On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 12:30 AM, David Hendricks <[email protected]>wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 2:28 AM, Alois Schlögl > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> The reason for asking is the bug as described here: >> http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=13573 >> >> The bug is affecting my research at the university. >> It was suggested that a Bios-update could solve the problem. > > > IIRC you can disable thermal throttling, but it's usually not a good idea > if you expect to keep your machine running with reasonable performance under > load. If the vendor BIOS had the proper tables (See section 2.4.2 on > P-States in the AMD BIOS and Kernel Developer's Guide for Fam10 processors), > your CPU would slow itself down to avoid generating too much heat. If you > disable thermal throttling and continue to run your workload, your CPU will > hit "Tjunction" at around 116 degrees C and shut itself off abruptly, > possibly after physical damage has been done to the CPU or the socket. > > I would suggest starting with something much simpler, like making sure you > have quality thermal transfer compound applied in the proper quantity for > your CPUs. I know it sounds stupid, but I have seen many machines from many > datacenters with very powerful rack cooling overheat under heavy loads due > to improperly applied thermal grease. There are many tutorials and videos on > how to do this. Make sure you clean off the old thermal grease first with a > high-concentration isopropyl alcohol (>90%) first. > Oh, and while you're at it make sure the heatsinks are securely fastened. After you re-apply thermal grease, tighten the screws such that they will not turn any more. The mounting points on the motherboard will ensure the maximum threshold is not exceeded, though I suggest tightening one about 80-90%, then the second one 100%, then finish the first one to apply the pressure more evenly. Just another very silly thing that can cause unexpected behavior under heavy workloads... -- David Hendricks (dhendrix) Systems Software Engineer, Google Inc.
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