Can't overclock in Windows SP SP2? Try this!

OK, I am posting this at various forums so apologies if you've already seen it, but it could be the key for AMD64 users to get higher clocks in XP SP2. (It may be a Venice issue, it may be a DFI NF4 issue, or it may be all AMD64s).

Originally in this thread:

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/show...3&page=1&pp=15

Solution here:

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/show...098#post121098

Story:

Basically, no matter what I did, I could not get the same clock in XP SP2 as I could in Win2k or WinXP SP1a. It (SP2) was OK in Safe Mode, just not normal mode.

In 2k and XP SP1 I could clock up to 9 x 324 (2.9 Ghz)

In XP SP2, I could barely hit 9 x 300 (2.7 Ghz) and that was with a different HAL.

Turning off DEP solved this for me:

Edit the Boot.ini and change the switch:

/noexecute=OptIn

to

/noexecute=AlwaysOff

(watch capitilzation).


Many thanks to the people in that DFI Street thread!!! (I named them in my post over there).

HTH others

Jimbo

I also noticed a lower max OC in SP2. Thanks a lot for this I'm going to try it now!

Thanks for sharing the info!
I'll be sure to give it a try if I find any problems O/C'ing my A64 system.

Any idea on what DEP does to get in the way of the O/C?

thanks for sharing .. will try :)

Looks interesting, will give it a try! Anyone else tried it yet and got an improved OC?

so you did all 12 steps

Quote:

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Disabling DEP system-wide using boot.ini

1. Click Start, and then click ControlPanel.

2. Under Pickacategory, click PerformanceandMaintenance.

3. Under or Pick a Control Panel icon, click System.

4. Click the Advanced tab, and in the Startup and Recovery area, click Settings.

5. In the SystemStartup area, click Edit.

6. In Notepad, click Edit and then click Find.

7. In the Findwhat field, type /noexecute and then click FindNext.

8. In the Find dialog box click Cancel.

9. Replace the policy_level (for example, "OptIn" default) with "AlwaysOff” (without the quotes).

WARNING: Be sure to enter the text carefully.

Note: Your boot.ini file switch should now read:

/noexecute=AlwaysOff

10. In Notepad, click File and then click Save.

11. Click OK to close StartupandRecovery.

12. Click OK to close SystemProperties and then restart your computer.

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???

I think the 12 steps actually do exactly the same as changing the boot.ini file manually.

PTK

Isn't that a reasonably important sercurity feature?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jlccarv

Isn't that a reasonably important sercurity feature?

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No.

I wouldn't say so. It's not in 2kPro or SP1.

When have you seen DEP asking you whether you want to run something or not?

I'd rather have a 2.9 Ghz CPU and DEP disabled than a 2.6 - 2.7 Ghz CPU with it on.

Anyway, is this XtremeSystems or what? ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jlccarv

Isn't that a reasonably important sercurity feature?

---

No.

I wouldn't say so. It's not in 2kPro or SP1.

When have you seen DEP asking you whether you want to run something or not?

I'd rather have a 2.9 Ghz CPU and DEP disabled than a 2.6 - 2.7 Ghz CPU with it on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eva2000

so you did all 12 steps



???

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PTK is correct.

Just edit the boot.ini file

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jlccarv

Isn't that a reasonably important sercurity feature?

---

What does it do?
If the command change just decreases the security of Windows Firewall, then ts worth it ;)
You can just get a better one from Zone Alarm, but you have to pay tho :(

Turok

If it is somehow getting a lower OC with it on, doesn't that mean that it may be unstable at other things at the higher OC?

I just disabled it on Win XP 64 bit, see if it helps me at all :)

No results with this yet I see. Well, I've always considered myself a beta tester to the
most extreme degree...I'll see if my CPU walls at the same speed, with DEP disabled.

:p:

I'll be damned. It worked. I'm no longer walled. Best PI ever, so far.
This is by no means the limit, I'm still pushing it. :cool:

hmm, I guess I better get pushing then :P

What is DEP anyways? Anyone care to explain?

http://img164.echo.cx/img164/7274/imga02700qv.th.jpg

Max prime/gaming/pi/bench stable so far: 9x311 (2799MHz)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stryg

What is DEP anyways? Anyone care to explain?

---

Data Execution Prevention. It's a piece of code in Windows that takes advantage of DEP enabled hardware such as A64 processors to provide the system (Windows) with the ability to prevent known malicious code from being executed. This protection also blocks against many older and more primitive viruses.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TekXoID

http://img164.echo.cx/img164/7274/imga02700qv.th.jpg

Max prime/gaming/pi/bench stable so far: 9x311 (2799MHz)


Data Execution Prevention. It's a piece of code in Windows that takes advantage of DEP enabled hardware such as A64 processors to provide the system (Windows) with the ability to prevent known malicious code from being executed. This protection also blocks against many older and more primitive viruses.

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I think a good antivirus will do the same trick :p:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ettis

I think a good antivirus will do the same trick :p:

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Yeah, but it's more like a resident malicious code execution prevention that was intended to have no effect on the processor,
but obviously it taxes something inside the CPU if we are all pulling out an additional 50-150MHz by disabling it. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stryg

What is DEP anyways? Anyone care to explain?

---

After googling, I found this info on DEP...

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../sp2mempr.mspx

and

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../depcnfxp.mspx

In this latter section MS says "The default configuration of DEP is designed to protect your computer with minimal impact to application compatibility. However, depending on your DEP configuration, it is possible that some programs might not run correctly. You can use the tasks described in this document to configure DEP on your computer:

• Enable DEP for all programs on your computer

• Add programs to the DEP exception list

• Disable DEP for your entire computer"

When they refer to some programs not running properly ( possibly ); I'm wondering if that same hindrance gets in the way of an OC.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, where the article speaks of hardware NX or data execution prevention, is it desirable and/or even possible to turn that off in the processor?

~~~~
edit - also here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...prevention.asp

another site's info on DEP - http://antionline.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=266741

and the google search results for "DEP":
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...f&q=DEP+%2B+XP /edit

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TekXoID

I'll be damned. It worked. I'm no longer walled. Best PI ever, so far.
This is by no means the limit, I'm still pushing it. :cool:

---

:banana:

Yay!

You too have a 3000+ venice and DFI NF4......

Hmm, I wonder if it's a Venice or DFI thing then........

I turned it off and saw no o/c improvement. Still stuck @ 2.9GHz. :(

FYI, to confirm DEP has been turned off:

• right click My Computer and select Properties

• under the Advanced tab select the Performance Settings button

• under the Data Execution Prevention tab the options will be grayed out

Did nothing for me 2.9ghz still my chip max, cancel that Im now NOT stable @ 2.9ghz. turning that back on :stick:

Sticky!

im gonna try this as soon as possible

this may explain how my cpu will only prime at 2.725 but will pi at 2.925 i thought those figures should be closer hmmm

ill try to report back
________
Honda ST series (minibike)

Anyone with a non DFI nf4 board had any luck with this tip? So far, it seems to be only those with a DFI board that have had increases. I'll be testing on my Neo2 when my new chip arrives, hopefully tomorrow.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CD 1986

Anyone with a non DFI nf4 board had any luck with this tip? So far, it seems to be only those with a DFI board that have had increases. I'll be testing on my Neo2 when my new chip arrives, hopefully tomorrow.

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It's too soon to draw conclusions, but it would appear the commonality so far is a NF4 and the Venice core.

Maybe the OP could keep an updated list of those people/configs that see improvement in turning off DEP? :stick:

Didn't help at all here, still stuck at 2.5GHz with 1.8v on my 3000+.

Did'nt help me either but.. i only have a FX-55 .130 core.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Walrusbonzo

Didn't help at all here, still stuck at 2.5GHz with 1.8v on my 3000+.

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Winchester or?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jimbo Mahoney

When have you seen DEP asking you whether you want to run something or not?

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:) Actually DEP doesn't ask much, it simply terminates application which tries to execute code from unallowed memory location.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ettis

I think a good antivirus will do the same trick

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It has nothing to do with antivirus software - different things.
Think of DEP as protection from threats using buffer overlow for example, implemented on hardware level.

And serlv posted some excellent links there! Read on friends :)

This may sound stupid - but I wonder if this is what makes prime fail when OCCT and SuperPI 32m pass?

Trying it now....

another thing that would suck about this would be having to back off clock speed during a format & reinstall since it wouldn't be stable with DEP enabled....

Doing this actually gained me a few more fps in Q3 timedemo.

Sweet. I did this trick and I can now hit 2.7GHz....possibly more. I've never gotten past 2.645ish before, and I'm using a "Winchester". Try it and if it helps you great, if it doesn't then you can always change back to original boot setting. It feels like a new door has been opened for me :)

Could this be a solution to the 1T problem on the A8N-Sli you guys reckon?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stryg

What is DEP anyways? Anyone care to explain?

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Its a feature that every other ISA has had for many years that was not included in x86. AMD recently added it, and Intel followed suit. Basically it protects against some types of buffer overflow exploits. Turning it off will leave you somewhat more vulnerable to this class of attack.

I'd be more concerned about why this was effecting your overclock. Its a physical circuit on the processor. If your system was so marginal that enableing a simple NX check crashes the system, its probably a good idea to back down a few MHz anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by saratoga

I'd be more concerned about why this was effecting your overclock. Its a physical circuit on the processor. If your system was so marginal that enableing a simple NX check crashes the system, its probably a good idea to back down a few MHz anyway.

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Except for the fact that the difference can be dramatic.

For me, I simply could not boot into windows with more than 2.6 - 2.7 Ghz.

With XPSP1 or Win2k, I could prime all the way to 2.8 Ghz and 2.9 Ghz was SuperPi and 3DMark stable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dnottis

This may sound stupid - but I wonder if this is what makes prime fail when OCCT and SuperPI 32m pass?

Trying it now....

another thing that would suck about this would be having to back off clock speed during a format & reinstall since it wouldn't be stable with DEP enabled....

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You don't format and install windows w/ your system Oc'ed do you? I hear it's bad, and it's not like it speeds the install up that much... if any



I have to give this a try, I got stuck at a high 2.5 :( winnie 3200, but then I have CBBID anyway...

No increase here (yet). Neo2, winchester CBBID....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by B5I8

Doing this actually gained me a few more fps in Q3 timedemo.

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Could DEP, therefore, also have any bearing on the lower 3Dmark scores that people see with WindowsXP SP2 as opposed to earlier versions?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CD 1986

Could DEP, therefore, also have any bearing on the lower 3Dmark scores that people see with WindowsXP SP2 as opposed to earlier versions?

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i would say so :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A Scream

You don't format and install windows w/ your system Oc'ed do you? I hear it's bad, and it's not like it speeds the install up that much... if any



I have to give this a try, I got stuck at a high 2.5 :( winnie 3200, but then I have CBBID anyway...

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yea, but my overclocks are 110% stable not a 1 time 1M Super PI run like most of the people on XS. I prime for over 24+ hours, Super PI32M, OCCT etc and do this multiple times a week. My overclocks are permanent once they are deemed stable.

Dean

It's not too difficut to lower the multiplier one notch when you're formatting and installing windows though! ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CD 1986

It's not too difficut to lower the multiplier one notch when you're formatting and installing windows though! ;)

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true, but I never would ;)

I found that very wierd I can prime 24 hours @ 2.9ghz, did that tweak and prime failed in 9 minutes :stick:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jimbo Mahoney

Edit the Boot.ini and change the switch:

/noexecute=OptIn

to

/noexecute=AlwaysOff

(watch capitilzation).

---

I guess I wouldn't know because thats the first thing I change ;) A good 90% of the non firewall compatability issues with SP2 are resolved by making this change.

Eric

tryed it in win64 and a san diago on a dfi board. it didnt help my prime stable clock unfortunatly, but easy enough to try. didnt check any 1m super pi runs though :ROTF: