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-   -   Got APIC? (https://www.madshrimps.be/vbulletin/f18/got-apic-286/)

septimus 6th June 2002 22:33

Got APIC?
 
If you have yet to take advantage of this feature, read this article and then take the plunge:

1) Enable APIC in your BIOS
2) Boot from the Win XP CD (Should apply to Win2K)
3) When you get the "Press F6 if you need to..." (the SCSI driver prompt) press F5 instead
4) In the menu that comes up shortly after, scroll up with the arrow keys and choose "ACPI Uniprocessor PC"
5) Setup will ask if you want to use the Advanced System Recovery Console or install Windows XP, choose to install Windows XP
6) It will then tell you it found a previous installation on your disk and offer to repair it, choose this option (press R)
7) XP will get reinstalled with the new HAL and preserve everything else

Windows XP will not automatically detect and install the "ACPI Uniproessor PC" HAL by deafult sometimes or if you dont have it enabled, you must specify it during installation.
You may experience an increase of about 100-500 or more points in 3DMark2001 SE, your HDDs will somehow work much faster (esp. if u are running software or hardware RAID) when loading files, and you will suddenly not have any devices sharing IRQs now that you have 22(!) IRQs for your devices under APIC mode.

I have completed the above procedure without a hitch, but I have had some reports of BSOD during the reinstall process.

Notably, this is a feature common to nForce, KT266A, KT333 chipsets and multi-processor systems.

My experience with this is VERY positive, my 3DMark2001 score using the nForce IGP went from 2200's to 2600's. Windows works faster too. Give it a shot.

jASjE 6th June 2002 22:37

Impressive stuff..
every little bit helps :D

TerAngreal 6th June 2002 22:38

nice tip ... when time/experiences prove this one usefull, you'll surely be able to say you made yourself a sticky on the [M]adShrimps.com forums ! :D

(giving it a go in about ... 18 days :( )

DUR0N 6th June 2002 22:45

so not for older motherboards? Like an MSI 5169 (alladin 5 chipset)?

septimus 6th June 2002 22:52

Quote:

Originally posted by DUR0N
so not for older motherboards? Like an MSI 5169 (alladin 5 chipset)?
possibly. your manual or your BIOS should have something about APIC in it. If it doesnt, well... ;p

RichBa5tard 6th June 2002 23:05

Thanks mate, if this stuff really works I can shoot for #1 on the ORB with a GF DDR.

Worth giving a shot. Current result (non oc'ed): 3740 marks.

DUR0N 6th June 2002 23:08

blast! only APCI...totaly different ;)

Gamer 6th June 2002 23:11

did a clean install with that tip, see if it works.
mobo is Abit TH7IIR.
keep you all posted :)

thx mate...

jmke 6th June 2002 23:14

thanks for the :super: info! :)

Normally ACPI is installed by default first time you install 2000/XP if the hardware is capable

ACPI worked since (and way before) KT133A etc
but on those motherboards using ACPI and a SB Live! soundcard results in lock-ups/crackling sounds/corrupt files etc etc
disabling ACPI was the only way to make the SB live! (semi-)work with the KT133(A)

since then I installed all my workstations as


but normally since the KT266(A) and Abit KG7(with AMD761 chipset) those problem will not occur anymore

I still have to test if there is a BIG difference between the 2 modes ;)

http://hwfaq.overclockersonline.com/goto.php?id=1217

septimus 6th June 2002 23:56

APIC and ACPI are not the same thing. Why not have a look thru the article in my first post?
ACPI means Advanced Computer and Power Interface, whereas
APIC means Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller.

I just knew someone would confuse the two heh, both acronyms have the same letters :^D

Some more info:

When you choose to enable APIC, you might also have the choice of MPS version that goes with APIC. I chose 1.4, you will be able to choose between 1.1 and 1.4 :D

have fun!

jmke 7th June 2002 00:08

") In the menu that comes up shortly after, scroll up with the arrow keys and choose "ACPI Uniprocessor PC"
"

when I read this I assumed it was all about ACPI :bloos:
/me looks like a fool ;)

still :super: post from you though, mine however...just provided proof that I look can like a dumb-*** :D

septimus 7th June 2002 00:31

Well it seems that you need to use ACPI Uniprocessor PC to take advantage of the new interrupt controlling method that APIC provides. APIC and ACPI probably run side-by-side anyhow.

I'll make some benchmarks and post them soon ;)

RichBa5tard 7th June 2002 00:54

Well, I tried the thingie and had BSOD all over the place. I couldn't even boot windows in safe mode.

I tried undoing it by following the same procedure but instead of installing the "acpi uniprocessor" i chose the standard one. No luck. Had to reïnstall windows all over again.

For those who wanna try this thing: be sure to have made a backup...

jmke 7th June 2002 00:59

will try it on my spare Abit KX7 system first then ;-)
when I come back from Spain I'll finish the ramrev, then I'll try the tricky

septimus 7th June 2002 01:08

Quote:

Originally posted by RichBa5tard
Well, I tried the thingie and had BSOD all over the place. I couldn't even boot windows in safe mode.

I tried undoing it by following the same procedure but instead of installing the "acpi uniprocessor" i chose the standard one. No luck. Had to reïnstall windows all over again.

For those who wanna try this thing: be sure to have made a backup...

Are you able to do a full repair re-install? By that I mean letting the install start normally and then let it get to the license agreement where you press F8? After that screen it should ask if you want to repair the installation in a listed path. If you do that you wont lose your registry and can resume normally i think.

RichBa5tard 7th June 2002 01:56

Quote:

Originally posted by septimus


Are you able to do a full repair re-install? By that I mean letting the install start normally and then let it get to the license agreement where you press F8? After that screen it should ask if you want to repair the installation in a listed path. If you do that you wont lose your registry and can resume normally i think.

Yup, i tried that... twice. :grum:

septimus 7th June 2002 02:03

Arrgh sorry to hear that. I wonder what sort of BSOD you got? IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS_THAN errors?

I guess if you have alot of data you dont want to lose by chance, make an ASR backup to another HDD or GHOST your installation before doing the APIC route.

I know that many before you that tried to do it on a KR7A found things to be unstable.

on the other hand, many got big performance boosts, especially to their RAID performance.

Since my system is made up to 100% on board stuff (nForce) I guess its much easier to have a successful install of ACPI Uniprocessor PC HAL.

RichBa5tard 7th June 2002 02:20

Well, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Most tweaks for boosting 3D Mark score won't work, or will even mess up your HW. So I'm not sad I tried it, there was only one way to know: trail & error. :)

I've got a KR7A... i removed all PCI cards, didn't work either.

I'll try again next time I do a completely fresh install. :)

septimus 13th June 2002 06:42

Preliminary Benchmark Results!
Using APIC version 1.4

Using 3DMark2001
Before APIC: 2237
After APIC: 2637

Using PCMark2002
Before: 3731 CPU, 3421 MEM, 347 HDD
After:3759 CPU, 3450 MEM, 416 HDD

Using Sandra 2002 (latest ver)
CPU Arithmetic:
Before: 3663/1821
After: 3682/1831

CPU Multimedia:
Before: 7276/8059
After:7309/8112

File System:
Before: 15715
After: 12187

Memory Bandwidth
Before: 1703/1701
After: 1718/1713

My 3DMark2001 score went up alot! :D

The machine to me feels like it processes much faster and i dont suffer from the same wait times that I was used to before the change to APIC. The difference seems negligible, but i personally find ANY addition to performance for FREE welcome!
just so you know, ALL of my devices, are onboard, including my video (the nForce IGP) and sound (the nForce MCP-D)

Everyone that I know that tried using APIC on their VIA KT266a or KT333 chipset mobos were largely unsuccesful installing or even running Windows XP with APIC enabled. I wonder what is causing all the trouble?

I must reccomend against those with VIA chipset based motherboards that have APIC capability to avoid using APIC altogether... but hey, you can experiement if you like ;)

PlayboY 13th June 2002 14:59

maybe a noobish question, but does this also work with win2000?

ChAoS Overlord 13th June 2002 15:07

sh*t, I would like to give this a shot... But I've got a KT333 and I don't want to f*ck my pc up...

How do I know wether my pc has been configured with APIC ON allready? (I haven't installed winxp on it myself, the shop did it for me :D)

septimus 13th June 2002 16:20

Quote:

Originally posted by PlayboY
maybe a noobish question, but does this also work with win2000?
I think that it does. Not sure tho. I'll pop in my win2k disc tonight and see if I can do the F5 thing and find the ACPI Uniprocessor PC selection.

I STRONGLY RECCOMEND FOR ALL VIA CHIPSET USERS:

1.To either make backups before taking the plunge
2.Try installing WinXP with ALL of your peripherals, other than HDD and Video, removed and then work up from there, on a separate partition or something so you dont lose valuable data.

I really don't know what causes the VIA chipsets to crash and BSOD all over the place, maybe its memory timings?

Also, If you have an ECS K7S5A motherboard, PM me and I will send you an updated BIOS that adds APIC support! Sweet! :o

septimus 13th June 2002 16:21

Quote:

Originally posted by ChAoS Overlord
sh*t, I would like to give this a shot... But I've got a KT333 and I don't want to f*ck my pc up...

How do I know wether my pc has been configured with APIC ON allready? (I haven't installed winxp on it myself, the shop did it for me :D)


Run MSINFO32 and see if you have 22 IRQs :D

ChAoS Overlord 13th June 2002 16:33

Quote:

Originally posted by septimus
Also, If you have an ECS K7S5A motherboard, PM me and I will send you an updated BIOS that adds APIC support! Sweet! :o
My 2nd computer is a 2000+ based on a K7S5A mb, is this mobo overclockable too? Is it the latest OC bios? Do you have an official site for that bios?

septimus 14th June 2002 07:55

Ok mr. Overlord check your PM the link should be there.

ChAoS Overlord 14th June 2002 09:50

Quote:

Originally posted by septimus
Ok mr. Overlord check your PM the link should be there.
I installed the latest overclockerbios frow www.ocworkbench.com but I don't find a feature in the bios to "activate APIC"? Is it on by default and doesn't show in the bios screen?

septimus 14th June 2002 21:08

which version did you install? I have a ECS K7S5A as well, and I have an option called IO APIC in the CPU PnP setup menu.

ChAoS Overlord 14th June 2002 22:36

the very latest oc bios (90355, or something like that)... will have a look later, pc is not hooked up as of now.

Erik701 14th June 2002 22:38

I also have a system running on an ECS K7S5A, with an illegal bios that enables OC'ing, is it still possible with that bios with APIC support ? If so, pls send me a link. :ws:

septimus 14th June 2002 23:35

OK, here is the link for the ECS K7S5A unofficial BIOS that allows overclocking and APIC as well!

http://www.ocworkbench.com/bios/ecs/k7s5a/Chb0429f.zip

Have fun, be careful.

Erik701 15th June 2002 09:36

this is for the K7S5A and not the K7S5AL is it ?
btw, this bord has a nice feature to restore the bios, in case you screw it. :D

beki 15th June 2002 11:57

If you say recent boards how recent is that? (u never know with pc stuff) 'cause I have an EPOX 8KHA+ and I don't seem to be able to find APIC. Am I looking over it or isn't it there. If it isn't there do you have a link for a APIC-BIOS?

cR00zIFI><3r 15th June 2002 14:06

What exactly does APIC??
I have an ECS K7S5AL mobo...
I need a overclocking-BIOS...;)

septimus 15th June 2002 22:34

The APIC BIOS that I posted above is for the ECS K7S5A with LAN, but you can flash your non-lan version with that file. Just disable the on-board LAN in BIOS and there will be no difference.

Also, the BIOS adds ALOT of AWESOME options, like lower ram timings, and FSB adjustments all the way to 166MHz! :super:

The IO APIC Support option is in the CPU PnP Setup menu. You then need to go thru the process I posted in my first post on this thread.

Have fun ;)


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