Dual Core X2 is here!

jcschild · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:24 pm Post subject: Dual Core X2 is here!

HEHEHE i will be testing today.

first test is to see if you can just drop it into a n3 board with the latest bios
or if windows will require a reinstall. thinking HAL issues.
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jcschild · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:47 pm Post subject:

on xp home no go.
Bios sees it but its recognised in windows as a single HMMM
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franYo · Member Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 369 Location: Croatia

Hey Scott,

Thanks for that info. Seems that MS rep wasn't bulshitting me then after all. Oh well... I was gonna get XP Pro anyway, just to be on the safe side. Hope you have some results before you take off for the weekend. :-)

Franjo
_________________
ASUS A8N-E / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ / SuperTalent 2GB PC3200/ nVIDIA GeForce 6600 / PreSonus FireBOX on PCI-e FW card/ 2xUAD-1 /
Windows XP Home SP2
Cubase 4.0.1.2074

jtstudios

Anyone:

Can you drop the Athlon X2 in a K8NS or an AV8 running XP Pro, or will it require an updated BIOS from the manufacturer? Abit AV8? GigaByte K8NS?

JT

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i7 extreme @ 3.86 GHz, 12GB RAM, 6TB Dual Raid storage, RME MADI, SSL MADI AX, Nuendo 4, Cubase 5

franYo · Member Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 369 Location: Croatia

You'll need to flash the latest BIOS.

Franjo
_________________
ASUS A8N-E / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ / SuperTalent 2GB PC3200/ nVIDIA GeForce 6600 / PreSonus FireBOX on PCI-e FW card/ 2xUAD-1 /
Windows XP Home SP2
Cubase 4.0.1.2074

jcschild · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:22 pm Post subject:

OK XP Pro is a no go!

again Bios sees it as an X2 windows only sees i proc. i had a feeling it would be a hal issue.

attempting a repair~
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jtstudios · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:35 pm Post subject: BIOS

Has anyone seen a BIOS update that makes the X2 work on K8NS or AV8? I haven't seen one - but I don't have the X2 CPU - it's purely academic at this point.

I will be curious to see the Nuendo benchmarks.

BTW, What is a "Hal issue"? Is that like the computer that says " I can't let you do that..." from Space Odyssey 2001? I have a vague memory of something like that.

JT
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franYo · Member Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 369 Location: Croatia

Tiger Style · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:44 pm Post subject:

scott...
simple question, but did you reinstall in acpi mode?
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SONICA-X · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:45 pm Post subject:

jcschild · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 10:31 pm Post subject:

Hey Guy,
not sure what you mean...
i got in the Gigabte Royal and the Asus 955, man i love the Gigabyte very cool heatpipe for the DPS. and the bluetooth is a nice bonus

but i had to do a complete reinstall for the X2.

well this is going to make things a little more difficult for those wanting an upgrade.

(good for system builders, Bad for end-users)

i was hoping a simple drop it in and go would have worked with at least no more than a repair.

now on to the bench marks....
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ttako · Guest

Hi Scott,
Can you tell us what is that "HAL" thing you mentioned?
When do you will have benchmark results with the X2-s? What is the setup (MoBo etc) you are using for the test?
Which CPU model? Is it OC capable?
Thanks,
Tamas

TAFKAT · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 11:26 pm Post subject:

jcschild · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 11:39 pm Post subject:

Hey Vin,
yeah i was un clear on that.

i only tried XP home from a "drop the cpu in and go" i have yet to try XP home with a re-install

so XP home may work!

dont you mean "myoptic"?

hey had to try! had to laod something to flash the bios anyway
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jcschild · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 11:43 pm Post subject:

dang even with the new bios... only seen as 1 processor
something aint right...back to it
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TAFKAT · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:06 am Post subject:

younglv · New Member Joined: 30 Dec 2004 Posts: 11

Okay,
we're sittin' here around the monitor with beer and chips, refreshing every few minutes, waiting for results, taking bets on whether it'll work yet. :-)

-randy

jcschild · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:35 am Post subject:

LOL

well here is my latest

well looks like Gigabyte is full of it...

latest F6 for the K8ns Ultra 939 bios recognises the CPU as an X2 4400 (which it is)

get into windows 1 CPU
sisoft reports it as a X2 dual core
however only benchmarks it as a single 3500.

seems windows is clueless there is 2 cpus
called Gigabyte, oh bios microcode no ready yet for X2 4400, only 4000 LOL there is no 4000 X2 4200 yes

sheesh guess i will have to try the N4 board i was playing with at the same time
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jcschild · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 1:58 am Post subject:

well i just tested another Nforce 4 motherboard (ultra chipset)
it did every bit as bad as all the others in out original tests
while it will support the X2 i dont see it bearing good numbers in its suppport.

arrggh such high hopes for today...

dang bios' updates
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SONICA-X · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:03 am Post subject:

TAFKAT · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:32 am Post subject:

jcschild · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:48 am Post subject:

Guy,

yeah with HT on the intel you had a dual Hal already very sweet.

so thats yet another feather intels cap i guess, however due to the price point of
500-600 series anyone buying that mobo is going to be buying a DC anyway~

thats the motherboard i would pick if i were to own one for sure!
have fun at home and let us know~

Tafkat,

yes i agree i was just seeing what could be done..
now here is an odd one... i loaded a sonar test on the DC amd just for gigles, too dang tired to go thru the n3 laod /update etc
especially knowing it was moot.

but i got about 3% higher for that config than normal LOL.
well i have 3 options hope the Asus KT800 board i have here back from RMA
1) actually works this time
2) really does support the X2

3) sit on my hnads and wait for someone to update a bios that works for N3.

think i may have to come back tomorrow and try the via.
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SONICA-X · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:09 am Post subject:

Well, NOT SO FAST it's going to get complicated.

The ASUS board doesn't give you the option to turn HT ON or OFF when the D800 processors are installed. With this board you only get the HT option when the Extreme version is installed.

On the other hand,

the Gigabyte boards allow you to turn HT ON or OFF with ither version of the CPU and it looks like you only get dual core power when HT is ON.

Perhaps a different BIOS implementation???

This is what I have so far;

Test system:

Gigabyte 955X Royal
BIOS Ver. F5
Matrox p650 PCIe video card
512MB DDR-533 RAM / left one module at the office.
Pentium D 830 @ 3GHz
Fireface 800 with June 05 driver & Firmware set
NO OC
NO Windows tunning
Optimized BIOS defaults only

Test 1. Load Windows XP Home HT OFF

Results;

a.) After OS installation device tree shows one Pentium D processor a performs like single processor 3GHz P4.

b.) Turn HT ON; Device tree shows TWO Pentium D processors an performs like a dual processor 3.0GHz.

Test 2. Load Windows XP Home SVP2 HT ON

Results;

a.) After OS installation device tree shows TWO Pentium D processors and performs like dual processor 3GHz.

b.) Turn HT Off; Device tree shows one Pentium D processors an performs like a single processor 3.0GHz.

So if you want dual core power on XP Home on the Gigabyte board you turn HT ON, I know it sounds strange but that is just the way it is.

Scott, perhaps you could duplicate my results.

Performance;

Thonex / Nuendo 3

6ms / 256 --------> 57% idle - 61% play - 68% for a second or two at bar 75 - no clicks or pops.
3ms / 128 --------> 65% idle - 80% to 90% back and forth during play with lots of clicks and pops.

Notes:

Now keep in mind that I will drive to the office tomorrow and increase RAM to 1GB as now this rig is running in single channel mode.
I will repeat tests tomorrow.

Presonus Firepod identical performance results as Fireface 800.

Gigabyte board 100% stable and a really nice board.

CPU temp. during test 42 degrees.

Guy Cefalu
Sonica Audio Labs

TAFKAT · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:36 am Post subject:

Hey Guy,

Mixed bag of results there..

Your figures at idle are extremely high , however your 256 playback figures are within a few % ?

My Figures:

256 Samples : Idle 46% : Playback 58 :

I managed to get my system to run at 128 Without a problem, with far less load i.e :

128 Samples : Idle 52% - Playback 65%

Hmmm, It'll be interesting to see the difference with the Dual Channel RAM configuration.

P:S : Personally I'd also swap the motherboard , I have never seen a board that offers any hyperthreading options unless the CPU actually has the facility.. something very, very strange there.., and all of the tap dancing to get the CPU correctly recognised.. ??

The ASUS P5WD2 config/install was flawless, minor BIOS tweaks, XP Pro Install, latest Intel.inf, XP Tweaks, done... certainly no voodoo needed with the Hyperthreading option, as there isn't any option available, and rightfully so as the CPU doesn't support it.

Maybe try installing XP Pro to see if the behaviour persists, if so, I'd go the ASUS , and put the GIGA back in its box..LOL

Just my 2 cents

Peace:

franYo · Member Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 369 Location: Croatia

Lots of stuff going on...

Scott, I don't get what you're saying here,