Merlin Bios for NF7-S Rev 2.0

[charloscarlies]

I found this in General Hardware:

There is a new modded BIOS, released by -=Merlin=- over at the Abit forums, for the Abit NF7-S R2. The biggest attraction to this BIOS is the inclusion of CPUID strings for XP-M chips! Check it out:

LINK

Here are his release notes:

- indifikation Mobeil Amd Atlon M-Xp
- Romsip Bios Tables
- 12-31 Tables
- L12 mod built-in
- Cpu Interface Optimised 200FSB
- Bpl 3.02 -> Bpl 3.19 Cpc On
- Bpl 3.02 -> Bpl 3.19 Cpc Off

I'll be trying this later after dinner!

Edit: Now at 230 FSB stable.

Picture 1
Picture 2

With the latest Abit bios I couldn't get my NF7-S Rev 2 past 210 fsb or so without getting blue-screened. I had decided that the newer NF7's just sucked at fsb overclocking. Well anyways...I just tried Merlin's newest bios and I'm currently 24 hours prime (blend test) stable and ran several loops of memtest with zero problems at 225 fsb. I'm gonna push it further when I get a little time, but I just wanted to share this with anybody that's having problems getting decent fsb overclocks with their NF7's.

I'll update when I see how far it'll go.

 

[charloscarlies]

Up to 240 fsb now.

I need a vdimm mod though...can't get my ram 1:1 at 2-2-2 anymore.

Never woulda thought a bios flash could make this big of a difference.

 

[Megatomic]

I did try it as I promised in my thread, but I lost Memory Read bandwidth to the tune of about 100MB/s. And the CPUID namestring is not right. Other than that it worked well.

I went back to the stock D26 while I wait for Merlin's next revision. I suggested a more appropriate namestring, I hope he uses it.

 

[charloscarlies]

Megatomic,
Do you know the deal with the CPC on vs. having it off? I believe I used the "C" version which many people were saying is CPC off. Do you know the difference?

ANd yeah it just kinda cuts off the name at the end, but still it's better than "Unknown CPU" or whatever.

My bandwidth efficiency actually went up with this bios. Single channel efficiency was around 94-95% and dual is right around 90-91. Not too shabby really.

I still just can't believe it's making this big of a difference on my overclock. My board has absolutely no mods done, so I am completely pleased with 240 fsb. I'll take another screenshot when I get a chance.

 

[Megatomic]

CPC Off is recommended for users with 2 x 512MB of PC3200 in DCDDR mode, especially if the RAM sticks are dual sided.

CPC On is recommended for users with 1 x 512MB or 2 x 256MB in DCDDR mode.

CPC On with 2 x 512MB of PC3200 in DCDDR mode will actually cause system instability and failure of Memtest86. What is your memory configuration?

 

[Shimmishim]

yeah.... i can do 240 mhz fsb as well but windows won't load..

passes memtest fine but won't boot up

wouldn't even boot up before...

cpc on gives better performance than cpc off but as megatomic said above... there is a reason why

 

[charloscarlies]

2 x 256....I believe I'm using the CPC off bios. Is that ok considering my config? Am I losing performance?

Shim,
What is your max fsb? Mine has been running @ 240 in Windows for 15-20 minutes now, but I haven't run memtest yet. I'm using a chipset voltage of 1.7 v...is that ok?

I appreciate everybody's help. I was so frustrated with this board before...now that I can finally crank up the fsb I don't exactly know what to do.

 

[Megatomic]

Yes, you should try the CPC On version. I think you might as well wait until tomorrow though, they should be working on rewriting the CPUID namestring. The difference in performance is there but it is not enough to make me double my workload to get it.

 

[charloscarlies]

Thanks Mega...I'll have to check it out tomorrow.

 

[Shimmishim]

the max depends on the board... i might try out the eb's on the nf7-s just to see how high it'll go

 

[WarlordBB]

Say Charlos, now that you've got your NF7 system running higher than your socket 754 system which do you like best?

I'm about to pick some components for my next WC setup and I've already got an NF7 w/XPM 2400+ and 2600+ and a Barton 2500 and I've got an IC7-MAX3 with a 2.4c and 2.8c.

I was really considering an A64 system but they don't really seem to OC too much right now. My friend's got a new AV8/3500+ setup and what little I've played with it I don't think it would really benefit any from better than decent air cooling.

I've been disappointed with my P4 cause I'm not really getting either chip past 250fsb stable.

Anyway, just wondering what your thoughts were since you have both the XPM and 754.

Oh, and thanks for letting me know about this BIOS.

 

[Shimmishim]

i have both... in terms of pure fsb or HTT, the A64's are better hands down...

 

[maluckey]

Tried it, lost big-time bandwidth, and games were slower, though I was at ahigher FSB.

I am stable at 221 x 11, Dual channel on Abit BIOS D26, with 2-2-2-11 timings with 2x 512mb PC2700. At 230 x 10.5 with the Merlin Bios and same tiings, I was slower across the board in every game. This is likely due to the devreased bandwidth of the RAM, and he drop in CPU Mhz. I also tried 235 x 10.5 with the same timings, but could not get 100 percent stable. The limited testing showed it within margin of error, to be the same speed as 221 x 11 with the Abit D26 BIOS. Why switch?

So far, no modded BIOS that I have tested has been faster, clock per clock, than the official BIOS. I'd be interested in one that was.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

my DFI runs 246 with a stock bios out of the box,i have yet to flash it

i can't go any further,i think its a chipset problem because it still boots, but everything gets REALLY flakey.

 

[Megatomic]

Merlin released another version today but he is working on yet another. One that includes a nice CPUID for mobile XP chips.

maluckey, did you load the CPC On or the CPC Off version? I used the CPC On version this morning, it worked for me, and my Memory Write score actually went up by 20 or 25MB/sec according to AIDA32. Memory Read stayed constant.

 

[Concillian]

From what I understand:
CPC on = 1T Command Rate
CPC off = 2T Command Rate

CPC = Command per Cycle = 1T Command Rate

CPC off can help with modules that the board doesn't like, but it will cause a performance hit, of course, just like increasing other RAM latencies.

 

[Megatomic]

That's what I think it is too Concillian. Thanks for filling us all in. :beer:

 

[MDE]

Ooh, have to try this on my NF7-S that won't go over 210FSB.

 

[charloscarlies]

Originally posted by: MDE
Ooh, have to try this on my NF7-S that won't go over 210FSB.

Definitely worth a shot.

I can boot into Windows and past memtest at 245 fsb now...but I fail Prime blend test within 5 minutes. Tried 250 and no go . I found 238 to be the max stable fsb for my board....which pleases me very much considering I couldn't do 210 before the bios flash. Give it a shot.

 

[maluckey]

CPU Interface=CPC=CPU Fast Command Decode

That's how I interpret the CPC settings. At the 1T address for the CPC enabled, the entire system will be faster. If your system can be stable at 15 or more Mhz than before the CPC Off BIOS, then you are likely to be faster. Otherwise, don't expect any gains, and you should expect to lose performance.

Megatomic

I tried both a CPC enabled, and Disabled, and neither was as fast overall as the D26 BIOS form Abit, when compared clock per clock in my favorite games.

 

[Manzelle]

245 x 8.5 stable...this BIOS is the bomb, yo...

FSB = 492

 

[Megatomic]

Manzelle, does Windows recognize your CPU with the same name that is shown in your CPU-Z screenshot?

 

[PTCvette]

Hey Manzelle, where did you get that wallpaper???? I gotta get that one!

Jeff

 

[aircooled]

when did John Goodman pose for wallpaper?

 

[Manzelle]

Yeah, Windows recognizes it as an 'Athlon XP-M' - and I got the wallpaper at deviantart.com...