AC's Phenom Review and Techinical info

[QuietIce]

From what I've read here and at XS there are probably issues on both the CPU and BIOS sides of the coin. Phenom does have problems that AMD has recognized but whether all the issues are chip related is still in contention. Since the X2 is running well the chipsets (NB/SB) seem to be good but who knows what the BIOS and motherboard are doing with voltages and such when the Phenom is in the socket? The first thing you have to assume is both the motherboard and BIOS were factory tested with a "troublesome" CPU ...

 

[copernicus]

You have to get the SMP version. After you install it, run the install inside the folding... folder in Progam Files for it to setup the Proxy for accessing windows otherwise it will fail. Use and name and 32 for the team.

I just did two memtests 837M each, went off to do something for an hour and it had rebooted. I'll try some of the settings you suggested and see if they work. I had this thing fold 24 hours on the 2nd day. As for the board, ram. PSU etc, I've had a 4600X2 in it for almost 2 weeks folding 2 cores 24/7 not one hickup and that "was" my worst chip on other boards.

ya figured that out been running for awhile now. temp 46/47c

the main problem is memory related for sure. most likely linked to the imc i'm thinking. the f3b bios gives access to the imc multiplier to bad the bios is no good yet .
i've had no luck with the ddr800 but the 1066 is great after some tweaking. don't know why got the ddr800 stable in my bro's system with the 6000+ no prob after some initial frustrations.

 

[AlabamaCajun]

ya figured that out been running for awhile now. temp 46/47c

the main problem is memory related for sure. most likely linked to the imc i'm thinking. the f3b bios gives access to the imc multiplier to bad the bios is no good yet .
i've had no luck with the ddr800 but the 1066 is great after some tweaking. don't know why got the ddr800 stable in my bro's system with the 6000+ no prob after some initial frustrations.

I originally had some 1000s in there and I wonder if that is when it was stable. I shorted the CMOS jumper about half an hour ago and restarted. I left all on default even the floppy I don't have that I normally remove from Bios. I might pull the DDR2-800 skills out of one of my folding boards and put those Wintecs in place and see if the skills work. You might be on to something.

From what I've read here and at XS there are probably issues on both the CPU and BIOS sides of the coin. Phenom does have problems that AMD has recognized but whether all the issues are chip related is still in contention. Since the X2 is running well the chipsets (NB/SB) seem to be good but who knows what the BIOS and motherboard are doing with voltages and such when the Phenom is in the socket? The first thing you have to assume is both the motherboard and BIOS were factory tested with a "troublesome" CPU ...

Very possible considering it fired up out of the box and worked after some ram tweaks.

Crashed with a full reset.
Dropped in a set of 2x512G Skills 1.8V all auto! I did hit the Learn DQS so that BIOS could load the timings for most stable signaling.

 

[copernicus]

well i ran f@h for a little over 7 hrs without a glitch. @11x216
not able to leave it 24/7 right now will give it a go when i can pull out the 3870's and drop in something using less power.

how fast was it crashing on you ac?
what proggie are you using for memory testing?
i've been using memtest86+ v1.70. i run 5 full passes then 10 passes on test 5, if it passes that i consider it stable.
two sets of ddr800 could not pass this even with overvolting. but i've got both sets to pass this on a tf520-a2 at normal voltage. i think the timings were bad or the ddr800 doesn't like the higher speed of the imc on the phenom.
access to the imc multi would help test that theory to bad the f3b bios sux cmon gigabyte
all it took to pass memtest with the 1066 was normal voltage. even at 11x216

 

[AlabamaCajun]

I might flash back to F2. Everytime I touch the Ram timing in F3b it goes into postless beeping. I have to short the CMOS pins and startover. I'll give it a test on the skills using 11x216 and ram timing that works for that ram.

BTW, the TLB thing does work but it's slower. SPI 1Meg drops by 2 secs. I experienced the freeze up then hit the TLB switch and it went back to rebooting.

 

[jonspd]

My I ask what PPD did you get outta this thing via smp with 1 or 2 clients?

 

[copernicus]

I might flash back to F2. Everytime I touch the Ram timing in F3b it goes into postless beeping. I have to short the CMOS pins and startover. I'll give it a test on the skills using 11x216 and ram timing that works for that ram.

BTW, the TLB thing does work but it's slower. SPI 1Meg drops by 2 secs. I experienced the freeze up then hit the TLB switch and it went back to rebooting.

sounds like your having better luck with that bios than i did if you didn't notice any major performance loss.

what settings did you choose after flashing?

your using 1 graphics card right?

i tried disabling xfire but that made no diff the performance loss is system wide from startup to any kind of task at all.
failsafe defaults/optimized defaults both the same. clear cmos same.
the auto xpress settings are on in f3 but make no diff and if you change the fsb at all it disables it even if you renable it. in f2 it's always on no matter what changes i make. don't know if that has anything to do with it though just an observation
gotta figure out the variables between our two setups to help pinpoint the culprit

here's a LINK to the gigabyte global site with another bios this one is f3 i'm having the same trouble as f3b though major performance drop crysis goes from 30-50+ fps in xfire at 1600x1200 all high settings to 6-9 fps tried multiple settings to no avail back on f2.

the main thing i didn't like was f3 copied itself to the backup bios aswell after rebooting so now if i bork my bios and it boots from backup it will be the f3 so now i've made multiple copies of the f2 bios

 

[hank123]

wow dude i want to cry for you all. i hope ur having fun fighting this.

did I read that right that the phenom likes 1066 ram better then 800?
if i did read that right y would that be?
have u tried 667 or 533 yet?

 

[AlabamaCajun]

PPD was about 1800 with one instance and stock. Never got more than one unit sent

1 Video card, same 850XT that has been in it.
Win XP Home, I will dump Vista one it when it finally runs.
PSU = PCPnC Silencer 610.
I've tried clearing BIOS, defaults and manual.
Ram Ganged, Unganged, Auto and Manual, stock volts, 1.9,1.95 and 2.0 (Max on any of the sets).
Tried, extra VCore, NB, Chipset.
Lowered NB speed, HT speed, IMC speed.
Flashed F1,F2 and F3B

Only F3B caused a lockup when I forgot to set the TLB on. With it on the dang thing rebooted. It takes about half an hour. Temps are in the 40s with 4 fans working it and the mobo. It is behaving like a RAM problem, I've seen it too many times.


I've tried 667 and 800 settings using 800 ram with three different sets Wintec and GSkill pulled from running systems (while they were off of course )

 

[Jim Morbid]

Damn AC, you have the patients of a wise wise man.

JM

 

[AlabamaCajun]

Damn AC, you have the patients of a wise wise man.

JM

My patience it wearing thin, I'm almost ready to hang it in a tree and boot it at 357HTT

Tried F3 non beta and it did the same :belly up

 

[jonspd]

PPD was about 1800 with one instance and stock. Never got more than one unit sent

good enough info 1 smp running not 2 and 1800 ppd at stock that would leave 4k ppd a good option

 

[copernicus]

My patience it wearing thin, I'm almost ready to hang it in a tree and boot it at 357HTT

Tried F3 non beta and it did the same :belly up

ah yes it takes alot of patience which i'm out of till after the holidays

i'm happy to at least be able to be stable, damn shame your having trouble getting stability at stock ac gonna break out the ddr800 i almost rma'd after the holiday and see what i can do with it. last time the xp install was unbootable in 5 days, a new record for me

wow dude i want to cry for you all. i hope ur having fun fighting this.

did I read that right that the phenom likes 1066 ram better then 800?
if i did read that right y would that be?
have u tried 667 or 533 yet?

so far those are my own observations on my setup using two sets of ddr800 1 cas 5, 1 cas 4, both mushkin. and 1 set ddr1066 crucial ballistix.
but by no means does it mean that the phenom favors 1066 over 800. to limited of a test base.
although with all the ddr800 ac has tried it's swaying that way.

need to get some 1066 in there ac and test this theory

 

[AlabamaCajun]

I have a finger on some GSkill 8000 like I had before. I would pull it from the intel but its hauling arse like a biotch. 3.240 and solid while my phenom dreams of just running. I'm going to go over the settings and see WTH is up with this thing.

*Update
After shutting down the :cough: Intel, I pulled the DDR1000 Skills and tested them, BAM, rebooted in a few minutes.
This morning I booted into BIOS and noticed only one stick showed up in the settings for refresh settings and I've seen this before. I pulled the sticks and put one of the wintecs in and booted at 2.4+G. Has been folding for over an hour now. Slot two and probably four may be bad :arg: 32 days no return. I'll have to hit Gigglebyte for this one.

 

[copernicus]

I have a finger on some GSkill 8000 like I had before. I would pull it from the intel but its hauling arse like a biotch. 3.240 and solid while my phenom dreams of just running. I'm going to go over the settings and see WTH is up with this thing.

*Update
After shutting down the :cough: Intel, I pulled the DDR1000 Skills and tested them, BAM, rebooted in a few minutes.
This morning I booted into BIOS and noticed only one stick showed up in the settings for refresh settings and I've seen this before. I pulled the sticks and put one of the wintecs in and booted at 2.4+G. Has been folding for over an hour now. Slot and probably four may be bad :arg: 32 days no return. I'll have to hit Gigglebyte for this one.

well at least it looks like you found the problem at least now you can relax and enjoy the holidays to bad about having to rma the board though. especially after rma'ing the phenom

 

[AlabamaCajun]

Sucks because I wanted to finish the review and just show what it does. Instead of a Holiday thread, it turned into Halloween Freddy krugger music playing in the background. At least it's not my main rig. I'll wait and see what they say!


Dead RAM slot caused all the problems. Phenom is not at fault for this one!

 

[AlabamaCajun]

Having found that the Gigabyte board was bad from the get go, I ordered the cheapest replacement I could find. ECS 770 it's not going to clock far but I've had some good luck with them. I'll use the ECS770 board while I RMA the 790 back to Gigabyte and hope to get a replacement. It's a fantastic board, I just got a dud.

I'll save the Giga for the future Phenoms that start opening up the Wooparse or maybe even 45nm

 

[QuietIce]

Sad to hear - but at least they're gonna' replace it ...!

 

[juane414]

Do you know when you're getting it back yet?

 

[AlabamaCajun]

Will more than like take a little over a week round trip.
My 9500 has been happily running in a new ECS A770 board (cheap as5 board) but it's functional. I threaded the board in the AM2 mobos sub-forum if anyone is interested. I've been a little busy so I've not had a chance to see what overclocking would do. I don't think the board has any backup bios so if I kill the resident bios, I'll have to order a tophat copy to restore it. This 9500 has been solid so I'm ready to play.

I loaded Vista on it and here is a little movie of first boot (sorry had to use a tiny camera to shoot the movie.

Well that failed so I rebooted into Linux.

Update:
Overclocked to 2401, 4 threads of Orthos and core 3 errored out at about 10 mins. Temps were around 52-54C.
Backed down to 2322 and testing.