ASRock B85M-HDS & B85M Pro4 C6/C7 Support

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Hi.
Do these boards properly support Haswell ulta-low power modes with a Xeon chip?

I've got a dozen of low power Xeon processors but the idle voltage never goes below the ~0.6-0.7v mark with every C power state ticked in w/ a certified HW PSU, on the latest BIOS as well. On my MSI board for example, I can see the voltage drop down to mV levels quite regularly. Maybe the Xeon isn't fully supported on these boards?

Anyone else experienced the same sort of thing?

Cheers.

Edited by tualatin - 23 Feb 2016 at 8:48pm

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
tualatin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Feb 2016 Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote tualatin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: ASRock B85M-HDS & B85M Pro4 C6/C7 Support Posted: 23 Feb 2016 at 8:45pm
	Hi. Do these boards properly support Haswell ulta-low power modes with a Xeon chip? I've got a dozen of low power Xeon processors but the idle voltage never goes below the ~0.6-0.7v mark with every C power state ticked in w/ a certified HW PSU, on the latest BIOS as well. On my MSI board for example, I can see the voltage drop down to mV levels quite regularly. Maybe the Xeon isn't fully supported on these boards? Anyone else experienced the same sort of thing? Cheers. Edited by tualatin - 23 Feb 2016 at 8:48pm

parsec Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 04 May 2015 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 4996	Post Options Post Reply Quote parsec Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 23 Feb 2016 at 11:37pm
	What are you using to monitor VCore on the ASRock and MSI boards? The same program on both boards? I don't have a Xeon on an ASRock Intel 8 series chipset board, but I do on a Z97 board. The Z97 board fully allows the processor to go into the C6 and C7 states, at times showing the seemingly impossible 0.000V VCore. That is the same as I see with the equivalent Haswell 4000 series processors. You must be careful to monitor the true VCore, rather than the VID. That varies depending upon which monitoring program is being used.


tualatin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Feb 2016 Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote tualatin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 Feb 2016 at 11:48pm
	All sorts of tools available on the market, that includes AIDA64, CPUID HWMonitor and CPU-Z. Either, ASRock hasn't included C6/C7 support for these server chips or the above monitoring tools are just misbehaving with my combination, in which case I expect some sort of feedback from ASRock. I've tried to ask for help using the ASRock Contact form but to no avail. Both of my messages have gone unnoticed. Alternatively, I will have to start equipping my builds with MSI boards instead. Have yet to have an issue with their 1150/1151 boards supporting modern power-saving features (C7s, SpeedShift, etc). In case, you are curious, I am having this problem with the E3-1265L model. Have tried 4 chips so far, 3 different B85 ASRock boards, all sorts of BIOS'es, etc. Nada! And yes, this is a big deal for me. Thanks for your reply anyway. Edited by tualatin - 24 Feb 2016 at 12:00am

tualatin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Feb 2016 Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote tualatin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 01 Mar 2016 at 12:38pm
	It just seems that these boards just don't allow Haswell processors to enter deeper sleep states. Just tested a Celeron Haswell here, and it's the same. Minimum vCore ~0.816. Looks like an RMA is in order for me. Sad. Looks like I am not the only one experiencing this issue. Does the ASRock support personnel check these forums at all? Edited by tualatin - 01 Mar 2016 at 12:46pm

softskiller Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 11 Mar 2016 Status: Offline Points: 32	Post Options Post Reply Quote softskiller Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11 Mar 2016 at 4:40am
	I copy what I have posted at overclock.net long ago: I don't really understand the C-States of my Asrock B85M Board with latest BIOS and Haswell Xeon E3-1231 v3 CPU. BIOS says "Enable CPU C States Support for power saving. It is recommended to keep C3, C6 and C7 all enabled for better power saving" I use tools like ThrottleStop or RealTemp TI to read out the used C-States over time under various loads. If C3 Enabled, C6 Enabled, C7 Enabled: only C7 is used. If C3 Enabled, C6 Enabled, C7 Auto: only C6 is used. If C3 Auto, C6 Auto, C7 Auto: only C3 is used. If C3 Auto, C6 Enabled, C7 Auto: combination of C3 and C6 is used. If C3 Auto, C6 Auto, C7 Enabled: only C3 and C7 are used but no C6. If C3 Auto, C6 Enabled, C7 Enabled: still only C3 and C7 are used. If C3 Auto, C6 Auto, C7 Auto: only C3 is used. So it seems: C6 or C7 are only used when set to Enabled and only the highest Enabled one is used - never C6 AND C7. C3 is only used in combination with C6 or C7 when set to auto but not when set to Enabled. When C6 and C7 are set to Auto Asrock will not use them at all, even when system is idle. The goal should be that a combination of C-States is used depending on the load of the system for a good balance of energy saving and processing responsiveness. Only to use C7 with highest latency even under heavy load like gaming is not perfect. Other faster C-states like C3 must not get ignored and are there for a reason. I wonder if I should only use C3 or a combination of C3 with C6 OR C7, while C3 with C6 AND C7 is not possible. (Nothing overclocked)