In message <vsni739hs75j92m52qhom0t9o3ej5fpeib@4ax.com> Mark
<ihatespam@spam.spam.spam.spam> wrote:
>I have a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 m/b with Intel C2D E6420 CPU. According
>to the supplied utility Vcore A varies between 1.210 and 1.370V.
>
>Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
I wouldn't trust the motherboard's voltage reading until proven
accurate, although I can't speak to that motherboard specifically.
--
If quitters never win, and winners never quit,
what fool came up with, "Quit while you're ahead"?
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:13:00 +0100, Mark
<ihatespam@spam.spam.spam.spam> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>Hi,
>
>I have a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 m/b with Intel C2D E6420 CPU. According
>to the supplied utility Vcore A varies between 1.210 and 1.370V.
>
>Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
>
>TIA, Mark
I think Speedstep could be dynamically changing the core voltage in
line with CPU usage.
- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
--
---------------------
DaveW
"Mark" <ihatespam@spam.spam.spam.spam> wrote in message
news:vsni739hs75j92m52qhom0t9o3ej5fpeib@4ax.com...
> Hi,
>
> I have a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 m/b with Intel C2D E6420 CPU. According
> to the supplied utility Vcore A varies between 1.210 and 1.370V.
>
> Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
>
> TIA, Mark
>
Franc Zabkar wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:13:00 +0100, Mark
> <ihatespam@spam.spam.spam.spam> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 m/b with Intel C2D E6420 CPU. According
>> to the supplied utility Vcore A varies between 1.210 and 1.370V.
>>
>> Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
>>
>> TIA, Mark
>
> I think Speedstep could be dynamically changing the core voltage in
> line with CPU usage.
>
> - Franc Zabkar
I think RMClock has a FID/VID display, and it will show Speedstep activity.
Correlate Speedstep with the monitor chip readings.
There are two kinds of voltage variation. There is the variation caused
dynamically by Speedstep, where the processor writes a different VID value
to the regulator. But there is also the "load line" for the processor.
The more current the processor draws, the lower the voltage drops - the
slope of that curve is the output impedance of the regulator. And by
design, the impedance is not made to be zero, but some finite value.
Checking the data sheet for the processor, will show a plot of current
versus voltage, along with two lines representing the highest and lowest
load line allowed.
So just looking at the instantaneous voltage reading from the monitor
chip, in isolation from all else, doesn't tell you a lot.
On Thu, 21 Jun 2007 07:36:37 +1000, Franc Zabkar
<fzabkar@iinternode.on.net> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:13:00 +0100, Mark
><ihatespam@spam.spam.spam.spam> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>I have a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 m/b with Intel C2D E6420 CPU. According
>>to the supplied utility Vcore A varies between 1.210 and 1.370V.
>>
>>Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
>>
>>TIA, Mark
>
>I think Speedstep could be dynamically changing the core voltage in
>line with CPU usage.
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:30:12 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.com> put
finger to keyboard and composed:
>Franc Zabkar wrote:
>> On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:13:00 +0100, Mark
>> <ihatespam@spam.spam.spam.spam> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I have a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 m/b with Intel C2D E6420 CPU. According
>>> to the supplied utility Vcore A varies between 1.210 and 1.370V.
>>>
>>> Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
>>>
>>> TIA, Mark
>>
>> I think Speedstep could be dynamically changing the core voltage in
>> line with CPU usage.
>>
>> - Franc Zabkar
>
>I think RMClock has a FID/VID display, and it will show Speedstep activity.
>Correlate Speedstep with the monitor chip readings.
>
>http://cpu.rightmark.org/download/rmclock_225_bin.exe
>
>Picture of a typical display.
>
>http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/6...dchange2hl.jpg
Thanks for that.
>There are two kinds of voltage variation. There is the variation caused
>dynamically by Speedstep, where the processor writes a different VID value
>to the regulator. But there is also the "load line" for the processor.
>The more current the processor draws, the lower the voltage drops - the
>slope of that curve is the output impedance of the regulator. And by
>design, the impedance is not made to be zero, but some finite value.
>Checking the data sheet for the processor, will show a plot of current
>versus voltage, along with two lines representing the highest and lowest
>load line allowed.
FWIW, the Vcore for my Athlon XP 2500 CPU drops from 1.65V at idle to
1.63V at full load. This represents a 1% variation. The OP is seeing
about 12%. Of course the reading depends on where it is taken, ie
whether the test point is closer to the regulator or to the CPU, so
the comparison may be inconclusive.
I'm using CPUIdle and CPU Burn-in for my tests.
>So just looking at the instantaneous voltage reading from the monitor
>chip, in isolation from all else, doesn't tell you a lot.
>
> Paul
AIUI, Vcore is regulated right at the CPU (see page 6), with current
sensing occurring immediately upstream. I don't see any intentional
series impedance, ie I can't see any load line, although I expect that
the copper traces would present some finite resistance.
- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:30:12 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.com> wrote:
>Franc Zabkar wrote:
>> On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:13:00 +0100, Mark
>> <ihatespam@spam.spam.spam.spam> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I have a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 m/b with Intel C2D E6420 CPU. According
>>> to the supplied utility Vcore A varies between 1.210 and 1.370V.
>>>
>>> Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
>>>
>>> TIA, Mark
>>
>> I think Speedstep could be dynamically changing the core voltage in
>> line with CPU usage.
>>
>> - Franc Zabkar
>
>I think RMClock has a FID/VID display, and it will show Speedstep activity.
>Correlate Speedstep with the monitor chip readings.
>
>http://cpu.rightmark.org/download/rmclock_225_bin.exe
>
Thanks. This utility shows Vcore to be 1.350 nearly all of the time,
only very occasionally dropping lower.
On Thu, 21 Jun 2007 16:33:25 +1000, Franc Zabkar
<fzabkar@iinternode.on.net> wrote:
>On Thu, 21 Jun 2007 07:36:37 +1000, Franc Zabkar
><fzabkar@iinternode.on.net> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>
>>On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:13:00 +0100, Mark
>><ihatespam@spam.spam.spam.spam> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>I have a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 m/b with Intel C2D E6420 CPU. According
>>>to the supplied utility Vcore A varies between 1.210 and 1.370V.
>>>
>>>Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
>>>
>>>TIA, Mark
>>
>>I think Speedstep could be dynamically changing the core voltage in
>>line with CPU usage.
>
>Or maybe it is caused by this:
>
>CPU Intelligent Accelerator 2 (C.I.A. 2)
>http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/...25_PX_CIA2.htm
On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 18:26:05 +0100, Mark
<ihatespam@spam.spam.spam.spam> wrote:
>On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:30:12 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.com> wrote:
>
>>Franc Zabkar wrote:
>>> On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:13:00 +0100, Mark
>>> <ihatespam@spam.spam.spam.spam> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I have a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 m/b with Intel C2D E6420 CPU. According
>>>> to the supplied utility Vcore A varies between 1.210 and 1.370V.
>>>>
>>>> Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
>>>>
>>>> TIA, Mark
>>>
>>> I think Speedstep could be dynamically changing the core voltage in
>>> line with CPU usage.
>>>
>>> - Franc Zabkar
>>
>>I think RMClock has a FID/VID display, and it will show Speedstep activity.
>>Correlate Speedstep with the monitor chip readings.
>>
>>http://cpu.rightmark.org/download/rmclock_225_bin.exe
>>
>Thanks. This utility shows Vcore to be 1.350 nearly all of the time,
>only very occasionally dropping lower.
VcoreA voltage varies 
Linear Mode
