First Build - BIOS settings?

You do not need to mess with anything in the BIOS unless you are overclocking or checking something. Download CPUz and check your memory timings and speed, if they don't match what was on the box, set the correct speeds in the BIOS. If you plan to overclock, get a nice cooler and read up on some overclocking guides and some guides on youtube.com

Yes, the RAM must be manually set to 1.35v and timings and speed must also be manually set. If you have 1600 RAM and want to utilize the full speed, then you'll need to do some tweaking.

Either increase Blck and keep multiplier the same (ie an overclock) or simply lower the multiplier if you don't want to overclock.

Set by step instruction for each of these tasks is in the manual.

Thanks.... yes the ram says it's 1600 on the package...

Guess I've got more reading to do. I'm completely new to this, so Blck and multiplier - not sure what they do at all. And (from reading the manual) there appear to be LOTS of variables, so I'm not sure really how they interact.

For example - it sounds like I have to set blck or multiplier to deal with the ram properly. But it also sounds like the i5 does some automatic overclocking when it thinks it would be useful.

Do these two things conflict (will changing the blck/multiplier prevent the cheap from automatically overclocking itself when it would be helpful)?

Thanks!

Hey Mr Pizza, thanks for the pointer on cpuz - I will check it out, but I'm assuming I have to use it after I put in the OS, right? I'm not even that far ;-) since I wanted to get the bios up and running correctly first...

re: Overclocking - I've been thinking about it and am so tempted, but I really know nothing about how it all works (obviously!) and think I'd probably be better off sticking with the defaults/stock... I tend to keep computers for as long as I can, so would like to minimize wear and tear - and not sure I'd notice a little bump up anyway? Plus I'm hoping that the intel "auto turbo boosting technology!" helps out some  

thanks!

Trying to get this working... can I run one more point of confusion past everyone, please?

(Note: have not yet installed os)

I went in to the bios, and was able to manually set:
- DDR3 timings (7/8/7/24)
- The Ram voltage (1.35)
- The "2N" (not sure what it's called, but the memory specs say 2N, so I set that)

But I can't set the frequency to 1600. The frequency setting only goes up to 1333.

I *think* - if I'm reading right - this is where changing the BCLK comes in? Is that right?

So...

1 - Is there any way for me to know what the appropriate BCLK value is, that will keep my system stable and let me choose 1600 for the RAM (which is what the RAM is advertised as).

2 - If I leave the BIOS as it is now (everything set for the ram, except leaving it at 1333) - is this ok? Will it break anything? Will it be noticeably slower than having it set to 1600?

I'd really like to get this part worked out, so I can actually install the OS and start playing with the new computer  

Thank you so much for any advice, or corrections to my faulty understanding!

'Night!

Figured it out - for anyone who may be searching in the future.

I just needed to select "XMP" (extreme memory performance). This apparently reads the info directly from the RAM (if the ram has this enabled) - and sets its profile with the right timings, voltage, frequency, and 1N/2N value.

From what I read - it's really "memory overclocking for newbies" - and you shouldn't use it if you're going to also try overclocking the processor (I'm not) - because the auto-settings are depending on the processor being set to its default settings.

Otherwise, you can manually set all that stuff... I was fairly easily able to set the voltage, timings, and 1N/2N. But couldn't set the frequency - the highest option that was showing was 1333.

For the i5 - this has to do with the "memory multiplier" (which I never found) - it apparently maxes out at 10 for the i5, but closer to 16 for the i7.

At 10 - the bclk can be 133, giving memory speed of 1333...
or bclk can be set to 160, giving memory speed of 1600.

BUT bclk also affects chip speed.

Anyway, I feel like my brain grew a little   - and I know just enough to know that I don't know what I'm doing. Glad I found the auto profile though.

I can now happily move on to installing the OS! Yay.

I got all my ideas on cable management from watching guys do custom builds on youtube. I'm also a new build noob but I didn't need to mess with any mobo settings before I loaded my OS i'm pretty sure thats something you can do any time you want and set it back later if you want to.