TCI K² - Trinity Control Interface

[Massman]

 

Just wanted to post some information here for future reference.

 

The Stilt from Finland has developed this incredibly handy tool for Trinity overclocking. It's by far the most advanced OC tool I've seen and I'm all-around impressed by the quality.

 

From the manual:

 

Requirements

 

- AMD A6-5400K / A8-5600K or A10-5800K APU

- Integrated GPU enabled (Dual Graphics / discrete with Virtu allowed).

- Windows Vista or Windows 7 (32/64-bit)

- NOTE: AOD or GPU-Z CANNOT BE RUNNING while the program is started or any of the settings is being adjusted.

 

Getting started

 

Start the program by executing TCIK2.exe

 

If it is the first time you run the program, it is necessary to select the correct profile for your motherboard. It is ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY to select the correct profile. Selecting a wrong profile can cause permanent damage to the hardware (such as corrupted VRM controller NVM). Even in the best case the behavior would be completely unpredictable.

 

NOTE: If you accidentally select a wrong profile or use a different motherboard with the same OS installation:

 

Start the program and wait until the main menu is displayed. Type command “Profile” and press enter. The program will move to the initial menu which allows reloading the motherboard profile. After you have changed the profile to the correct one, restart the program as requested.

 

Currently there is only a very limited amount of profiles available. More motherboard specific profiles will be added once the hardware specifications of the currently unsupported motherboards are confirmed.

 

If your motherboard is not listed yet, please select the generic profile (6. Other). This will load a safe profile which does not support any external clockgenerator or any specific VRM controller. The generic profile will only support BCLK adjustment in internal clock mode (FCH integrated Pll).

 

Supported boards:

 

• ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6
  
• ASUS F2A85-M Pro
  
• ASUS F2A85-V Pro
  
• GIGABYTE GA-F2A85X-D3H
  
• GIGABYTE GA-F2A85X-UP4
  
• MSI A85X-GD65

 

 

Download links

 

- user guide (read it!): http://downloads.hwbot.org/downloads/tools/TCI_K2_UG.pdf

- software:

• V1.1
  
• V1.0

- original thread: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?282355-Work-in-progress...-TCI-K2

 

All credit for this awesome piece of software goes to The Stilt!

 

Donations

 

Looking to figure out how to donate $$ for this project

[The Stilt]

Version 1.1

 

Changes:

 

• Added a motherboard specific profile (ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6)
  
• Added Pll gearing advisor for internal FCH (A55/A75/A85) Pll*1
  
• Added DRAM Refresh Rate (tREF) reading and adjustment
  
• Extended UNB Vdd range up to 1.57500V on all SVI2 compliant VRM controllers*2
  
• Added VRM Status (diagnostic) menu for selected motherboards (PMBUS)*3
  
• Fixed divider calculation on internal FCH Pll (maximum precision and range allowed by hardware available now)
  
• Fixed N (M/N) ratio calculation issue on ICS477 ext. Pll
  
• Re-enabled full BApm control*4
  

 

*1 Due the fact that the internal Pll of the FCH is fairly inaccurate, I added a "gearing / frequency advisor" to help users to find the most accurate output frequency available. "Internal Pll Next Gear" shows the next possible BCLK frequency while the "Internal Pll Previous Gear" shows the previous (lower) frequency, if available. The new BCLK frequency is inserted as usual (in xxx.x or xxx,x format) and the programming values are exactly the same as shown in "Previous & Next Gear" lines. Do note that other frequencies than the ones displayed in "Previous & Next Gear" lines are NOT available. Inserting any other values will result undefined behavior. Also to keep everything syncronized properly, change the BCLK frequency in small steps. Some of the domains will get out of sync at some point regardless of the size of the adjustment steps. In this case increase the BCLK frequency a bit from the bios and try again. The adjustment range is ~100.0 - 141.4MHz (HW limitation with default configuration).

 

*2 Anything higher 1.47500V for the UNB can damage the APU permanently in normal operating temperatures. Parts with higher nominal leakage can be damaged with less than that so beware!

 

*3 VRM diagnostic info and Loop 1 (Core VRM) / Loop 2 (UNB VRM) temperature reading available on: ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6, Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 & MSI FM2-A85XA-GD65.

 

*4 BApm + other power management features are FULLY disabled by a special test mode. When disabled there is basically no power management available, no limiters -> wide open throttle all the time. The APU WILL EXCEED the TDP when BApm is turned off. Domains critical to performance (NCLK) will be locked to maximum performance PState.

 

Available under: 7. Power & Thermal Management -> Command "BApm" -> Enabled or Disabled.

 

NOTE: Some versions of Catalyst display drivers & SMC firmware will re-enable BApm automatically.

 

TCI K2 V1.1

 

//MOD-BREAK: also uploaded V1.1 to our server, link: http://downloads.hwbot.org/downloads/tools/TCIK2_V1.1.zip

[Alex@ro]

Someone give the stilt a medal!

[The Stilt]

TCI K2 has escalated into something else...

 

Rather than being a evolution version, I have fully rewritten the software.

 

Since it now supports Richland APUs too, the name "Trinity Control Interface" was no longer suitable.

Therefore the new name of the software is "APU Control Interface".

 

Changes:

 

- Supports all 15h (10-1Fh = Richland, Trinity) based APUs / CPUs, desktop, mobile and embedded (locked and unlocked parts).

- Uses dedicated drivers to access the HW, no 3rd party software assist required (TCI K2 uses R&W).

- GPU Frequency Unlock (unlocks the SCLK frequency on locked APUs).

- Power Calibration (With "Aggressive" setting up to 20% power reduction can be achieved, without losing any performance).

- Additional memory timing parameters (NB Sync, RdPtrInit, etc).

- Leakage values are no longer estimated, they are part specific (based on factory data).

- Improvements... everywhere.

- A GUI

 

It will still take some time until it is ready for release.

 

 

[Massman]

Whoah!

 

Awesome

[Xtreme Addict]

Awesome!!! I will give it try soon

[Mikecdm]

That looks really good, too bad i killed my apu.

[xxbassplayerxx]

What a nub!

[emissary42]

APU Control Interface looks awesome. I can hardly wait to get my hands on it^^

[The Stilt]

I've had enough.

I am ready to "pull the plug" on this project.

 

I feel like a god damn Don Quijote.

 

The complete lack of communication makes this task impossible.

At no point I have received any support from AMD or any of the motherboard vendors (Asus being a slight exception).

 

It is like squeezing water out of a stone.

Even for the smallest drops of information I had to either bribe, blackmail or steal.

The rest (99.5%) I had to figure out by myself, which I did well.

 

On the top of that my work gets "erased" regular basis.

Either by AMD or by the motherboard vendors.

 

AMD makes changes by changing the behavior of the display driver (which controls everything on APUs). The motherboard vendors seem to have hard time following the design guidelines which is the biggest spike in my flesh.

 

The motherboard vendors put all of their resources on Intel platforms and none on AMD (can't blaim them really). Even after seven months after the launch of Trinity APUs the bioses are still in the "twilight zone".

 

The bioses are riddled with bugs and some of the "tweaks" the vendors use do more harm than good. They also rarely follow the official design guidelines so I cannot make a unified solution which would work on all motherboard. Bioses are nothing like wine, they don't get better when they get older. They are more like a opened beer bottle. For every single fixed issue atleast two more will emerge.

 

I have sent too many emails and used way too much time in trying to help the vendors to fix the issues. I have even sent them the fixed version of the actual code to make it easier for them to fix their bioses. Still they are not able / willing to do anything about it. I never asked any money or anything else from anyone (a one big f__king mistake really). If I would have been paid, lets say even 20 euros per each hour I have spent on ACI/TCI (or on the APUs in general), I would be around 15k euros richer.

 

Better go filling McDonald's™ job applications.

 

Sorry guys

[Bobnova]

Sad to hear. Very understandable on your part though.

Thanks for doing what you've done!

[Massman]

Damn, that's sad to hear Roger!

 

Anyway hwbot or the community can help out? We have been working on a unified tool for Intel-based platforms since Jan'12, so I can relate to what you're going through, especially on the motherboard side of things. Please sent me a PM or email in case we could be useful in all this.

 

Can you get Asus to get a board 100% ready for TCI K²?

[NoMS]

I've had enough.

I am ready to "pull the plug" on this project.

 

I feel like a god damn Don Quijote.

 

The complete lack of communication makes this task impossible.

At no point I have received any support from AMD or any of the motherboard vendors (Asus being a slight exception).

 

It is like squeezing water out of a stone.

Even for the smallest drops of information I had to either bribe, blackmail or steal.

The rest (99.5%) I had to figure out by myself, which I did well.

 

On the top of that my work gets "erased" regular basis.

Either by AMD or by the motherboard vendors.

 

AMD makes changes by changing the behavior of the display driver (which controls everything on APUs). The motherboard vendors seem to have hard time following the design guidelines which is the biggest spike in my flesh.

 

The motherboard vendors put all of their resources on Intel platforms and none on AMD (can't blaim them really). Even after seven months after the launch of Trinity APUs the bioses are still in the "twilight zone".

 

The bioses are riddled with bugs and some of the "tweaks" the vendors use do more harm than good. They also rarely follow the official design guidelines so I cannot make a unified solution which would work on all motherboard. Bioses are nothing like wine, they don't get better when they get older. They are more like a opened beer bottle. For every single fixed issue atleast two more will emerge.

 

I have sent too many emails and used way too much time in trying to help the vendors to fix the issues. I have even sent them the fixed version of the actual code to make it easier for them to fix their bioses. Still they are not able / willing to do anything about it. I never asked any money or anything else from anyone (a one big f__king mistake really). If I would have been paid, lets say even 20 euros per each hour I have spent on ACI/TCI (or on the APUs in general), I would be around 15k euros richer.

 

Better go filling McDonald's™ job applications.

 

Sorry guys

 

Ouch, that is really sad news... TCI K² is a MUST when benching Trinity.

 

Anyway, thank you for all you have done! I'm still hoping that you get the necessary (and deserved) support to finish APU Control Interface someday.

Edited May 6, 2013 by NoMS

[Xtreme Addict]

Maybe if you could create also support for FX cpus it would be more supported. It's sad and very understandable from your part and I wish you the best.

[Teemto]

If you give up now all the time you spent on it will have been for nothing.

The world needs Don Quijote's, so don't give up. Seems like you need a break to recharge the batteries. Let it rest for a couple of weeks, that'll give you a better perspective.

Hwbot putting this on the frontpage - and if noticed by the right people - could maybe set things in motion which would see you get the needed support.

[The Stilt]

Maybe if you could create also support for FX cpus it would be more supported. It's sad and very understandable from your part and I wish you the best.

 

I was working on OCI (Orochi Control Interface) too.

The "core" of the software was already fully compatible as the basic Core/CNB/IMC structure is nearly identical between Orochi and 15h APUs.

 

Eventhou the support for Barracuda platform requires roughly 1/10 of the work compared to 15h APUs, I chose to start with the APUs first. Simply because the APUs needed it so much more. For the CPU/NPUs there is really no 'magic' you can do, unlike for the APUs.

[GENiEBEN]

Github time?

[The Stilt]

Damn, that's sad to hear Roger!

 

Can you get Asus to get a board 100% ready for TCI K²?

 

Asus did more than any of the other vendors combined.

They made the changes and fixes I asked them to do. They shared the information about their products and helped me in every way they could. They even sent me components from the factory for the reworks I wanted to try out to improve the overclockability.

 

Of course they did get something in exchange, I shared features such as "BApm", "Master Powermode" and "GPU Unlock" with them. They also got good rep. and test information to use in their future products.

 

So when people say I favor Asus while pissing on the others vendors, what can I say? Thats the truth.

 

In fact I would favor ANY vendor who would do the things Asus has done and would make as good products as they do.

 

The vendors who make bad products and are not even trying to improve them, and on the top of that take a piss on me by stealing (cracking) my work... I could compare them to stray dogs, which I don´t do as I happen to like stray dogs

 

Still even Asus boards are not perfect.

They too have bugs which have appeared in the newer bios versions and some of the GPU related things are just as flaky as on other boards. This is partitially because even the vendors do not have an unrestricted access to all of the documentation...

[The Stilt]

Github time?

 

Unless I'm willing to do some jailtime, then no.

The software contains too much of confidential information.

Information which is not only related to AMD but on other companies too.

 

Without this information the functionality of the software would be very limited.

It would not have anything which AOD for example does not have.

 

It would not justify the amount of work required.

[Bobnova]

Kickstarter time?

[The Stilt]

Kickstarter time?

 

I don't feel too comfortable with the idea.

 

Simply because I feel that the expenses belong to the manufacturers rather than to the customers who purchase their products.

 

All the things the software would have done, should have been done by the manufacturers in the first place.

The software has capabilities beyond pure overclocking, it can be used for debugging / troubleshooting and for power optimizations too.

So the argument about it being unsupported because of overclocking and voided warranties is quite thin.

 

I cannot even elaborate enough how frustrating it is to watch by.

This is just one isolated case, the whole thruth is way much worse.

 

Something is fundamentally very wrong with this industry.

An uneducated and unemployed guy should and must not be able to constantly outperform most of the engineers and designers working in the leading positions. It is like guiding a surgeon thru your own heart operation.

 

Sounds like mockery, yet it is anything but. It is a very sad and a frustrating fact.

 

Anyway, the thread has derailed a bit:

 

If I manage to get the required information and if I can get even one of the manufacturers to make their board to work as it should, then the software will be published as it was originally planned. Otherwise it will never be seen or heard again.

Edited May 7, 2013 by The Stilt

[Teemto]

It's becomming more apparent why AMD isn't capable of delivering a CPU in the league of intel's offerings.

On the other hand, it could just be a matter of planning. Not enough time/resources/funds to put some effort in this.

[Mack4033]

Thank you,

Mack4033 I learned something today

[sumonpathak]

So...the project is dead right now?

damn shame