Calling all Abit SE6 users

[Tom Pico]

While benchmarking my new PIII 700E on Sandra 2001 I noticed that my memory benchmark was way below the Sandra comparables. Seems strange. Another SE6 user (broadkipa) reports similar results. Would appreciate other SE6 users running a Sandra memory benchmark on their system and reporting the result. Perhaps someone is getting a much better result and we could benefit by finding out why. Perhaps there is some BIOS or Windows setting affecting this. Also, if you know of any other memory benchmarking programs that could be used to check Sandra's numbers, that info would be appreciated. I ran the bench on both Sandra 2000 & 2001 - no difference. I also ran on both the original SK BIOS and the most recent BIOS upgrade (VK) - no difference.

Please list your CPU, CPU speed, bus speed, amount and type of RAM, OS and any other info you consider relevant.

My system:
PIII 700E@980MHz (140FSB)
512MB PC133 cas2 RAM, Micron Tech chip
Windows 98se (full install)

Sandra results:
IntMMX/Ram - 209 MB/s
FPU - 205 MB/s

By old Asus P3V4X with a PII 400@450 and 192 MB of PC133, cas 3 Ram gets 350/348 MB/s - 209/205 MB/s is pretty embarrassing.

Also, I don't see any sluggishness in my system related to this memory issue. If you see any impact that these low MB/s numbers have on your system, would appreciate hearing about it.

[RobRich]

Try setting the "SDRAM Cycle Time/TRC" to 5/7 for improved memory performance with the SE6. Otherwise, the SE6 offers little in the way of BIOS optimizations for memory performance outside of using a software chipset programming application, such as H.Oda's WCPREDIT/SET.

Good Luck,
Robert Richmond

[Tom Pico]

Yo!
Rob,
On the job,
As usual.
That's Rich!

A little poetry to brighten our day - a haiku, I think. (Actually. I wouldn't know a haiku if I was sitting on one.) Anyway, thanks for the reply Rob. I tried the 5/7 setting. My machine won't boot into Windows with the 5/7 setting. I was using the 6/8 setting (2-2-2) with the original BIOS (SK) and when I installed the latest BIOS (VK)the 6/8 setting disappearred to be replaced by a 7/9 setting. Since the 5/7 doesn't work for me I tried the 7/9 expecting an even lower benchmark. I actaully picked up a few MB/s's to the 209/205 mentioned in my first post.

I picked up H.Oda's program and checked out an article on using it (on a VIA chipset). But I can't see any setting changes that might affect memory speed that are not alreay available in the BIOS settings. Do you know of any register changes that would improve the i815 chipset speed. The interleave settings discussed in the VIA article do not appear available for the i815.
Of course, Oda's program comes without documentation so there is no info within the program to guide anyone using it. If it wasn't for the VIA article I read, it would have been totally meaningless.

Do you know of any other memory benchmarking programs that provide MB/s readings that could be compared with Sandra?

Thanks for the info.

[This message has been edited by Tom Pico (edited 03-07-2001).]

[Tom Pico]

Well, I guess there are only two SE6 users on this forum. Anyone else interested in this issue (never mind what I'm smoking!) might want to check out the Abit SE6 Main Memory Clock discussion that broadkipa and I have been having and check out the Google link noted by broadkipa. Looks like this is a SE6 problem and not much (if anything) to be done about it. Oh, well if this is my only problem ...