BIOS help ??

[Vikki Sixx]

Yep, me again.

Now that my hardware is running nicely and I have found my hardware problem (was some faulty RAM) I need some help with the BIOS.

If I read my mobo manual, the second chapter after all the installation stuff, is BIOS setup.

I am very new at this so please bare with me if this sounds basic or stupid.

- why do we need to setup BIOS
- while I was testing my hardware, I removed the pc board mounted battery ... do I have to update the BIOS now ?
- I looked on the ASUS site and found the latest BIOS settings and could now update the BIOS using the AwardBIOS Flash Utility.

Is this the way to proceed and is it safe ?

Thanks
Vic

 

[intensive]

1. You need to setup your BIOS to get the best out of your system - but if you are new to the BIOS then leave the settings to factory default and tweak tem later as you get to know your system better.

2. Only thing that will happen if you remove the battery is that your custom bios settings will return to the factory defaults

3. Updating the BIOS can be tricky - if your system runs fine then leave the bios upgrade but it can also be benneficial to upgrade the bios - I know Asus gives detail explanations about each bios upgrade - read it 1st before updating your bios

 

[Vikki Sixx]

so i could just leave this as is and go on to install drivers etc...

 

[feo]

Yup, have to agree with intensive. You don't NEED to setup your BIOS, the deault setting are fine for using your system "out of the box". The only thing I've tinkered with in the BIOS was:

- removing my motherboard makers logo from startup
- enabling both my network jacks
- disabling onboard video

and maybe some other minor tweaks. Mostly the BIOS is the home of the overclocker so if you wanna mess with your systems FSB, clocks and voltage it's mainly done in the BIOS.

When it comes to flashing your BIOS, the golden rule is:

"if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

so unless you have a CPU that's not supported by your current BIOS version then there's no need to flash it. Also, if you ARE planning on flashing it I prefer doing it from a DOS environment, not from within windows so stick your new BIOS onto a stiffy and it old-school style.

so i could just leave this as is and go on to install drivers etc...

Yup, first install your OS, get all the drivers up and installed and then your basic software. Once that's done, you can fiddle around in the BIOS. But don't change anything if you don't know what it does, lots of people have learnt that lesson the hard way.

 

[Vikki Sixx]

Yup, have to agree with intensive. You don't NEED to setup your BIOS, the deault setting are fine for using your system "out of the box". The only thing I've tinkered with in the BIOS was:

- removing my motherboard makers logo from startup
- enabling both my network jacks
- disabling onboard video

and maybe some other minor tweaks. Mostly the BIOS is the home of the overclocker so if you wanna mess with your systems FSB, clocks and voltage it's mainly done in the BIOS.

When it comes to flashing your BIOS, the golden rule is:

"if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

so unless you have a CPU that's not supported by your current BIOS version then there's no need to flash it. Also, if you ARE planning on flashing it I prefer doing it from a DOS environment, not from within windows so stick your new BIOS onto a stiffy and it old-school style.



Yup, first install your OS, get all the drivers up and installed and then your basic software. Once that's done, you can fiddle around in the BIOS. But don't change anything if you don't know what it does, lots of people have learnt that lesson the hard way.

Cool ... made sure my graphics comes from the HD3850 and gonna leave the rest as is ...

Thanks guys

 

[feo]

Cool ... made sure my graphics comes from the HD3850 and gonna leave the rest as is ...

Thanks guys

No problem.

If you have any more trouble, just bump your other thread and we'll try to help out.

 

[Thestealth]

What model of mobo, cpu and RAM are you using Vikki? The ASUS boys here could recommend a few easy tweaks.

 

[cyberarmy]

Most new ASUS MB comes with a Windows utility to allow you to flash your BIOS in WINDOWS instead of the complicated DOS commands. And it should also has that crash protection thingie, which if something goes wrong with your BIOS during upgrade, you will be able to recover the PC back to normal by placing the driver CD in your DVD-ROM during next boot, instead of crying because your BIOS chip is FXXxed and need to be taken out and get someone to flash it with a specialised programer.