New tool: AmdMsrTweaker

[kink]

Hi guys,

I'm working on a simple successor to PhenomMsrTweaker. It's a console app, therefore no GUI and no Windows service anymore. I dropped custom C&Q since default C&Q is supposed to work quite well for newer CPUs. So it's only designed to tweak the P-states and supports newer CPUs.

Required: AMD CPU starting from K10 (Phenom/Phenom II, Llano, Bobcat, Bulldozer), Windows

Quick guide: I'm too lazy to write a complete guide just now, so please take a look at the following examples:
AmdMsrTweaker
=> no parameters: info
AmdMsrTweaker P0=12.5@1.4 P2=8 P3=@0.85
=> modifies P0 (multi=12.5, VID=1.4V), P2 (multi=8) and P3 (VID=0.85V)
AmdMsrTweaker P2
=> switches to P2 (note: if C&Q is enabled, the cores are likely to switch very soon to another P-state, so this makes only sense if C&Q is disabled or if the high-performance power-profile is active)
AmdMsrTweaker Turbo=0
=> disables the turbo (use 1 to enable it)
AmdMsrTweaker APM=0
=> disables Application Power Management (TDP limiting) for Bulldozer (use 1 to enable it)
AmdMsrTweaker NB_P0=8@1.3 NB_P1=@1.1 NB_low=3
=> modifies the NorthBridge P0 state (multi=8 (multis only supported by Bulldozer), VID=1.3V), its P1 state (VID=1.1V) and uses NB_P0 for all P-states < 3 and NB_P1 for all P-states >= 3
You can combine all parameters above.

It's currently in alpha state, I've only tested it locally on my Phenom 9950, so please provide feedback and make sure to use a tool like AMD OverDrive to see what's actually happening. Here are two screens (ever seen a Phenom running at 0.5 x 250 = 125 MHz? )




Download!
Source code

Greetz,

kink

[DedEmbryonicCe1]

I can't run it due to missing MSVCP100D.dll. Can you compile it again in Release mode?

[kink]

Oops, I haven't thought about that - thanks, the ZIP file has just been replaced with the release builds.
For other users: in case it complains about a similar DLL, you need to install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package.

[wez]

This looks great, thanks will give it a try.


And something completely unrelated.. ten bucks if you make a small app that can be put in auto start, and just flips Turbo on/off and then closes itself.
Or, name your price

[kink]

If the app works correctly, it should be able to do what you want - simply run "AmdMsrTweaker Turbo=0" on startup. Since the app needs admin priviledges to load the WinRing0 driver (in order to write directly to the CPU registers), you cannot put it in the autostart folder though (unless you're still using WinXP) - you'll need to create a scheduled task for that. An ugly console window will be shortly displayed when the app is run - I may change that later. 10 bucks saved.

/edit: sorry, I overlooked "flipping" - do you really want to flip back and forth?

[Manicdan]

how the hell did you get it to downclock to just .5 multi? that should be able to give an insane drop in idle power consumption.
id like to get that for my 2500k im running now, 1600mhz just seems a little excessive for idle clocks.

i loved PhenomMSRTweaker until the last day i used my 1055T, keep it up!!

[kink]

Hey Dan, well I don't think it makes a huge difference power-wise (there are other, more efficient built-in powersaving mechansims when the CPU is idling), but I can't measure it, so it's only an educated guess . I was quite surprised too that 0.5x is really possible, since the AMD docs mention something about a min clock of 400 MHz iirc. Tried it out and it works, but I don't use it. Btw I don't blame you, I'd choose a 2500k too these days.

[Miwo]

Hi Kink,

Thanks for all your support. I've used PhenomMSRTweaker because its so easy to use and gives great control over the multipliers, CPU VID / NB VID. Its definitely cut down on the power bill over the years . I'll be looking forward to using the new tool with my unlocked Llano build at the end of this month

[Manicdan]

Hey Dan, well I don't think it makes a huge difference power-wise (there are other, more efficient built-in powersaving mechansims when the CPU is idling), but I can't measure it, so it's only an educated guess . I was quite surprised too that 0.5x is really possible, since the AMD docs mention something about a min clock of 400 MHz iirc. Tried it out and it works, but I don't use it. Btw I don't blame you, I'd choose a 2500k too these days.

my board died, not sure if it took the 1055T with it, so i had to spend money and SB seemed like a better option over BD, and i was in quite a rush.

one tip i have for a feature is to properly handle changes in core count, when i would disable a core in the bios, the program would cause my PC to just not work anymore. i had to reboot with the previous core count, uninstall and clear the registry, then change core count and reinstall the app.

[kink]

You're welcome. I'm eager to get feedback for other architectures, since I coded everything based on the official AMD docs but I can't test it myself. Some info, e.g., the encoding of voltage IDs, has been stripped from the public docs and is only available under NDA, so I had to integrate educated guesses here as well

/edit: @magicdan: a change in core count won't affect this tool anymore - it simply doesn't keep any state at all.

[wez]

If the app works correctly, it should be able to do what you want - simply run "AmdMsrTweaker Turbo=0" on startup. Since the app needs admin priviledges to load the WinRing0 driver (in order to write directly to the CPU registers), you cannot put it in the autostart folder though (unless you're still using WinXP) - you'll need to create a scheduled task for that. An ugly console window will be shortly displayed when the app is run - I may change that later. 10 bucks saved.

/edit: sorry, I overlooked "flipping" - do you really want to flip back and forth?

Yea, just want it to enable turbo, and then disable it again. Atm I have to do this manually with AOD after each boot to stop the cores from downclocking under load. Need bios update to sort it out, but doubt an update will arrive anytime soon. But either way AmdMsrTweaker might work out smoother than all the clicks and popups AOD requires to get the same job done. Will try to test it out tonight

Should be possible with some batch file fiddling together with AmdMsrTweaker, and just run that manually?
To me, two separate files for on and off sounds like the easiest route. But I'm just guessing atm.
Sounds like I got myself something to fiddle with this weekend

[kink]

@wez: Hmm okay check if that works and let me know. It might not fix this BIOS issue as there are multiple ways to enable/disable the Turbo (globally, per core, + there's a number of Turbo P-states and a min number of idling cores, and for Bulldozer, there is an additional? mode based on the consumed power as well) - so you see, there's a bunch of settings your BIOS could be f*cking up. Atm, AmdMsrTweaker adjusts the global (boost source) and per-core settings.

/edit: maybe the mode based on consumed power is the culprit - assuming you overclock, the additional power consumption may prevent the Turbo from kicking in or lasting for longer loads. AOD might disable that mode. Just another educated guess

[wez]

@wez: Hmm okay check if that works and let me know. It might not fix this BIOS issue as there are multiple ways to enable/disable the Turbo (globally, per core, + there's a number of Turbo P-states and a min number of idling cores, and for Bulldozer, there is an additional? mode based on the consumed power as well) - so you see, there's a bunch of settings your BIOS could be f*cking up. Atm, AmdMsrTweaker adjusts the global (boost source) and per-core settings.

/edit: maybe the mode based on consumed power is the culprit - assuming you overclock, the additional power consumption may prevent the Turbo from kicking in or lasting for longer loads. AOD might disable that mode. Just another educated guess

I think you are spot on IIRC "Advance Power Management" should to be the culprit, as in, right now it cant be disabled in bios. The turbo setting in AOD does something, other than that I have no clue..

[kink]

Yeah it's called APM - Application Power Management. The docs suggest that by disabling it (there is a bit to be enabled or disabled), the Turbo doesn't work anymore. But it wouldn't surprise me if it was just another incorrect info, so I'll add an option to enable/disable APM. Stay tuned.

/edit: done (ZIP file updated) - use the parameter APM=0|1 to disable/enable APM.

[wez]

Yeah it's called APM - Application Power Management. The docs suggest that by disabling it (there is a bit to be enabled or disabled), the Turbo doesn't work anymore. But it wouldn't surprise me if it was just another incorrect info, so I'll add an option to enable/disable APM. Stay tuned.

/edit: done (ZIP file updated) - use the parameter APM=0|1 to disable/enable APM.

Gave it a spin before heading to bed, messed around a little with turbo and apm and both parameters seem to do what they are supposed to. No issues or strangeness so far Will play with some p states tomorrow and see how they behave

And as suspected disabling APM solved the throttling issue. So made a simple batch file and stuck it in autostart, it applies correctly at start up and no need for AOD Big thanks for adding a parameter for it!

[kink]

Glad to hear that! You're welcome, your feedback is much appreciated.

[PatRaceTin]

Wow thank

[Albertini]

the king(k) is back

just tried disabling/enabling turbo on my 1055t. works fine (according to aod, hwinfo64 and core temp).

just two questions. your tool states the following below Turbo:

-enabled (that one's clear )
-locked (not sure about that one?)
-max multiplier 16.5 (though AOD states the expteded 15.5 that I set in bios)

Thnx a lot for finally saving me from runnig AOD all the time just to disable/enable turbo

[kink]

@Albertini: You're welcome.
Locked means that not all Turbo settings are customizable (I think only Black Edition CPUs are unlocked) - but you cannot modify those anyway atm with this tool, so it doesn't really matter atm.
"Max multiplier" in the Turbo section is the maximum multiplier you can use for Turbo P-states (in your case, only P0), not the currently selected multiplier - you'll see that one in the P-states section (P0). There is another multi limit for non-Turbo P-states (in your case, P1 to P4) which is displayed in the General section ("Available multipliers").

[Mechanical Man]

Turbo, P state voltages & multipliers, nb voltage on NB_P0 looks to work on 1100T but NB_low=3 locks cpu to P3.

[kink]

Thanks man for your report. Same thing happens here with Phenom I (VIDs are changed, but multis are not; NB speed isn't changed too according to AOD) when using NB_low - I thought only K10 (excluding K10.5) would be affected by this. There are some requirements such as that the NB clock needs to be >= the memory clock, for all NB P-states (e.g., 800 MHz for DDR2-800 or 1.6 GHz for DDR3-1600) iirc, but this constraint would be satisfied on my system.
So I guess your default P-states configuration does not use NB_P1?

I've just looked into the docs again. So for K10.5, only the C3 stepping seems to support NB P-states (they dropped it for later steppings); for K10, they are not supported at all. So I guess the NB_low parameter makes only sense for Bulldozer CPUs.

[Barr3l Rid3r]

what's that for? phenommrstweaker still working preatty well w/ my bulldozer setup

[kink]

Well, read the thread - proper support of Bulldozer, Llano and Bobcat, including Turbo, APM and NB P-state settings, as well as no need for installation and no Windows service.
I'm sure the NB VID settings of PhenomMsrTweaker aren't applied when using Bulldozer; + the 3 additional P-states P5..P7 aren't usable. More things have changed for Llano and Bobcat, so don't try to use PhenomMsrTweaker for those!

[Mechanical Man]

There is something wrong with bobcat, this is output:


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Lowest should be 8x and highest 16x. Dont know about the middle one..

[kink]

Hey perfect, thanks for testing with Bobcat. So the default HT clock is 100 MHz for Bobcat, not 200 MHz? Then all multipliers are wrongly halved. So it seems like you could use a max multi of 32 (displayed as 16 by the app atm). Can you try to use a somewhat higher multi than 8 (actually 16) for P0 and check if that works, e.g., 9.15? That should result in ~1.83 GHz when using a HT of 100 MHz.
The reason for these odd multipliers is that the FID is fixed (seemingly 16 + 16 = 32 in your case) and that only the divisors are customizable (1 to 16 in 0.25 steps, 16 to 26.5 in 0.5 steps). Your default divisors are 2 for P0, 2.5 for P1 and 4 for P2. The next higher multi would be 32 / 1.75 = 18.3 => atm 9.15 for AmdMsrTweaker.

/edit: I've just updated the ZIP file. Please download it, the multis should be fixed now for Bobcat, and some minor bugs have been fixed too. Please try a 18.3 multi now, maybe after lowering the HT ref clock below 100 MHz, just to check if the AMD docs are correct and your FID is really 32 (I'd have thought it was 16 for a 1.6 GHz Bobcat).
/edit2: Forget it - please try a multi of 14.23 = 32 / 2.25 for P0. If that works, we know that your FID is 32.