Hot

After weeks of abnormally cool and wet weather, the heat has finally arrived. Temperature was 87F today. It will get a lot hotter during the summer. I guess it just feels hot because the weather was so cool before.

The hot weather is affecting ambient temps on my Opteron rig. Idle temps are now 35-36C with the Zalman 9500 cooler. I'm now using my Tuniq Tower 120 for my benching rig.

Yellow peony

My yellow peony plant has started to bloom. Yellow is one of the best colors for peonies.

FSB

Yonah definitely responds to cold. I've been able to push the FSB up to 262 with single-stage cooling and using the default 13 multiplier. The SuperPi 1M run was done with an untweaked XP SP2. Will eventually test with dry ice.

I think one of the things holding me back is voltage. My board is still unmodded, which means VCore goes up only to 1.5v and VDimm to 2.15v.

More peony shots

Better Yonah

Just got a slightly better Yonah chip. Does 3.2GHz on air. Should do close to 3.4GHz frozen, at least that's my hope.

Peonies

The peonies have started to bloom in my garden. Always one of the highlights of Spring for me.

Anniversary

My wife and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary today. My wife has taken good care of me and I know I need to spend more time with her. Computing is fun, but it's taking up too much of my time.

Late Spring

One of my favorite movies is finally coming out on DVD. Late Spring was made in 1949 and directed by Ozu Yasujiro. It tells the story of a widower who feels compelled to marry off his only daughter who he loves very much. It's a very touching film. The Criterion Collection is releasing the DVD version, so the quality of the transfer will likely be good.

Tweaking

Did some memory tweaking today. Helped SuperPi times.

Frozen Yonah

I decided to see how Yonah performed with my Vapochill LS. Gained 9-10MHz on FSB. The CPU boots up fine frozen. But I can't access the BIOS. Other people have noticed this too.

New times

New SuperPi times. Both results were with Super Talent 2X1GB.

Memory ratios compared

Overclocking sometimes involves trade-offs; tight timings vs. higher memory speed. I did a comparison using Corsair 8000UL. The first screenshot shows the CPU running at 3031MHz with 3-2-2 RAM timings and 3:4 ratio (533MHz). The second test was run at same CPU and FSB speeds, but with 4-3-2 timings and 3:5 ratio (667MHz). As you can see, 4-3-2 was faster because the added memory speed more than made up for the looser timings.

In a nutshell the ratios allow you to run at different memory speeds while maintaining the same FSB.

Yonah observations

Yonah is fast. Unfortunately my CPU won't run at a higher FSB than 234, so I'm stuck. I've tried using a different multiplier (I have a processor that's unlocked downwards) but that didn't help.

I just got my Corsair 8000UL. It can run with 3-2-2 timings which is pretty good. Have just begun testing.

More Yonah benches

Yonah is fast in Pifast and Mandelbrot too. Unfortunately my CPU won't go any higher than 234 for FSB. This is a problem many people are having. Although some think it's a board problem, I'm inclined to believe it's the CPU. I was hoping to freeze the chip. But that seems pointless if I can't raise FSB any more.

Tuniq & Yonah

I switched to a better HSF, my Tuniq Tower 120. Temps in BIOS are now 14-15C with VCore set at maximum (1.5v). Everything seems a lot more stable. I also switched to my ATI Rage PCI card. Got it for $10 on Ebay. :-)

Default

Here are the default settings for Yonah T2600. VCore is 1.256v. Still pretty fast, even at default.

Yonah results

Early results with Yonah T2600 and AOpen i975 board. Using stock cooler that comes with the board.

AOpen board

AOpen i975Xa-YDG board just arrived. Will give it a try this weekend.

Water, water everywhere

The rain will not stop. Minor flooding in a number of locations. Nothing serious, yet. The Sacramento area is like New Orleans. Levees protect the city. If a major levee breaks, hundreds, maybe thousands of homes would be flooded. Let's hope the levees hold up. The weather is also holding up my gardening activities.

SP2004

If you haven't already downloaded it, there's a new version of SP2004. It's a little better. Doesn't have those weird multiplier readings like 200 X 14.5.

http://sp2004.fre3.com/download.htm

I/A update

Finally figured out how to get decent speed from the TeamGroup Infineon/Aenoen's at Cas2 and Cas2.5. They basically need a lot of voltage (2.9+). Was able to do DDR500 at Cas2.5 which had been one of my goals. So far I can do DDR445 at Cas2.

Corsair

As part of my conversion to DDR2, I've also ordered Corsair 5400UL. This RAM has actually been around for quite awhile. Very hard to find now in the US. Capable of 3-2-2 timings. Might work better for my Yonah system.

Update: I had to cancel my order because the reseller did not actually have the 5400UL's in stock, even though their website clearly indicated otherwise. I ordered a pair of Corsair 8000UL instead from another vendor.

Xtreme Resources

I was saddened to see that the Xtreme Resources site no longer exists. I know there wasn't much traffic at XR. But there were still some good members. I heard that the site owner forgot to renew the domain, so maybe XR will be back up again soon. A guy who used to be a moderator there taught me how to bench 3D. Many of the people who were active in the overclocking community a few years ago have dropped out. Who knows, maybe I'll be next.

Memory

My Super Talent memory arrived yesterday. Now I just need a board.

Super Talent

I went ahead and ordered the Super Talent DDR2 2GB kit. Although it may be overkill, I decided to give them a try since all the reviewers have raved about this RAM. The sticks aren't much to look at, but they're supposed to be very fast. I may also order the Corsair 8000UL 1GB kit when it becomes available again.

Weather

This has to be the wettest late winter/early spring that I've seen since I moved back to Northern California. It rains just about every day. I feel like saying, "enough already!" And I don't think I'm alone. So far there hasn't been any major flooding, which of course is good. I just hope these "April showers" will go away soon.

Finished testing

I've finished testing my Opteron 170 and TeamGroup memory for now. I've run dual-SP2004 numerous times. I know what the limits are for both the CPU and the RAM. 290X10 (183 divider) seems rock stable with air-cooling. The CPU is capable of much higher speeds. But it's impossible to test with dual-Prime because the extra voltage needed generates too much heat. Hopefully when I switch to watercooling, I'll be able to run extensive tests at 3GHz.

Still waiting for a Yonah motherboard to go along with my Yonah CPU. I think they will be out shortly. Still debating which DDR2 memory to get. I think it will either be a Corsair or Super Talent.

Nat-chan

Another popular Enka singer is Godai Natsuko, or "Nat-chan" as she's affectionately called by her fans. Her style of singing is more traditional and her songs have a really nice feel to them. Nat-chan grew up in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. She's married to Sugi Ryotaro who's a very well-known actor/singer in Japan. The two have been involved in charity work. She helped the victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake (also known as the Kobe Earthquake) back in the 1990's. She said it was one of the most important things she's done in her life. Nat-chan has a cheerful personality. She seems like a very nice person, the kind of individual you would value as a friend.