![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Monday , August 06, 2007
- Author:
- Daniel Dobrowolski
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS Blitz Formula
ASUS adds another motherboard to their Republic of Gamers lineup in the form of the ASUS Blitz Formula. While the P35 chipset is intended to be a mainstream chipset, ASUS kicks things into high gear and shows us what the P35 chipset can really do.
BIOS
The ASUS Blitz Formula uses the American Megatrends Inc. BIOS. Version 0803 was used for testing.
The main BIOS screen has the usual basic layout found on most do it yourself motherboards sold today. The standard Main settings tab has the time and date, floppy configuration and a list of SATA devices installed. Also there are two sub menus present here. One for SATA configuration and another for system information, the former is used for configuration of any drive settings needed such as RAID configuration, hard disk write protection and SATA detect timeout.
Next is the Extreme Tweaker section that the newer ASUS Republic of Gamers motherboards all seem to use. This section contains all of your overclocking and system performance tweaking options so that you can get the most out of your gaming rig. The first setting in this section is the AI Overclocking setting. This can be set to auto, manual or standard. Auto is a dynamic setting that allows the motherboard itself to control the overclock based on system load at any given time. Granted these values are conservative, and the true enthusiasts probably won’t be using this and will likely go straight to manual. Manual as the name implies means that you can enter all relevant settings pertaining to overclocking in manually for maximum performance. Standard leaves the system in a non-overclocked state, but who needs that? When the first setting is set to manual, other options appear and become controllable such as CPU ratio, and CPU FSB settings. There is also an FSB Strap to NB setting that pertains to FSB/Memory ratios. Scrolling down this section of the BIOS you will find all of your voltage settings and your onboard LED settings. Additionally when DRAM timing control is set to manual, adjustments of CAS settings become available for alteration. DRAM Frequency adjustment, and DRAM Command rate can also be adjusted if the user wishes. All the usual settings are represented that are applicable to DDR 2 memory.
The Advanced section is where you will find many of the boards additional and important settings. AI Net2, USB CPU and chipset functions are just a few of the sub-sections found in the Advanced section. The USB submenus has your USB configuration options for USB 1.1/2.0 compatibility and legacy USB device support. Also there is a USB Mass storage controller submenus for adjusting options relating to connected mass storage devices. Next we have CPU Configuration which is where all the C1E, CPU Ratio control, Vanderpool Technology (Virtualization support) Thermal management support, Execute Disable Bit, and Speedstep support settings are located. Under chipset settings is where you will find your North Bridge submenus. Of course there is a lovely warning about messing up your system on that screen before you enter the North Bridge submenu. Once in the submenu you will find three settings. The Memory Remap Feature (For 32bit operating systems), Initiate Graphics Adapter (PCI/PCIe graphics card ordering), and PEG Port control. Onboard Device Configuration is next. Here is where you can enable and disable your onboard audio, network ports, and drive controllers. Firewire and LAN Boot ROMs can also be found here and enabled or disabled as needed. Under Advanced PCI/PNP settings you will find only one option: Plug and Play OS, and it can be set to yes or no.
The Power section contains all of the suspend mode ACPI, APM and Hardware monitoring settings. Under the hardware monitor you will find CPU, MB, NB, SB and Opt1 temperature readings as well as overheat protection settings just below the temperature readings. Fan speeds and thermal thresholds for fan duty cycles are controlled via submenus and voltages are displayed directly below those.
The last section of importance is the Tools menu. This contains the BIOS software for BIOS flashing called ASUS EZ-Flash 2. On the tools screen, this is little more than a link to the actual EZ-Flash 2 application embedded in the BIOS. Below that is the ASUS O.C. Profile tool which allows you to create, save, and load overclocking profiles defined by the user. Both utilities are very intuitive and are easy for even the novice to use. The EZ Flash 2 utility displays BIOS information and allows you to browse to a number of sources to find BIOS files for flashing. Fortunately, this means you don’t need a floppy nor do you need ASUS’ pathetic Windows based flashing utility that seldom finds an FTP site to download a BIOS from, assuming it connects at all and doesn’t give you a busy signal as it usually does me. When all is said and done the BIOS is very thoughtfully laid out and easy to use for both the novice and seasoned overclockers.