- Feb 2, 2008
- 2,219
- 221
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Let's make a list of some features that are not on every board/CPU/platform, etc. — but should be.
(Let's get the obvious ones out of the way: Good VRMs/MOSFETs/socket temps/copper level/PCB thickness/BIOS quality)
1) Windows/Linux software that lets someone boot to BIOS. I've used the ASUS utility that came with the Crosshair V Formula Z but I doubt it works with every brand's boards or all tiers of ASUS boards.
2) Automatic recovery from bad RAM settings. In my experience, RAM tuning is the most annoying part of overclocking because it tends to require CMOS reset. With the UD3P 2.0 board I particularly noticed this happens if the voltage is set to below 1.6 or so.
I'd like to see any setting that prevents booting cause an automatic reboot rather than a cold freeze that requires CMOS reset.
3) Battery life sensor for the CMOS battery. Instability can be caused by a dying battery and it's hard to figure out. This isn't a must-have feature but it certainly would be a nice perk.
4) PWM fan control that is true PWM not voltage in disguise.
5) Water pump fan header.
6) Push button to reset CMOS.
7) The ability to set a delay to slow the boot process so you don't have the OS skip past the ability to get into BIOS. Frantically having to press the delete key before your monitor gets the signal and things like that are really annoying. The boot-to-BIOS software is a huge help with this but there should still be a setting you can use when tuning your overclock to give you more time to hit delete after the logo screen has appeared during boot.
8) A boot loader that comes built into the BIOS that lets you easily pick between operating systems and disks at boot — not requiring you to switch priority in the BIOS settings and save them. Why isn't there a simple graphical bootloader so one can juggle multiple disks and operating systems. For goodness' sake, the 1983 Apple Lisa had this! All motherboards should have this. They should automatically present you with a list of operating systems to choose from, making it clear which disk they're on, too. (This feature could be turned off in BIOS for those with a single system or who don't want to click anything.)
9) Additional power connector for the CPU. The Crosshair has this but my UD3P board doesn't.
10) A feature that does RAM tuning in BIOS, right before your eyes. Basically, it does the same thing as turning off Fast Boot does when the machine is booted. This feature might require that a tiny amount of RAM be on the board just for the BIOS, though. But, why not? That would make recovering from bad RAM settings easier anyway.
I don't like the mystical tuning that apparently can happen when Fast Boot is turned off. It's important when tuning RAM to know exactly what all the settings will be but there are too many to try to manually deal with all of them. But, if a person could see these settings being conjured up then one could write them down and even, gasp, lock them in so that the machine is consistent each time it's booted.
11) Built-in Memtest and Prime, in the BIOS. Memtest would be able to load all the cores. Both would have safe temps protection and warning beeps. Both would also halt upon errors. People should not have to be in Windows to do basic stress testing. A GPU loader would also be nice to have, one that can work in conjunction with Prime on the CPU.
12) LLC should be less mystical in how it's presented.
13) PCI-e speed should be locked. People should not be able to mess with it.
14) There should be a very basic, but effective, group of benchmarks built into BIOS for verifying the performance of one's settings.
15) BIOS should be able to be easily navigated via keyboard, instead of needing a mouse.
16) There should be the ability to turn off all superfluous graphics from the BIOS, including background pictures.
17) Settings should always stick. If they aren't workable the BIOS shouldn't pretend that they are and surprise you later. I've set multipliers to certain numbers, only to find that the BIOS changed them — usually related to turbo. BIOS should be intelligent enough to block faulty settings from being inputted. Obviously, that doesn't mean it will know if the settings are stable. But, if the settings just are unworkable they should be blocked/reverted immediately.
18) BIOS should possibly log error codes so a person can go back and view them. They could also be downloadable within the operating system.
19) Solder, (possibly as well as one limited edition SKU that uses polymer TIM for the liquid nitrogen and other extreme folks).
20) VRM temp sensor. I'm amazed that the premium Formula Z board doesn't have one but my cheap Gigabyte does.
Anyway... this is what I've thought of so far.
(Let's get the obvious ones out of the way: Good VRMs/MOSFETs/socket temps/copper level/PCB thickness/BIOS quality)
1) Windows/Linux software that lets someone boot to BIOS. I've used the ASUS utility that came with the Crosshair V Formula Z but I doubt it works with every brand's boards or all tiers of ASUS boards.
2) Automatic recovery from bad RAM settings. In my experience, RAM tuning is the most annoying part of overclocking because it tends to require CMOS reset. With the UD3P 2.0 board I particularly noticed this happens if the voltage is set to below 1.6 or so.
I'd like to see any setting that prevents booting cause an automatic reboot rather than a cold freeze that requires CMOS reset.
3) Battery life sensor for the CMOS battery. Instability can be caused by a dying battery and it's hard to figure out. This isn't a must-have feature but it certainly would be a nice perk.
4) PWM fan control that is true PWM not voltage in disguise.
5) Water pump fan header.
6) Push button to reset CMOS.
7) The ability to set a delay to slow the boot process so you don't have the OS skip past the ability to get into BIOS. Frantically having to press the delete key before your monitor gets the signal and things like that are really annoying. The boot-to-BIOS software is a huge help with this but there should still be a setting you can use when tuning your overclock to give you more time to hit delete after the logo screen has appeared during boot.
8) A boot loader that comes built into the BIOS that lets you easily pick between operating systems and disks at boot — not requiring you to switch priority in the BIOS settings and save them. Why isn't there a simple graphical bootloader so one can juggle multiple disks and operating systems. For goodness' sake, the 1983 Apple Lisa had this! All motherboards should have this. They should automatically present you with a list of operating systems to choose from, making it clear which disk they're on, too. (This feature could be turned off in BIOS for those with a single system or who don't want to click anything.)
9) Additional power connector for the CPU. The Crosshair has this but my UD3P board doesn't.
10) A feature that does RAM tuning in BIOS, right before your eyes. Basically, it does the same thing as turning off Fast Boot does when the machine is booted. This feature might require that a tiny amount of RAM be on the board just for the BIOS, though. But, why not? That would make recovering from bad RAM settings easier anyway.
I don't like the mystical tuning that apparently can happen when Fast Boot is turned off. It's important when tuning RAM to know exactly what all the settings will be but there are too many to try to manually deal with all of them. But, if a person could see these settings being conjured up then one could write them down and even, gasp, lock them in so that the machine is consistent each time it's booted.
11) Built-in Memtest and Prime, in the BIOS. Memtest would be able to load all the cores. Both would have safe temps protection and warning beeps. Both would also halt upon errors. People should not have to be in Windows to do basic stress testing. A GPU loader would also be nice to have, one that can work in conjunction with Prime on the CPU.
12) LLC should be less mystical in how it's presented.
13) PCI-e speed should be locked. People should not be able to mess with it.
14) There should be a very basic, but effective, group of benchmarks built into BIOS for verifying the performance of one's settings.
15) BIOS should be able to be easily navigated via keyboard, instead of needing a mouse.
16) There should be the ability to turn off all superfluous graphics from the BIOS, including background pictures.
17) Settings should always stick. If they aren't workable the BIOS shouldn't pretend that they are and surprise you later. I've set multipliers to certain numbers, only to find that the BIOS changed them — usually related to turbo. BIOS should be intelligent enough to block faulty settings from being inputted. Obviously, that doesn't mean it will know if the settings are stable. But, if the settings just are unworkable they should be blocked/reverted immediately.
18) BIOS should possibly log error codes so a person can go back and view them. They could also be downloadable within the operating system.
19) Solder, (possibly as well as one limited edition SKU that uses polymer TIM for the liquid nitrogen and other extreme folks).
20) VRM temp sensor. I'm amazed that the premium Formula Z board doesn't have one but my cheap Gigabyte does.
Anyway... this is what I've thought of so far.
Last edited:
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