Bios Questions

SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">To cure my nuwbness...</div> Ok, so I upgraded my computer a little while back, puttin in another 512megs of ram, upgrading a Geforce FX 5200 to Radeon 9800Pro 128, and installing a soundcard. I decided to take a look at my BIOS to see if there was any out of date settings. Two particular functions caught my eye:

1) I knowticed that my AGP apperature size was set to 64M, I figured this might be wrong as the 9800 is a 128M card

2) hyper threading was disabled, I have no idea what this does and would like to know if I can/should enable it.

So I know nothing about BIOS stuff, and I don't know weather or not I should touch these two settings that have caught my intrest. Advice?
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Comments

  • DaedalusDaedalus Join Date: 2003-04-02 Member: 15152Members
    <b>AGP Arperture Size</b> is basically what a page file is to windows. If your onboard memory is full, the arpeture will be used. As game developers try hard to make sure they don't fill your onboard memory, it's unlikely a large arpeture will be necessary.

    <b>HyperThreading</b> should be enabled if your CPU box says it is a hyperthreading CPU. Only Intel CPUs have hyperthreading, it just means the CPU can process 2 threads of information at the same time, as opposed to the normal single thread.
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  • QuaunautQuaunaut The longest seven days in history... Join Date: 2003-03-21 Member: 14759Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    <!--QuoteBegin-:: Daedalus ::+Jun 20 2004, 05:06 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (:: Daedalus :: @ Jun 20 2004, 05:06 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <b>AGP Arperture Size</b> is basically what a page file is to windows. If your onboard memory is full, the arpeture will be used. As game developers try hard to make sure they don't fill your onboard memory, it's unlikely a large arpeture will be necessary.

    <b>HyperThreading</b> should be enabled if your CPU box says it is a hyperthreading CPU. Only Intel CPUs have hyperthreading, it just means the CPU can process 2 threads of information at the same time, as opposed to the normal single thread. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    With hyperthreading, its not just 2- I think the limit is 16.
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  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    Pentium 4, 3gigs. It was off by default, and when I go to enable it it gives me a warning that is something along the lines of "enabling may cause lower system reliability"

    For the AGP thing, should I keep the statistic low then? or should I change it to 128? or does it really matter?
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Join Date: 2003-04-02 Member: 15152Members
    Leave the AGP Arperture alone. Only change the Hyperthreading option if you're sure your CPU supports it. Just have a look at the box it came in.
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  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    I got my CPU and mainboard packaged in the same box... There's an icon on the box that says says HT ready in big letters, and the manual lists off a bunch of setting I need for HT, all of which I have (to the best of my knowlage).

    Decision made, HT is going on, AGP thing is staying at 64M.
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  • littlewildlittlewild Join Date: 2002-11-20 Member: 9467Members
    Aparture size does affect the video performance and a good aparture size will be 1/2 of your video card's memory.
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  • Cereal_KillRCereal_KillR Join Date: 2002-10-31 Member: 1837Members
    that 1/2 of your memory was mostly for old cards... And wasn't it max half of SYSTEM memory?

    Anyway, for newer cards, keep it at the minimum acceptable. Out of 512, 64 looks fine. If it's not enough, up it a bit.
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  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    I have a gig of ram if that is what you are talking about...
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  • xioutlawixxioutlawix Join Date: 2002-11-05 Member: 7118Members, Constellation
    I have a question at the moment regarding agp aperature, I had always assumed the agp aperature was to be set to the onboard memory for the video card, thus as I have a 9700 pro, I set it at 128. You're saying I should set it lower? What're some set guidelines regarding setting aperature size?
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  • RedfordRedford Monorailcatfjord Join Date: 2002-04-28 Member: 528Members, NS1 Playtester
    Hyperthreading is, in laymens, the poor man's multiprocessor. It creates a second "virtual" processor that acts like you have two processors in your computer. However, you only have one physical processor (generally processor 1) and the virtual processor (processor 2).

    It is effective in fooling your computer into thinking you have two processors. You get a second CPU window in the task manager, and all programs will behave in respect to the fact that you have two processors instead of one. However, because the second processor is only simulated, it's not as fast as a true multiprocessor (duh). Also, some old programs (notable dark engine games, SS2, theif, and thief 2) can not tolerate running under a multiprocessor - you'll have to deactivate the virtual CPU for those applications.
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