Running the AMD Dashboard

[Yousuf Khan]

After having installed the AMD Dashboard utility from the AMD website,
and then trying to run it, it shows an error mesage saying "Failed
initializing, make sure the AMDTools Driver is installed and that this
system has a PSS or PST object". Reading about PSS and PST they happen
to be ACPI objects. This is on a friend's computer running an MSI
RS480M2 motherboard (ATI RS480 chipset).

Are these ACPI objects optional, something that can be enabled from the
BIOS for example, or this system simply doesn't have this kind of
support?

Been trying to enable the AMD Cool'n'Quiet feature.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Ed]

After having installed the AMD Dashboard utility from the AMD website,
and then trying to run it, it shows an error mesage saying "Failed
initializing, make sure the AMDTools Driver is installed and that this
system has a PSS or PST object". Reading about PSS and PST they happen
to be ACPI objects. This is on a friend's computer running an MSI
RS480M2 motherboard (ATI RS480 chipset).

Are these ACPI objects optional, something that can be enabled from the
BIOS for example, or this system simply doesn't have this kind of
support?

Been trying to enable the AMD Cool'n'Quiet feature.

Yousuf Khan

FWIW, I get that exact same error message if I disabled CnQ in the BIOS.

AMD CPU Driver: 1.2.2.2 , Dashboard Demo: Rev 2.0.0 , Windows XP Pro
Ed

 

[Yousuf Khan]

FWIW, I get that exact same error message if I disabled CnQ in the BIOS.

I never saw a CnQ feature in the BIOS. I looked under Power Management,
Advanced Configuration, etc.

 

[Ed Light]

Be sure to install the AMD cpu driver.

Actually you can use CrystalCPUID instead.


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[Yousuf Khan]

Be sure to install the AMD cpu driver.

That was the first thing I did. Downloaded it from the AMD site.
However, it wasn't really necessary, the motherboard CD had the drivers
already (or it could've been Windows XP SP2, not sure which).

Actually you can use CrystalCPUID instead.

Well AMD has another utility called PowerMeter, which shows just
voltage and frequency and it doesn't depend on ACPI functions. However,
that is showing that the CPU & voltage is at 100% all of the time. The
whole idea was to monitor the CPU as it entered Cool'n'Quiet mode, but
it doesn't look like it does enter that mode on this system.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Ed Light]

On mine the voltage doesn't change unless I set it to auto/default in the
bios.

I wound up uninstalling the AMD driver and using CrystalCPUID to do the
voltage and multiplier changing.

If I leave the voltage on auto/default it can change it. It can change the
cpu multiplier even if I set it below stock. However, it can't, for some
reason, boost the voltage of my Winchester past 1.45, so if I was going to
do a serious overclock I'd have to set the voltage in the bios and accept
that it would stay there.

The cool'n'quiet feature in Crystal is "Multiplier Management."

Since I have to boot at stock voltage, 1.4, but I'm overclocking, I set the
multiplier in the bios down from 10 to 8. Now I boot at stock speeds for my
3200+ but when Crystal loads it uses multipliers 5, 7, and 10 and voltages
1.2, 1.4, and 1.45, as I have set it. I tried each speed/voltage combination
in prime95 to make sure they were ok.

I set it to come up to 7x from 5x at 80% cpu, and to 10x at 80% cpu, hold
for a second minimum, then down to 7x at 60% and hold for 1/10 second
minimum, and down to 5x at 30%, hold for 1/10 second minimum.

This is well balanced for me, trying to keep it running slow and low-powered
with a real slam when needed, and not jumping back and forth wildly. But for
performance I'd have it skip 7x on the way up, and jump up at a lower cpu %.

Fun!

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[Ed Light]

Oh, and with CrystalCPUID you have a little icon in the tray that's blue for
slow speed, yellow for medium, and red for top speed. Actually it's like a
socket A cpu and the die changes color. So you don't need a panel.


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[Yousuf Khan]

Would this CrystalCPUID work without BIOS support for CnQ?

Yousuf Khan

 

[Ed]

I never saw a CnQ feature in the BIOS. I looked under Power Management,
Advanced Configuration, etc.

My VNF3-250 didn't have CnQ (or CPU Multiplier adjustments) in it's
original BIOS, any BIOS updates for the board?

Ed

 

[Ed]

Oh, and with CrystalCPUID you have a little icon in the tray that's blue for
slow speed, yellow for medium, and red for top speed. Actually it's like a
socket A cpu and the die changes color. So you don't need a panel.

Heres a few more, Software for changing multiplier/voltage/FSB

RmClock
http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml
This tool allows user adjustable Cool'n'Quiet voltage/frequency
settings.

ClockGen
http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php
Multiplier/voltage/FSB adjustments by keyboard shortcut.

CpuMsr
http://www.cpuheat.wz.cz/html/Tweaks.htm
CpuMsr is able to change many settings of you CPU. For example, you can
adjust the divisor of the S2K disconnect feature as well as the clock
change speed.

SpeedSwitchXp
http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/indexd.html
Powerful replacement for the Windows XP built-in energy control.

http://www.cpufsb.de
Supporting many mainboards and CPUs.

Ed

 

[Ed Light]

Would this CrystalCPUID work without BIOS support for CnQ?

I can only guess. I'd guess that it won't be able to change the voltage but
maybe the speed change would work.


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[Ed]

Would this CrystalCPUID work without BIOS support for CnQ?

Yousuf Khan

Yousuf,
I tried ClockGen on my NF3-250 mobo and had no problem changing the
multiplier & vcore with CnQ disabled in the BIOS. (CnQ was disabled in
Windows also.)

hth,
Ed