Disabling SSE?

[Varnel]

I've got a Athlon XP-M (2400+?) @ 2.4g on an ancient A7N8X that has been thru the war. The system has a few minor problems with it, such as the AGP slot being picky, however once running and left alone, it runs like a champ.

I've recently installed Ubuntu 7.04 on it, and FAH as well. Upon startup, FAH will start work on a packet, and immediately crash (<5min). When re-starting, FAH runs normally and continues on fine. As far as I can tell the only difference is that when it restarts after crashing, it does not enable SSE.

Is there a flag I can set so that it does not use SSE? It'd be nice not to have to reboot the system after every packet.

Thanks

[WarriorII]

SSE is a cpu optimization.

You'd want it on really.

But Flags are covered here:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=386159

& :welcome: to Team 32 !

:cool:

[ChasR]

Stop the client, rerun it with the -config flag and answer yes to disable assembly optimizations.

[benbaked]

I've got a Athlon XP-M (2400+?) @ 2.4g on an ancient A7N8X that has been thru the war. The system has a few minor problems with it, such as the AGP slot being picky, however once running and left alone, it runs like a champ.

I've recently installed Ubuntu 7.04 on it, and FAH as well. Upon startup, FAH will start work on a packet, and immediately crash (<5min). When re-starting, FAH runs normally and continues on fine. As far as I can tell the only difference is that when it restarts after crashing, it does not enable SSE.

Is there a flag I can set so that it does not use SSE? It'd be nice not to have to reboot the system after every packet.

Thanks

Have you tried lowering the overclock?

Also, :welcome:

[Varnel]

Yes I realize using SSE would normally be beneficial. I have a feeling tho that the machine is just being tempermental about it, and I would be better off running it without. I did re-check those pages, however I did not find anything other then forcing use of SSE, not turning it off.

As an interim test action I slowed the chip to 2.2g, however I highly doubt it will make a difference. The chip I have was the low wattage chip (lower then the normal XP-M mobiles, 35w vs 45w I believe, when the desktops were 60+w), and the board I have it running on would not go down anywhere close to what the chip wanted "per factory spec" voltage wise. Even at the minimum it was overvolted 0.20-0.25v. Its entire life has been spent running at 2.4g at the minimum voltage, and I have never seen the CPU temp rise above 38C (cooled by an Alpha PAL 8045).

It is the board itself which I feel is the issue. About a year ago I tried using a 6800GS AGP in it with my existing Antec 350w power supply... which was inadaquate. During the month it was in use that way, I damaged the northbridge. Prior to that it ran ice cold. Now I have to keep a fan pointed at the northbridge or the system will crash @ idle. I've used the system since with older gfx cards doing everything from gaming to watching satellite tv, and as long as the northbridge is kept cool, the system is fine.

One last note about this system, the BIOS doesn't know what to think of the chip. If I run it at the factory defaults of 15x133=2000, it does detect it as an XP-M... I've been running it 12x200=2400, and at any speed with those higher FSBs, the BIOS calls the chip: "Unknown CPU Type." Its very possible certain BIOS flags/optimizations aren't being used because of this, and could also be the cause.

I'm sure if I slowed the system down enough I could get it to go away, however I think I'd loose more % that way then by just sacrificing the % boost from SSE.

After I've tested a couple of packets @ 2.2g, I'll see what windows FAH thinks of it. I can also try a lower FSB, see if that pleases the northbridge.

[deadlysyn]

I am not sure if this would apply to the Linux client also, but wouldn't -forceasm maybe be the better flag? I know that I have seen it couple times on my rigs, on fresh installs forgetting about the flags completely. I know it may not be the answer being looked for, but thought it might be helpful.

[Shelnutt2]

I can't remember and it might/probably was in the previous version of FAH, but you use to have to run the -forcesse flag because of the specific reason that early athlons had an issue running SSE. The first few batches had a issue imbeded in the way they processed SSE instructions. After a certain revision this was corrected. You might have a revision of the Athlon with this issue. The old clients use to use only 3Dnow instructions...I'm not sure if there is a way to disable SSE but leaver 3D now on..

[benbaked]

Yes I realize using SSE would normally be beneficial. I have a feeling tho that the machine is just being tempermental about it, and I would be better off running it without. I did re-check those pages, however I did not find anything other then forcing use of SSE, not turning it off.

You're going to want to have SSE enabled for WUs. It helps. I'm not sure how much it helps, perhaps ChasR knows since he's got all the numbers.

As an interim test action I slowed the chip to 2.2g, however I highly doubt it will make a difference. The chip I have was the low wattage chip (lower then the normal XP-M mobiles, 35w vs 45w I believe, when the desktops were 60+w), and the board I have it running on would not go down anywhere close to what the chip wanted "per factory spec" voltage wise. Even at the minimum it was overvolted 0.20-0.25v. Its entire life has been spent running at 2.4g at the minimum voltage, and I have never seen the CPU temp rise above 38C (cooled by an Alpha PAL 8045).

Did you ever test the stability of the system with a program such as Prime95? It could be that it was never 100% stable, maybe stable for Windows, but not stable enough for F@H?

One last note about this system, the BIOS doesn't know what to think of the chip. If I run it at the factory defaults of 15x133=2000, it does detect it as an XP-M... I've been running it 12x200=2400, and at any speed with those higher FSBs, the BIOS calls the chip: "Unknown CPU Type." Its very possible certain BIOS flags/optimizations aren't being used because of this, and could also be the cause.

Most Socket A boards have that issue (my DFI Lanparty refers to my XP-m as "Unknown CPU Type"). The BIOS not fully recognizing the chip as what it is has no bearing on optimizations working with F@H.

I'm sure if I slowed the system down enough I could get it to go away, however I think I'd loose more % that way then by just sacrificing the % boost from SSE.

After I've tested a couple of packets @ 2.2g, I'll see what windows FAH thinks of it. I can also try a lower FSB, see if that pleases the northbridge.

2.2 GHz is a still a bit of an overclock for a mobile Barton 2400+. I would try dropping the system back to the stock multiplier and see if you can run F@H without issue.

[ChasR]

Disabling optimizations will cut ppd in half. For folding, you'd be far better off dropping the OC than disabling SSE so that it will run. Dropping the clock to 2.0 GHz will not cost you anything, since it won't run with SSE, but instead will give you a 83% gain compared to 2.2 GHz without SSE, provided the rig is FAH stable @ 2.0 GHz.

The XP-Ms were and still are the among best silicon AMD ever produced. Given good cooling and enough volts, almost all of them will will run @ 2.4 GHz and a good percentge were/are cabable of 2.6 GHz and more. So, 2.2 GHz is actually a modest OC on an XP-M. It sounds to me like you're undervolting the cpu, just got a rare bum one, or the flakey mobo is screwing things.

[Varnel]

Kept crashing @ 2.2 and 2.0 (200/400 fsb). Running 166.666 x 12.5 = 2083, and it appears to be working for now. The northbridge must be getting worse.

And ya I had this system running FAH after the video card incident, but before I got my Opty 165 (about a week). It ran fine @ 2.4g under windows at the time.

Havn't fired up windows yet to re-test with that at 2.4g.

[Varnel]

Time to start looking at a C2D i think....

[pscout]

Time to start looking at a C2D i think....

If replacing, they are certainly the best smp ppd producers atm.

[NedClocker]

Time to start looking at a C2D i think....
Definitely. The prices came down very recently and I've now made the plunge. :D

[muddocktor]

Time to start looking at a C2D i think....

If you are looking to do an upgrade to C2D without breaking the bank, Asrock makes some pretty good choices for a mobo that will let you reuse some of your older components. I'm presently using their 775i65G board as an upgrade basis myself to replace an older P4 system. This mobo uses the old Intel i865G chipset and uses AGP for the vid card and DDR ram(so you can use the vid card and ram off the old A7N8X). It's not a giant overclocker with a 300 fsb ceiling but the board is less than $50 at Newegg and will give you a bit of overclocking headroom with an E4300-E4400 or E6600 a processor. And according to the Asrock website it's even compatible with the quad procs too.

I ran this board for a month or 2 earlier this year with an E6300 and I'm waiting for UPS to deliver an E4400 for it this evening.

EDIT: BTW, this is a good board for a Ubuntu install as I was able to get it installed with no trouble at all, for anyone wanting to go do the Linux/SMP thing too.

[pscout]

If you are looking to do an upgrade to C2D without breaking the bank, Asrock makes some pretty good choices for a mobo that will let you reuse some of your older components. I'm presently using their 775i65G board as an upgrade basis myself to replace an older P4 system. This mobo uses the old Intel i865G chipset and uses AGP for the vid card and DDR ram(so you can use the vid card and ram off the old A7N8X). It's not a giant overclocker with a 300 fsb ceiling but the board is less than $50 at Newegg and will give you a bit of overclocking headroom with an E4300-E4400 or E6600 a processor. And according to the Asrock website it's even compatible with the quad procs too.

I ran this board for a month or 2 earlier this year with an E6300 and I'm waiting for UPS to deliver an E4400 for it this evening.

EDIT: BTW, this is a good board for a Ubuntu install as I was able to get it installed with no trouble at all, for anyone wanting to go do the Linux/SMP thing too.

And with recent price decreases i see 6600's regularly in the $200 range on ebay now. one went under 200 the other day.
4 MB cache and a 9 multi is good for a low oc'ing mobo.
4M cache is best for smp folding, but you will still have a nice boost in production with a 2mb cache cpu.
Nedclocker (and others) have been buying up fry's $239 6600/mobo bundles lately, but they need ddr2 memory. So the asrock can save you on memory replacement, but the adata 800 memory people are using is pretty cheap too.
If it is for folding only or not significant graphics you can get away with a cheap pci video card.

So there are lots of upgrade options.

[Varnel]

I'm looking at the C2D E6320, which newegg currently lists for $168 + s&h. Frys just had that on sale with an ECS PT890T-A mobo for $169.99. Would allow me to run the E6320 for a bit, get a decent OCing board that supports quads, run it that way for awhile, upgrade to a quad (and OC it), and shove the E6320 back on the ECS.

Without a HD, but including everything else to get it started (except possibly a heatsink), that E6320/ECS system would come in under $400 with shipping/taxes etc.

Its going to be a bit (month?) before I can afford to upgrade/replace that socket A system, and will look into the various options including that AsRock suggestion. I'm going to have to spend quite a bit of time reading and researching the different options available.

Can anyone recommend a decent e-retailer that exists outside of CA? It would be nice to dodge taxes on some of these pieces.

Edit: The XP-M is still running strong at 166x12.5=2083, making it through the midday heat. FSB must have been the issue. Getting frame times of about 33min/% on proj. 3403.

[muddocktor]

Can anyone recommend a decent e-retailer that exists outside of CA? It would be nice to dodge taxes on some of these pieces.

You might look at buying from Directron (http://www.directron.com/) then. I have bought a couple of things from them before with no problems on the transactions. They are based in Texas so there shouldn't be any taxes on you AFAIK too. I just looked at their C2D prices and they are very close to Newegg's prices and are offering free UPS ground shipping. I imagine that would take 3-4 business days to CA for delivery.

[NedClocker]

Nedclocker (and others) have been buying up fry's $239 6600/mobo bundles lately, but they need ddr2 memory.
True but they (the ECS PT890T-A) only have to have one stick. They don't require two. My TPF didn't go down at all when I took one stick out to put in the second one I bought.
If it is for folding only or not significant graphics you can get away with a cheap pci video card.
Yep. It has a PCI-E x16 slot but I'm using a 10 year old pci vid card.