![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Wednesday, October 15, 2008
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Intel DG45ID Motherboard with Integrated HD Graphics
It comes in a pint sized package and reading the specifications you would think that the Intel DG45ID motherboard would seem to have the makings of a winner. When it comes to integrated graphics for an HTPC pushing Blu-ray content; do you want Intel inside?
BIOS
Intel chose to use an AMIBIOS style template for the DG45ID board BIOS. The BIOS version used for testing and shown is 0079. The Main tab itself contains useful information about the current processor settings, system clock speeds, and memory settings. The Core Multiplexing Technology option controls the states for the non-primary CPU cores. Enabling this option enables all cores on the seated processor.
The Advanced tab contains a series of submenus with settings for controlling the various motherboard subsystems and integrated devices.
The Boot Configuration submenu, located within the Advanced tab, contains system boot related settings, including the CPU setting for CPUID max value limit.
The Peripheral Configuration submenu contains settings controlling the onboard serial port header, the IR headers, the HD audio codec, LAN port, and IEEE 1394 ports.
The Drive Configuration submenu houses all settings controlling the status and setup of the ICH10R controlled SATA and eSATA ports. The ATA/IDE Mode setting controls the system port interaction, with the Native mode setting allowing system access to all SATA and eSATA ports. The Legacy mode setting restricts the system to accessing to a total of 4 SATA 2 devices total. The Configure SATA as option becomes visible with the ATA/IDE Mode setting set to Native. This option controls the SATA controller operating mode, with AHCI and RAID setting selectable. Note that the RAID boot BIOS will only show with drives connected to the onboard ICH10R’s SATA 2 ports and the Configure SATA as option set to RAID.
The Video Configuration submenu contains all options associated with operation of the integrated video controller and onboard PCI-Express x16 video port.
The Fan Control submenu controls the fan speed settings for a fan connected to the CPU fan header. The Processor Zone Response and Processor Zone Damping settings work in conjunction with one another to set the speed of the attached CPU fan.
The Hardware Monitoring submenu contains real-time statistics on BIOS monitored device temperatures, voltages, and fan speeds of fans attached to the board headers.
The Chipset Configuration submenu contains submenus and settings for chipset controlled systems, including the PCI Latency Timer and the memory settings. The Memory Configuration submenu contains the memory timing settings, as well as the current system memory timing settings. The following memory settings become user configurable with the SDRAM Control option set to Manual - User Defined: CAS latency (tCL); RAS to CAS delay (tRCD); RAS precharge delay (tRP); and active to precharge delay (tRASmin). The Reference Frequency option sets the base frequency for the memory ratio, while the Memory Frequency option controls the actual memory ratio setting based on the selected Reference setting.
The USB Configuration submenu contains all configurable USB related device settings.
The Power tab contains system power initialization and power restore related options. The EIST option controls the CPU related power management Speedstep technology.
The Boot tab contains options for controlling boot device access order and setup, including those related to USB 2.0 devices. A properly detected USB 2.0 device will show as a viable boot device listed within the Hard Drive Order setting.