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any audible difference between using the (default) TSC timer or the PM timer?

Hi All,

Is anybody using the ‘PM timer’ as timer source for WinXP (instead of the default TSC timer source) on a cMP PC ?

If so, are there any audible differences between using the ‘PM Timer’ and using the ‘TSC timer’?

Mark

Some background on this question:
Newer Windows operating systems such as Vista and WIN7 typically do not use the TSC by default if other (better) timers, such as HPET are available. From what I understand Linux uses the PM Timer as default timer.

As an older OS, WinXP can’t make use the HPET and uses the TSC (Time Stamp Counter) as default timer. However WinXP can be instructed too the PM timer as its default timer source by adding /usepmtimer in the boot.ini file

The PM timer (ACPI Power Management Timer) is a oscillator with a register being updated at 3.579545MHz. The TSC (Time Stamp Counter) is a register on the processor, being updated at the frequency of the processor.

As audiophile computer users already know, a computer is a not so great device when it’s comes too timing the audio bits. The timing processes on the computer is negatively affected by other CPU processes.
Also the performance of the timers is not the same. Some suggest that the PM timer is a better timer because the TSC accuracy is influenced by the processor speed and it’s workload.


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