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The M4A79 Deluxe uses the AMI BIOS. In the first window labeled 'Main', the options are standard. The system time and date can be set as well as the drives. The system information is at the bottom.

I will skip the 'Ai Tweaker' menu since it concerns overclocking; I will take a look at it on the next page. So the next one is the 'Advanced' menu, where there are five sub-menus. The first thing in the 'CPU configuration' is the read-only information about it. Notice that it does not recognize the AMD x3 720. I thought that that board was AM3 optimized? More on that later in the overclocking section. Also, the user can enable various processor features such as Cool'n'Quiet and Advanced clock Calibration, which is the one needed to unlock the fourth core of the x3 720, provided it comes from the right batch.

In the 'Chipset' sub-menu, there is another sub-menu about the ECC configuration. This function allows the hardware to report and correct memory errors.

Still under the 'Chipset' sub-menu, the user has access to the 'PCI-Express Configuration' where the number of lanes can be set to x1, x8 or x16. Communication between PCI-E slots can also be enhanced with the Peer-to-Peer option.

Back into the 'Advanced' menu, the user can also enable the onboard devices in the respective sub-menu. The 'USB Configuration' sub-menu is where the USB host controllers can be enabled. The 'PCI/PnP Settings' sub-menu contains the setting to allow a plug-and-play operating system to configure the devices not required for boot.

The next menu is the 'Power' menu, which is all about suspend mode and power consumption. The 'APM Configuration' sub-menu is nothing but what kind device or event can wake up the system.

In the 'Hardware Monitor' sub-menu, temperatures, voltages and fan speeds are displayed.

The 'Boot' menu allows the user to set the boot device priority and the boot settings configuration. A password can also be set.

This is the 'Boot Settings Configuration' sub-menu:

Finally, in the 'Tools' menu, one can access EZ Flash 2 and enable Express Gate.

The 'O.C. Profile Configuration' is where the user can save BIOS settings. This option is slowly becoming a standard; it is very useful for overclocking.

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Next, let's look at the overclocking options!