I.nfraR.ed

I have bought the frankenstein board Asrock K7Upgrade-880. The bios is not very tweakable, with most voltages missing (or having something like +10%, normal, high). Will need voltmods for everything. The good things: - Unlocked Sempron 2200+ boots with its native multiplier x9 (and not the highest detected), which will help reaching high frequencies, that are not possible on nForce2. - I can control the multiplier within Windows, which was the original goal - Board works at 250MHz FSB no mods, could go to 260, but it crashed. Memory divider set to 166 right now. - There's S2K drive strength in bios - There are FID jumpers, which might be useful in some cases Will have to check the bios if I can mod it somehow, unlock hidden options, etc. This was the only KT880 board I could find. Came with a Sempron 2600+ and a cooler.

Shouldn't be a problem with strong hardware. It's not a problem for the videocard. If the integrated controllers don't drop at high FSB then external PLL might not be needed. My KT600 stops at ~240MHz with mods, but haven't messed with bios yet.

As far as I can see the max FSB is comparable to nForce2 and that's without the lock. Hooking up external PLL might allow it to go higher. I've seen reviews that it is a little faster clock for clock and might allow higher stable DDR frequency due to a better mem controller. Also has higher bandwidth. As for the diagrams, if you're interested you can make the physical FSB-detection switches with cables soldered at the back of the socket (L12-mod). I have them on the old AN7, but it doesn't help when you have a modded bios. Doesn't hurt to have it, though. I've also made an entire multiplier switch board in an attempt to change the multiplier of a super-locked CPUs, but it didn't work. That's why KT880 would be better. On Nforce2 you're limited by the FSB and with 9x multiplier (in the case with 2200+ Sempron) you can't go much higher, while on VIA chipset 2600+ is possible. If you find a golden chip you can even go to 3GHz with SS/LN2, I guess. I think it would be rather easy to beat @TerraRaptor's wprime scores even on KT600, but since it is single-channel only I couldn't beat his PI 1M score even at 2.6GHz (came close, but still slower). http://fab51.com/cpu/sempron/s10-e.html

In my original bioses I've followed that recommendation and changed all these values. On a side note, the memory timings start from b0/d0/f1 offset 90 (IIRC, at work right now). I've tried to play with some values in the near offsets, without much luck. Will try your values in the evening, but will change the CPU first, since I'm using one of my best XP-M in the moment. Tried to find a similar romsip table in VIA KT600 bioses, again without a positive result. Also checked NF3 and NF4 bioses and although there are some tables, it's not the same as in nforce2 bioses. PS: Btw, I think a better option might be a KT880 board, eventually modding it with external PLL, since it has no PCI/AGP lock. The mem controller is better than nF2 and you can also change multiplier in windows, which is useful for super-locked CPUs. Edit: S2K Bus Disconnect is b0/d0/f0/6F, data set to 1F (or 10). Perhaps we can dig into that direction and the S2K drive strengths are also there and we can control the values runtime. The S2K should be common/similar for all K7 chipsets. But be aware that all documents say it can be dangerous for the CPU and damage it permanently. I remember using S2KCtl application back in the days, to control the bus disconnect feature. CPUId can also control HALT states and divisors. Have to check if something changes accordingly when you modify the romsip table registers from @TerraRaptor's testing. Edit 2: ROMSIP from Nforce4 Ultra-D 702-1 bios (BH-5), located in decomp_blk.bin 000061c0: 65 D0 16 2B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 10 4C FF FF eP.+.........L.. 000061d0: 08 00 03 00 00 00 00 0F 1C 70 E0 81 FF FF FF FF .........p`..... 000061e0: FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 000061f0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00006200: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00006210: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00006220: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00006230: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00006240: 21 41 24 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 25 00 00 E4 16 1D !A$..d..!A%..d.. 00006250: 21 41 25 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 26 00 00 E4 16 1D !A%..d..!A&..d.. 00006260: 21 41 23 00 00 E4 27 25 21 41 24 00 00 E4 27 25 !A#..d'%!A$..d'% 00006270: 21 41 25 00 00 E4 26 1D 21 41 26 00 00 E4 26 1D !A%..d&.!A&..d&. 00006280: 21 41 20 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 21 00 00 E4 16 1D !A...d..!A!..d.. 00006290: 21 41 21 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 22 00 00 E4 16 1D !A!..d..!A"..d.. 000062a0: 21 41 22 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 23 00 00 E4 16 1D !A"..d..!A#..d.. 000062b0: 21 41 23 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 24 00 00 E4 16 1D !A#..d..!A$..d.. 000063a0: 65 D0 16 2B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 10 4E FF FF eP.+.........N.. 000063b0: 08 00 03 00 00 00 00 0F 1C 70 E0 81 FF FF FF FF .........p`..... 000063c0: FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 000063d0: 03 80 80 80 4B 04 00 00 03 80 80 80 4B 04 00 00 ....K.......K... 000063e0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 000063f0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00006400: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00006410: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00006420: 21 41 24 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 25 00 00 E4 16 1D !A$..d..!A%..d.. 00006430: 21 41 25 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 26 00 00 E4 16 1D !A%..d..!A&..d.. 00006440: 21 41 23 00 00 E4 27 25 21 41 24 00 00 E4 27 25 !A#..d'%!A$..d'% 00006450: 21 41 25 00 00 E4 26 1D 21 41 26 00 00 E4 26 1D !A%..d&.!A&..d&. 00006460: 21 41 20 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 21 00 00 E4 16 1D !A...d..!A!..d.. 00006470: 21 41 21 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 22 00 00 E4 16 1D !A!..d..!A"..d.. 00006480: 21 41 22 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 23 00 00 E4 16 1D !A"..d..!A#..d.. 00006490: 21 41 23 00 00 E4 16 1D 21 41 24 00 00 E4 16 1D !A#..d..!A$..d.. Very similar to "CPU Interface OFF" [E4] table from TaiPan 0.3, but the last value is adjusted "higher". There's also a difference in the first part of the table, but don't know if it can be used directly in NF2. Same "multiplier" table can be found in nForce3-250GB UT bios. Is decomp_blk.rom just the LHA-decompressor? If so, I guess it's no point of interest?

Doh, thought most of the nForce2 boards use the SilliconImage. Well, my idea still stands. By updating the SilliconImage rom it became much faster and definitely faster that tne IDE->SATA adaptors I use sometimes as well. But if you couldn't manage it, then buy some of these cheap adaptors (very fragile, so get some spares). AFAIK many of these controllers have problems with large drives, which sometimes is solved by updating the firmware in the bios.

Update the sillicon image Sil3112 to 4.4.02 (last available version). I've used it successfully many times on AN7 and always use USB flash drive as an install media. Some boards can't boot from USB though and need some sort of a boot manager mod (I've recently replaced LAN option rom with plop manager on NF7-S). You can update the bios by simply replacing existing RAID rom with the updated version using cbrom. PS: Alternatively, you can give me your bios files and I will quickly mod them. That for the Soltek board, for the promise controller maybe search for a newer version as well. 4402.bin

@Tzk Thanks for the collection! I've tried the 4.90 as well, but it didn't boot, as expected. The 4.35 dropped my max FSB a little. The main difference I noticed are the tighter default timings compared to usual nforce2 bpl. Latencies are good, but nothing extraordinary. And I had problems booting with locked Sempron at 9x multiplier. This might make it incompatible with certain DDR sticks. Main and subtimings are very close to as tight as you can get with BH-5 on this platform.

I tried that v4.35 and it works on NF7-S. Can't tell much more right now, needs testing.

That PDF is interesting. I've done most of the things in the first part, but I'm not willing to spend time with the part where he goes into assembly. I've done reverse-engineering on an android phone kernel to get various calibration data tables of sensors for use in a custom kernel compiled from scratch. And it is a lot of work. At least you can understand what is going on with the integrated memtest. PS: My boards are dying one by one. First the AN7 problem with newer CPUs and even if it boots with some CPU I can't save any settings in bios. Perhaps the uGuru chip is bad. Then I had 3 NF7-S stored as working and 2 of them don't react to power button. Changed capacitors and still no sign of life. I have a willem programmer and have re-programmed some bios chips, but it didn't help. The spare AN7 doesn't do that high FSB like the old one.

Unfortunately I don't have many proper wprime 32/1024 scores, since most of the time I'm just lazy and run it on XP or don't run it at all. You will have to test it yourself or I can try it in the evening with my Sempron 2200+ (I can run 2400MHz on stock cooler). Don't know why, but Vista is fastest on this platform. I'm not good at tweaking wprime, though. Most of the socket A wprime scores are done on XP/2003 or 2000 and only very few on Vista (including some of mine), but from the screenshots I can't tell which ones. I've cut them to size and always using the classic theme, so I don't know.

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Not to spoil the fun, but that 6.9 is cpuz valid AFAIK ?. Which for "today's standards" is not that good. Most of the later Deneb CPUs can do 7+ valid, I think. A bold statement, since I haven't tested many, but the process was mature enough. You have a better chance hitting 7+ with one of the newer C3's out there (the 3-letter ones). You can get 3 pieces for that price from China with new steppings. PS: Still a good CPU, would be useful for CCup, I guess.

Vista is the fastest for wprime on K7 ? Unless some of the older versions is faster, but Vista > XP for sure.

Not sure this is what you're looking for, but it's what I found: Bios mod verzie 5.7 od Braziliantech - http://www.ivanbeauty.szm.com/files/6570v57brazil.zip Bios mod verzie 5.8 od Braziliantech - http://www.ivanbeauty.szm.com/files/6570v58brazil.zip Bios mod verzie 5.8 od Lumberjacker - http://www.ivanbeauty.szm.com/files/K7N2_delta_L_5-8_A.zip Bios mod verzie 5.7 od Braziliantech Bios mod verzie 5.8 od Braziliantech - "IPCA" can be disabled under 'Power Management Setup'. - "Onboard Serial Port 2" can be disabled under 'Integrated Peripherals' -> 'Onboard SuperIO Device'. - "CPU Internal Cache" can be disabled under 'Advanced BIOS Features'. - "CPU VCore Select": 1.300v, 1.425v, 1.450v, 1.475v, 1.500v, 1.525v settings can be selected under 'Frequency/Voltage Control'. - "DRAM Voltage Adjust": 2.8v setting is available under 'Frequency/Voltage Control'. - "AGP Voltage Adjust": 1.8v setting is available under 'Frequency/Voltage Control'. - "Shutdown Temperature" function can be enabled under 'PC Health Status'. - Fixes non-boot issue when FSB is at 200MHz e multiplier is set to 9x, 10x or 11x. Bios mod verzie 5.8 od Lumberjacker - Item "CPU Internal Cache" activated - Item "Seek Floppy" default setting is "Disabled" - Item "Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T." default setting is "Enabled" - Item "Small Logo(EPA) Show" activated - Item "Super Stability Mode" activated - Item "AGP Aperture Size (MB)" setting "Disabled" selectable - Item "T-(RAS)" setting "0" selectable - Item "CAS Latency" setting "Auto" selectable - Item "AGP Spread Spectrum" setting "1%" selectable - Item "AGP Aperture Size (MB)" setting "Disabled" selectable - Item COM2 changed in "Onboard IrDA Connector" and activated, - default setting is "2F8/IRQ3" and "2F8/IRQ3" and "2E8/IRQ3 selectable - Item "IPCA" activated - Item "Sleep State" default setting is "S3(STR)" - Item "Power Management" default setting is "disabled" * - Item "Power Status Led" activated - Item "CPU Warning Temperatur" default setting is "60°C/140°F" - Item "Shutdown Temperatur" activated, default setting is "65°C/149°F" - Item "DRAM Voltage Adjust" setting "2.8 V" selectable - Item "AGP Voltage Adjust" setting "1.8V" selectable - Item "CPU Vcore Select" settings "1.300V", "1.425V", "1.450V", "1.475V", "1.500V", "1.525V" selectable - changed Epa Logo @Tzk It detects the vendor and device IDs from the original network option rom and adds them to the plop manager binary. Not sure what it does exactly, I followed the instructions on the site. As for memtest, you need a way to somehow invoke that new option rom within bios, so basically add a new entry point (if you know how, I don't), then add labels for the new menu item, etc. You need to know assembly, I think. What I think people do in this case is change some of the existing code so it jumps to the initialization of the newly added module, which means you have to sacrifice some other existing function in bios. PS: I guess you can always invoke it (first or last), but this means (in memtest case) it will always be loaded even if you don't need it and you have to cancel it every time.

That makes sense. I get it now. Abit NF7 can't boot from USB drive, so I searched for a solution and managed to get Plop Boot Manager working with a 8GB USB drive relatively easy. The board can boot from Network so I have replaced the lan option rom with the converted plop boot manager. https://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager/rom.html I have used the following command to prepare the rom plpbtrom -grabid NVPXES.NIC -forceINT -INT18 -compress plpbtrom.bin plpbt.rom Next, just add the option rom with cbrom cbrom nf7.bin /pci plpbt.rom Verify with /d option, flash the new BIN file and when in bios setup enable LAN boot option rom.

Tried EB_ED tables from your rom and saw no difference. Didn't give me even a MHz over EB or ED. I don't see much difference in these 3 tables anyway, shouldn't affect the FSB much, at least for most multipliers. Do you change anything else besides the 6 tables? I've tried up to 3.8V vdimm and 2.5 NB. Best for NB seems to be around 2.05 - 2.1 and for memory doesn't make a big difference, unless to low, e.g. 3.4V for 270. Usually run them at 3.6V.

Seems to be a good CPU. Have to try it on LN2, but don't know when.

Theoretically, it should be possible to solder a fixed resistor to the temperature leg on the Winbond W83627HF chip and disconnect it from the cpu diode, but I suspect the Winbond IC itself is at fault, so next option is to probably disconnect the #OVT (over-temperature) pin and probably solder another resistor, so the board never turns off by temperature reading. As for the external VRM, a simple buck converter should be enough, yes. But for these super-locked Semprons my idea is to use a better VIA board with high FSB (or hook up an external PLL) in order to max them out. Nforce 2 board is not enough to max it out, since we can't control the multiplier and 9x is too low. Christian Ney managed to validate 285 on his board, so it should be possible to get a decent performance out of a KT600-based MB.

3.75 - 3.8V (bios reading), not sure if I've checked multimeter would read the same.

Something else is limiting me, because my BH-5 can do 280-282 tight on s.939. I know, different platform, but still... I have tried up to 3.85V Vdimm on s.A, but still couldn't break 270. For 268-269 around 3.6-3.65 is enough. Tried @TerraRaptor registers on 3 boards now - doesn't make a difference for me. I can boot and bench 265+ no problem. As @Tzk says, there's no big difference with all the tables/bioses I've tried. The problem for me is that there's no difference in max FSB either I'm still somehow limited to 270 even with slack timings. My good AN7 did 277 DC tight for validation, but Pi was still crashing at 269-270. Have to figure out how to fool/disable that temperature sensor which is preventing me to boot with CPUs that have integrated thermistor. Another though I have is about the instability with high Vnb. On Abit boards there's no separate circuit for SouthBridge, so it is running at the Northbridge voltage and I thing this might be the culprit with instability at high NB voltage. On the DFI the SB has a separate voltage controller. Next thing I will try is to use ROMSIP table with all the multipliers using values of e.g. 6x, 6.5x, 7x and see if that lifts the FSB limit.

Looking to buy some 256MB sticks/kits of BH-5, something like Corsair, Kingston, Mushkin, etc. PC-3500C2 or some binned lower-rated kits. One of my best 256 sticks died and although I still have one kit Mushkin Level II 3500C2 and Corsair 3500C2, I want some backups. Maybe some 512MB sticks as well, but I have more of these. Looking for 280+ capable sticks (tested on s.939) to match mine.

That's quite good. I was trying to beat your Sempron 2200+ result. So I have modded it to Mobile and MP (L5 bridges) and was using the only KT600 board I have (Soltek SL-KT600-R). The board has Vdimm, Vnb and Vcore mods, some capacitors added as well. Mobile (L5[0]) enables PowerNow and cancels the default multiplier. In this configuration the CPU is running at 11x multi and doing the Mobile mod on super-locked chips gives you the ability to change multipliers runtime in OS (11x and lower in this case). Not possible on Nforce2, though. I could reach about 233x11, or close to 2600, but the score was still 3 seconds slower. Can't go higher in FSB with this board. Doing the MP mod bypasses the 11x multiplier and enables max 24x multiplier. On my board, it boots at this multiplier, so it's impossible to get a good score, since 100x24 is 2400MHz already and with the locked AGP/PCI can't raise the FSB much in OS. although I can drop the multi to whatever I want. So maybe if you find a KT600 board that boots at 11x multi, you can brute-force the lower Sempron rankings. AFAIK no pinmods work for these super-locked chips. At least I haven't managed to make it work in the past. Tried that particular CPU on 3 nForce2 boards and could reach 268-269. Even with the DFI Ultra-B could not finish Pi at 270+, even if it was booting 275+. So maybe that's the FSB limit of the CPU or something I'm missing. Tried all sorts of voltages - NB, MEM, VCORE, 3.3V rail, to no avail. DFI Ultra-B is slower clock for clock compared to Abit and it seems Asus. PS: 275 pifast DC all tight?

Very nice. The sempron can't probably match this even with the more efficient board I have. Could only brute-force it, but not sure I can reach the same frequency as with DDR2 before.

Very nice. Is this the "special" gb3 version that scores a little higher?