Board specs and BIOS options
We've covered most of what you need to know about Biostar's P35 boards while stepping through their respective layouts, but here are all the nitty gritty details.
| Biostar TP35D2-A7 | Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe | |
| CPU support | LGA775-based Celeron, Pentium 4/D, Core 2 processors | LGA775-based Celeron, Pentium 4/D, Core 2 processors |
| North bridge | Intel P35 Express | Intel P35 Express |
| South bridge | Intel ICH9 | Intel ICH9R |
| Interconnect | DMI (2GB/s) | DMI (2GB/s) |
| Expansion slots | 1 PCI Express x16 1 PCI Express x4 1 PCI Express x1 3 32-bit/33MHz PCI |
1 PCI Express x16 3 PCI Express x1 2 32-bit/33MHz PCI |
| Memory | 4 240-pin DIMM sockets Maximum of 8GB of DDR2-533/667/800 SDRAM |
4 240-pin DIMM sockets Maximum of 8GB of DDR3-667/800/1066 SDRAM |
| Storage I/O | Floppy disk 1 channel ATA/133 via Marvell 88SE6121 4 channels Serial ATA |
Floppy disk 1 channel ATA/133 via Marvell 88SE6121 6 channels Serial ATA with RAID 0, 1, 10, 5 support |
| Audio | 8-channel HD audio via ICH9 and Realtek ALC888 codec | 8-channel HD audio via ICH9R and Realtek ALC888 codec |
| Ports |
1 PS/2 keyboard 1 PS/2 mouse 1 serial 6 USB 2.0 with headers for 6 more 1 RJ45 10/100/1000 via Realtek RTL8110SC 1 analog front out 1 analog bass/center out 1 analog rear out 1 analog surround out 1 analog line in 1 analog mic in |
1 PS/2 keyboard 1 PS/2 mouse 2 eSATA via Marvell 88SE6121 6 USB 2.0 with headers for 6 more 2 RJ45 10/100/1000 via Marvell 88E8056 1 analog front out 1 analog bass/center out 1 analog rear out 1 analog surround out 1 analog line in 1 analog mic in 1 coaxial digital S/PDIF output* 1 TOS-Link digital S/PDIF output* |
Despite different south bridge chips and memory implementations, the TP35D2 and D3 are actually quite similar under the hood. Both tap the same Realtek HD audio codec chip and use Marvell auxiliary storage controllers, and neither sports a Firewire chip.
One key difference pops up when we look at networking: the D2's Gigabit Ethernet controller is stuck on the PCI bus. Both of the GigE chips on the D3 enjoy PCI Express connectivity, so they won't have to compete for limited PCI bus bandwidth with other devices.
Moving from hardware to the BIOS, we're once again plunged into a world of similarities. When it comes to tweaking and overclocking, the D2 and D3 offer almost identical options.
| Biostar TP35D2-A7 | Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe | |
| BIOS | Award | Award |
| Bus speeds | FSB: 266-700MHz in 1MHz increments PCIe: 100-200MHz in 1MHz increments DRAM: 533, 667, 800MHz |
FSB: 266-700MHz in 1MHz increments PCIe: 100-200MHz in 1MHz increments |
| Bus multipliers | CPU: 6x-10x (Core 2 Duo E6600) | CPU: 6x-10x (Core 2 Duo E6600) DRAM: 2, 2.4, 2.5, 3, 3.2, 3.33, 4 |
| Voltages | CPU: +0.012-0.787V in 0.012V increments DRAM: 2.0-2.6V in 0.1V increments MCH: 1.35-1.45V in 0.1V increments FSB termination: 1.35-1.55V in 0.1V increments |
CPU: +0.012-0.787V in 0.012V increments DRAM: +0.05-0.35V in 0.05V increments MCH: 1.35-1.45V in 0.1V increments FSB termination: 1.35-1.55V in 0.1V increments |
| Monitoring | Voltage, fan status, and temperature monitoring | Voltage, fan status, and temperature monitoring |
| Fan speed control | CPU | None |
Since these two boards use different memory types, they do differ when it comes to memory overvolting options. The D3 offers a much greater range of memory speed options—through bus multipliers—than the D2's ability to toggle between 533, 667, and 800MHz memory speeds. Both boards offer a full range of memory timing options, though.
If you're looking to overclock, front-side bus speed options up to 700MHz should keep you happy. It's also possible to lower the CPU multiplier for standard Core 2 processors, although this option only becomes available when SpeedStep is disabled in the BIOS.
Fan speed control, but only on the D2
Both boards offer automatic fan speed control for the CPU cooler, but curiously, only the D2's BIOS gives you control over temperature thresholds and actual fan speeds. On the D3, fan speed control is nowhere to be found in the BIOS, limiting users to the default configuration. One would hope, given similarities elsewhere in the BIOS, that additional fan control functionality could be incorporated into future D3 BIOS releases.
CMOS Reload
In addition to a pretty standard array of tweaking and overclocking tools, the D2 and D3 BIOSes can save up to 10 configuration profiles, much like DFI's CMOS Reloaded—so much like CMOS Reloaded, in fact, that Biostar calls this feature CMOS Reload.
Also borrowed from DFI's bag of tricks is the ability to boot directly into Memtest86+. Such integration makes memory stress testing so easy that we wish something similar existed to hammer overclocked CPU configurations without actually having to boot into an operating system.
Unfortunately, not all of Biostar's BIOS tweaks are positive. The BIOS includes a CMOS upgrade utility that requires a floppy drive. I'd prefer to be able to flash the BIOS using a bootable USB drive or CD. The floppy requirement is annoying, especially since I couldn't get any other flashing programs to work with the BIOS downloads available from Biostar's web site. Having a flashing utility integrated into the BIOS is certainly convenient, but not if you have to dig around in the closet for a floppy drive to make it work—and certainly not if that's your only option.
