. Onboard video takes its bandwidth from main system memory, so the Zen will always be slower than expected; it has to cater for CPU and video demands concurrently, the SB75G2 does not.
The 9100 IGP's Southbridge is lacking when compared to the newest iteration of VIA and Intel chipsets. The features' section has room only for USB 2.0, sound, and little else. Surely if the emphasis is going to be on an XPC that doesn't carry an AGP slot, it's prudent to stack up the features' count in other areas?.
The BIOS health section is generally similar to the SB75G2's. What we can take away is the strong default DDR voltage, which hovers between 2.59v - 2.62v. The 9100 IGP Northbridge is consistently reckoned to be hotter than the CPU; quite a feat when a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 is cooled by a whisper-quiet fan. Perhaps Shuttle would be best advised to use a fan-assisted Northbridge cooler. Products should always be judged with respect to their intended marketplace. The Zen's target audience won't need to hit 300MHz FSB or put 3v through system RAM. The BIOS reflects the product well.
