RD600 first look and general questions

[cadaveca]

...at which FSB strapping? at some point you must loosen timings in order to regain stability, and unless each strap has been programmed for alternate timings after 464, I find this a bit hard to beleive.

[nealh]

...at which FSB strapping? at some point you must loosen timings in order to regain stability, and unless each strap has been programmed for alternate timings after 464, I find this a bit hard to beleive.

I am not sure of the strap..but Tony said this gave the best performance...I think he had a post over at dfi forum on it

[Kin Hell]

Yellow slots (2&4) gave me worst stability. Orange slots (1&3) were better, but my HyperX D9GKX seems to love DIMM 2&3 (Orange&Yellow).

As for FSB, I haven't pushed it on DIMM 2&3 yet but I guess it wouldn't affect the FSB. However, I had no problem running 472FSB on this board with my E6300. FYI, my E6300 seems to maxout at around 472FSB on almost all C2D mobo I've tested... So I think the RD600 should do better with another proc.

Btw, try bumping both "NB PLL 1.8V" and "NB Core 1.2V Convert From" to about 2.16V for higher FSB. I had to give about 1.7V to the "NB Core 1.2V " to run 472FSB.

Using an Orange & a yellow slot is not using true Dual Channel Ram Access. Your ram likes this cos you just knocked off about 550/Mb Sec off your memory bandwidth. I`m sure you are aware of the consequences running over NB 1.5v.

[cadaveca]

I am not sure of the strap..but Tony said this gave the best performance...I think he had a post over at dfi forum on it

Yes, I know that he said this. I'm offering a different perspective. There's alot at play here for it to be the same for EVERYONE, regardless of settings, So I cannot accept such a blanket statemetn, unless this is something imposed by the BIOS itself.

But isn't there a new bios? Can this bios not behave differently than the last? Can one config not differ from another in terms of performance, altohugh htey are comprised of the same parts? Think OUTSIDe the box, man, not what other people tell ya. If Tony told you the earth was not round, but flat, would you believe that too?

I'm not saying Tony is wrong, but I'm not saying his is right either. Unless YOU PERSONALLY test it with your rig, there's no way to be sure.

[Kin Hell]

yup yup.. I really hope DFI use the marvel raid conroller..

I'm a raid user here.. but I didnt run any benches just yet.. I'm using the promise raid controller..

Yeah erwinz, HD Tach reported a sad 104Mb/second Burst for me! ATI raid gives 303Mb/sec but boot times into Wind0ze XP is 4 times slower than Promise?? Really weird! Problem on the ATI Raid is backing up. Acronis wont see it, PQ Drive Image 7 will but with 10 minute boot times from CD ROM, it makes it a bit of a cr4p process.
I got screenies of HD Tach on Marvell Matrix @ 386Mb/Sec, very impressive!

Gunno have a look at the New Bios for changes.

[marauder16]

3.6ghz @ 1.36v is 100% stable

Settings for E6600, ORTHOS stable @ 3.6

CPU Freq - 401
CPU VID - 1.36875
CPU Special - 100.01%
CPU VTT - 1.36
NB Core - 1.36
NB PLL (1.8) - 1.93
NB PLL (1.2) - 1.38
NB PCI-E - 1.34
NB 1.2V convert from - 2.06
SB - 1.34

Crucial Anniversary @ 505 mhz

DDR2v - 2.3
Command - 1T
Timings - 4-4-4-4-18-24-42-3-6-3-2-3-2-2-5

For 411 FSB the only difference was NB @ 1.48v, NB PLL @ 2.13v and 1.45vcore. Crucial at 511 is same as 505 settings.

I don't know how long I will remain stable at these settings, orthos may fail after 4 hours or so, I just don't know yet. I do know I have been playing CSS and benchmarking for about 5 hours yesterday with these settings.

thnx for this dude. wow these voltages are low, gonna try them and see how they work for me, ou say 100% stable, I just hope they do similar for me.

@nealh: I'm sure it was 434 cause I remember it was under 4GHz with 9 multi, but I can't seem to find the post. Well it isn't important anyway, you need to test it for yourself

[Kin Hell]

Anyone else having issues loadfing up the DFI Web Page?:
http://us.dfi.com.tw/Support/Downloa...FLAG=B&SITE=US

I got the file from AbelJemka's direct link:

http://us.dfi.com.tw/Upload/BIOS/R6T_041.zip

I was wondering what the changes might be since falling over without a Hard Reset from flashing to .041?

[nealh]

Jeez..all I was doing was just passing along Tony's recommendation

I cant even get to 425...and the effort is not worth it right IMHO

There are a few ways to do this, 1T is actually the fastest mode for this board but it takes a huge amount of tweaking.

One tweak you may not know is where the chipset is at its most efficient. Just like Intel chipsets there seems to be magic places where the chipset either hits its max core clock or the latency is at its lowest value...for the RD600 chipset this is at 464FSB.

So what does this mean, well you need to keep the fsb around this figure best you can playing with CPU multies to get the clock you want from the CPU. For most 3.7GHZ seems to be a nice round clock that on the whole many can hit with allendales and conroes, so look to get a CPU with at least an 8 multi so you can run 460 or so X8 for 3.7GHZ and you will see peak performance from the chipset.

One important note is 465 is slower than 464, so try to stay on the max efficient value or just under
http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1528

Do what you want with the info..just passing it along

[metalman2785]

I found out what works.

Once you find stable voltage settings for where you are reset cmos, and apply your overclock. There is a much better chance that the oc will be accepted and boot into windows.

Every time you oc too far and crash, reset cmos. Don't just change bios settings without reseting cmos, the board hates this

Also using 111 PCI-E frequency seemed to add some stability. NB def needs at least 1.45~1.48v to push a decent FSB. Max boot from bios so far was 439x9 @ 1.45v.

I am gonna try a little 3D now

I have been able to run the Crucial up too 523mhz still at 4-4-4-18 1T timings.

[Kin Hell]

I found out what works.

Once you find stable voltage settings for where you are reset cmos, and apply your overclock. There is a much better chance that the oc will be accepted and boot into windows.

Every time you oc too far and crash, reset cmos. Don't just change bios settings without reseting cmos, the board hates this

Also using 111 PCI-E frequency seemed to add some stability. NB def needs at least 1.45~1.48v to push a decent FSB. Max boot from bios so far was 439x9 @ 1.45v.

I am gonna try a little 3D now

I have been able to run the Crucial up too 523mhz still at 4-4-4-18 1T timings.

Have you tried Sync at this FSB? If so, do you see any Bandwidth Differences in Sisoft Memory & if so, take note of the bandwidth Efficiency?
It would be some real valuable information to know!
*edit* Dpends on your ram spec/timings...of course & thanks in advance.

Just to add, on the Beta Bios .041, I have now manged to 3DMark 01 (without crashing) @ 380fsb 1:1 with board Voltage defaults except for PCIe being set @ 1.34. I noticed the FPS in key areas of the bench was down & yet I whopped my biggest score ever of 53870. I just cant get 400 stable cos my 4300 is crapping out @ 1:1 1T. Compared to BA2 v505, this RD600 board puts the Intel board to shame. Thanks DFI...just keep the bios updates coming..we need em.
& why when at 400 fsb when you Restart Windows; "Does the PC loose Sync with your monitor * you have to pres the Reset button to get POST & Boot again? It does this with the Official 22/12 Bios as well as the .041 Beta Bios. The 041 Beta Bios is tricky to catch the Bios entry....hit the key too many times & it cr4ps out to a blank screen!?

[nealh]

Have you tried Sync at this FSB? If so, do you see any Bandwidth Differences in Sisoft Memory & if so, take note of the bandwidth Efficiency?
It would be some real valuable information to know!
*edit* Dpends on your ram spec/timings...of course & thanks in advance.

Just to add, on the Beta Bios .041, I have now manged to 3DMark 01 (without crashing) @ 380fsb 1:1 with board Voltage defaults except for PCIe being set @ 1.34. I noticed the FPS in key areas of the bench was down & yet I whopped my biggest score ever of 53870. I just cant get 400 stable cos my 4300 is crapping out @ 1:1 1T. Compared to BA2 v505, this RD600 board puts the Intel board to shame. Thanks DFI...just keep the bios updates coming..we need em.
& why when at 400 fsb when you Restart Windows; "Does the PC loose Sync with your monitor * you have to pres the Reset button to get POST & Boot again? It does this with the Official 22/12 Bios as well as the .041 Beta Bios. The 041 Beta Bios is tricky to catch the Bios entry....hit the key too many times & it cr4ps out to a blank screen!?

so are you get 1:1 at 380 with default NB voltage as well??

[metalman2785]

Have you tried Sync at this FSB? If so, do you see any Bandwidth Differences in Sisoft Memory & if so, take note of the bandwidth Efficiency?
It would be some real valuable information to know!
*edit* Dpends on your ram spec/timings...of course & thanks in advance.

Just to add, on the Beta Bios .041, I have now manged to 3DMark 01 (without crashing) @ 380fsb 1:1 with board Voltage defaults except for PCIe being set @ 1.34. I noticed the FPS in key areas of the bench was down & yet I whopped my biggest score ever of 53870. I just cant get 400 stable cos my 4300 is crapping out @ 1:1 1T. Compared to BA2 v505, this RD600 board puts the Intel board to shame. Thanks DFI...just keep the bios updates coming..we need em.

& why when at 400 fsb when you Restart Windows; "Does the PC loose Sync with your monitor * you have to pres the Reset button to get POST & Boot again? It does this with the Official 22/12 Bios as well as the .041 Beta Bios. The 041 Beta Bios is tricky to catch the Bios entry....hit the key too many times & it cr4ps out to a blank screen!?

I have not tried running ram sync.

Here is a sisoft of 535 4-4-4-16 1T:



This is my best 3D01 score so far, not bad considering low clocks on graphics 700/800. Fully tweaked off course

[Kin Hell]

so are you get 1:1 at 380 with default NB voltage as well??

Yes! Tho' I 'spect the H20 NB cooling is helping well....Highest I see is about 53 Deg C under load & around 36/37 Idle. I was seeing 55 Idle on Stock NB Cooler @ default voltage!

[nealh]

Yes! Tho' I 'spect the H20 NB cooling is helping well....Highest I see is about 53 Deg C under load & around 36/37 Idle. I was seeing 55 Idle on Stock NB Cooler @ default voltage!

Damn nice
BTW..can I assume this better FSB on default NB voltage for you?

I have stock cooler with a 120mm fan blowing on it..idle at 47-50..load with my fan @12v on my PA160 rad at 52/53C, idle at 45-47...all depends on my ambients which range from 75-78F..I live in FL
if I go quiet..set fan to 7v(its Panaflo 120x38 L1A)..I idle at 49/50....

I purchased a Microol whisper XE to try on the NB...I wanted to watercool but did not want to spend $40 on block..LOL..I spent $36 on air cooling..I am a moron

I was most concerned on my tubing torqing(sp?) the block and not getting good contact..anyway.. I will end up buying a water block in the end....

this beta bios sure looks promising...did you see any voltage changes in bios readings for a given setting?...did your cpu clock any better....

[Raja@ASUS]

464 best performance is on the 266 nb strap..


If you head over to the club you can find all the settings used with OCZ flexx to get the board stable at 3.33ghz. NBcore will scale with the overall thruput of the northbridge, so max permissable cpu speed at the set ram speed is limited by how much nb volts you use (as in most boards, but especially so with this board), I have not tried the new beta so things may be a lil' different in what can be achieved..


regards
Raja

[erwinz]

Yeah erwinz, HD Tach reported a sad 104Mb/second Burst for me! ATI raid gives 303Mb/sec but boot times into Wind0ze XP is 4 times slower than Promise?? Really weird! Problem on the ATI Raid is backing up. Acronis wont see it, PQ Drive Image 7 will but with 10 minute boot times from CD ROM, it makes it a bit of a cr4p process.
I got screenies of HD Tach on Marvell Matrix @ 386Mb/Sec, very impressive!

Gunno have a look at the New Bios for changes.

really... the ati raid is much faster.. i'll be trying this thru the weekend..

and I'll try the beta bios also.. hehehe DFI is listening.. hope the beta bios is OK.. anybody use it so far??

[nealh]

really... the ati raid is much faster.. i'll be trying this thru the weekend..

and I'll try the beta bios also.. hehehe DFI is listening.. hope the beta bios is OK.. anybody use it so far??

see post 1613...right above

Kin Hell..got some nice speed at 1:1, I thought anyway at DEFAULT NB voltage

[ante_ante]

I have alot of problems sometimes when restarting from bios. Just black screen, press reset several times then it´s starts lika normal again. Anyone having the same problem with the latest bios?

[AbelJemka]

I used to have that before when my memory is set to high, just reset with cmos and down memory settings.

[Kin Hell]

I have alot of problems sometimes when restarting from bios. Just black screen, press reset several times then it´s starts lika normal again. Anyone having the same problem with the latest bios?

I said already back at post 1613:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...postcount=1613

I guess this way saves me quoting myself!

[ante_ante]

Have problems to run 1T tho. Fsb 266 and mems at 400 async and just change to 1T i settings. Windows boot but ends with a bluescreen. Maybe the board don´t like my memorys ?

Who notice this last bios is better than 22/12 ?

[Kin Hell]

I used to have that before when my memory is set to high, just reset with cmos and down memory settings.

Interesting discovery, but I still see this hanging scenario whilst leaving the Ram on Async 380Mhz whilst trying 400FSB. She still needs the reset hitting to bring her upto post from a winbloWs restart!? Perhaps the Ram is straining it's ass off Async & too close to the edge.

I`ll slacken the chaffs & post back!

[Kin Hell]

464 best performance is on the 266 nb strap..


If you head over to the club you can find all the settings used with OCZ flexx to get the board stable at 3.33ghz. NBcore will scale with the overall thruput of the northbridge, so max permissable cpu speed at the set ram speed is limited by how much nb volts you use (as in most boards, but especially so with this board), I have not tried the new beta so things may be a lil' different in what can be achieved..


regards
Raja

The .041 Bios is letting me Bench 3DMark01 @ 9x 380FSB 1:1 with Stock Mobo Voltages & NB/CPU/7950GX2XXX all under 1/2" water blocks.

By using a 7 multi, the rated FSB is flying, but leaves Bandwidth Efficiency sub 50%. Maximum theoretical Bandwidth is Awesome around 18000+Mb/sec
but the poor efficiency leaves the CPU flapping around on it's small multiplier. Again this ties in with Tony saying Bigger Multi CPU's were better suited to this board. I just seem to be getting better performance on the 9x multi what ever I do with this board!
Dropping to a 7x Multi to run 464 on my 2.4ES DUO is a bit like putting a Pencil in a dustbin & then trying to say, thats a tight fit!

[nealh]

The .041 Bios is letting me Bench 3DMark01 @ 9x 380FSB 1:1 with Stock Mobo Voltages & NB/CPU/7950GX2XXX all under 1/2" water blocks.

By using a 7 multi, the rated FSB is flying, but leaves Bandwidth Efficiency sub 50%. Maximum theoretical Bandwidth is Awesome around 18000+Mb/sec
but the poor efficiency leaves the CPU flapping around on it's small multiplier. Again this ties in with Tony saying Bigger Multi CPU's were better suited to this board. I just seem to be getting better performance on the 9x multi what ever I do with this board!
Dropping to a 7x Multi to run 464 on my 2.4ES DUO is a bit like putting a Pencil in a dustbin & then trying to say, thats a tight fit!

do you think yo are stable in orthos with those settings at 380 1:1

[Raja@ASUS]

Hi Kin,

I don't know about the beta as I have not used it. But with equivalent cpu speeds between the multipliers, the 464 point 266 strap is definately faster, at the same cpu mhz on a higher multi using less fsb for the same mhz..


I benched this board hard at 4.58/4.64ghz, 464 vs 511fsb with a x6800 under phase, 05/06 were faster on the 266 strap at around 464fsb, with pcie at 150 or so and ddr 1200 cas4 and ddr1300 cas5, for all other applications/speed settings things may vary (ymmv).

regards
Raja