AMD Overdrive 2.0.14 Beta and the TLB

[Debello]

techPowerup (http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/906/AMD_Overdrive_2.0.14_Beta.html) has the AMD Overdrive 2.0.14 Beta which now has signed drivers for Vista 64 users. The Turbo button has been enabled to Enable or disable the Bios TLB fix for Phenoms.

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/5879/aodbuttonssh4.jpg
By using the 'turbo' button one can disable the TLB BIOS patch when using the yellow or red 'turbo' settings. By pressing the turbo button the ring around the button will change color as seen in the picture above. We asked AMD what the different settings on the turbo button do and we were informed the following.

Green = safe
Yellow = faster
Red = fastest
It doesn't adjust any clock speeds.

We asked AMD if they could go into more details on what exactly these settings are doing, but it has been days and they have not commented. To be honest we have asked more than one person in AMD what these settings do and either they don't know or don't reply.



Legit Reviews (http://www.legitreviews.com/article/618/1/) has a nice right up on the TLB fix.

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9908/pcmarkvantagejz7.jpg

Using the PCMark Vantage test suite the difference between having the TLB patch workaround enabled and disabled was night and day. The system didn't feel any slower on the test bench, but the results showed differently. The performance difference ranged from 2% to 11.7% depending on the testing. It's obvious that the TLB workaround impacts performance.

Thanks for Kyle over at Hardocp (http://hardocp.com/news.html?news=Mjk4MjUsLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=) for linking the article.

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Here is a couple of 3dMark runs I made with the Bios fix turned off and on. Settings for the runs was 1920x1600 4AA 16AF Phenom 9500@2.4Ghz

There is really no impact on performance when running at a high resolution
ONGreen
10199 (http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=4314674)
OFFRed
10252 (http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=4315289)
I havent ran one with Yellow yet.

When I get time I will run the Cysis Time Demo to see if there is a differance.

[mkgriff2008]

I download it but can't get it to work with my Gigabyte MA790X-DS4 motherboard. I'm using vista 32 and a phenom 2.2. The program opens but doesn't allow me to adjust anything also the novice bar is locked. I can press the turbo button but it doesn't seem to do anything. It shows all my system information except the on board monitor my memory frequency only shows in that box. I updated my bios but I'm guessing Gigabyte doen't have bios that work with this yet? I have all the hardwhare for the spider system and even 8500 ram but can't get this to work. Should I install xp instead of vista?

[Debello]

Are you running AOD in admin mode? You can check if your bios has the TLB fix by following this guide Howto disable the tlb-fix with CrystalCPU (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=171105). The latest Bios should have the TLB fix also some 790 boards are having issues with DDR-1066 there are new BIOs on the way to fix the issue.

Here are the Crysis CPU benchmarks with the TLB turned on and off.

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/8310/tlbchartcrysiswx3.jpg

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/2118/systemia7.jpg

[mkgriff2008]

I updated bios and am running under the adminstrator login in vista. Most of the advanced options work and I see all the options for the memory. But auto-clock and the slide novice bar is still locked. Do I need to change anything in my bios? I would really like to get this program to work since I have a complete spider build with a 2.2 phenom, gigabyte 790x mobo, crossfire 3850, and kingston 8500 1066 :) . I haven't played around with any of the advanced options but will in the next couple days. I would like to get the novice mode working because I'm not comfortable yet at touching the processor I'm a newb.

[Debello]

In Novice mode all you have access to is the slider no other changes are able to be made. You need to enable advanced mode to make any tweaks.

[mkgriff2008]

cool, thanks

[Blacklash]

I tried the CPU test in 3dmark06 and plain green was about 250pnts less vs orange with the red circle. Yellow around green was about 40pnts less than orange with red. My system seems to default to green with the yellow circle and I can click it off via AoD with no problem though. I was running the CPU @ a flat 2.4GHz.

If you're looking for a compromise green with the yellow circle or "faster" seems to be the way to go.

I've had zero problems with this rig and like it a lot.

[Debello]

I tried the CPU test in 3dmark06 and plain green was about 250pnts less vs orange with the red circle. Yellow around green was about 40pnts less than orange with red. My system seems to default to green with the yellow circle and I can click it off via AoD with no problem though. I was running the CPU @ a flat 2.4GHz.

If you're looking for a compromise green with the yellow circle or "faster" seems to be the way to go.

I've had zero problems with this rig and like it a lot.

If you want to see a clearer differnce between Red, yellow and green. Open up the Winrar benchmark and cycle throught the different colors while it runs.