A64 Performance

[Keith75]

Ok, I was thinking yesterday this new A64 was flying along doing over 200 WU a day. Well, it isn't I somehow had it and another machine with the same node number. So when I get a solid number on how many it does in a day now that I have it by itself I will let everyone know.

Keith

[BC]

Keith,
Don't feel bad, I did similar..... I was running BOTH Boinc-Preditor and D2OL simultaneously.

I got 137 Candidates from D2OL at 1d 0h 26m, and turned in 42 WU's on Predictor.

Either way you look at it, we're both screaming along!

I'm going to split things here... and fix the error.... and rerun for a 24 or 36 hr period to ensure clean results.


As for what to do with the A64... please see my post in "A64 on the way" about what I did to OC to +12% with ZERO problems / effort.


BC.

[Keith75]

I have upped my FSB to 206 which puts me at a clock speed of 2266MHz. My RAM is PC3200 running at CAS 2-3-3-10. The VCore is at 1.5v and everything seems very stable including Prime 95. I think I am going to leave it here for now. I am very happy with how stable and OC friendly these seem to be.

Keith

[BC]

Keith,

Good job! Keep turning!!!! :D

Which PC3200 RAM do you have? CL2 or CL3? looks like you have 3, but are tweaking into something inbetween?

Which model A64 do you have? (3200+ .... CPU model #... ... 4AX,
or a (.......... 5AP) ?

if you are 206 FSB and getting 2266... that sounds like 11:1 which is
the NewCastle. You can safely take that puppy up to 210 with no
problems, but back down to CL2.5 .... NewCastle's standard Vcore is
1.55... so I'm curious why you are running at 1.5?
AMD did a test run of NewCastles locked down to 2400 Mhz and called
them model # that ends in '4AX'.

(FYI: Corsair and Kingston both say that CL2 is 'supported' and
and will operate as if 2.5 at that speed )

Do you have the program Crystal CPUID (or an equivalent) that will
tell you the CPU multiplier and CPU model ID? a 512K L2 3200+ is
a NewCastle (4AX) and a 1MB L2 Cache is the Clawhammer (5AP).



I have tested Kingston "Valueram" CL3 PC3200 (which is CHEAP & SLOW) and got up to 2.37 Ghz with no problem.... I do have the Thermal-Take cooler for Opteron and used Artic Silver 5 compound.

I've played some bios clock-locking games with both the CL2 and CL3 for both 4ax and 5ap processors all the way up to their max.

Right now, this machine is running 2.25 Ghz == 2304 Mhz.. and I'm fine.
and this is the Claw... My FSB is 220... I dont understand why the ASUS
MB seems to add .05 to everything, but it has consistently

Any clues?

Sorry for all the questions intermixed with ideas.... I'm flipping
through my notes here as I go. I personally think, if you have
the cooling (45C is normal), you can run stable at 2365 Mhz (2.31)..
That is how the other machine is running now and it's at 210 FSB CL3.

BC


BC

[Keith75]

Here is what is on the back of the CPU:

ADA3200AEP4AX
CBASC 0415XPMW
9545044D40094

My RAM is one stick of OCZ and one stick of Corsair. Both are rated for CL 2. I feel confident I can up the speed some more without relaxing them down to CL 2.5. As for the voltage being 1.5 not 1.55, I am not sure. That is what it was when I got it and I haven't changed it. I thought that was normal for the chips. Asus, which I like alot, seems to have alot of issues. I had an nForce 2 400 board and it would overvolt the CPU quite a bit and it would also say the chip was running about 5-6 deg. cooler than it actually was. It also wasn't too good about keeping time accurrately. I just checked and mine is designed to run at 1.50 Vcore. This is where I looked:

http://www.thedigerati.us/info/amdcpuchart.html

Keith

[BC]

Keith,
Ok, I have some possible items of help... You and I have experienced
the same thing. I've done this to both the 5AP and 4AX....(soon to
be something else MUCH faster, sempron related)

1. Go to the Asus site... Get the Asus probe (latest version)
www.asus.com.tw

2. Get the latest Asus Update (5.25 or 5.28???). Your BIOS, like mine,
is probably/ mine was, 2 revs behind and did NOT report correctly.

3. Get all three of them installed. (probe, update and bios).

4. Your new bios will be flashed in from the asus updater over
the internet. I would advise (as always) saving the existing
bios before flashing up. You can save a copy of the existing
bios from inside the updater while your OS is running..as well
as update while running.

5. After reset, it will properly detect the NewCastle (4AX) and
set it automatically for 1.55 volts

6. Given you have CL2, I agree you don't have to back down to
CL 2.5. I stand corrected.

7. Corsair specs DDR voltage of 2.75..... the default in ASUS is 2.6.
(you probably will have to set that manually @ 2.7), but check what
OCZ wants. I have never mixed vendors for RAM. You may have
to decide on running a bit low, but that's ok, I am at 2.7 and fine.



8. Also lock your CPU-Mem clock at 1:1.... and set the FSB to 200.
CPU MEM locking involves both (as implied) the "1:1" and setting
the CPU speed limit to the advertized 2200.

I've discovered this somehow get's the BIOS to trust you, and the
FSB speed becomes the single control point.

Reset your FSB to 200 and all mem to 'auto' (except voltage).
This will give you a nice stable base to start from. You should have
2.25G reported as system speed. (to CPU-mem lock in the new
BIOS, you have to change 'auto' to 'limit' and set it at 1:1 (DDR400)

9. Run some stress testing on it... Like CrystalMark09.... You should
get an FPU score of 10,000 +/-....

10. From there, if you have the graphics card, hyper transport, etc &
cooling, take it up to 210. Keeeping in mind that 45C is NORMAL!
Under 100% sustained load, you can expect it to creep a bit to
46-ish depending on your cooling. I found that open air or
84 CFM through the fins didn't make much difference... It does
run warmer (the leakage current in the core is that high
compared to the older 3200+'s). Either way, it will be stable.

For reference, my 9800 XT runs at 67C typical and has a normal
operating range of 59C -> 128C...

11. If EVERYTHING is stable... then I would not exceed 220 FSB as it
just stresses the CPU and forces it to clamp at 2.37G (2426 mhz).
Your RAM will have plenty of bandwidth, as will the AGP channel,
and the Hypertransport to the SB.

12. Word of caution... Depending on how your graphics card is:
I would first limit the AGP to 4x max in BIOS. I found that the
8X load on the ASUS/Via chipset was more than single channel
memory really did well with at this speed. My Radeon 9800
could starve the CPU. If you do the math, it's obvious., you
are trying to pull close to 2.4 GB/sec out of an overclocked 1.6
base design.... LOL


If you use CrystalMark09 (2004).... the FPU test @210 will give you
from 9700+ to 10800+ depending on what's going on.



The kicker here is heat, cooling, and power supply regulation.
everything i hve says 1.55 V core. Even the Claw auto increases
to 1.55 core at 220 FSB with the MEM-CPU lock setup.

My recommendation is not to let it get over 50C for very long.
(if you see 49C and it's not stable... back off)... I know it's good
for 65C, but you will wear out the transistor junctions faster for
no real good reason.

As a LAST DITCH EFFORT... you CAN lower the multiplier on the
4AX.... If you do, take it back to the standard 10. 10.5 causes
timing delays during cache flush. Clearly not what anyone wants.

If you want / need exact stuff on the locking trick for the ASUS bios,
let me know.... It took me 2-3 days to figure out how to get both
machines completely under my control. After that, it's "dial a speed'.

Also, if you want help with the CrystalMark or CrystalCPUid, let me
know... I got both on the web and they are right on the button.
They are standard tools around here for public use.

Hope this all helps and hope the step-by-step wasn't over simplifying,
I was just reading from my notebook.

PM or email me if you wish.

BC.

PS: My next trick is the 'Pro' Dual Channel chipset. I'm waiting
for the board now.

[Keith75]

My Asus board is an XP model that has a 2500 in it. My A64 is using an MSI board. They have a bug right now with it that shows the CPU temp as idling at 63 deg and full load at 71 deg. They hope to have this fixed soon and I was hoping that after they did I could get a better handle on how much my OCing was heating things up. Right now I can't trust the readings.

Keith

[BC]

Keith,
If you can spare the few $$... get the Thermal-Take A1357 fan.
It's bright orange, has a temp probe and a speed dial.

Skip the speed dial part, use the temp probe only.

What I did was mount that as my main CPU heat exhaust fan, with
the temp probe directly at the center base of the heatsink.

Since the T-couple is standard... you can plug it into a bunch of
different temp displays... I have another t-couple running my
front display. (yes, 2 in the heat sync)...

The difference between die temp and sink temp (if you have it in the
center (least air disturbance) AND in contact with the base of the
sink is only 3-4C if you have a good compound. Based on
what you are doing, i would say you most CERTAINLY do have good
cooling compound...

For reference... the T-Take fan is about $13.. (cheaper mail order).
Operating specs are:
1300rpm @ 20C = 20.55 CFM
4800rpm @ 50C = 75.70 CFM (this is max, and still quiet)

You can hear it spool up and down based on load if you pay attention.

Does that help?



BC.

Personal note: 2 of these are all I need to cool this one overclocked clawhammer I have. 6 HD's, 2 burners, 9800, etc, etc as I posted before. Only other T-Take in there is the CPU cooler. Oh, and I added
standard filters to the air inlet points to keep the dust bunnies at a minimum.

If you'ld like a pic of the internals for reference.. hollar.. you might get a laugh out of 15 lbs of crap in a 10 lb pail..... LOL

[Keith75]

I will get one of those. My case has seven fans counting the power supplies. It is a Thermaltake Xaser III. I have a heat sensor with a readout on the front but I haven't mounted it anywhere yet. I am planning on doing that. I will make a trip to the computer store this weekend and pick up one of those fans you mentioned. I really need to get filters on it too since dust is always a problem. Love to see pics.

Keith

[em99010pepe]

Could you specify the positions of all that seven funs? Thanks.