Several guides to securing Windows 2000 (particularly IIS guides) suggest employing a registry key to leverage the integrated support for reducing the effects of SYN flood attacks. MSKB Q142641 ...
Oddly, until I put the firmware on, the reg keys didn't sort out most things despite that fact it should have. For those curious, 8/3 is the combo that worked post-bios update. 0/3 covered most items ...