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- Date:
- Monday , November 02, 2009
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO Motherboard Review
The ASUS’ latest offering for the AMD crowd does not have all the bells and whistles of the flagship offerings. The M4A785GTD-V EVO does however offer a mix of good performance and HTPC friendly integrated add-ons.
BIOS
In their typical fashion, ASUS paired up the M4A785TD-V EVO with an AMIBIOS style template. The BIOS version shown below is 0403.
The SATA Configuration submenu, accessed via the SATA Configuration link from the Main menu, contains options for configuring the SB710 SATA controller and ports. The OnChip SATA Channel option enables the onboard SATA controller. The operating mode of the SATA ports is split in between 2 settings, with ports 1-4 and 5-6 being able to be set individually. SATA port 6 corresponds to the e-SATA port integrated in to the board’s rear panel. Note that the RAID boot BIOS becomes accessible with one of the available controller mode settings configured for RAID operation and drives connected to the RAID configured SB710’s SATA 2 ports.
The System Information submenu displays read-only statistics detailing the current BIOS, CPU, and memory settings
The Advanced screen contains submenus related to configuring the various onboard and integrated board components.
The Jumperfree Configuration submenu, shown with the header Configure System Frequency/Voltage, contains system settings for board system clock speed and voltage, as well as system memory timing control settings. The CPU Overclocking option determines the user accessible BIOS controlled overclocking settings, with various levels of user control available. The Overclock Profile setting, shown as one of the available settings in the CPU Overclocking option, sets the system up for BIOS automated overclocking. The Overclock Options setting displays as a result, with numerous speed targets shown and selectable by overclocking percentage. Setting the CPU Overclocking option to Manual allows the user full control over system clock speed and voltage settings. The CPU/HT Reference Clock (MHz) option controls the CPU FSB, with a maximum setting of 550MHz. The onboard GPU speed is user configurable with the GPU Overclocking option set to Manual. Using the GPU Engine Clock setting, the user can set the onboard GPU clock to a 2000MHz maximum speed. The PCIE Clock setting controls the PCI-Express bus frequency, with a 150MHz maximum allowed, with this option becoming user accessible when the PCIE Overclocking option is set to Manual. The Processor Frequency Multiplier option determines the CPU ratio, with displayed multiplier settings determined by the current CPU in use. In order to determine the physical processor speed, the Processor Frequency Multiplier and CPU/HT Reference Clock (MHz) settings are multiplied together. The CPU-NB Frequency setting controls the Northbridge chipset multiplier, with a 20x maximum settable. The Northbridge speed is determined by multiplying the Processor-NB Frequency and CPU/HT Reference Clock (MHz) settings. The CPU voltage can be set to a 1.9V maximum with the CPU Overvolt jumper enabled through the CPU Over Voltage option. The Northbridge chipset voltage is set via the VDDNB Over Voltage setting, with a 1.65V maximum allowed. The CPU VDDA Voltage setting controls the CPU power circuitry voltage, with a 2.80V maximum. The LoadLine Calibration option controls the CPU Vdroop voltage, with its settings based on the CPU Over Voltage setting for a maximum of 100% of that voltage.
The HT Link Frequency controls the Hyper Transport link speed between the CPU and the Northbridge, with the settings shown as actual link speeds based on the a base CPU FSB of 200MHz. The HT Link Width determines the upstream and downstream bandwidth of the channel, with the 16 Bit setting giving the best overall performance. The Hyper Transport bus voltage is set via the HT Over Voltage setting, with a 1.35V maximum. The Southbridge chipset voltage is configured via the Chipset Over Voltage setting, with a 1.61V ceiling. The Memory OverVoltage option controls the voltage supplied to your DDR3 modules, with a 2.31V maximum setting.
The memory speed itself is set via the Memclock Value option, which becomes visible with the Memory Clock Mode option set to Manual. The memory speed setting available are listed based on a default 200MHz CPU bus, with the speed scaling up with the CPU FSB. The DRAM Timing Mode option allows for bank specific settings, or for synced bank settings using the Both option. The following options are available for user configuration: CAS latency (TCL); RAS to CAS delay (TRCD); RAS precharge delay (TRP); row precharge time (tRTP); active to precharge delay (TRAS); row cycle time (TRC); write recovery delay (tWR); RAS to RAS delay (TRRD); read to write delay (tRWTTO); between module write to read delay (tWRRD); write to read delay (tWTR); between module write to write delay (tWRWR); between module read to read delay (tRDRD); and row refresh cycle delay (tRFC#). Note that on the memory timings listed, the numerically lower setting forces more aggressive memory operation.
The CPU Configuration submenu displays various CPU related information. The submenu also includes a variety of CPU specific settings including: GART error reporting; microcode updating; secure virtual machine mode; AMD Cool n Quiet support; C1E support; core re-enabler (Unleashing Mode); and individual core speed setting.
The Chipset submenu contains additional submenus for controlling Northbridge related settings. The Internal Graphics Configuration submenu contains options for configuring the operation of the integrated GPU.
The Northbridge Chipset Configuration submenu contains two additional submenus for controlling internal memory settings. The Memory Configuration submenu houses chipset specific memory settings. Note that Dual Channel memory mode will not be enabled unless the DCT Unganged Mode option is set to Auto. The ECC Configuration submenu contains settings controlling the DDR3 memory and internal CPU cache hardware error correction algorithms.
The Onboard Devices Configuration submenu contains options for configuring the onboard integrated devices, including the audio subsystem, GigE LAN controller, and IEEE 1394 ports.
The Advanced PCI/PnP Settings submenu configures the operation of the system PCI and PnP related subsystems. Unfortunately, ASUS chose not to allow direct manipulation of any IRQ or pool related settings.
The USB Configuration submenu contains USB port related configuration options, with a submenu displayed with a USB device connected which contains configuration options for device specific emulation. The USB Mass Storage Device Configuration submenu is used for configuring these emulation options. The Emulation Type option within this submenu allows for configuring device specific emulation modes for the system detected USB devices.
The Hardware Monitor submenu displays real time statistics on BIOS monitored voltages, temperatures, and fan speeds. While limited in nature, the BIOS does offer fan operation automated control using the Smart Q-FAN settings. These options control the fan speed based on BIOS determined temperature operating thresholds. As the device temperature increases, the fan speed increases to better combat the heat.
Using the Hard Disk Drives link from within the Boot tab, the Hard Disk Drives submenu shows all system initialized hard drive type boot devices. Note that this menu will show a USB hard drive device that is connected prior to system startup.
The Tools menu houses all included proprietary ASUS BIOS utilities, including the EZFlash2 BIOS update utility and the Express Gate configuration options. Express Gate is ASUS’ proprietary startup screen, which allows access to various applets without having to access the OS. The ASUS EZ Flash 2 utility is accessed via the ASUS EZ Flash 2 link in the Tool menu. The application allows you to update the system BIOS from any connected drive device, including properly detected USB 2.0 devices.