What controls Turbo Core in Xeons?

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SpeedyVV

Junior Member
Dec 1, 2008
7
1
61
@kjboughton Did you really get the ASUS Z10PE-D8 to turbo up your pair of Xeons?!?!?!?!

I have tried so many times with the same mobo and a pair of E5-2699v3 with no luck... any chance you can point to a guide or something to how you made this work?

BTW, does this only work on Windows, or will I be able to boot up Linux with Turbo?

EDIT: From your post
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASUS Z10PE-D8 WS modified UEFI BIOS (Haswell-E microcode removed)

EFI Driver Collection

Collection of various Haswell-E microcode (in .DAT file format)

SPEEDYVV: Which of these will I need? Could you please guide me on which ones I need, and what to do change my mobo to use them?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Water-cooling recommended:
SPEEDYVV: I just have Thermalright TrueSpirit 120MM M BW, HSFs. Will I be able to get some turbo boost at all?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have operated the system in the past with all cores enabled but generally find better performance when reduced to 16 cores/CPU.

NUMA = disabled
Hyper Threading = disabled
Snoop Mode = Early Snoop

These are the big points. I will put up a BIOS setting guide shortly.

SPEEDYVV: A BIOS guide would be awesome. I have no idea what half the settings are for in this mobo.
 
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kjboughton

Senior member
Dec 19, 2007
330
118
116
@SpeedyVV

I run microcode 0x1F although it seems to be more of a personal choice. Try them all to see which works best for your usage application(s).

Use the following driver to dynamically load CPU microcode patches in Windows:
https://labs.vmware.com/flings/vmware-cpu-microcode-update-driver

I am generally unfamiliar with Linux; however, I do believe this operation may be more simply done with that type OS. Google it.

Turbo boosting will happen... the question only becomes for how long with those turbo speeds be sustainable. The E5-2696v3 has a max Tjmax of only 83C. Quite low in comparison to some other packages.
For sustained turbo operations I would recommend water-cooling.

BIOS guide in work. In fact, I am working on a complete guide to be published probably this weekend.

turbo_up.png
turbo_up.jpg


-FCG
 
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SpeedyVV

Junior Member
Dec 1, 2008
7
1
61
@SpeedyVV

I run microcode 0x1F although it seems to be more of a personal choice. Try them all to see which works best for your usage application(s).

Use the following driver to dynamically load CPU microcode patches in Windows:
https://labs.vmware.com/flings/vmware-cpu-microcode-update-driver

I am generally unfamiliar with Linux; however, I do believe this operation may be more simply done with that type OS. Google it.

Turbo boosting will happen... the question only becomes for how long with those turbo speeds be sustainable. The E5-2696v3 has a max Tjmax of only 83C. Quite low in comparison to some other packages.
For sustained turbo operations I would recommend water-cooling.

BIOS guide in work. In fact, I am working on a complete guide to be published probably this weekend.
turbo_up.jpg


-FCG

See, this is where non BIOS/microcode savy n00bs like me get lost :-(

I can do Windows, no problem... but I am still lost as for the steps.

I thought the whole thing was to create a modified BIOS, then flash it to the motherboard, then everything works.

Now, one of the files you provide (mod_Z10PE-D8-WS-ASUS-3407.ROM) I thought was a pre-made BIOS that I could use (somehow).

But now you talk about dynamically load CPU microcode patches...that is confusing to me because I dont understand the relationship between all these things, Windows, CPU microcode, BIOS.

I hope you can shed some light for us n00bs in your guide.

Thanks for helping... really hopeful to breathe new life onto this setup of mine.

Cheers
 

timk1980

Member
May 11, 2017
25
1
41
I have operated the system in the past with all cores enabled but generally find better performance when reduced to 16 cores/CPU.

It's funny and exciting in a sense to see you mention this. Using my pair of 2696 on the -D16WS board, I also generally prefer to stick to 16 cores. All 18 cores can get me slightly better results at Cinebench and Corona, for instance, but in practice just about everything else-- not the least of which is max all-core turbo clock that will sustain--is slightly worse off. Some more naively written test metrics like IBT or CPU-Z actually end up with far lower performance numbers on 18 cores than they do with 16. Seems something of a side effect of a small subset of cores running slower, holding up the overall completion, perhaps.
 

custom90gt

Member
Feb 9, 2017
38
7
41
Just ordered my e5-2696 v3 today. Excited to see how it does, wish I could swing a pair of them, but the wife would kill me
 

Bl@Ze

Junior Member
Aug 17, 2017
16
0
36
If anyone has a modified ASUS Z10PE-D16 WS BIOS?
I need a option to set the DRAM Frequency @ my value.
With stock BIOS the Ram limit is 2200 MHz. Maximum of the BCLK is 103.5 and the CPU frequency has a tweaked maximum @ 2484 MHz.

http://www.sysprofile.de/id157161

Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
 

custom90gt

Member
Feb 9, 2017
38
7
41
If anyone has a modified ASUS Z10PE-D16 WS BIOS?
I need a option to set the DRAM Frequency @ my value.
With stock BIOS the Ram limit is 2200 MHz. Maximum of the BCLK is 103.5 and the CPU frequency has a tweaked maximum @ 2484 MHz.

http://www.sysprofile.de/id157161

Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

I believe ram speeds are locked due to the memory controller of the xeon (max 2133mhz).
 

Bl@Ze

Junior Member
Aug 17, 2017
16
0
36
I believe ram speeds are locked due to the memory controller of the xeon (max 2133mhz).
You right. But I want to lock the Ram Speed and the PCIe Speed to increase the BCLK more...





Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
 

custom90gt

Member
Feb 9, 2017
38
7
41
You right. But I want to lock the Ram Speed and the PCIe Speed to increase the BCLK more...

Ah I see, sorry I didn't realize you were trying to hold those at the same speeds. I'm not sure if there are any modified bioses that would allow you to do that, BCLK overclocks have always been limited.
 

custom90gt

Member
Feb 9, 2017
38
7
41
I can't figure out the lack of C3 support with my Ultra Gaming - I just ordered an Asrock Taichi to see if that resolves it. I've spent way too much on this project, but it's super fun.
 

Dufus

Senior member
Sep 20, 2010
675
119
101
You could check Event viewer log kernel power to see if it reports idle states. BIOS general doesn't disable CC-States but either reports them to the OS or doesn't and then it's the OS that uses that to decide wether to use them or not. IIRC @CANONKONG was saying the Asus boards can offer support with voltage and ratio settings making adjustments a lot easier. Something to think about. Reminds me that the Taichi has a bug with CC3 in that if it's enabled and then later C-States disabled in the BIOS the OS still runs with CC3. But this is a small issue compared to others.

The E5-2696v3 has a max Tjmax of only 83C.
Is that the default or what BIOS sets?
 
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kjboughton

Senior member
Dec 19, 2007
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Is that the default or what BIOS sets?

Darn it, @Dufus, you catch everything. I noticed I wrote in the wrong Tjmax for my system (83C was for my previous 2697 v2) but then thought "who'll ever notice?" The right number is 78C for the 2696 v3.

By the way, I've managed to get to -90mV Vcore offset stable. I am now seeing all-core max-load turbos of 3.6GHz!!!

As I increase the negative Vcore offset (i.e. make it even lower), I continue to see a climb in all-core max-load (ACML) turbo.

Code:
mv   <->   cpu_VID   <->   ACML
   0       0.96 V          3.3GHz
 -20       0.94 V          3.4GHz
 -50       0.91 V          3.5GHz
 -70       0.89 V          3.5GHz
 -90       0.87 V          3.6GHz
-100       0.86 V          3.6GHz (unstable)

By reducing Vcore by 100mV I gain 32 x 300MHz = 9.6GHz more total processing cycles!

Stock: 2 x 18 x 2.8GHz = 100.8GHz
With Modded BIOS/EFI driver: 2 x 16 x 3.3GHz = 106GHz
Plus reduced Vcore = 2 x 16 x 3.6GHz = 115GHz
note: I have purposely reduced from 18 cores/CPU to 16 cores/CPU although I may re-evaluate now that I am able to reach an even higher ACML turbo
 
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knopflerbruce

Junior Member
Mar 5, 2017
15
1
41
@Dufus
I have seen WHEA error corrections reported in the past. Ive also seen BSOD with umcorrectable WHEA errors as the culprit. I assume some errors are being properly cured as I am running Registered ECC memory. Does that answer the question?

Not sure if I replied to this, but when I got WHEA errors they were fixed by increasing the vcore a bit.
 

Dufus

Senior member
Sep 20, 2010
675
119
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@kjboughton 78C is very low. Is that the default? With my 2683 the default Tjmax is 95C but depending on which BIOS is used it gets changed to 92C or 90c which makes a mockery of using it as a temperature measurement. How close are your PECI CPU temps to the core temps?

Corona rendering efficiency using results for 2696 v3 show 14,636,900 Rays per second as top dual config. Assuming 100W per CPU* then (14636900 / 200) / 10000 would be 7.1?

* Probably higher which would man less than 7.1

You bought those 2696's at a good time, crazy prices now.

@knopflerbruce the original question was about corrected WHEA which don't get noticed so much. These can happen for a number of reasons which can be found in the Windows Event Viewer Log. Here's a rough program I made that can be used to monitor WHEA counts as they happen. Root causes can be found in the Event Viewer if some are seen. Count should stay zero with no corrections.

WHEA.zip
 
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Waddyboy

Junior Member
Sep 26, 2017
1
0
1
Any progress with the bios guide to turbo all cores on z10pe-d8 ws

kjboughton mentioned a possible guide in the works.
 

wiseguyuk

Member
Sep 16, 2017
34
4
71
Any progress with the bios guide to turbo all cores on z10pe-d8 ws

kjboughton mentioned a possible guide in the works.
I am also waiting patiently for the guide. I bought the same board as kjboughton for that reason.I have the same CPUs too. I am planning to work on it this weekend. I hope he finds time to post it.
I am going to go for some stable mods for sometime, then try different options. I can't wait to get the workstation this Friday & get it to work with the BIOS mod.