mITX Motherboard BIOS and Utility Software

The BIOSTAR Z270GTN Racing’s BIOS interface is divided into three sections: the left shows CPU and DRAM speeds, along with fan speed and CPU temperature; the right section is a help and reference section, and the middle section shows the specific area of the BIOS you’re working with. This is conceptually similar to MSI’s BIOS arrangement, and I rather like it.

The Advanced section of the BIOS gives users control over the things enthusiasts are interested in…

…but overclockers will want to head to the O.N.E. section, where the overclocking settings are. BIOSTAR uses colored backgrounds to denote status: blue background for selected items; tan backgrounds for items you can’t select or change, and black backgrounds for items you can select and change. Some colors will change as you select other items: for example, the “Ring Max OC Ration” will switch to black once you select a “CPU Ratio Mode” other than “Auto”. The list of clocks and power settings that you can change seem pretty complete, although there’s no auto-overclocking function and some of the function names are non-obvious. For example, what’s “Package C-State Demotion”? I dunno, but I can turn it on and off.

You can of course also set the operation of the integrated RGB LEDs in the BIOS.

BIOSTAR also provides a Windows application called Racing GT. It’s mainly a system information/monitoring application.

You can tweak audio, LED, and fan settings from within Racing GT, but that’s about it– you can’t adjust clocks and voltages. And in some sections the nomenclature in the application doesn’t match the nomenclature in the BIOS. For example, the BIOS doesn’t mention “Eco” or “Breathe” modes for the LEDs.

I’ll try overclocking this board in the next section.