AMD's 690G/V Series Chipset Preview And Performance Testing

The MSI K9AGM2 690G BIOS Tweak It...NOT!

When previewing the K9AGM2's BIOS screen below, don't expect to find anything extravagant in regards to performance or overclocking related settings.  MSI covers the bases, but considering the target market, no advanced options for enthusiasts are present.

The main screen has a familiar layout found with many American Megatrends, Inc. BIOSes.  When it comes to performance settings, the main place to go is the Advanced Chipset Features menu.  Here, DRAM timings, shared video memory and other display settings are available.  The DRAM timings offer CAS Latency, Min RAS# Active Time, RAS# Precharge Time and RAS# to CAS# Delay.  CAS Latency options range from 3-6, Min RAS# Active Time from 5-18 CLKs and both RAS# Precharge Time and RAS# to CAS# Delay range from 3-6 CLKs respectively.  What's missing?  Most notably an adjustable command rate.

The VGA Share Memory Size was surprisingly large, allowing for up to 1GB of system memory to be allocated to the integrated graphics controller frame buffer.  The Display Active Select lets you specify which device is the primary graphics output, although the auto setting should suffice in most cases.

The rest of the screens all yielded very standard options, with the Hardware Monitor screen offering insight on the current state of critical voltages, temperatures and fan speeds.  Those looking for any advanced overclocking options will be disappointed, as this model comes with no clock register settings or voltage controls whatsoever.