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SR-2 Optimization Thread

I think some of us will take it off you hands before you do anything drastic :)

Try using the hardware switch to switch to one of the other BIOSes.
 
FLECOM said:
ok so a new drama in the saga of my SR-2 rig... I decide to remove my GTX470 since I am going to make this a dedicated folder... put a GeForce 8500 in it and now I can't overclock at all... no matter what I do I am stuck at 2.27ghz..
Click to expand...

Makes no sense...I run a GF 8400GS in mine flawlessly. :confused: No idea why swapping a card in or out should make that much of a difference.
 
jebo_4jc said:
Try using the hardware switch to switch to one of the other BIOSes.
Click to expand...

just tried that and it still posts at the default speed

tried different memory also

I don't know what to do, I cant even OC to 135mhz FSB... always posts @ 133mhz
 
When I swapped out my power supply, I pulled out a 9500 GT and replaced it with an Asus EAH4350 Silent card at the same time and had the same problem.

Although I tried several things many times, I think what worked was clear cmos, set time and date, load default settings, save and exit. I then loaded a saved, non-OCed profile and had to manually set everything once again. Reloading my saved 3.6 OC profile failed every time.
 
Tried putting it in slot 3, reset cmos, load optimised defaults, then manually re-enter OC?

Saved settings can become corrupt, and often fail to load - the biggest PITA about this board.
 
I worked myself into a non-booting scenario. Wouldn't post at all. Thought I tried everything. Removing RAM, etc. After about 12 BIOS resets, it decided to work.
 
well I even reflashed the bios and still nothing :(
 
put the video card in slot 3 and slot 4 (I have the 6 pin connector for slots 4-7 connected) and still nothing

cant even OC to 140mhz FSB
 
do you have all your power connectors plugged in?

including the two 6 pin pcie?
 
24pin eatx, 2x 8pin +12v connectors and 3x 6 pin PCIe connectors going to the mobo
 
ok heres an interesting one... i decided to give up and leave it folding at stock speed.... it posted at 2.27ghz as per the usual... windows shows it as a 2.26 @ 2.26 but CPU-Z shows the core speed as 3601.6Mhz with a bus speed of 200MHz wtf?
 
CPU-Z will often read what is supposed to be there rather than what is actually there (like it will see all RAM even when Windows and BIOS don't). I think the other guys are on the right track. Try Load Default Settings in BIOS, and also try a few cold boots (maybe even turning off PSU/unplugging from wall). I know when you flash BIOS, it says to power down completely, then go into BIOS, load defaults, save and exit (and maybe power off again).
 
SazanEyes said:
CPU-Z will often read what is supposed to be there rather than what is actually there (like it will see all RAM even when Windows and BIOS don't). I think the other guys are on the right track. Try Load Default Settings in BIOS, and also try a few cold boots (maybe even turning off PSU/unplugging from wall). I know when you flash BIOS, it says to power down completely, then go into BIOS, load defaults, save and exit (and maybe power off again).
Click to expand...

did all that multiple times

the TPF seems like its still stock

I give up
 
I don't know about that. The board was made to overclock and if it won't overclock at all seems to me it's faulty.
 
DooKey said:
I don't know about that. The board was made to overclock and if it won't overclock at all seems to me it's faulty.
Click to expand...
yeh, they'll RMA it.

Link them to this thread when you submit your RMA request :)
 
I finally took the plunge on an SR-2 after many months of deliberating how I would set this up. It's not truly a dedicated folder as I'll game, run VM's, and photoshop on it at times between -bigadv work units. My specs are modest compared to some in this thread but I'm very happy with the hardware thus far.

SR-2 A49
Dual x5650 (Extra Special A0 stepping)
Dual Corsair H50 (Stock single fans)
6x2GB ECC DDR3 1333 MHz 9-9-9-24 (Micron)
HD 6870
XFX XXX 750w
Danger Den Torture Rack

I've had the CPU's for quite some time and thought they were poor overclockers. On my P6T Deluxe I couldn't get either to boot at more than 3.3GHz with 1.3v. (it's become increasingly clear that my P6T is not the excellent overclocker it once was) I finally got everything assembeled a few days ago and have been playing around with the overclock a little and using the posts here as guide points. I'm not looking to push the system too hard, just find a good spot for efficiency.

I think I've found it at 3.6GHz!

----------

Frquency/Voltage Control - main screen
CPU Frequency - 172
PCIE Frequency - 100
CPU Multiplier - 21 (Turbo)
QPI Frequency - 4.800GT
Memory Frequency - Auto (DDR-1338MHz effective)
MCH Strap - Auto

CPU Configuration screen
Speedstep - Enabled
C-State - Enabled
Turbo - Enabled

Memory screen
tCL - Auto
tRCD - Auto
tRP - Auto
tRAS - Auto
tWR - Auto
tRFC - Auto
tWTR - Auto
tRRD - Auto
tRTP - Auto
tFAW - Auto
Memory runs 9-9-9-25
Command Rate - 1T
Everythign else is Auto

Voltage
VDroop (both) - With VDroop
Vcore (all) - 1.21 (shows ~1.6-1.7 under load)
Vtt (all) - 1.350
Memory CPU0 - 1.5
Memory CPU1 - 1.5
IOH - Auto
Everything else is Auto

NUMA Disabled (thanks for the tip 10e)

P6900 - 12:59-13:00 ~130,000ppd

Load power use - 410w

I finally started up -bigadv last night after running some standard SMP to ensure stability and picked up a 6900 immediately. I was very surprised to see a decent time out of her as I wasn't sure how much the ECC memory would affect performance. CPUID Hardware Monitor reports 109w per CPU. My kill-a-watt is reporting 410w being pulled at the wall. Temps are not exceeding 55 degrees on any core.
I've gotten very lucky and have almost no time in voltage tweaking. I set the vcore by guessing (when it turbos up to ~4ghz on one core I still get a little nervous) and vtt was initially left at auto until I knew it was stable, so it's possible that I could lower some of these values.
When I first set the system up I did not have the 6-pin PCIe power plugged in for the PCIe slots and the system was plagued with stability issues trying to benchmark things like PC Mark, 3d Mark, and the Windows Experience Index. I wasn't sure what the problem was and noticed it mentioned a few times in this thread.
I'm still on the hunt, as are many of you, for a proper case for this beast. I had a Danger Den Torture Rack sitting around and decided to make that work for now since I won't be moving it. I removed the standoffs and have the board in backwards, so far so good!

Sorry for writing a book, I just wanted to let you all know that your posts help more than you might realize. :D
All questions, comments, critiques are welcome! Keep folding and the info coming!
 
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That is some great efficiency there wickedld9.

325 points/watts is just phenomenal. I'd say that's the [H]ardest box in the [H]orde in terms of that.

Nice job.
 
Beautiful work. Welcome to the club!
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Thanks guys! I'm afraid to touch it since it's working so well.
A quality Silver/Gold PSU is definitely worth it when you're pulling this much power. It may look hideous, but this XFX is a silent beast, and for the price it's really tough to beat. XFX and EVGA in the same system...who knew!
 
Yes, that is slow. I wouldn't think memory timings would have that big of an effect. I'd buy 120K to 130K at that speed. Mine at ~3.6 now run right at 135K ppd. The one that was at 3.56 was doing 128K ppd +/-.
 
Ya, has to be the timings, I'm getting close to that with quads.
I'm not the expert on this, and I don't know the ram. But I'd say turning the ram speed down and the timings to like 9-9-9-24 1T would make a big difference.
 
@wickedld9 - exquisite ppd per watt there. I will note those settings for the worst of summer. Well done!

@nimbyfaygo - Yes ram timings look way loose, but also doublecheck NUMA is disabled - that particular setting is not saved with profiles -which always gets me when I have to reset cmos and load again.
 
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My SR-2 simply will not stay stable above 202bclk. I wake up this morning to find that it dumped a 2685 at 94% with an "unstable machine":mad:

Gah! its frustrating to waste about 24 hours and a 100k drop.
 
nimbyfaygo said:
My SR-2 simply will not stay stable above 202bclk. I wake up this morning to find that it dumped a 2685 at 94% with an "unstable machine":mad:

Gah! its frustrating to waste about 24 hours and a 100k drop.
Click to expand...

Try lowering it one to 202 or 201. Mine can't even go to 196 with the x5650s in it. 195 no problem, 196, poof unstable.

404 - File not found said:
I'm only getting 93kppd on 2686/9600. 3.56ghz 10-13-10-31-2T 1600mhz. That's very low isn't it? The timings probably?
Click to expand...

I'd try and get things down to 10-10-10-31-1T to start with. If you lose stability bumping VTT up one notch on the CPUs might fix it, but I doubt it for those conservative timings unless your integrated mem controllers on those chips are super weak. You should be stable and a bit faster with lower timings, and like MIBW said, try disabling NUMA.

LinX and IntelBurnTest can also help there if you don't want to find out you are unstable and have units dump on ya.
 
is there any way to determine 100% certain what speeds the CPU's are running at?

my board posts at 2.27ghz (used to post @ 3.6ghz) and windows shows it at 2.27ghz...

before I was getting 100+kppd when it was posting at 3.6... when I was posting a 2.27 I was getting like 50kppd...

but now it finished a WU and got a 2685 and now its showing 112000 ppd which is more in line with the 3.6ghz speed...

CPU-Z shows it at 3.6 but I think someone mentioned CPU-z will show whatever its *supposed* to be not necessarily what it actually is...

so is there any way to determine, without a fraction of a doubt, how fast these things are actually clocked at?
 
EDIT: nvm that I has numa on, forgot to reset it after loading oc profile.
I'm already running numa off :confused: Of course I'll work again on my overclock. It's not overheating, temps at 67C, less than linX (75C).

FLECOM said:
so is there any way to determine, without a fraction of a doubt, how fast these things are actually clocked at?
Click to expand...

Try ArgusMonitor, more trusworthy than cpu-z (see my 8700mhz screenie :D). Also, windows is showing 2.27mhz for me too... don't believe that.
 
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Also try Real Temp. The included "i7 Turbo GT" app is supposed to have super-accurate monitoring of your current turbo multiplier, so it should detect overclocks properly too.
 
ok so heres the concensus...

BIOS: 2.27Ghz
Windows: 2.27Ghz

Real Temp: 3.6Ghz
Argus Monitor: 3.6ghz
E-LEET: 3.6Ghz
CPU-Z: 3.6Ghz
Core Temp: 3.6GHz

so am I running at 3.6Ghz? lol

why would the BIOS all of a sudden start misreporting the speed??
 
FLECOM said:
ok so heres the concensus...

BIOS: 2.27Ghz
Windows: 2.27Ghz

Real Temp: 3.6Ghz
Argus Monitor: 3.6ghz
E-LEET: 3.6Ghz
CPU-Z: 3.6Ghz
Core Temp: 3.6GHz

so am I running at 3.6Ghz? lol

why would the BIOS all of a sudden start misreporting the speed??
Click to expand...

I know if you're running Extra Spicey chips the SR-2 BIOS will post the stock speeds of the chips. Mine show 2.27Ghz as well. If your other three programs are showing you at 3.6, then I'd say that's what you're running at. :cool:
 
you could try Everest as well, though I'm guessing it will just show 3.6ghz.

So, how is your performance? Is it still in line with the 3.6ghz speed?

I remember in the past I noticed my BIOS always showed my E5640 ran at their stock speed of 2.66. But that was consistent behavior IIRC.
 
see that the thing, I used to post @ 3.6ghz and windows would report 3.6ghz... then one day it just started reporting stock speeds after I rebooted the computer... weird...
 
Thanks for the NUMA reminder. Mine was accidentally re-enabled from reloading bios.

Both bios and Windows report my L5639s at 2.13ghz, and CPUZ reports 3.6 so I am in the same boat as FLECOM. For comparison HFM reports 117K on a p2686 with a 13:10 TPF.
 
404 - File not found said:
Try ArgusMonitor, more trusworthy than cpu-z (see my 8700mhz screenie :D). Also, windows is showing 2.27mhz for me too... don't believe that.
Click to expand...

QFT - Argusmonitor is good - especially the graph of CPU speed.

@404 & @KMac - glad the NUMA disable resetting reminder thingy ningy helped - I have bolded my post for future speedreaders trying to make sense of this thread ;)

But back to me.. I'm on a horse! My question:

How do I get an SR2 to shutdown if temps hit X in BIOS?

I am enclosing my computer rack with an exhaust fan at the top - all good, but a disaster if the fan fails. My drafty cool tent will become an oven. I could do this 6 ways in software, but I prefer the lowest CPU solution possible.
 
I sorted out a what I thought was a stability issue at 3.6GHz (2xL5640@200BCLK) by replacing a bad RAM kit, and while I'm happily folding bigadv @ 3.6GHz again, there a couple of things I really want to understand better so that I can get the most out of my rig:

MCH Strap:
What exactly does this setting do? The description is very vague and changing the value does not appear to adjust anything at all. I've got it at 1600 right now, but I also have all my memory timings set manually...I don't understand how the setting can affect my timings if I've set them all manually?

1066 vs 1333 divider + uncore multi:
I'm still trying to understand how this all works together. I have not been able to use the 1333 setting without stability issues, but I'm also not really sure what it does. I have 1600MHz RAM, but that speed isn't listed anywhere, so I have no idea what any of these values mean. If I want to OC my RAM, what do I actually adjust? Uncore multi?

Thanks in advance if anyone can clear these things up for me! Once I get it, I get it, but I often need to be pointed in the right direction first...

Edit: Just found this explanation as well...
The base for CPU to Memory Communication relies on tables and equations.
Tables are split into Memory Ratios:
For eg,
DDR800 uses Table 1
DDR1066 uses Table 2
DDR1333 uses Table 3
DDR1600 uses Table 4
DDR1866 uses Table 5
DDR2133 uses Table 6

Under each table are sets of Equations that derive the final timings and latencies of various settings.
For eg, TCL uses Equation A, tRAS uses Equation B, etc

Each Equation is affected by Actual Frequency as well.
For eg,
Equation A = X + Y + Actual Frequency x 34/5

Obviously DDR800 Ratio uses more agressive Equations than DDR1066 Ratio etc

Now what if you use a 1066 Ratio but overclock your QPI such that Your RAMs are actually running closer to 1333MHz than 1066 MHz?

If you set MCH Strap = Auto it will change to use 1333 Ratio table's Equations
ie: 1200MHz is in between 1066 and 1333. If Actual Frequency is 1211, it is bigger than 1200 and so 1333 Table is used. If Actual Frequency is 1133, then the 1066 Table is used. This is for Auto Option.

If you select 1600 Ratio for MCH Strap, no matter what Frequency you're runnning, the 1600 Table is used. If you select 1333 Ratio for MCH Strap, no matter Frequency you're runnning, the 1333 Table is used. so on

Finally, if you choose by DRAM Frequency, it sticks to whatever Ratio you're running, if you're running 1333MHz Ratio , this is what it uses. Unlike Auto, it will not switch tables depending on Actual Frequency of RAM.
Click to expand...
 
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