I.nfraR.ed

Some update (22 Oct): Got 4 mods now - Vnb/agp, Vsb, Vdimm, Vcore. Mods for NB and VDIMM are "reverse" and require 2 smd resistors to be removed - higher the resistance, higher output voltage. Quite hard to desolder and solder, since it is between slots - you really need to have a steady hand. R-C divider circuits are used for both. Vnb doesn't seem to help much and above 2V I get artifacts, so probably need to test another card. Maybe some ATI would work better. Vsb not sure if helps, but since the controllers are there it might allow me to go higher without dropping IDE. Vdimm, still the same situation. 3.1V seems to be the maximum I can get away with. Anything higher and I think the PLL freaks out, since VDD is derived from Vdimm. So maybe the better plan is to leave Vdimm as it is and disconnect all VDD pins of the PLL, then feed it with constant external 2.5V. It will be hard :(. Perhaps it would be easier to move the whole PLL on external PCB and reconnect just needed pins, but supply VDD pins with external ref voltage from a DC-DC buck stepdown. Board can boot 260+ and work in bios, but is unstable in windows. I can now use TCCD-based memory, but they can't go very high with CR=1T. 2T is needed which kills performance, together with the looser timings required (2.5-3-3-6-12). At 2.4GHz I'm 3 seconds slower than @TerraRaptor and higher frequency would allow me to beat his score (with worse efficiency). I've spend one night trying to install new windows from usb or use acronis to restore a tweaked image without any luck. Finally installed acronis as a windows program and restored from there. The board is PITA to work with.

30-40 celsius load, below 0 idle, I think. Didn't want to push it with higher vcore, otherwise it could probably bench a little higher. Could bench CB15 at 4.4GHz with stock cooler (Wraith Prism) below 1.3V: https://hwbot.org/submission/4255481_i.nfrar.ed_cinebench___r15_ryzen_9_3900x_3479_cb

Regarding CPU detection on socket A systems - it's not black or white. Different bioses might show different CPU name. The CPU string is selected based on the CPUID, VID and FID but not all bioses are updated with support of newer socket A CPUs, especially later models like T-bred Semprons and higher rated Bartons. There are many modded bioses with fixes for CPU strings and everyone implemented them differently, depending on the space available in bios for these strings. On top of that, CPUs can be unlocked in various ways, which sometimes doesn't match any existing factory model. You can even use tools to change that string runtime (Specification). One example: stock bioses have a list of known models and the last string is "Unknown", so if it doesn't match all known models, then the bios will return "Unknown Athlon XP" or something like that, which will then be displayed in cpuz "Specification" field. Most of the modded bioses replace this string with "XP-M", "Mobile", etc. However, the CPUID is read from CPUID MSR and should always be correct. Same for feature set. These are read-only. Even if we assume somehow cpuz is to blame for displaying "Spitfire" core with CPUID of "Morgan", then these scores still don't belong to Duron "Spitfire" category. I've yet to see such an error in detection, but who knows... Given his previous records though, I don't think it's coincidence. Moreover, he used the same cpuz 1.41 for other submissions and it shows the CPU correctly - both Morgan and Spitfire. Btw, Duron 600 is the only Spitfire I'm missing in my collection.

Actually it should be intentional editing, since cpuz would read Morgan if it was the wrong screen. I doubt it is some bios/cpuz quirk. He most probably just copied and pasted Spitfire from other screen. Which should be enough to ban him forever. Notice the SSE instruction set support as well. PS: Reported.

@TerraRaptorThis is XP with some Vista-like theme, but other points are valid. Look at his Model and Ext Model that differ from what is on other guys' screens. CPUID doesn't match Spitfire. It's Duron "Morgan". He either benched with Morgan intentionally or submitted in the wrong category. Either way it should be removed/moved to proper category. Probably this CPU: https://hwbot.org/submission/645138_bwanasoft_superpi___1m_duron_1300_(morgan)_1min_13sec_700ms BTW, unfortunately it's very easy to "fake" a socket A CPU model in the same model family. You can potentially bench with just one golden unlocked cpu and submit in several categories. That's why I usually try to provide at least a photo of the CPU, which ofcourse doesn't mean I've benched with it, but I count on honesty in these oldschool categories. I think there are only good guys benching them nowadays. But nothing stops you to cover all Barton/Thoroughbred categories with just 2 CPUs .

Yes, VTT tracks Vdimm and maintains 1/2 ratio correctly. As soon as I put a dimm in the closest slot to the cpu it freaks out. Without voltmod it is fine. Could do 250 2.5-3-3-6 1T with 2x256MB TCCD Maybe could try to replace the capacitors. PS: I think the ICs chip responsible for DRAM PLL might not like it. I don't see how I can separate them. VDD (several pins) for the ICS93733CF is from Vdimm. Nominal is 2.5V, so Asrock gets away with moderate increase to 2.6-2.7, but I'm hitting the tolerance. Recommended is 2.3V to 2.7V max. I'm way beyond that, closer to the absolute maximum.

Yes, that's correct. AGP frequency is not a problem, the card can work@100+ MHz. Don't know how much more the PCI could handle, but I guess it might not be a problem. The board is a PITA to mod. It is using separate controller for the CPU, can mod it easily (bios limited to +10% which results in 1.775V for the test Sempron 2200+). I can go up to 2V via software in windows though. And there's a FB pin, so this should be an easy mod. The rest (Vagp, Vnb, Vdimm and Vsb) are controlled by a single LM324. Vagp and Vnb are tied together, so incresing Vagp will increase chipset voltage as well. Vsb is 2.7V. Vdimm is problematic. I guess something else is fed with Vdimm and when the DRAM votlage is increased to 3+ the board gets unstable and hardly even POSTs when 2 DIMMs installed. If it boots, then it freezes randomly. The only solution I see is to use separate power for DRAM, e.g. lift the mosfet leg and get power from a DC-DC buck converter, but I will have to order some. "High" setting for Vdimm from bios translates to around 2.64V, but when 2 modules installed the voltage drops to 2.44V. I have tried direct 3.3V rail mod and it behaves the same. Also tried OCZ Booster (which is the same, but source is 5V rail) and still freezing, although I can't really use it for benching on this board, because the slots are very close to each other and it interferes with one of the slots used for dual-channel configuration. On top of that, the mod area is very crammed with all the slots and elements around it. The LM324 chip is between first AGP slot and the expansion card slot. As you might guess 2.44V is not really enough for anything with BH-5 and tight timings. Running different divider than 1:1 means performance loss. So..waiting for the buck converter. Can't figure bios modding out. It's AMI, but all amibcp tools I tried say "bios checksum incorrect" and refuse to load. There's only one good bios for this board (Performance bios M1.00), which has the timings unlocked. It's a "beta" from Asrock.

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.

- gif attachment fail -

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.