Why is my "BIOS" so limited?

[Valkyria]

Hello everyone! I'll try to be brief. It took me some time to think about tinkering with my i7 and overclocking it. I've read several guides and forums on the subject, and I finally got the courage to go for it and see what happens. I've never had to open the BIOS on this PC before, so I was quite surprised to find this:

There's no BIOS, it's CMOS and a kind of totally messed up BIOS where I can't do anything, I can't mess with the FSB, the multipliers, the dividers or anything. There's what you see in the picture. Do you have any ideas? I've been hitting the forums all day and the closest I could find to my case was an American guy who was in the same situation as me and decided to update the BIOS without knowing what he was doing (like I would do) and his PC stopped turning on... So I'd rather ask the experts. More data: Motherboard: MEDION MS-7616 (I've read somewhere that they weren't very suitable for OC) Processor: i7 870 2.93GHz (which I was satisfied with when I overclocked it to 3.5) Thank you very much in advance for any advice, idea or solution.

[Fassou]

First of all, Welcome to the Forum :sisi:

To the point, apparently you have a branded Medion computer, so as with almost all "branded" computers, everything that could make it easier for you to break it comes limited

Therefore, do not expect overclocking options in that BIOS, or that the motherboard comes prepared for it, although having a processor that supports Turbo Mode, there is always the possibility of being able to set it in BIOS, if the motherboard lets you.

It's something as simple as selecting the Turbo option, where you see the 22 in red, in the last photo you posted.

Salu2!

[Valkyria]

Thanks for the greeting and for stopping by!

I had already tried to change that red 22 and nothing, nothing can be done. I select it, press enter and it does nothing.

The turbo boost option is activated, as seen in the photo. I have also tried to do something there, with the intelligence turbo boost monitor, but it is nothing more than a kind of gadget that says my CPU is running at 2.9ghz. It doesn't vary and nothing can be adjusted.

Any other ideas or solutions for this brand computer that is getting old?

[defaultuser]

If it is a gigabyte motherboard, pressing Ctrl+F1 brings up more options.
But being a "branded" computer, I'm not sure

[Valkyria]

Thanks for the idea Defaultuser, but that's it. With ctr.+F1 it only gives me the options of which OS to start and if to do a memory scan. Nothing about my lost BIOS. I'm afraid it's totally sunk in.

I've looked for other alternatives and I'm going to try it, even though I know I shouldn't, but I can't see any other options, with the setfbs program. But it keeps giving me problems. I can't find the PLL number. What a frustration!

I had already decided not to buy a branded computer again, but now I'm crystal clear about it.

Any more ideas?

[whoololon]

But have you updated the BIOS?

[Valkyria]

No, it scares me a little because I don't know how to do it. I would google it and follow the steps and I don't want to mess it up because I don't know. Will anything change if I update it? Will I be able to access the parameters I need for the OC?

[whoololon]

Honestly, and without wanting you to take it badly, all of this seems like a contradiction to me.

As a standard, the vast majority of branded equipment, including laptops, come with limited BIOS.
Flashing a BIOS is not very mysterious, some even allow you to do it from Windows.
The link in the previous message is that of your motherboard model from the official site.
On the other hand, you can always take it to a service center and have them do it, it will cost you money but you will have a warranty. In your case, that's what I would do.

Now, the contradiction comes because the reason for all of this is that you want to overclock the computer.
Does it scare you to flash the BIOS but not to overclock the computer?

[Valkyria]

Don't hold it against me, I'm the first one who would think like you when reading my posts :wall:. I'm not afraid to overclock the team because I thought I would do it carefully and after I've informed myself. But I know nothing about BIOS. And after reading this posthttp://www.overclock.net/t/1202950/cant-overclock-my-i7-870, which turns out to be someone with exactly the same problem as me who messed up with the BIOS... I said: F***! Let's see if I'm going to be so useless to mess it up the same way.

To recap, if updating them will give me full access to all the BIOS, it's clear that right now I'm going to go for it and do it. Thank you very much for the link.

Although if the BIOS update comes from the same brand that put the PC together... I have a feeling they will be just as screwed...

EDIT: Nope, my Bios are already updated. The ones in the link are in fact a version a month before mine. How does the Mods thing work? Is it a lot of risk?

[whoololon]

I don't recommend modified BIOS if you don't have much experience with it.
Try disabling Turbo Boost in case that would allow you to set the rest of the values manually.
If it doesn't work, I'm sorry to tell you that my knowledge ends here.
:cry:
In any case, there are intermediate steps to improve the performance of a computer without reaching OC, although they involve opening the case.

[Valkyria]

I already tried to disable Turbo boost and it didn't work either. Before opening the post I tried to do everything that was recommended.

And I already went through the case a while ago, I changed the graphics card, increased the RAM and had to change the power supply. I wanted to give the processor a boost, since right now my economy doesn't allow me to change the whole PC. And well, I also wanted to have fun and learn something about this topic. But I see that it's going to be impossible with this brand's junk.

Thanks anyway for your time!

[defaultuser]

First of all, congratulations on your initiative, which is quite unusual in all seriousness.

Regarding your problem, I highly doubt that any brand of complete PCs makes a special BIOS with overclocking access, with all due respect to some elite brands (Alienware, etc.) that might have something.
But in your case, the only option is to change the motherboard and CPU, and if you have already changed things and have a good processor... well, it would be a good idea to stretch a little further.

Modified BIOSes... don't even think about it, unless you know a tremendous amount about the subject, and that subject is much more complex than overclocking, so it's better not to.

So, it's either a new motherboard or nothing (if it's a Z and with many power phases, even better)

Regards.

[Valkyria]

Thanks, I feel flattered! I usually have initiative, what I usually lack is knowledge, money and time. Last summer I put together a pentium 2 with an old motherboard and case, some discarded rams from a friend, the power supply I took from my PC and some recovered ATA hard drives. It was just for fun and to tinker, because the PC is not worth anything, but it works.

Well, thank you all very much for explaining to me what was going on with my BIOS. I will take into account what you say about changing the motherboard and keeping the rest. I will look at prices and stuff, I will investigate how it is done and if it is worth it for the rest of my components. And I will be a nuisance around here again. ;D

You can close the thread.