Top Performance

***SmokeU*** · March 6th, 2001

how do i get all i can get out of my amd k-6 500mhz w/ a voodoo 5 55000 agp and a soundblaster... running on a vic 503+ i know it's a pretty sad system but that's what i got. any tips? commen problems?

***madthumbs*** · March 6th, 2001

Sometimes performance is improved by disabling the onboard or "L2" cache in the CMOS setup.

***Symbioted*** · March 6th, 2001

Don't disable L2 cache except if you want to overclock and your system is not stable

but even if you do that, your system with the lower clock should work faster than the faster clocked

***SmokeU*** · March 6th, 2001

so is their anything eles i can do besides tweeky the cmos. (i laugh ever time i say that)

***FlyingPenguin*** · March 6th, 2001

You have a K6 and that's holding you back. Not much you can do about it. That V5 is getting nowhere near it's max fill rate because the CPU is being a bottleneck.

Some general recommendations here for improving performance on low-end systems:
http://soldcentralfl.com/quakecoop/glfaq2.htm#18

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The Flying Penguin
http://TheFlyingPenguin.com

[This message has been edited by FlyingPenguin (edited 03-06-2001).]

***SmokeU*** · March 7th, 2001

so i guess u will have to wait until april 28th for my pc to really kick snail behind :P thanks anyways

***madthumbs*** · March 7th, 2001

>>"Don't disable L2 cache except if you want to overclock and your system is not stable"<<

Can you tell me what it would hurt to try it? I have seen gains of 10fps+ in games using a Voodoo 3 2k after disabling L2 cache. For one thing the L2 cache is on the motherboard so it is really slow to begin with. Another point is that it is a very small amount. I didn't say it always works, but it is definetly worth trying unless you have some reason for your statement.

***Symbioted*** · March 7th, 2001

Disabling the L2 cache deny the memory the CPU is designed to work with. Sure first celeron didn't had any cache, but the celeronA with 128k L2 was better, wasn't it?

sure on-board l2 cache isn't great in comparison to on-die, or the Athlon's cache VS the T-bird cache, but it is still better than nothing, and I suggest to not disable it for gaming and then going to enable it for other application.

And 10% more isn't all that great, and it will not be present in all games.

And disabling it was a way to get in windows with overclocking if it was freezing constantly. but performances usually weren't as good as less clocked with L2

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Eddie "it won't fit" Brock

***chsh*** · March 7th, 2001

SmokeU, are you SURE you don't have a K6/2+?
If you have the + chip (which is normally sold in mobile PCs, but I've seen other shops running it as their 'bargain special' in the last few months) then the processor DOES have on-die L2 cache, in which case it's not a total loss. Head to AnandTech.com and check out his article on the K6/2 vs the K6/2+.

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Chris Shepherd

Quote:

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.