AMD Motherboards: Processor Support
by Wesley Fink on June 28, 2005 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Updating DC BIOS & Revision E Memory
Updating BIOS for Dual Core with an x2 ProcessorThis brings up the nagging question that is always asked when BIOS upgrades are required for certain CPUs. What do you do if you have a board that needs a BIOS upgrade for dual-core and you only have a dual-core chip? We asked AMD this question and got the following reply:
"If the BIOS you are working with (original BIOS in the board) supports a rev E single core (AKA... 90nm as most new boards should), it will allow you to flash the BIOS to a BIOS that supports rev E dual core. In my experience, a DC processor with single core rev E support will run fine, but only as a single core. If the BIOS doesn't support rev E (In other words, you may have a good board, but the BIOS is pretty old), you will likely need to install a pre-rev E (AKA-130nm) AMD processor to flash the BIOS.
I'm told that if a customer can't flash their BIOS, many mobo vendors will mail out the BIOS chip to them (if it's not soldered down, obviously)"
Revision E Memory Controller PLUS 4 Dimms =
The memory timings, in the end, are controlled by the memory controller, and in the case of Athlon 64 that memory controller is on the processor. We had already been told by AMD that Rev. E would feature a new and improved memory controller. In fact for months prior to the release of the new Revision E Athlon 64 processors (Venice, San Diego, Toledo) we have been hearing that the new memory controller on the Rev. E chips would allow the use of 4 dimms at the faster 1T Command Rate.
With the 4200+ x2 in our DFI LANParty nForce4 SLI test bed with a working dual-core BIOS (6/23/05) we tried 4 matched PC3200 OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 dimms. Four double-sided (or double- bank) dimms STILL require a 2T command rate in this configuration, so the limitation stills remains. Four DS Dimms in a Rev. E still need a Command Rate of 2.
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Anton74 - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
Actually the ECS KN1 also seems to have nForce4 Ultra, not nForce4 as listed?http://www.ecsusa.com/products/kn1_spec.html
Anton74 - Thursday, June 30, 2005 - link
#40 / Wesley,I've noticed that out of all the nForce4 equipped boards on the list of supporting motherboards, there's only 1 with the nForce4 Ultra chipset, the Asus A8N-E (which by the way does also support rev. E4 according to the linked AMD page). The vast majority is either nForce4 of nForce4 SLI. Coincidence?
The ones that do support E3/E4/E6 are all some flavor of nForce4.
I was looking at an nForce4 Ultra board, with a dual core either now or in the future, so I'm very much looking forward to that roundup before making a decision. Looks like I may have to consider other nForce4 flavors as well. I'm also hoping to figure out if I can at least make the thing run long enough to do a BIOS update if needed, otherwise I might be in trouble, with no other Athlon 64's at hand. It's hard to tell what BIOS version one can expect when buying from an online retailer.
Why is it by the way that others, such as the EPoX 9NPA* Ultra which I was considering, do claim revision E support with a BIOS update on their web site, but didn't make it onto AMD's list? Do they not fully support the new CPU's as claimed?
Great article by the way.
BPB - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
From what I see on MSI's site the RS480M2-IL is in testing for X2 support, they do not say it is supported. Should I chance it?Markfw900 - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
I have bios 1.95 on my neo2 with a 4400+ working perfectly. Its a beta, and not on the MSI site. Duvie found it for me.T2k - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
On NF3 concerns: my NF3 Pro-based Gigabyte GA-K8NSNXP-939 is fine with X2 after you flashed the latest BIOS, confirmed by Gigabyte.nserra - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
I think its a little risky using the 1T rate with 4 banks, even if works "fine", AMD (or the mobo maker) cant afford to lose some stability even if slightly.bupkus - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
Link to next article, "A Look at Solaris 10 and Sun's Dual Core Fire V40z", is brokern.Wesley Fink - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
Zebo - Actually I'm finishing an nF4 Ultra roundup that should post in the next few days. The Abit Fatal1ty AN8 is one of the boards in the roundup.arswihart - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
Zebo - Think again. On AOAforums, the user LBJGH recently had a discussion with the Epox support staff, who said, concerning the new BIOS with X2 support for the 9nda3+, "we should have it ready by next week."Read this quote and the whole thread here:
http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31...
Zebo - Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - link
Thanks a lot wes, great fact finding mission..It looks like I'll finally have to upgrade to PCIe since my epox 9NDA does'nt support dual core. Do you know if ASUS has fixed thier 1T cmd issue at high HTT?? Also would you guys review ABIT AN8 Ultra as it seems to be the only passive chipset design and at xtreme guys seem to be hitting 300+ HTT even so. Only thing I don't like is mem proximity in dual channel which makes cooling difficult..