Computer Audio Asylum

Posted by promethk (A) on August 07, 2008 at 02:08:32

In Reply to: RE: cPlay 1.0 Final (SSSE3) Released posted by cics on August 01, 2008 at 06:40:08

Thanks again for the great contributions!

Motivated by your earlier recommendations and design guidelines, I have been building my computer-audio player in the past few months with the following two sets of CPUs and motherboards:
Intel CPU E1200 and E7200
Asus mb P5K-VM (G33) and P5SD2-VM (SIS672)

I brought the G33-based board in March based on some testing results showing the G33 to be the lowest power consuming board of all recent intel based chipsets. Coupling the G33 with the E1200 and Juli@ gives much superior result to my previous setup using squeezebox to dac. However, the amount of heat coming out from the G33 chipset seems higher than those from the passive heatsink of the E1200.

When the E7200 first come out, I also got one with the P5SD2 (SIS) as a "cheap bundle". Using first the E1200 and replacing the G33 based board with the SIS board gives a more relaxed and organic music.

However, my experience of the E7200 is very much different to yours. My E7200 runs very hot at 50-65C c.f. the 30C of the E1200. The VID of the E7200 is 1.2125V which is on the high side of stated range of E7200, so perhaps I got a lemon. At stock voltage and F.S.Bus speed, I couldn't say there is any improvement in audio quality c.f. the E1200. As the SIS motherboard doesn't have bios tweaking options, I tried pin modding of the processor with partial success and manage to reduce the bus speed down to 200x4 MHz.

Here are some power measurements of the different setups as I believe they do play a role in quality playback and the figures scales well with the CPU utilization. Using a watt meter between wall socket and the audio PC,

46W on a E1200 with SIS chipset, foobar with 96k SRC
46W on a E7200 with SIS chipset, cPlay with 96k, 145.68db
50W on a E7200 with SIS chipset, cPlay with 192k, 145.68db
41W on a E7200 with SIS chipset, cPlay with 44.1k/48k, 145.68db
40W on a E7200 with SIS chipset, idle

There is a Juli@ card and a single piece of 2G Kingston RAM with a 2.5" harddisk and usb keyboard/mouse. E7200 at 1.2Ghz, FSB800.

My corsair hx620 power supply has about 80% efficiency at 10% output while my components are estimated to consume thirty something watts which is only 5-6% of its rated output and its efficiency could be much lower.

While I have thought that SSSE3 optimization could further lower CPU utilization and thus lower power draw, I could not found any difference from the non-optimized one.

Wishes:
Both cPlay and cMP do not support cuesheets with unicode filenames in it, where such cuesheets can be played without problem in various versions of foobars.

Edits: 08/07/08

• E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. - cics 07:38:04 08/07/08 (9)
  In Reply to: RE: cPlay 1.0 Final (SSSE3) Released posted by promethk on August 07, 2008 at 02:08:32

  Problem may well be with mobo - check CPU voltage setting. I know from other users of recommended Gigabyte mobo that setting CPU voltage to 'Auto' causes high voltages and temperatures. Mobo manufacturers seem to favor this due to OC. Rather use manual voltages.
  
  Thanks for the power readings. At 80% efficiency, that means 37 watts power consumption for E7200 doing 96k @ 145db SNR (40 watts at 192k). You should get this lower using Granite Digital PS, alternate USB ports and 1GB RAM. Also, make sure video settings are done as per manual (you want to disable video GPU in G33).
  
  Very interesting to see E7200 with high VID & temp is still more power efficient (E1200 does 37 watts for 96k @ 97db SNR - foobar).
  
  

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  • RE: E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. - promethk 08:59:25 08/07/08 (8)
    In Reply to: RE: E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. posted by cics on August 07, 2008 at 07:38:04

    I checked again the E7200 heatsink again. This time I am brave enough to use my fingers to touch the heat-pipe near the CPU directly, while expecting a burn, I feel nothing! So the E7200 sensor is malfunctioning as some users have already indicated in the internet.
    
    I checked the Kingston data sheets for the ram modules, the 2G that I have got is their lowest power 2G model, with only 1.975W while the corresponding 1G model is 1.872W, so the difference is only 0.1 W.
    
    On the next build, I am considering to install windows XP, to boot and operate entirely off a USB external harddisk, based on some "hack" on various configure files of windows XP that I found on the web. This will seperate the power as well as enable direct transfer of music I ripped from my other computer.
    
    

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    • RE: E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. - cics 00:14:58 08/08/08 (0)
      In Reply to: RE: E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. posted by promethk on August 07, 2008 at 08:59:25

      You could disable Thermal monitoring in BIOS - I do this as well as disable CIE function.
      
      RAM, USB stuff & ROM drive (not sure if you have one) all add load which is best when bypassed. Those few watts do add up. It would be interesting to see what power measures you get with this and VID at 1.12V. Any chance of using the Gigabyte mobo?
      
      Avoid USB mobo connection - measurements that I was doing for jitter showed 3db noise floor increase when USB component is connected.
      
      

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    • RE: E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. - ninekit 19:16:21 08/07/08 (6)
      In Reply to: RE: E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. posted by promethk on August 07, 2008 at 08:59:25

      Set to lowest core voltage, may I ask can you run 145db SRC @ 96k with e7200 passively cooled stock heatsink?
      
      Thanks
      
      

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      • RE: E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. - promethk 00:39:48 08/08/08 (4)
        In Reply to: RE: E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. posted by ninekit on August 07, 2008 at 19:16:21

        Well for my setup, it is not possible. But noting that different E7200 could have different default VID and mine is higher than the value posted here.
        
        My current motherboard is not flexible in voltage setting and the voltage is 1.2V. But my guess is that it is not possible because the stock intel heatsink is not very efficient, no copper and no heatpipe, very little fin for airflow. And the stock intel heatsink with fan off feels very hot. The increase in temp. will cause a rise in (dynamic) resistance, making the processor draws more power.
        
        With a cheap and tall aftermarket heatsink with copper heatpipe for passive cooling, the situation improves a lot so that heat will no longer be problem even with 192kHz processing.
        
        

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        • Check your Power Options setting (it must be Max Battery and not Home Office/Desktop). - cics 23:34:37 08/10/08 (3)
          In Reply to: RE: E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. posted by promethk on August 08, 2008 at 00:39:48

          Sometimes XP doesn't take the setting and must be redone. With Max Battery power scheme, VID must be lower than normal.
          
          

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          • Order of cmp build - theob 10:45:18 08/11/08 (2)
            In Reply to: RE: Check your Power Options setting (it must be Max Battery and not Home Office/Desktop). posted by cics on August 10, 2008 at 23:34:37

            Dear Cics, when one is building a cmp from 'scratch or the ground up' should one do the hardware set up in
            
            http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/3/33137.html
            
            first then do the Bios and Power set up from CMP documentation 'The art of Building a computer transport' second or vice versa? Or should it be simultaneous?
            
            

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            • Only do BIOS setup as per post - AOB refers to Biostar mobo. - cics 12:34:45 08/11/08 (1)
              In Reply to: RE: Order of cmp build posted by theob on August 11, 2008 at 10:45:18

              Power setup is as per AOB.
              
              

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              • RE: Only do BIOS setup as per post - AOB refers to Biostar mobo. - theob 16:01:04 08/11/08 (0)
                In Reply to: RE: Only do BIOS setup as per post - AOB refers to Biostar mobo. posted by cics on August 11, 2008 at 12:34:45

                thanks
                
                

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      • Yes, 145db SRC @ 96k with e7200 passively cooled is not a problem. - cics 00:19:03 08/08/08 (0)
        In Reply to: RE: E7200 should show VID of ~1.12V with temp ~25°C. posted by ninekit on August 07, 2008 at 19:16:21

        You can do this for all Core 2 Duo processors as long as passive cooling is good - no need to go overboard.
        
        My E6300 does 145db SRC @ 192k with passive cooling. Temp is ~65°C using Thermaltake heatsink. E7200 does ~25°C with Zalman case.
        
        

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• cuesheets for cMP - seger 04:03:26 08/07/08 (1)
  In Reply to: RE: cPlay 1.0 Final (SSSE3) Released posted by promethk on August 07, 2008 at 02:08:32

  Open the cuesheet. File > Save as. In the "Encoding" drop-down, select ANSI. Save. Let it replace the file. You now have a cuesheet that will play in cMP.
  
  

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  • RE: cuesheets for cMP - promethk 09:11:34 08/07/08 (0)
    In Reply to: RE: cuesheets for cMP posted by seger on August 07, 2008 at 04:03:26

    Thanks for the help! Yes, it work!
    
    I did try the ansi cuesheet without success with earlier version of CMP.
    
    

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