Lets talk about BIOS

[CLayMoRe-CLaRe]

BIOS , its always been a mystery to me , till now.

Correct me if im wrong = p

BIOS
Is just a chip on a motherboard which help u configure ur new hardwares , store ur PC time , also some motherboard BIOS can overclock ur CPU ? ?

Dual BIOS

Its just a backup if ur main dies ? ?

http://www.gigabyte.com/microsite/55...6_dualbios.htm

Resetting BIOS , usually resetting BIOS is due to new hardwares or error on startup ?

How to ? Remove the battery on the Mboard and start the com right ?

Do we need to update BIOS ?

What i read is when only u upgrading a new CPU ? ?

Is there any incorrect of what i learn ? ?

About overclocking , usually we just look for boards that support overclocking right , it wont state that the BIOS can overclock right usually they will say the board am i right ? But actually its the BIOS on the board

Check out this neat feature from Gigabyte , i think its similar to the new Roccat program

http://www.gigabyte.com/microsite/208/cloud-oc.html

[PCS]

BIOS = basic input output system, if I remember right from school 20 years ago lol. Bios is the software/ firmware on your motherboard. Its the basic system for communication/integration of your motherboard and the devices connected to it. It is stored in a chiP (rom) on the board yes. Removing the battery only resets CMOS which is the settings for your BIOS. You should upgrade your bios whenever one is avail. Like any software there are bugs or thing not included, the updates contain bug fixes or improvements to the firmware. It's not required to upgrade unless a new device/cpu what have you isn't supported/recognized by the current bios version. Never heard of dual bios so I can't speak to it, but I'll take a look at the link! You overclk your board with the cmos settings acomplished by the clock speed and it's multiplier. The BIOS itself is not overclked, the board is. Overclking is just increasing the speed at which the motherboard/FSB/cpu and memory (memory has a separate clk settings) operate.

[CLayMoRe-CLaRe]

So what most i said its true = p

As i mentioned before im using a DELL pc , so my board is OEM uh im not even sure what board im using , i recall something like Phoneix or something something.....

I doubt i will ever update my BIOS lol unless i needed to as mentioned

What else can u do actually , i know u can disable stuffs that ur motherboard provides , set time etc , like now all boards have built in soundcards u can disable it via the BIOS right ?

I was wondering if i install a new soundcard....so i have to disable my board's sound ? ? But i plan to use both , soundcard for my headset , board for my speakers

[PCS]

You can go thru all of your BIOS settings, try F2 on start up, maybe esc I forget what the key for Dell is. But you can flip thru the BIOS and see all the options and settings. You can disable onboard sound and things like that. You don't have to disable anything, but if your using a sound card you might as well disable the onboard. Just becareful not to mess iwth anything that you don't know what it does, or you can end up with a pain in the A**.

[Bama19642]

You should upgrade your bios whenever one is avail.

Like other options, including drivers, it's best if you "don't fix it if ain't broke". I've never updated (same as flashing or flashed right?) a BIOS because making a mistake can leave you with a brick. In my experience if there is a way to easily ruin a PC I don't try it, otherwise I'll ruin my PC. I'm not saying it should never be done, but it should never be done by an amateur who has a PC that is running well.

[PCS]

Yes you will cook it if you turn it off in the middle of the flash or otherwise don't follow the instructions. All of the modern ones are so easy if you can do a windows update and not shut off your computer in the middle of it you can update your BIOS. I have to agree if things aren't broken you might as well leave it alone.

[CLayMoRe-CLaRe]

Lets say if i did something wrong by messing it around , i want to revert everything to default , i just have to reset it by taking off the battery ?

If i do reset my BIOS , what will be reseted ?I will still have all my windows file etc right since those are in hardisk not BIOS

[PCS]

If you screw up the settings, like massively overclking or changing the memory timing that causes the computer to fail to boot, yes just pull the cmos battery and wait a minute or so and put it back in. I haven't hadto reset cmos to defaults for a while but some boards you can just move a jumper and wait a minute them move it back. I would just check the support site for the board and see what the manufacturer recommends to reset it to defaults. Your BIOS/CMOS is totaly separate from your windows file system. The BIOS is the firmware/software stored in a chip on your motherboard, the CMOS is the settings for the BIOS, also stored on the motherboard. The only thing you need to be worried about is when flashing the BIOS (updating) is that you follow the instructions and DON'T turn off the computer or restart it durring the flashing process. If you stop the flashing process by any means before it completes you will effectively ruin your motherboard. Like BAM said if it's not broke don't fix it, is probably better said than me mentioning that you should update it whenever an update is avail. I'm not sure why I said it that way as long as it works there really isn't a reason other than to support new devices or to fix a bug that you should update your BIOS. That being said all of the modern boards that I know of, flashing the BIOS is as easy and just like installing a windows update, as long as you don't stop it premature you won't have a problem. As BAM said unlike your file system if the BIOS flash goes bad you risk ruining the board, and that is something you can't fix, like you can reinstall windows, if you ruin the BIOS thats it, there won't be any fixing it. Sorry I didn't really answer your question did I? If you reset your CMOS, you will just be reseting the settings you see in the BIOS menu, boot device prority, memory timing, etc etc nothing else, nothing in windows or any other device software/firmware.

[CLayMoRe-CLaRe]

O thats what flashing means ?

Well this is 1 of the reason y they have Dual Bios these days i guess lol

Also i think Gigabyte support this FLASH BIOS thing , man Gigabyte boards are really FTW ! = p

http://www.gigabyte.com/webpage/20/H...flashBIOS.html

[PCS]

Flashing is the term for updating firmware. Firmware is software stored on a chip on/in the device. You can update cd/dvd drive for example by flashing it's firmware. I guess that is what dual bios is for, at least it looks like it holds a backup of the bios so if it get wrecked you can fix it.