AMD Cool & Quite : Proper Configuration

AMD Athlon64 is the hottest CPU these days, as it provides really good & high performance in everything from gaming to Workstation tasks, as compared to Intel CPUs, while still running at a lower clock speed & temperature, it does this by using the AMD Cool & Quite technology, which is something even Intel is also using with their Pentium D & Pentium 4 6xx series CPUs by the name Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology.

The Cool & Quite technology works by lowering the clock speed, CPU Voltage & CPU Fan speed, when the system is not doing anything heavy & can work even at low clock speed. In case of Athlon64 CPUs, the clock speed is reduced to 800 MHz or 1 GHz & the CPU Core voltage is reduced from 1.5v to 1.4 & in some cases 1.1v (Turian64)

In case U R using an Intel CPU with Intel chipset then EIST is automatically enabled, & works, but in case of AMD, the thing is different, U need to properly configure Cool & Quite to work. For this U will need

1) Athlon64 CPU, as Cool & Quite is not supported on Athlon64 FX CPU & Opetron CPU

2) A Cool & Quite supporting chipset, all of them support this

3) AMD Athlon64 Driver for your operating system

For this example I will be using an Athlon64 3000+ Venice core based CPU, with an Asus A8V-Delux motherboard, stock AMD CPU Fan, & Windows XP SP2

To find which core your CPU is, u can download CPU-Z, it will give U all the info U need about your CPU

But in case U want to find the core, before buying the CPU, then take a look at the numbers written over the CPU when it is still inside the box, un-opened, & look for this numbers

AP = C0 Clawhammer, s754
AR = CG Clawhammer, s754
AS = CG Clawhammer, s939
AX = CG Newcastle, s754
AW = CG Newcastle, s939
BI = D0 Winchester, s939
BP = E3 Venice, s939
BN = E4 San Diego, s939
BU = E5 Newark, s754
LD = E0 Lancaster, s754
BV = E6, Manchester, s939
CD = E6, Toledo, s939
BW = E6, Venice, s939

The difference between BW & BP Venice core is that the BW E6 core runs at a Max 65C & 1.4v insted of 70C & 1.5v E3, in other words, slightly cooler then E3, go for whichever is available, they are both identicle in performance

Athlon64 Boxed identification

Athlon64 Quick reference guide

The problem with AMD is that they have many cores for a single rating CPU, like there are 4 varients of Athlon64 3000+, so it's hard to identify

I m assuming that the CPU installation is completed & U are ready to install Windows, before this

1) Go to the BIOS & Load BIOS defaults, now go to the chipset section & Turn on Cool & Quite, & turn on Automatic fan control

2) Now in case U R using a SATA Hard disk, I hardly recommend that U use a Windows XP CD with SP2 slipstreamed, this will make windows recognize the SATA drive & U will not need to install the SATA drivers from the floppy, but even with this, after windows is installed, be sure to install any specific SATA Drivers given with your motherboard for your chipset, the ones included in Windows are only generic


3) Now, after the Windows installation is completed, it’s time to install drivers, follow the series
a. Chipset Drivers given with your motherboard
b. AMD Athlon64 CPU Drivers
c. Graphics Card
d. Sound Card


4) Ones the drivers are installed; it’s time to turn on the Cool & Quite. Right click on your desktop & select properties; go to Screen saver -> Power-> Power Scheme. From the drop down menu select “Minimal Power Management�, then if U want set your monitor to “Never� turn off. Now reboot, & Cool & quite is enabled.

To verify, simply open system properties & check the MHz, it will show that the working Clock speed of your CPU is 800 MHz, U can also use CPU-Z, it will also show that the working clock speed is 800 MHz. Next, simply start something CPU intensive, like a game or 3D Max, or video encoding, your CPU will immediately jump to it’s highest clock speed, in case of over clock, it will jump to the over clocked speed. The CPU Fan speed will also very with this.

Even when it’s running at 800 MHz, the performance is equivalent to a Pentium 4 2 GHz CPU, which is enough for Browsing, Movie watching, Music, infect enough for everything general purpose, as it automatically jump to the maximum clock speed when required

In case U R using nForce chipset by NVIDIA, I strongly suggest u to download & use their nTune system software, it gives u far more control over Cool & Quite & over clocking

In case of any other chipset, U can use the AMD Dashboard, which will give u info regarding your CPU Clock speed, voltage etc

AMD Dashboard & Athlon64 CPU drivers can be downloaded here

[Ringwraith]

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

4) Ones the drivers are installed; it’s time to turn on the Cool & Quite. Right click on your desktop & select properties; go to Screen saver -> Power-> Power Scheme. From the drop down menu select “Minimal Power Management�, then if U want set your monitor to “Never� turn off. Now reboot, & Cool & quite is enabled.

u missed one step.. uve to enalbe CnQ in the bios before doing all this..
if ur mobo supports CnQ and ur bios doesnt show an option for enabling/disabling CnQ u prolly need to update ur bios!

Plz read step one, it's already there

[AlienTech]

Just install rightmark CPU clock/power utility... It runs my AMD3000+ at 1.1V @ 1GHZ... Kinda like the task manager... and you can watch it do its thing as well as control at what loads the Q&C's comes into play and stuff..

[drvarunmehta]

3) Now, after the Windows installation is completed, it’s time to install drivers, follow the series
a. Chipset Drivers given with your motherboard
b. AMD Athlon64 CPU Drivers
c. Graphics Card
d. Sound Card

What if Windows is already installed? Do I have to remove the graphics and sound driver before installing the AMD drivers or can I install it directly?

Rightmark CPU analyser also needs the Cool & Quite functionality enabled in the BIOS

In case u have windows reinstalled, simply go to the BIOS, enable Cool & Quite, then install driver for AMD CPU in Windows & follow the steps after that

[deathvirus_me]

a friend of mine actually lost more than a 1000 3dmark with Cool'n'Quiet enabled ....

which motherboard & chipset he got

if nvidia then use ntune to make a application profile

[Ringwraith]

Originally Posted by deathvirus_me

a friend of mine actually lost more than a 1000 3dmark with Cool'n'Quiet enabled ....

shudnt go for benchmarks...real world gaming will not suffer bcoz of cool n quiet....
a cnq enabled cpu is capable of switching voltages like 40 times per second...a benchmark (such as a one which measures cpu -mem-cache throughput) if running on a lower clock will obviously give a lower score!
however the point here is completely different...u are extending the life of ur cpu as well as getting less noise levels, which is a better deal than ..say a few seconds more of load time!

[abhijit_reddevil]

Wow, then I have to manually enable CnQ. Let's hope my hardware vendor knows how to do that and configure the system properly.

u don't need the hardware guy to do it, u can do it on your own too

[drvarunmehta]

Tried it out. My 3000+ runs at 994 Mhz instead of 1800 Mhz at idle load.

[teknoPhobia]

Cool and quiet is is pretty good, my cpu does 38 degrees with the fan at 1450 RPM when doing normal tasks like listening to music, watching dvds etc. But benchmarks have a problem, Sandra shows total power rating of my cpu at 243 watts with CnQ enabled, 71w with it disabled.

maybe a bug with Sandra, check with everest or upgrade SANDRA

[teknoPhobia]

It's a bug with sandra all right, just thought u guys would get a laff out of it

[samanvya_ad]

hi gxsaurav,
u r from lucknow........ so pls tell me any place from where i can buy a descent motherboard for an AMD64 3000+ with 6600GT but not more than 6k......... i really need help i this field

hmm, well, u can go to naja market,

if u need more specific info, better call me or IM me

just resurrecting the thread

I found this very good software called Throttlewatch, with this u can see in real time, the ups & downs in your CPU clock speed

http://www.panopsys.com/downloads/ThrottleWatch.zip

[Keith Sebastian]

Note to Intervideo WinDVD 7 users:

On installing WinDVD 7 you power scheme is changed without your knowledge. This will cause Cool n Quiet not to work. Go to Control Panel > Power Options and change it manually back to Minimal Power Management.

Keith

[Keith Sebastian]

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

just resurrecting the thread

I found this very good software called Throttlewatch, with this u can see in real time, the ups & downs in your CPU clock speed

http://www.panopsys.com/downloads/ThrottleWatch.zip

You can download AMD Powernow Dashboard too, does the same thing. Also shows voltages and power savings.

Keith