questions for tweaking k6-2 550 on p5a-b

Discussion relating to Socket 7 hardware.
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saintlycobra
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questions for tweaking k6-2 550 on p5a-b

Post by saintlycobra »

This machine is running slower than my pii-400 in all aspects. Running benchmarks in Everest home edition shows that this system is drastically slower than other k6-2 systems in their list. I'm not sure what I'm missing. My system is usually half as slow as the other k6-2 systems they show.

I have 256MB of certified CL2 PC133 memory (currently running at 2-2-2-6 settings), 512KB on-motherboard L2 cache, and the 1011.005 bios from asus' website on a rev 1.05 board.

So, with this board being a rev1.05, the plus series of processors won't work at all? Or is it just that I won't get much of a boost, or is it hit and miss? I have read of a few reports of post-1.03 boards working with a plus series proc in it.

I am posting this in both the software and hardware forums since I'm asking for help on both sides. And yes, I have read and re-read many posts on this board and others, so I am familiar with most of the situations, but can't figure out what is going on with my machine.

Thanks for any help.
sylvan2626
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Post by sylvan2626 »

I know these are the obvious, but sometimes get overlooked....

External cache set to "Enable" in the BIOS?

Running at a 100MHz FSB?
EP-MVP3G2 Rev 1.0 (8/6/01 BIOS) -- K6-2+ 550ACZ @ 618MHz (103MHz FSB) 640MB PC100

EP-MVP3G5 Rev1.4 (8/6/01 BIOS) -- K6III+ 500ANZ @ various MHz
saintlycobra
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yes and yes

Post by saintlycobra »

Yes, the external cache is set to enabled, and the FSB is set to 100. Actually, it's set to 105MHz right now, but I'm going to set it back to 100 the next time I reboot the system. I'm trying to get the most performance out of it without overclocking, then I'll overclock.
DonPedro
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Post by DonPedro »

on the german asus-homepage they state, that the k6-2-500/550 on an p5a-b mainboard works only with mainboard rev. ___

the missing rev. no. above is not a typo, the sentence is unfortunately left unfinished at their website.

double bad luck, but it seems your mainboard is probably of the wrong revision.

http://www.asuscom.de/support/FAQ/faq00 ... _supp3.htm
Jim
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Post by Jim »

ASUS P5A-B Rev 103; and 104 will work fine w/ a K6plus processor @ any speed up to and even over 600MHz. Rev 105; and 106 are a problem. There is one guy who occasionally posts here who got a 106 working; but he is the only one I have heard of to do so.

First "Q" is what OS are you running? You mentioned NT; but is that 4, 5, or 6? - i.e. NT4, Win2K, or WinXP. Second "Q" is what exactly is your processor? + ?; Non + ?

I do not have any problem w/ K6Speed on my Rev 104 running 98 or XP. The others I have not tried. I have never tried WPCredit on an ASUS, (ALi chipset), so I don't know what you are looking at there. With 98 you can use PowerTweak 2 which works quite well to get good numbers out of a P5A-B.

Obvious things to check are your memory timings, and whether or not you have "Write Allocate" enabled.

If your board is set to 105 MHz FSB, would recommend that first you set it back to 100, then redownload K6Speed. You may have a file corruption problem caused by downloading @ 105 FSB. That happened to me when I was downloading Don Pedro's OS Mark Benchmark suite.

Next item of business is what version of K6Speed are you using? If it is the 87 version, should be ok as is; if your processor is a + type. If not you need the 88 version. If it is the 88 version, you must first download the 87 version, then overwrite the 88 version exe file on top of the 87 version exe file before it will work. The 88 version is not complete. It is only a new exe file replacing the 87 exe file; but it still needs the rest of the 87 version files to operate.

EDIT : Let me rephrase that. 1) there are 2 versions of K6Speed; 87 & 88. 2) The 87 version only works w/ K6+ processors. 3) The 88 version works w/ both + and Non+ processors; but is incomplete. It is essentially a bug patch wherein the exe file has been altered to make it work w/ Non+ processors. But you still need the rest of the files from the 87 version to go w/ the 88 version exe file. I hope that is a bit clearer.

Nuff for now, get back to us.
Last edited by Jim on Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:25 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

ASUS (US) FAQ sez ->

Q-> What is the fastest CPU that P5A-B can support?

A-> If your P5A motherboard's PCB version is Rev. 1.05 or later, it will support to AMD K6-2 550MHz. However, please note that the Clock Generator must be ICS-9148AF-133 to make 97MHz frequency setting for AMD K6-2/533MHz processor. If not, the board will support to K6-2 475MHz.

Jan Steunebrink sez ->

Due to a hardware problem, P5A-B Rev 1.05 will work extremely slow with a K6plus CPU. The 1011bn BIOS is for boards without sound.

BIOS files - Asus P5A-B, 1011 Beta 005, 05/02/2002, 1011b_05.ZIP and 1011bn05.ZIP.

WAMonitor v.57 and WK6MSR v3.32 will work with NT-based systems. I use WAMonitor, but from the looks of it, K6MSR looks to have a CTU-like interface.
Moderator - Wim's BIOS

PC #1 - DFI 586IPVG, K6-2/+ 450 (Cyrix MII 433), 128 MB EDO. BIOS patched by Jan Steunebrink.
PC #2 - Amptron PM-7900 (M520), i200 non-MMX, 128 MB EDO
PC #3 - HP8766C, PIII-667, 768 MB SDRAM
PC #4 - ASUS P3V4X, PIII-733, 256 MB SDRAM
PC #5 - Gateway 700X, P4-2.0 GHz, 768 MB PC800 RDRAM
PC #6 - COMPAQ Evo N1020v laptop, P4-2.4 GHz, 1 GB PC2700 DDR
PC #7 - Dell Dimension 4600i, P4-2.8 GHz, 512 MB PC2700 DDR
PC #8 - Acer EeePC netbook, Atom N270 @ 1.60 GHz, 1 GB RAM
PC #9 - ??? ;)
saintlycobra
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Post by saintlycobra »

As far as OS, I am running Win2k Advanced Server. I do not have a plus processor; it is a k6-2 550/agr.

My memory timings, from the bios, are 2-2-2-6, but I can drop the 6 to a 4 with WPCredit and still be stable. I have "Write Allocate" enabled in the bios, however, I am not positive it is actually on. I'll have to look hard at WPCredit the next time I run it to find the setting.

I have tried the 88 version of k6speed, and it still doesn't see the k6speed.sys file.

KachiWachi, I have WAMonitor, but cannot figure out how to use it. I also did not spend a lot of time with it, though. I'll have another look at it tomorrow night.I haven't seen the other program, WK6MSR, but will look for it when I get home (I'm at work now, and the proxy server here is really strict).
DonPedro
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Post by DonPedro »

regarding problems with k6speed: could it be that your first start of the program was from a directory different from where you finally put the files?

I read through the README-file and found some valuable info one should adhere to for successfully install, run and deinstall the program. Check it out if you haven't done so already!
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

WAMonitor is pretty intuitative, if you understand what you are doing with it.

You have to install MSRTouch v.3 (you did download that version...correct?) first, otherwise things won't work.

I can PM you the text files that I translated (loosely) if that will help.

K6-2-550 MMX 3DNow! (Chompers - Model 8 CXT) AGR
321 pins
550MHz (100x5.5)
VCore - 2.3v (2.2V~2.4V) 2.5V Max., 13A
V I/O - 3.3V (3.135V~3.6V) 3.6V Max., 0.69A
15W-25W
70° C
Super 7
32KB data (2-way)
32KB instruction (2-way)
9.3 million transistors
0.25µm process
81mm² die

WPCREDIT will not show you if WA is on, but EVEREST will (MSR dump).
Moderator - Wim's BIOS

PC #1 - DFI 586IPVG, K6-2/+ 450 (Cyrix MII 433), 128 MB EDO. BIOS patched by Jan Steunebrink.
PC #2 - Amptron PM-7900 (M520), i200 non-MMX, 128 MB EDO
PC #3 - HP8766C, PIII-667, 768 MB SDRAM
PC #4 - ASUS P3V4X, PIII-733, 256 MB SDRAM
PC #5 - Gateway 700X, P4-2.0 GHz, 768 MB PC800 RDRAM
PC #6 - COMPAQ Evo N1020v laptop, P4-2.4 GHz, 1 GB PC2700 DDR
PC #7 - Dell Dimension 4600i, P4-2.8 GHz, 512 MB PC2700 DDR
PC #8 - Acer EeePC netbook, Atom N270 @ 1.60 GHz, 1 GB RAM
PC #9 - ??? ;)
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

I'm actually wondering why there would be any kind of "slowdown" hardware-wise that would be CPU related.

Let's say you set the CPU to 400-450 MHz, keeping 100MHz as the FSB. What kind of test results do you get? Could you post a table of results as you walk up to 550 MHz?
Moderator - Wim's BIOS

PC #1 - DFI 586IPVG, K6-2/+ 450 (Cyrix MII 433), 128 MB EDO. BIOS patched by Jan Steunebrink.
PC #2 - Amptron PM-7900 (M520), i200 non-MMX, 128 MB EDO
PC #3 - HP8766C, PIII-667, 768 MB SDRAM
PC #4 - ASUS P3V4X, PIII-733, 256 MB SDRAM
PC #5 - Gateway 700X, P4-2.0 GHz, 768 MB PC800 RDRAM
PC #6 - COMPAQ Evo N1020v laptop, P4-2.4 GHz, 1 GB PC2700 DDR
PC #7 - Dell Dimension 4600i, P4-2.8 GHz, 512 MB PC2700 DDR
PC #8 - Acer EeePC netbook, Atom N270 @ 1.60 GHz, 1 GB RAM
PC #9 - ??? ;)
saintlycobra
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Post by saintlycobra »

Thanks for the help guys, and I was just about to do some benchmarks to get some more information, but alas, I tried overclocking to 5x120 and burnt something on the mobo. Now, I can't get a Vcore less than 3.6 volts (presumably the highest voltage the board goes because the manual states a range from 2.0-3.5), and I'm not about to run my proc at 1.3v over the recommended Vcore. But, as a note, I did get some benchmarks at 5x112 in everest: 402/71/178.9 ms (read/write/latency), which was WAAY better than what I was getting at 5.5x105 (obviously). Once again, thanks for all the information. I'm using this in an AT case, so I'm still debating if I want to try and get another mobo for this, or just save my money and get a whole new system.
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