BIOS Functionality

Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 mainboard was tested with BIOS version F4 dating back to March 6, 2008.

BIOS Setup interface of Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 mainboard is very similar to that of some other Gigabyte mainboards released recently. And it is actually not surprising at all, the developers created their brand name style, put everything together for maximum user comfort, gave up “hidden” options, added all necessary utilities and now the Gigabyte BIOS Setup became very functional, simple and easy to work with.

Almost all the options dealing with major system parameters configuration are gathered in a special BIOS section called MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.). This particular section will be of primary interest to overclocking fans.

Here you can set the processor multiplier and FSB frequency from 100 to 700MHz with 1MHz increment. You can also adjust dynamic CPU overclocking depending on its utilization using C.I.A.2 technology. Note that the BIOS supports 45nm processors and allows changing the multiplier setting with 0.5x increment.

BIOS Setup of Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 also offers a technology for automatic graphics card overclocking called Robust Graphics Booster.

The memory subsystem frequency is set with special dividers: just like on the solutions using previous generation Intel chipsets. Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 offers a complete set of FSB:Mem coefficients for Intel X48. Note that you also set FSB Strap frequency together with the divider. It is represented as a remark to each divider in the corresponding menu. It is nice to see the current and set memory frequency displayed right next to the FSB:Mem setting option, which makes configuring it a lot easier.

There is Performance Enhance menu right next to the option for DDR3 SDRAM frequency setting. You can choose one of the following: Standard, Turbo and Extreme. This option affects the major chipset speed parameter, a latency called Performance Level. However, you should remember that it only works if the memory timings are configured automatically.

Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 BIOS allows adjusting the following memory latencies:

When you configure the settings, the mainboard displays all parameter values and allows setting any of them to Auto, which makes it a lot easier for inexperienced users to work with the BIOS Setup.

I would also like to point out that Static TREAD Value parameter has no direct connection with the memory timings. This is what Gigabyte mainboards BIOS calls the Performance Level, which sets the latency for the chipset North Bridge used to synchronize the FSB and memory bus frequencies. In other words, GA-X48T-DQ6 allows advanced users to adjust Performance Level manually, which makes this board an ideal solution for overclocking.

As for the voltage adjustment, the board supported the following settings:

All voltage settings except processor Vcore are provided as relative values. Actual voltages can only be set for the CPU. There is a very convenient information field showing the default Vcore of the system processor right next to it.

Besides everything we have already mentioned, Gigabyte also offers Loadline Calibration option that allows reducing the drop of the CPU Vcore under heavy workload. For example, when we overclocked quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX9770 processor to 4.0GHz by raising its Vcore to 1.4V, Vdroop on our board reached 0.088V under maximum workload and 0.04V in idle mode. Enabling Loadline Calibration helped ensure lower voltage drop of 0.056V and 0.024V respectively. I can’t say that it is a good result, but it is still better than nothing. Especially since in the past Gigabyte engineers used to disregard this useful option completely.

Besides the most important overclocking-friendly MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.) section, there are a few other pages of the BIOS Setup worth your close look.

 For example, PC Health Status page where hardware monitoring functions are concentrated.

Note that the board allows adjusting the rotation speed of the processor fan depending on the CPU temperature.

Processor technologies can be configured in the Advanced BIOS Features section:

Gigabyte engineers also made sure that you can save your settings profiles. The board allows saving up to 8 profiles. All profiles when the board booted successfully will be saved automatically.

When you overclock, the board normally doesn’t require using Clear CMOS jumper. If it cannot restart after you changed some of the settings, the MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.) settings get reset to defaults. However, unfortunately, the user received no notification about it and the board simply continues booting with non-optimized parameters.

Also, GA-X48T-DQ6 boasts a built-in Q-Flash utility that allows updating the BIOS without booting the OS.

Moreover, Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 mainboard supports Dual BIOS technology. Therefore, there is an additional Flash memory chip with a BIOS copy on the mainboard PCB that will save the day if the main BIOS dies.