Wanted: DOS utility to control K6-III L2 cache

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5u3
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Wanted: DOS utility to control K6-III L2 cache

Post by 5u3 »

Hi everyone,

Is there a DOS-utility to enable/disable the L2 cache of a K6-III?

Sorry if this question has already been posted.
Jim
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RE: Wanted: DOS utility to control K6-III L2 cache

Post by Jim »

Usually that is done through the bios.
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

He means the CPU L2 cache Jim.

This can be done, but for diagnostic purposes only.

IIRC, CTCM can do this...though I'll have to check when I get home (where my utility disks are. :wink: )
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 - ??? ;)
DasMan2

Re: Wanted: DOS utility to control K6-III L2 cache

Post by DasMan2 »

5u3 wrote:Hi everyone,

Is there a DOS-utility to enable/disable the L2 cache of a K6-III?

Sorry if this question has already been posted.
The CTU program can disable L1 or L2 cache in Win 98 S/E & may work also in ME/ NT /2000 ,but not XP (that I know of ) .
Jim
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RE: Re: Wanted: DOS utility to control K6-III L2 cache

Post by Jim »

@ KachiWachi : I am aware of that. In the "Bios Features Setup" section of the BIOS of my DFIs, the first three lines are :

Virus Warning : ---------- enabled / disabled
CPU Internal Cache : --- enabled / disabled
External Cache : --------- enabled / disabled

I thought that most bioses that support "Plus" processors would have similar arrangements; or is this a case where diabling the "CPU Internal Cache" would not only disable 2nd level cache; but also 1st level as well?
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

Jim - The BIOS would disable both internal CPU caches.

DasMan2 - He asked for a DOS utility...not a Windows one. :oops:

5u3 - Why do you specifically need a DOS utility?
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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5u3
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Post by 5u3 »

Thanks for the replies, everyone! :D

I'm going to post my K6 specs as well...
AMD K6-III 450 (classic AFX core), running at 500 MHz
ASUS P5A Rev 1.06, BIOS 1011 Beta 005

Changing the settings in the BIOS has no use for me, because if I disable the "internal cache" there, apparently both L1 and L2 caches get disabled, and "external cache" only affects the MB cache. (seems logical to me).

The CTCM utility (I have version 1.7a) can disable the internal L2 cache, but only on P2 CPUs, and only while performing the tests.

The CTU program does exactly what I want (internal L1 and L2 can be (de)activated independently), but it is very annoying to have to boot into Windows and drop out to MS-DOS mode just to disable the L2 cache.

I only need this feature to simulate K6-2 performance for MS-DOS based programs which do not work correctly under Win9x.
Apparently it's easier getting a real K6-2 and swap it in when needed :roll:

Since there are DOS utilities for everything else K6-related, I thought a "K6-III L2 cache disabler" would exist as well :wink:
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

Perhaps it was cachechk then... :roll:
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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