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The BIOS
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We
will be looking at the BIOS in detail as the Soyo SY-P4VAL carries a rather
unique yet user-friendly Whizpro BIOS that most will not be familiar with.
Although a bit different than what I'm used to, I really like this
well-structured BIOS utility.
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**click to enlarge** |
One
reason is the System Information Menu. It takes about 3
seconds to load but it gives you detailed information on your hardware as well
as the BIOS ID and Revision information. There are two pages worth of
information on your devices.
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**click to enlarge** |
The
General Configuration Menu allows you to define your boot order as well as
enable/disable password protection. The Advanced Configuration Menu
mainly allows you to define your POST details. There is even a "Quiet
Boot" option that when enabled, will only show error messages (if any) during
boot.
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**click to enlarge** |
**click to enlarge** |
The
etBIOS Configuration Menu is where you will define how the Version M BIOS
(Instant on feature) will function. Being that this is the most
impressive feature, we will look at it in great detail a bit later.
Because of its intended use, there are no overclocking options but the System
Specific Menu will allow you to tweak your memory a bit.
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**click to enlarge** |
The
Peripherals Menu mainly allows you to enable/disable any of the onboard
devices such as your audio, lan and USB. What is missing is the option
to disable the onboard video. This is odd, but we did not run into any
issues when installing an AGP video card. The SY-P4VAL does come with
some nice power management options. This is important, especially for
those it will target. These included Power Up, Power Button and Wake
functions.
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Finally, there's a Hardware Monitor that will display your voltages, fan
speeds, system temperature and CPU temperature.
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