Athlon II X4 631X ?

[-Boris-]

Using this thread instead of creating a new one for one simple question. Is it possible to disable integrated GPU on say a A8-3850? If so has anyone done it and experimented with it?

I am dissapoint at BD. I want to test my hypothesis that AMD should build a Phenom III instead. If an unlocked Llano like A8-3870 with disabled graphics reaches high frequencies then I've got my answer.

[mAJORD]

I think waiting to see if what Royalk says is true is first priority..

[-Boris-]

I think waiting to see if what Royalk says is true is first priority..

Of course it's important in this thread. But that problem is nonexistent if you have unlocked Llanos. That's why I think an unlocked Llano with disabled graphics can give us a hint if 32nm Thuban would own BD or not.

[mattkosem]

Do GPUs work well with the PCI-E bus clocked as high as it is at 150+Mhz ref clock?

--Matt

[The Stilt]

Do GPUs work well with the PCI-E bus clocked as high as it is at 150+Mhz ref clock?

--Matt

You mean a external GPU connected to PCI-E slot?
The GPU in APU does not mind the PCI-E frequency as the clocks are generated internally (BCLK-MainPll-SCLK).

[mattkosem]

You mean a external GPU connected to PCI-E slot?
The GPU in APU does not mind the PCI-E frequency as the clocks are generated internally (BCLK-MainPll-SCLK).

Correct, a discrete gpu since there is no enabled integrated GPU on this chip.

--Matt

[Miwo]

While I want to believe that this is a miracle chip, I'm inclined to believe RoyalK that the 4.4GHz w/ MSI results are the result of some bug. Maybe their Spread spectrum feature causes CPUID to read higher, but it really stops clocking past 133MHz BCLK. The guy over at Anandtech is getting strange benchmark results (horrendous times per expected clockspeed) with that a75ma-G55 board. He thinks hes at 4.2GHz, but his times are less than that of an A8-3850 @ 3.6. See http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost...8&postcount=10

Check this review out too:
http://en.expreview.com/2011/08/26/a...not/18910.html

In the core voltage of 1.524V,the FSB of Athlon II X4 631 could improve to 140MHz,the main frequency could reach 3.64GHz in the 26x multiplier.The processor passed Super PI test with 21.044s,7s faster than that of default frequency(28.298s).

In the frequency of 3.64GHz,the system was quite instable,and it couldn’t pass other test items as well.

Test was done on a ASUS F1A75-M Pro, which certainly is one of the best FM1 boards available right now. Their results are about on par with average Llano overclocks. I read a review that the MSI G55 A75 board locks down SATA/USB bus speeds, but I dont know if the Asus does that too.

In any case, plently of curious people at Anand and H have already bought boards+x4 631s, so concrete results should be popping up any day now

[mattkosem]

I wonder what kind of GPU even got the system booted at a 170Mhz ref clock. Maybe some sort of PCI or PCI-E x1 adapter setup? It says 560ti, but my F1A75-M Pro won't even post at 150 with a GPU installed. I tried a G210, a GTX260, and a 4870 - no go on any of them, even if my monitor is plugged into the onboard graphics port. My PCI-E X1 nic doesn't seem to mind the X1 slots, even in the 160s. I wonder if they have a different clock gen than the 16 lanes from the APU. Is there some way to unlock the PCI-E clocks from the ref clock? I sure don't see anything in my bios that looks like it would do that.

--Matt

[Royalk]

I think it's not discrete GPU related. My GIGA A75-UD4H even boots at 160ish.
Here's my highest DRAM Frequency validation.
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1990819
CPU-Z validation bug, actually BCLK is 168MHz - half of this.

I'm wating my MSI A75MA-G55 arrives.

[Spectrobozo]

here they also achieved 3.45GHz - 3.6GHz
http://en.expreview.com/2011/08/26/a...not/18910.html

I think thats the same you could expect from the 3650, which is basically what it is, but without the IGP

so the 4.4GHz really makes no sense

[Royalk]

here they also achieved 3.45GHz - 3.6GHz
http://en.expreview.com/2011/08/26/a...not/18910.html

I think thats the same you could expect from the 3650, which is basically what it is, but without the IGP

so the 4.4GHz really makes no sense

Yes I also did 3.6GHz stable. But 3.7GHz no go, so I call 4.4GHz is really BS.

[mattkosem]

Hmm. I'll have to try a similar test on my UD2H, or maybe try other ref clocks on my asus board. Could there be some dividers coming into play that make things easier on some boards?

--Matt

[mattkosem]

Had a bit better luck today. After turning off force on the APU's GPU, it started booting with PCI-E graphics cards. Mine doesn't clock any further than it does with the GPU enabled though.

--Matt

[The Stilt]

Had a bit better luck today. After turning off force on the APU's GPU, it started booting with PCI-E graphics cards. Mine doesn't clock any further than it does with the GPU enabled though.

--Matt

This way the GPU is not fully disabled.
It cannot be used, but it ain´t disabled.

On other boards than Asus it usually can be turned fully off.

[richierich]

I think my board is maxed out at 161 HTT. What I've discovered so far is that I'm able to hit 3.7GHz using the iGPU (I'll have to keep playing around to see if I can hit higher) and 4.18GHz using discrete video. I'm very surprised at how little power the A6-3650 sips at idle. It is idling at 46w per my Kill-a-watt meter (64GB M4 SSD, Geforce 210GT, and Antec Neo 520c PSU) and while running Cinebench it tops at 109w. Gaming uses around 80w of power consumption (Using integrated graphics). I'm really happy with this purchase. Anyway, here are my results of tinkering:

Stock:




4.18GHZ:








I'd say a 1.5GHz overclock is damn fun on a budget. i3-2100, you are no match for the Llanos once overclocked. And power consumption is really respectable as well. I'm really thinking about selling my i3-2100 + mobo to get another A6-3650 combo because it barely uses more power but has a better iGPU. If you have a Frys near you, jump on the A6-3650 + MSI A75MA-G55 deal.

[The Stilt]

Can you reach clocks this high with the older bioses too?
(i.e bioses before "lab burst"?)

[richierich]

No, it won't let me reach higher clocks without lab burst enabled.

[The Stilt]

No, it won't let me reach higher clocks without lab burst enabled.

Can you test if this is actually a core clock or BCLK (bus speed) limitation?
Try lowering the multiplier and raise the BCLK.

Can you reach the same BCLK frequencies with and without "lab burst"?

[mAJORD]

are you timing super pi run? (as suggest on page 1)

[Royalk]

I think my board is maxed out at 161 HTT. What I've discovered so far is that I'm able to hit 3.7GHz using the iGPU (I'll have to keep playing around to see if I can hit higher) and 4.18GHz using discrete video. I'm very surprised at how little power the A6-3650 sips at idle. It is idling at 46w per my Kill-a-watt meter (64GB M4 SSD, Geforce 210GT, and Antec Neo 520c PSU) and while running Cinebench it tops at 109w. Gaming uses around 80w of power consumption (Using integrated graphics). I'm really happy with this purchase. Anyway, here are my results of tinkering:

Stock:




4.18GHZ:








I'd say a 1.5GHz overclock is damn fun on a budget. i3-2100, you are no match for the Llanos once overclocked. And power consumption is really respectable as well. I'm really thinking about selling my i3-2100 + mobo to get another A6-3650 combo because it barely uses more power but has a better iGPU. If you have a Frys near you, jump on the A6-3650 + MSI A75MA-G55 deal.

Try lower your RAM tRCD to 8 and see if it boots. If yes, my guess should be proved.
Also you can test superPi as what I said on the previous page.

Edit: You can reach 120~121MHz BCLK with Lab burst disabled, right?

[richierich]

Can you test if this is actually a core clock or BCLK (bus speed) limitation?
Try lowering the multiplier and raise the BCLK.

Can you reach the same BCLK frequencies with and without "lab burst"?

I tried lower multi and raising BCLK but it doesn't post. It's BCLK limited. I need lab burst to clock over ~120s BCLK.

[richierich]

are you timing super pi run? (as suggest on page 1)

If I use online flash-based stopwatch the time is just about correct. If I use phone's stopwatch it's off by ~7 sec (but the phone stopwatch is really fast, tested both iPhone4 and Samsung Captivate).

[richierich]

Try lower your RAM tRCD to 8 and see if it boots. If yes, my guess should be proved.
Also you can test superPi as what I said on the previous page.

Edit: You can reach 120~121MHz BCLK with Lab burst disabled, right?

Yes 120 BCLK is fine with lab burst disabled. tRCD 8 doesn't post because I'm using Ecos, and the tRCD is usually higher by 1.

[The Stilt]

Ok, I have an idea what MSI is doing...

They are probably cheating the timers by changing the FCH PLL mode.
This thing does not have an external PLL, right?

The real frequency must be somewhere between 100-133MHz when the "lab burst" is enabled, even it reads much higher.

I could not imagine MSI would be this stupid.

To be sure, can you try if the onboard VGA connector works at 130MHz BCLK or so?
If it does the real BCLK is 125MHz or under.

[richierich]

If they are cheating the timers then how am I able to hit almost 5 points in Cinebench?