Unable to turn off L1 and/or L2 cache for Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard and Athlon 64 X2 Manches

[Skybuck Flying]

Hello,

I own:

an Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard
and
an Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ processor.

I would like to see what effect turning off the L1 and/or the L2 cache for
the processor has on program performance.

I checked the bios setup screen and I also checked the manual.

I didn't find any options to turn it off (?)

Is there a way to turn it off and back on again ?

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Augustus]

an Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard

and
an Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ processor.

I would like to see what effect turning off the L1 and/or the L2 cache for
the processor has on program performance.

Skybuck, of all the nitwit ideas and pointless ramblings I've seen you post
over the years, this is right up there with the best. Plus the fact that you
posted it to a videocard ng is just icing on the cake. If went out and
bought a new Z06 Corvette or Ferrari 430, you could always pull 3 plug wires
and drive around to get a feel for what would happen.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Skybuck, of all the nitwit ideas and pointless ramblings I've seen you
post over the years, this is right up there with the best. Plus the fact
that you

Thank you for the complement.

posted it to a videocard ng is just icing on the cake. If went out and
bought a new Z06 Corvette or Ferrari 430, you could always pull 3 plug
wires and drive around to get a feel for what would happen.

Is that big dick that's stuck in your ass telling you crazy things again ?

You know damn well nvidia designed the chipset for my motherboard and this
is the only nvidia newsgroup and I wonder if nvidia tested their chipset
with the american megatrends bios (amibios) ?

Or did they have big dick up their ass like you as well and were to busy
sucking off sperm from each other's dick instead of testing testing testing
there expensive chipsets ?

Does that sound reasonable to you ?

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[MC]

I would like to see what effect turning off the L1 and/or the L2 cache for
the processor has on program performance.

Even without needing the options you can get a feel.. buy an old 486-33,
and run your programs on that ;-)
Honestly, switching off L1 and L2 cache will slow your programs down
probably 50 fold or so.

 

[Conor]

Hello,

I own:

an Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard
and
an Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ processor.

I would like to see what effect turning off the L1 and/or the L2 cache for
the processor has on program performance.

I checked the bios setup screen and I also checked the manual.

I didn't find any options to turn it off (?)

You won't because they're part of the CPU instead of the motherboard
and also it's one of the most stupid ****ing pointless ideas ever.

 

[Augustus]

You won't because they're part of the CPU instead of the motherboard

and also it's one of the most stupid ****ing pointless ideas ever.

I'm keenly anticipating the post asking about how to remove or disable the
cache memory from his HDD to check application performance.

 

[JAD]

Yank hard on the CPU heatsink until the socket comes off, this will diabled
the L2 L1

 

[Augustus]

Is that big dick that's stuck in your ass telling you crazy things again ?

You know damn well nvidia designed the chipset for my motherboard and this
is the only nvidia newsgroup and I wonder if nvidia tested their chipset
with the american megatrends bios (amibios) ?

Or did they have big dick up their ass like you as well and were to busy
sucking off sperm from each other's dick instead of testing testing
testing there expensive chipsets ?

Does that sound reasonable to you ?

You know, I thought about replying to this well reasoned line of logic,
but....nahhh. You've pretty much said it all yourself.

 

[Mr.E Solved!]

You know, I thought about replying to this well reasoned line of logic,
but....nahhh. You've pretty much said it all yourself.

Blocking SF is one of the wisest newsgroups actions a person can take.

 

[Paul]

Hello,

I own:

an Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard
and
an Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ processor.

I would like to see what effect turning off the L1 and/or the L2 cache for
the processor has on program performance.

I checked the bios setup screen and I also checked the manual.

I didn't find any options to turn it off (?)

Is there a way to turn it off and back on again ?

Bye,
Skybuck.

I looked in here and don't see a method of doing it directly.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/26094.PDF

Paul

 

[Roger Hamlett]

You won't because they're part of the CPU instead of the motherboard
and also it's one of the most stupid ****ing pointless ideas ever.

I'm sorry, but it is perfectly possible on some boards. The CMOS settings
_control_ many functions inside the chipset, and CPU, and on quite a few
boards, this includes the cache. However the number is reducing. Though it
is an unusual request, it is not as silly as it may sound.
It is worth looking at some of the benchmark programs, some of which which
routinely offer memory benchmark tests with the various cache levels
disabled, as a good way of testing the memory system itself. MoSlo, allows
the various cache levels to be controlled to allow support for older
programs in DOS. In the past, Microsoft actually had a program to do this
for testing purposes (this may still be available from the developers
forum). This is quite useful, to help work out the ratio of cache misses,
when designing efficient low level code. However as a simple test, it is
going to be pretty pointless now, with the levels of cache integration to
the processor core, now being so high, that it is at heart essential for
many of the prefetch operations that allow the processors to achieve their
current speeds. This is why the number of boards offering an 'off' option
for this are declining...

Best Wishes

 

[Augustus]

I'm sorry, but it is perfectly possible on some boards. The CMOS settings
_control_ many functions inside the chipset, and CPU, and on quite a few
boards, this includes the cache. However the number is reducing. Though it
is an unusual request, it is not as silly as it may sound.

I don't think the big issue here is whether or not some m/b chipsets and
BIOS setting can do this. Most could disable L2 in older boards. Not so many
now. The issue is the poster and his multi year track record of inanity,
deliberate stupidity and cluelessness. Do a google groups serach for
previous postings by Skybuck Flying and you'll get an inkling of what pisses
most of the n/g users off.

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?M=F6n=A7ig=F1or_=DFoddoM?=]

I looked in here and don't see a method of doing it directly.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/26094.PDF

It's purely a manual operation. First you need a Big F*****g Hammer....

--

The Mön§igñor

"Sir, I am unaware of any such activity or operation - nor would
I be disposed to discuss such an operation if it did in
fact exist, sir."

 

[SteveH]

Blocking SF is one of the wisest newsgroups actions a person can take.

I thought that once, but he's sooooo stupid, he's funny sometimes.

SteveH

 

[DaveW]

No. It is hardwired in the CPU.

 

[Kyle]

| Skybuck Flying wrote:
| > Hello,
| >
| > I own:
| >
| > an Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard
| > and
| > an Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ processor.
| >
| > I would like to see what effect turning off the L1 and/or the L2
cache for
| > the processor has on program performance.
| >
| > I checked the bios setup screen and I also checked the manual.
| >
| > I didn't find any options to turn it off (?)
| >
| > Is there a way to turn it off and back on again ?
| >
| > Bye,
| > Skybuck.
| >
| >
|
| I looked in here and don't see a method of doing it directly.
|
|
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/26094.PDF
|
| Paul

I note the above linked document *does* suggest the BIOS should enable
the cache via CR0 (pertaining to using the cache as system memory
during initialization), I did not find any specific detail on how this
is done programmatically. In the older k6+ CPUs (and other Intel
CPUs), the onboard cache could be enabled or disabled via the CD bit
of CR0. Seems to reason that a detailed review of the instruction set
for the processor should reveal how to accomplish the desired goal.

 

[Paul]

| Skybuck Flying wrote:
| > Hello,
| >
| > I own:
| >
| > an Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard
| > and
| > an Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ processor.
| >
| > I would like to see what effect turning off the L1 and/or the L2
cache for
| > the processor has on program performance.
| >
| > I checked the bios setup screen and I also checked the manual.
| >
| > I didn't find any options to turn it off (?)
| >
| > Is there a way to turn it off and back on again ?
| >
| > Bye,
| > Skybuck.
| >
| >
|
| I looked in here and don't see a method of doing it directly.
|
|
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/26094.PDF
|
| Paul

I note the above linked document *does* suggest the BIOS should enable
the cache via CR0 (pertaining to using the cache as system memory
during initialization), I did not find any specific detail on how this
is done programmatically. In the older k6+ CPUs (and other Intel
CPUs), the onboard cache could be enabled or disabled via the CD bit
of CR0. Seems to reason that a detailed review of the instruction set
for the processor should reveal how to accomplish the desired goal.

There are three arch docs, 24592, 24593, 24594, and this one details CR0
and CD. (PDF page 87.) So there is a cache disable, it just isn't detailed
in 26094. Good ole distributed documentation system

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/24593.pdf

Paul

 

[Skybuck Flying]

You are clueless Augustus.

My old pentium III 450 mhz board allows me to turn off L1 and L2 cache *

You also seem to ignore the valid points made by the poster... tut tut tut.

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[John Lewis]

Hello,

I own:

an Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard
and
an Athlon 64 X2 Manchester 3800+ processor.

I would like to see what effect turning off the L1 and/or the L2 cache for
the processor has on program performance.

er, why ? Think that they are not turned on in your system ?
Easy to check. Run Prime95 in the cache-only mode and check against
other benchmark results for your processor.

John Lewis

 

[geoff]

If went out and bought a new Z06 Corvette or Ferrari 430, you could always

pull 3 plug wires and drive around to get a feel for what would happen.

That is a must do, maybe they did not test enough before selling the cars,
lol.

-g