Re: Athlon/K7-Opimisation problems

["J. Dow" <jdow@earthlink.net>]

From: "Carsten Leonhardt" <leo@arioch.oche.de>

> Here's the data from the PSU's label:
> 
> Model: EG465P-VE
> DC Output: +3.3V: 38A
>            +5V  : 44A
>            +12V : 20A
>            -5V  : 2A
>            -12V : 1A
>            +5Vsb: 2.2A
>      +3.3V & 5V : 220W max

Hm, with CPUs running out close to 100 watts of late that number sounds
just a wee bit low of the rest of the system is a full set of power hungry
boards.

> I just switched the machine off for about 10min, and for good measure,
> jumpered the board to 100MHz FSB, so the CPU runs at 1050MHz (thus
> being well below the spec for the heatsink). It may have gotten a tad
> further in the boot process, but if so, not much. Luckily, it never
> reaches the point where filesystems get mounted rw...

10 minutes is not enough time to run temperatures WAY down. Leave it off
over night and power it up while cool in the AM. If it is temperature that
should so it up pretty clearly.

> Without the optimisation the machine runs smoothly with steady
> cpu-load generated by a distributed-net client.
> Currently I added a burnK7 and a burnMMX to the load, I'll see if the
> machine is still alive in the morning...

Far better is run burnK7 and burnMMX alternately in one second on one second
off cycles alternating the loads with each on second. This gives you the
dubious benefit of the voltage drops and raises that will happen when the
CPU load alters appreciably. With a constant load the voltage regulators can
compensate. It may be that the problem is related to voltage regulators that
cannot respond to transient loads properly. (I've been there. I have the tee-
shirt. I try to forget the experience. {^_-})

{^_^}