TLB and Vista

[Hor]

I did a search and found no mention of the dreaded TLB issue here and thought I'd share my experience and the fix with you guys. I built a new rig using Vista solely for boxing recently, I was out to build 2 rigs cheap and decided to go with AMD (since I could get a quad core board and CPU for less than an Intel Proc alone). I had some issues initially wow loads SUPER fast with the 8 gigs of ram and the new SSD, however I was getting horrible FPS in game. It turns out this is a common issue with AMDs atm; if you're thinking of adding a new PC for boxing (especially if you're wanting cheap quad core action) the AMDs work well, after you disable the TLB patching.

Link to workaround:
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...ur-phenom.html

Note: there's a complete description of the TLB debacle on the link, so I didn't post any of that here.

[Oswyn]

The TLB issue only affected the original revision B2 Phenom X3 and X4 processors. These were the X3 8400 and 8600 and X4 9500 and 9600. The erratum was fixed starting with revision B3 (aka every other model other than 8400/8600/9500/9600).

Edit: The first B3's came out March of 2008 after which all B2's were EOL'd.

[Hairball]

Another entry in a long list of reasons not to buy AMD.

Thanks for the heads up though - I was actually starting to consider buying an AMD after being burned so many years ago.

[Oswyn]

Another entry in a long list of reasons not to buy AMD.

Thanks for the heads up though - I was actually starting to consider buying an AMD after being burned so many years ago.

Both Intel and AMD have silicon errrata. You can't get around it. There are always work arounds for these errata. Sometimes they are major enough to be news worthy. Remember Intel's FPU bug?!

Again, TLB is an old issue. I wish the original poster would have provided more detailed information. Current AMD processors are already on rev C2.

Edit: I would to see this long list and see which items are actually valid and not personal opinion. Nothing wrong with personal opinion, but it needs to be clear that it is just that, opinion.

Edit 2: Also wanted to add that the TLB issue did not manifest itself in every B2 processor. The work around was recommended for those experiencing issues. Subsequently, the B2 vs B3 prices were such that the ~3% performance drop due to the work around was compensated by the lower price for the B2 version.

[Herc130]

I almost always build intel. Hell, all my main rigs have been intel. However, I built 6 low wattage computers using AMD's BE2400 and an ITX mobo with an HD3200 IGP and it runs EQ1 great and EQ2 fine. It does what I need it to do and it cost far less then the intel alternative. Not to mention the HD3200 is a much better IGP then the GMA 4500. Don't get some little problem confused with the whole company. I might not be building a main rig using AMD stuff anytime soon, but my alt boxes works great for the purpose and saved me money over going intel.

[Hor]

A little more information. I built the AMD rigs as secondary boxes specifically for boxing, my main rig uses an intel Q6600. And as Herc130 said the AMDs are dirt cheap. Here are the stats on the computers I built with the the TLB issue:

2 LIAN LI PC-65B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail -$20.00 Instant [ $239.98 ]
2 EVGA 113-M2-E113 AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $20.00 Mail-in Rebate [ $179.98 ]
2 EVGA 512-P3-N866-TR GeForce 9600 GT Superclocked Edition 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $30.00 Mail-in Rebate [ $199.98 ]
2Thermaltake TR2 RX W0146RU 450W ATX12V Ver2.2 Modular Passive PFC PFC Power Supply - Retail -$10.00 Instant [ $111.98 ]
4 G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail -$10.00 Instant [ $159.96 ]
2 AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HD960ZWCGDBOX - Retail -$20.00 Instant [ $199.98 ]
2 OCZ Solid Series OCZSSD2-1SLD30G 2.5" 30GB SATA II Solid State Disk (SSD) - Retail [ $192.00 ]

Combined cost of both computers: $1,283.86

Which is great imo for a pair of quad core PCs with 8 gigs of ram and a SSD. It works for what I need it for, and the tinkering I had to do to get the system working properly wasn't too big of a deal, I just wish they'd have a meaningful fix available rather than me having to download some third party software and setting a task to run said software everytime the computer boots up to workaround this little TLB problem. I posted this old news, because I imagine that like me there are surely some others who might consider running with an AMD setup for their secondary machines due to the price, and these first gen phenoms definitely do the trick but with a minor headache attached. So in closing, if you are planning on making one or more secondary boxing rigs and want to do it on a budget, a setup like what I went with definitely works on both counts, just be aware of the possible TLB issue, as most of these discounted AMDs are afflicted by it. At any rate, hopefully the information has been helpful.

[zanthor]

I love it when people say the TLB issues haven't been discussed here...

[Other] IS:WindowSnapper - PIP on Speed
Overkill? for 5-Box on 1 Comp
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index....123413&l=2&l=2
http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index....108559&l=2&l=1

And many more... the errata is easily disabled, even in vista, and honestly if you are buying an affected chip today I hope to hell you are getting a SCREAMING deal on it - with the 3.0ghz chips being $200~ now there is no reason I can see to justify any of the earlier chips for a gaming rig.

[Hor]

I didn't say it hadn't been discussed, I said I did a search and didn't find anything. Even now using the search function and putting in TLB in the keyword results in nothing. So I probably just fail at searching. As for the deal, yeah ... for the price you quote you get 2 of the chips I bought, with a few bucks left over. So yeah I think it was a pretty solid deal. My intent for posting this was: If you're building a box and see these phenoms selling for super cheap, be aware they're probably old and effected by the TLB issue. If you still want to buy it, here's the info to do so.

[Frosty]

If you're building a box and see these phenoms selling for super cheap, be aware they're probably old and effected by the TLB issue.

I just built a new PC with a quad core AMD Phenom, and it blows anything out of the water I've ever used before.
AND I built it for about $1k less than anything I could find running Intel.
Currently using it to 6-box EQ2 with the main window at almost full graphic settings.

[Hor]

Yeah Frosty, that was the main draw for me, I built 2 Phenom rigs for under 1300. I probably would've spent more than that on a single Intel System (I know I did a year ago on my main system).