[Tfug] BIOS settings for an AMD motherboard

[John Gruenenfelder]

Hello again,

My sister just bought a new computer with an AMD CPU.  I've been
configuring and setting it up for her, but I'm having trouble finding
information on a number of the BIOS settings as well as making sure the
memory is at the correct speed.  I haven't used an AMD system since my old
Athlon64 and it didn't have most of these options.

In one of the DRAM menus, I see settings like "node interleave" (different
from bank interleave), "CS rank spare", and "Bank swizzle mode".  I have no
idea what these are and Google has been little help.  Most of the search
hits are from overclocker forums, but people there never know what these
are or why a particular setting is technically correct.  They do it all
based on trial and error, though they do have the redeeming quality of
stress testing any change they try.  Does anybody know what these should be
set to, or, even better, why?

The BIOS setup defaults work, but these are usually failsafe settings
intended for compatibility over everything else.  For example, nearly every
BIOS with SATA support defaults to setting the SATA ports to IDE mode.  It
works, yes, but unless you have a very good reason this should always be
set to AHCI mode for much better performance.  I imagine a lot of the other
BIOS settings are like this.

I've also got a question about memory timings.  If left to the BIOS auto
settings, the memory is clocked at 1333 MHz via the SPD data.  But this
memory is actually 1600 MHz.  Fortunately, there is an option for DRAM
overclock (under a CPU overclock menu for some reason), and this let's me
pick a "profile" which clocks the memory to 1600 MHz.  I'm pretty sure this
profile info is supplied by the RAM modules because it sets all the timings
and the voltage to exactly what the packaging says.

Anyway, the BIOS boot up display now says the memory is at 1600 MHz, but
memtest86+ says that it is clocked at 800 (actually, 2x400).  If I leave
the memory at the auto settings then both the BIOS and memtest86+ agree
that the memory is running at 1333 MHz.  I don't know why there is a
difference.

Does anybody know of a Linux tool to check the actual RAM timings and
speed?  Many of the OC forums suggest using CPU-z, but unfortunately it is
a Windows program.  I know I can use the i2c-tools to probe the RAM's
EEPROM, but I think this will just report the SPD data and not the actual
settings.

--John Gruenenfelder
Systems Manager, MKS Imaging Technology, LLC.
Try Weasel Reader for PalmOS -- http://weaselreader.org
"This is the most fun I've had without being drenched in the blood of my
enemies!"
--Sam of Sam & Max
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