Tweaks

[confoundicator]

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6558623" target="_new">http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6558623</A>
I've documented the various BIOS tweaks I've tried in the link. In addition to the stuff on the list I also tried disabling the L2 Cache ECC checking but it had no effect so I turned it back on. I was thinking of changing it all back just to be safe with my memory, but I thougth I'd ask you guys first. Can I keep these settings and not be worried about frying anything prematurely? Did I miss anything that can give a big performance boost without increasing clock speeds?

Thanks in advance for all imparted wisdom.

<font color=blue>-Confucius say: A closed mouth gathers no feet.</font color=blue><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by confoundicator on 05/30/03 08:40 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[confoundicator]

Interestingly enough (to me at least), when I did the following...
Enable System BIOS Cacheable
Enable Video RAM Cahcheable
...which are both supposed to increase performance, my score actually decreased slightly. With both of them enabled I got a 9619 (I also ran them seperately and they each gave a small performance drop, clearing all temp files and restarting before each test).

I also tried lowering the DRAM Command Rate from 2T to 1T. The system booted fine but 3DMark crashed every time so I changed it back. I haven't messed with Trp, Tras, or Trcd or the Command Drive Strength (set to lo).

The biggest increase came from changing CPU Fast Command Decode from Disabled to Ultra. Overall I got a little over 6% increase in speed.

I'm just a big, geeky nerd.

<font color=blue>-Confucius say: A closed mouth gathers no feet.</font color=blue><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Confoundicator on 05/29/03 10:46 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[phial]

"Bios cacheable and vram cacheable" never increased performance. check out any bios tweaking guide and they will say to disable it.



and that 3dmark link is invalid

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<A HREF="http://www.quake3world.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001355.html" target="_new">*I hate thug gangstas*</A>

 

[confoundicator]

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6558623" target="_new">http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6558623</A>
Sorry about that. Should work now. Here are the other tweaks:
Initial score was 9060
Decreased CAS Latency from 2.5 to 2
New score was 9161
Changed Interleaving from Disabled to 4 bank
Increased AGP Apurture from 64 to 128
New score was 9284
Changed CPU Fast Command Decode from Disabled to Ultra
New score was 9645
Enabled AGP Fast Write and AGP Synchronous Read
New score is 9658

 

[confoundicator]

Sadly, the BIOS tweaking fun is over. I pushed as far as I think I could without endangering any hardware. Now I have it set up for (what I hope is) long term stability. I changed CAS Latency back to 2.5 cuz that what the stickers on my DIMM's say. The only settings I ended up keeping were the AGP aperture set to 128MB and CPU Fast Command Decode set to Ultra. Final benchmark was 9229. When I get another computer (not for at least a year or so) then I'll <i>really</i> overclock and see what it can do.

Peace.

I'm just a big, geeky nerd.