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. |
Impressive stuff.. every little bit helps :D |
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 :( ) |
so not for older motherboards? Like an MSI 5169 (alladin 5 chipset)? |
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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. |
blast! only APCI...totaly different ;) |
did a clean install with that tip, see if it works. mobo is Abit TH7IIR. keep you all posted :) thx mate... |
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 |
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! |
") 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 |
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 ;) |
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... |
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 |
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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. |
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. :) |
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 ;) |
maybe a noobish question, but does this also work with win2000? |
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) |
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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 |
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Run MSINFO32 and see if you have 22 IRQs :D |
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Ok mr. Overlord check your PM the link should be there. |
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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. |
the very latest oc bios (90355, or something like that)... will have a look later, pc is not hooked up as of now. |
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: |
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. |
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 |
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? |
What exactly does APIC?? I have an ECS K7S5AL mobo... I need a overclocking-BIOS...;) |
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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