initialised
03-18-2008, 10:25 PM
This probably doesn't constitute a 'Review' post but I have been tinkering with ESA 6.10 beta on my x38 board (pretty much unsupported) and an ASUS P6N-E SLi (650i). I have to say that I was disappointed by the lack of support for Intel boards (Motherboard=Unreported etc...) to be expected I guess.
However, on an nVidia chipset it was a different matter. Pretty much all of the settings available in BIOS were open in the OS: Memory timings (excluding 1T/2T and CAS Latency, as with Memset), Vcore, Vpll, Vspp, Vmcp, Vddr, frequencies. However, what I found most impressive was the GPU, CPU & NB fan control and dynamic clocking. The control profile was set as a graph with a three point curve (much like a display histogram). Very intuitive interface whether you are used to graphical control system modelling or not. I would like to have seen how well dynamic GPU overclocking worked (e.g. when temp>70C fgpu/shader/ram -> stock/defined) as this could solve some stability problems on cards with badly designed coolers (first batch of 8800GTs) or heavily OC'd cards. Similarly if this worked for CPU's then as I know my PC is prone to hang if Tcpu>70 for more then 5 minutes a similar rule could be implemented to maintain both the OC and stability.
The software itself appears to be an amalgamation of several OS level OC & monitoring tools (Memset/CPU-Z/GPU-Z/Riva Tuner) into a single application with the major addition being easily manipulated control loops. If done correctly the control loops could work as a superior solution to current methods of CPU/GPU throttling and thermal management (C1E/TM2/BSOD/Freeze).
I recommend this application to anyone with an nVidia board as it provides an unprecedented level of control in a single application. However it's functionality on non-nVidia boards appears to be non-existent beyond the monitoring segment. I would like to think that this will be added over time but given the current turmoil between nVidia & Intel I feel that it is unlikely and will remain as a selling point for nVidia chipsets.
However, on an nVidia chipset it was a different matter. Pretty much all of the settings available in BIOS were open in the OS: Memory timings (excluding 1T/2T and CAS Latency, as with Memset), Vcore, Vpll, Vspp, Vmcp, Vddr, frequencies. However, what I found most impressive was the GPU, CPU & NB fan control and dynamic clocking. The control profile was set as a graph with a three point curve (much like a display histogram). Very intuitive interface whether you are used to graphical control system modelling or not. I would like to have seen how well dynamic GPU overclocking worked (e.g. when temp>70C fgpu/shader/ram -> stock/defined) as this could solve some stability problems on cards with badly designed coolers (first batch of 8800GTs) or heavily OC'd cards. Similarly if this worked for CPU's then as I know my PC is prone to hang if Tcpu>70 for more then 5 minutes a similar rule could be implemented to maintain both the OC and stability.
The software itself appears to be an amalgamation of several OS level OC & monitoring tools (Memset/CPU-Z/GPU-Z/Riva Tuner) into a single application with the major addition being easily manipulated control loops. If done correctly the control loops could work as a superior solution to current methods of CPU/GPU throttling and thermal management (C1E/TM2/BSOD/Freeze).
I recommend this application to anyone with an nVidia board as it provides an unprecedented level of control in a single application. However it's functionality on non-nVidia boards appears to be non-existent beyond the monitoring segment. I would like to think that this will be added over time but given the current turmoil between nVidia & Intel I feel that it is unlikely and will remain as a selling point for nVidia chipsets.