My BIOS is confusing

[Synomenon]

Hey guys. Finally got my Shuttle ST20G5 today. I'd like to know what these options in the BIOS are for:


These two I think have something to do with the Video:

UMA Buffer Size: [16MB], [32MB], [64MB], [128MB]

AGP Aperture Size: [32MB], [64MB], [128MB], [256MB], [512MB], [1GB], [2GB]


What should I choose for the above two if I don't need the onboard video? I'm using a PCIe 16x X600XT.


Here are more that I have no idea what to select:

P2P Pre-fetch Queue Depth: [Depth = 1], [Depth = 2], [Depth = 3], [Depth = 4], [Depth =5], [Depth = 6], [Depth = 7], [Depth = 8]


P2P Maximum Pre-fetch DW: [16x16 DW], [1x16 DW], [2x16 DW], [3x16 DW], [4x16 DW], [5x16 DW], [6x16 DW], [7x16 DW], [8x16 DW], [9x16 DW], [10x16 DW], [11x16 DW], [12x 16 DW], [13x16 DW], [14x16 DW], [15x16 DW]



Also, these:

Assign IRQ for USB: [Enabled] or [Disabled]



Assign IRQ for VGA: [Enabled] or [Disabled]

Do I set the above to [Disabled] if I am using my X600XT instead of onboard video?


PCI Express relative items:

Maximum Payload Size: [128], [256], [512], [1024], [2048], [4096]





Thanks for any help with these.

 

[shoRunner]

just set your bios to defaults and don't screw with stuff your not sure about.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

As a general rule of thumb, if you don't know what it is, don't touch it.

 

[rise]

this is kinda old but should help a little. you probably want to visit your mobo's site and look around or google some of the terms and your bios manufacturer and see if you can get more up to date stuff.

just be sure when playing with the bios to make one change at a time and take notes of what you are changing.

 

[Umberger]

not sure about most of those, but AGP aperture refers to the amount of ram that your video card is allowed to use in addition to its onboard memory. i'm not sure if it is referring to the onboard video or the PCIe video, or both. with an x600 you can probably leave it set at the lower end of the spectrum. (which i imagine was the default) However, I agree with the comments of those above, if you don't know what it does, then it's probably not something you should be changing.
HTH

 

[dunkster]

This guide is a pretty good general guide: http://www.lostcircuits.com/advice/bios2/1.shtml

While I agree that you souldn't change any item you don't understand, you should make an effort to understand all BIOS entry items - to increase both performance and stability of your system.

Hope this helps!

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy
As a general rule of thumb, if you don't know what it is, don't touch it.

 

[Synomenon]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy
As a general rule of thumb, if you don't know what it is, don't touch it.

Well that rule sucks if you're just trying to get your system running optimally without overclocking.

 

[rise]

Originally posted by: dunkster
While I agree that you souldn't change any item you don't understand, you should make an effort to understand all BIOS entry items - to increase both performance and stability of your system.

Hope this helps!

imo, thats better advice. we're not talking the end of the free world if you screw it up.

 

[Synomenon]

Originally posted by: rise4310

Originally posted by: dunkster
While I agree that you souldn't change any item you don't understand, you should make an effort to understand all BIOS entry items - to increase both performance and stability of your system.

Hope this helps!

imo, thats better advice. we're not talking the end of the free world if you screw it up.

I agree and that's why I posted my questions in the first place.

 

[corkyg]

All those things are normally explained in detail in your mobo's manual. If you don't have it, you can usually download it in PDF format.

ftp://ftp.shuttle.com/Manuals/en/st20g5/">ST20G5</a>

(http://ftp://ftp.shuttle.com/Manuals/en/st20g5/)

 

[Synomenon]

Yeah, I read my manual before posting my questions. It didn't explain what those things are.