Recommended BIOS for SR-2?

Doozer

Doozer

2[H]4U
Joined
May 30, 2001
Messages
2,495
Which BIOS are you guys using for the Extra Spicy L5640s on your SR-2 boards?

I don't have one but I'm asking for someone else.
 
I'm one of the few to achieve 210+ BCLK on their SR2's. A49 was the most stable in this endeavor,
 
I think all of mine use A49 now. I actually had my best folding times on the one that shipped with the original boards, A41.
 
mashtub651 said:
what about for e5620's or x5650's
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A50 may be the way to go with those. You can use the adjustable uncore multiplier. The L5640 "extra special" chips are locked at 18x I believe. I'd wait for may i be worthy to chime in since he has the faster X5650.
 
Yeah, for x5650s and up there is a very big benefit to running unlocked 18x uncore, which means you are limited to A49 hacked or A50 to get that feature.

I have A50 on all mine and I haven't seen any negatives to using it. YMMV.
 
musky said:
The L5640 "extra special" chips are locked at 18x I believe.
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16. ;)

I've used a46, a47, a49. Left a47 for a long time after seeing musky report he had more luck with it than a49. Have since thrown on a49, no problems...so I'm just leaving it on there.
No matter what bios you run or you put for uncore, it's locked at 16x on an ES L5640; I've banged my head against my desk a million times about this before determining it has to be true. :D
 
didnt realise there was anything past a49 lol, thats what I'm on. What came on 50?
 
Hey guys, he's asking on my behalf because I'm currently having an issue with one of my L5640 ES chips. Basically, it would post with 1 chip, but not with the other. It would give me an error message 2A on the LED on the motherboard. I believe both chips are ES versions, but how would one be 100% sure on this? Because the markings on the chip are the same. I haven't done any BIOS updates yet, just whatever came out of the box. Hell I'd update the BIOS if I can actually even get the machine to post. I guess I can just get it to post with the good chip and do an update from there. But if anyone has any ideas on my problem, please let me know, because I'm racking my brain on this. Thanks!
 
I always get 0C then 2A then [click] restart when I try disabling NUMA.
If you're trying to disable NUMA, don't, and see if it passes 2A on the LED.
 
redmasc, can you post what BIOS settings and what other hardware you are using. I'm hoping that our SR-2 gurus can figure this out.
 
Believe I'm on A49 here...or is it A47? Been a long time since I've rebooted mine, is there any way (or utility) to tell inside of Windows?
 
redmasc said:
Hey guys, he's asking on my behalf because I'm currently having an issue with one of my L5640 ES chips. Basically, it would post with 1 chip, but not with the other. It would give me an error message 2A on the LED on the motherboard. I believe both chips are ES versions, but how would one be 100% sure on this? Because the markings on the chip are the same. I haven't done any BIOS updates yet, just whatever came out of the box. Hell I'd update the BIOS if I can actually even get the machine to post. I guess I can just get it to post with the good chip and do an update from there. But if anyone has any ideas on my problem, please let me know, because I'm racking my brain on this. Thanks!
Click to expand...

If they are both Q3NC sSpec, then they are both ES chips.

Have you tried the "bad" chip in a different board, possibly an X58 that we know works with that chip/ I really don't think you have a bios issue. Chip compatibility issues showed themselves as getting stuck at "Checking NVRAM" and not being able to boot up an OS. You could still get into the bios. Also, the L5640s were supported all the way back to the original A41 bios (the only chips I have found that were supported were the E5530 ES with B0 stepping.)

I would start looking at the chip itself for signs of damage or possible contamination on thew electrical contacts. As much as i hate to say it, if you have two identical chips and one works but the other doesn't in the same board, your problem is likely the chip itself and not the board.
 
musky said:
Have you tried the "bad" chip in a different board, possibly an X58 that we know works with that chip
Click to expand...

In PM's with Doozer he told me that the chip worked fine in his UD3R, so I told him I don't believe it's the chip, I think it's a bios setting (quite possibly trying to disable NUMA) that's causing redmasc to have the 2A code.

Doozer is waiting to hear from redmasc though on what to do next, he wants to test the chip himself or see if there's a folder local to redmasc in Chicago that can test it (I suggested that idea....save on shipping if there's a local folder in Chicago and I'm sure there's at least 1).
 
Madison WI (where I am) is a couple hours from Chicago - not exactly driving range, but 1 day shipping range if we need to do some testing in different boards. I might have an SR-2 or 2 I can test with... :) I do have an X58 as well (the UDR3 in my sig.)

Before we go that far, lets try the easy stuff - bios flash using the chip that does work, clearing the bios, swapping CPU sockets, different memory, etc.
 
+1 very true, I told Doozer to tell him to clear cmos and try to boot at stock settings because the only time I've seen the 2A code is when I tried disabling NUMA and it didn't work and then I ended up in a 2A/reboot cycle that would not end until I did a hard power down and a cmos clear. :eek:
 
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