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In Reply to: RE: cMP - the open source high-end Memory Player posted by cics on December 30, 2007 at 05:42:01
Further refinements for cMP is documented here - ignore BIOS changes.This post covers all optimizations necessary for cMP² (cMP + cPlay) using Gigabyte's GA-G31M-S2L mobo and Intel's E7200 processor. There's no need to review previous posts here or in cPlay's thread.
cMP² using SRC @ 145db SNR betters previous best setup (Biostar P4M900, E1200, cMP, cPlay 1.0b19). E7200's suitability for audio is superior to previous best (E1200) irrespective of CPU load requirements.
Overall Setup
- PCI card must be installed in slot 1 (closest to CPU) to ensure dedicated interrupt. Slot 2 forces interrupt sharing - avoid this!
- Use high quality RAM - a minimum of 1GB is recommended. Best results are gained using a single 1GB RAM module. cMP setup gives ~920MB available RAM.
- Update Gigabyte BIOS to F6x (Download found under "Additional files"). Refer to Gigabyte manual on how 2.
GA-G31M-S2L BIOS Setup
Each point below refers to BIOS menu item. Before applying BIOS changes, perform "Load Fail-Safe Defaults" followed by "Load Optimized Defaults".System installation can be done before or after these changes.
In BIOS main menu, press [Ctrl]+F1 keys to access advanced BIOS settings. Items in red are high risk and requires a low temperature CPU setup.
- Standard CMOS Features
Disable Drive A (floppy disk drive)- Advanced BIOS Features
Disable:
- HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability
- No-Execute Memory Protect
- CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)
- CPU Thermal Monitor (TM2)
Make sure CPU EIST Function is Enabled
Set Init Display First to Onboard
Set Onbaord VGA to Always Enable- Integrated Peripherals
Set On-Chip SATA Mode to Non-Combined
Disable Azalia codec, Onboard LAN Boot ROM, Serial & Parallel ports
Disable Onboard H/W LAN, SMART LAN (if not using networking functionality)
Disable USB 2.0 Controller (if NOT using USB soundcard)
Enable USB Keyboard and/or Mouse support if needed- Power Management Setup
Set ACPI Suspend Type to S1
Disable PME Event Wake-Up, Power On by Ring, Resume by Alarm, HPET Support- PnP/PCS Configuration
Set PCI Latency Timer (CLK) to 128 (maximum benefit is gained when ASIO latency is below 64 samples)- PC Health Status
Disable CPU Smart FAN Control (if no Fan is used)
Disable CPU Warning Temperature
Disbale Thermal Throttle TEMP- MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.)
Set CPU Clock Ratio to 9
Set fine control to 0.5
Disable Spread SpectrumEnable CPU Host Clock Control
Set CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) to 175 - this sets FSB to 700Mhz (BIOS should reflect max CPU frequency of 1.66GHz). (Highest setting recommended is 180)Set System Memory Multiplier (SPD) to 2 - this sets RAM speed to 350
Set DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) to AutoSet FSB DeOverVoltage Control to -0.15V
Set CPU Voltage Control to 1.12500VThis is an initail value. Depending on mobo / CPU manufacturing, lower voltages can be set and is better. Iteratively try lower voltages. Lowest voltage recommended is 0.87500V - this allows for stable operations. Some setups will NOT go below 1.00625V, in which case BIOS must be reset from CMOS - refer to Gigabyte manual for How 2 (be sure to disconnect power when doing this procedure).Best results achieved with lowest voltage giving stable operations as power consumption is reduced. For safe passive CPU cooling, a voltage of 0.95000V or lower is recommended.
Set CPU GTLREF Voltage Ratio to 0.636 (default) / 0.603 / 0.566 / 0.540 [each to be tested]
Only test this option once above CPU Voltage has been set to lowest stable value. Impact to sound quality is significant and there's no 'right' setting for GTLREF ratio. Depending on CPU voltage, a specific ratio is best. I get best results with 0.566 using CPU voltage of 0.87500V for 24/192k output.Perform Save & Exit.
Using latest CPU-Z (1.45) utility, you should get:
CPU at 1.05Ghz, FSB @ 700MHz, Vcc depends on above CPU voltage (and is always lower). Only CPU-Z version 1.45 or later will recognize the E7200.Allow for at least 48 hours of burn-in (this applies to existing setups as well).
System Devices
Under System Devices, disable the following:
- Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) - PCI Express Root Port - 27D0
- Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) - SMBus Controller - 27DA
When SMBus Controller is disabled, System Restart will not work - you can only perform a System Shutdown (and power-up).- Intel(R) 82802G Firmware Hub Device
- Numeric Data Processor
- Microcode Update Device
Power Settings in Windows XP SP2 Professional
Under Power Option from Control Panel, Set Power Scheme to "Max Battery".Kernel Optimisations
See section 4.14 in AOB Computer Transports version 0.3 for more details. Add "/3GB" which gives more available RAM (~30MB).Registry Optimisation (Priority Setting)
Locate following in registry:HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\PriorityControl\Win32PrioritySeparationIf priority was set for 'Background Processes' the value is 18, change to 28. Note these are hexadecimal values and correct setting must reflect as 0x00000028(40). Reboot.
Edits: 09/08/08 09/08/08 09/09/08 09/11/08 09/18/08
I managed to find the info in the notes for a previous release - loaded - not yet working - I do not seem to have any .cue files in my 250GB library!!
> > "I do not seem to have any .cue files in my 250GB library!!"
Welcome to the club - I had over a TB of (flac compressed) data w/out cuesheets. Probably the easiest way to create them for cPlay is to use the "foo_cuesheet_creator.dll" component for Foobar. You should find details of how to use it on this list.
Best
Dave
Dave many thanks for that - I did not fancy typing them in - just tried to get EAC to create a .cue file from a disc - takes longer than ripping! Got hold of foo_cuesheet_creator which seems to work - but now I am getting Handle errors - some days you just cant win!
Alan
Loaded cPLAY, created a .cue in foobar2000 for some Beethoven Sonatas, plays beautifully. That is me done for the moment - back to the music.
Happy Alan
Hi - (my first post on Computer Asylum!)
I have been trying to setup cMP on a dedicated pc with the Gigabyte mobo. I have not been able to implement all the hardware changes (waiting for the Granite bits) but I have been through AOBCT v.03 and cMP2 and I have come to what I thought would be the simplest part - load cMP and run! Well I get the cMP screen almost as shown - in the top right corner instead of SETTINGS I get STARTUP! How do I get to the Settings screen? Foobar is running fine on its own so I still have music.
I am using an EMU 0404 card so I think I will have to leave out a couple of lines from the .bat files:-
start /b /wait c:\process.exe -p svchost.exe Low
start /b /wait c:\process.exe -p lsass.exe Low
and
start /b /wait c:\process.exe -a svchost.exe 01
start /b /wait c:\process.exe -a lsass.exe 01
I have to say that even just running Foobar2000 straight is sounding very good - I cannot wait to get cMP running and then cPlay.
Thanks in anticipation
Alan
Are there special settings needed that allow all of these BIOS capabilities?
I just received this motherboard (after previously rejecting the GA-G31M-ES2L mobo for lack of these BIOS settings) and upgraded the BIOS rev. to F6x. Now, in spite of the fact that I'm running the same GA-G31M-S2L with the same BIOS version, I don't have the ability to set the following:
# PnP/PCS Configuration
Set PCI Latency Timer (CLK) to 128 (maximum benefit is gained when ASIO latency is below 64 samples)
# MIT Settings
Set FSB DeOverVoltage Control to -0.15V
Set CPU GTLREF Voltage Ratio to 0.636 (default) / 0.603 / 0.566 / 0.540 [each to be tested]
In the case of FSB DeOverVoltage, there is control over INCREASING the Voltage (i.e. FSB OverVoltageControl) but none for decreasing the voltage. In the other two, PCI Latency Timer and CPU GTLREF, these settings do not show up.....
Is there something more I need to do to allow me to change these?
Thanks,
Chris
p.s. I may need to modify my other post about the GA-G31M-ES2L saying that it may not be optimal. In light of the above, it may be just as capable as the recommended mobo....
did you press control f1 once in bios to get advanced bios?
> did you press control f1 once in bios to get advanced bios?
No, I wasn't even aware of this. This is, in all likelihood, exactly the information I was looking for.
Thanks
.
That is just wonderful. I will let 48 hours of burn in to transpire before I provide feedback.