My processor is running slower than I think it should be

[Kosimoe]

(I couldn't resist using that title for my first post)

I have two BSEL'd Xeon E5320s (1.86 GHz standard) in a Tyan 5000 motherboard, running ub8.04. On the first run after putting in the modified CPUs /proc/cpuinfo reported 23xx MHz, but on subsequent boots the CPU speed was reported as 1600 MHz (please don't shout "the answer is ****ing obvious", just yet).

So I disabled C1E in the BIOS and gutted power management in ubuntu (as far as I could, as SPM threatens to remove all kinds of stuff if you touch powermgmt-base). Now /proc/cpuinfo reports the speed as 1867 MHz, and during boot-up the memory is listed as running at 533 MHz - as if the BSEL mod was never applied.

What steps should I take to recover the missing MHz?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Kosimoe
Now /proc/cpuinfo reports the speed as 1867 MHz, and during boot-up the memory is listed as running at 533 MHz - as if the BSEL mod was never applied.

What steps should I take to recover the missing MHz?

It sounds to me as if you don't have a successful BSEL mod, which occassionally happens. Remember, 7*266= 1866 Mhz, and 6*266= 1600 Mhz (with EIST active). BTW, welcome to anandtech.

 

[Kosimoe]

I was worried by the BSEL mod I used (http://www.o0o.it/pro/) as it seemed so easy compared to others.

Plus the mod does not make much sense. For the Xeon 5300 the 266 MHz bus is set by a BSEL output of 0/0/0 (BSEL pins 0/1/2) and the 333 MHz bus is set by an output of 1/0/0. The mod just covers BSEL2, which would surely leave it '0' not '1'.

But the very first time I booted after the mod the system reported 2333 MHz....

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Kosimoe
But the very first time I booted after the mod the system reported 2333 MHz....

Well, I wasn't saying that the guide you used was wrong, just that it sounded like maybe your mod was either unsuccessful, or had "undone" itself/come loose, because you should still be @ 333 Mhz FSB, whether you leave SpeedStep activated or not. Download CPU-Z, and see what speed it says your CPU's are running at.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

The mod looks "about" right I have a dual xeon E5320 system that is BSELed up to 2.33. It required a piece of insulating tape on a pin.

Yup its a BSEL mod on pin 2 (location G-30) from 0 to 1 (with a bit of insulating tape).
Mod

Thanks go out to xeontux over on 2cpu forums for his help

The voltage mods are different for the 5300 series but the BSEL pins are in the same position. If you need to up the voltage you can check the original thread here

 

[Kosimoe]

Thank you for all your replies.

I took all the cooling off (BTW the Noctua NH-U12P is pretty good but huge) and re-checked the CPUs and, to the limit of what I can see, both have the BSEL 2 'pin' correctly covered. But the FSB and CPU are still tied to 266 MHz from POST onwards.

As I am running linux all the really useful apps (e.g. cpuz, rightmark) are not available so I don't know how to check the voltages from the OS (although I am leaning towards blaming linux for the entire problem - mainly because I'm having numerous other problems with it!)

>Sigh<