Second Look at VP6

Second Look at the VP6
by: MTP

Now how about those tests!

I have been using some very helpful software from H.ODA. I'm talking about WPCUID and WPCREDIT. When over-clocking, WPCUID is a good tool to show the fsb speeds, cpu speeds, cache data, agp settings, etc…
WPCREDIT is a application that shows you the memory registers and allows you to change them for better performance. Now ALL ram sticks are relatively different and no one setting will work for every type of ram. The best thing to do is to change the registers and see what happens, if you set something wrong and the system locks up, just reboot. The settings are not permanent and the registers revert back to default/bios settings.
Now with that said, I notice a big change in the registers with the new wk bios. Before my 64-67 registers would be set to 56 and I could not set them better than 16. I thought this was the because of my ram. Now, they are set to 12, which is the premium setting, so I don't have to adjust them.
Adjusting 50-51 to FF is the premium setting for these registers. However, as you will see, with the ram I'm using (PC166 Tonicom) the default 50-51 settings from bios is FD / D9 happens to give me better performance.
I've read people have had increased results with changing 68 also, but I never saw an increase therefore I don't adjust them anymore. A forum member and now moderator "Bill" has come up with other settings to use, however almost all of these settings can be obtained through bios, which is a major plus for the Abit work with the VP6 bios.

I also use Motherboard Monitor by Alex Vankaam. This very useful application allows you to monitor all the voltages and temp probes on the mb and cpus. You can set alarms for high temps, low fan speeds, etc……

Last but not least I loaded on Sisoft Sandra 2001 to test out the new setup. There are several other types of benchmarking software on the market, and several that do a better justice to raid and video setups than Sandra. However for my second look, it will do just fine.

The first test of course is the CPU benchmarks.

Next, memory benchmarks. It is widely known that VIA has always lagged behind the old Intel BX chipset. Massive tweaking was previously required to have VIA perform as good. The extra memory settings in bios have really helped the VP6 cut that curve on the old BX chipset. As I mentioned, with the current ram I am using (PC166 Tonicom) My scores actually went down using wpcredit.
Test without Wpcredit

Test with Wpcredit settings

Back / Next Page