All We Know About Maximizing CPU Related Performance

[SR2Mac]

Hi Tutor,

Finally got in all the RAM today (total cost: $513.45), I bought it from buy.com as they had it for $126.99 x 4 (Plus FREE Shipping), but I paid the extra $5.49 for 2 day shipping to get it sooner. Anyway, I'm going to get my head wrapped around the first part of what you're instructing me on to get things going initially, then I'm going to back up my existing SSD to my other one and then install the DSDT-v3 file as well as adjust that fakesmc.kext file then start under clocking. I'll keep in touch with you to let you know my progress. Again, thanks for the help Tutor... Later...

 

[SR2Mac]

Hi Tutor,
Just installed the Corsair SMX3 48 GB RAM and when I separate 10 applications in their own windows, it's separates smooooth like butter. Now this is just on stock (everything's on auto) and the RAM set to 1066. So far so good. Later I'm going to kick in everything you said and I will get back to you on my progress. Thank you for the help when it came to the RAM; it seems (so far) that may have been my main issue. Now to start UNDER CLOCKING... YEEE HAAAA

 

[Tutor]

Hi Tutor,
Just installed the Corsair SMX3 48 GB RAM and when I separate 10 applications in their own windows, it's separates smooooth like butter. Now this is just on stock (everything's on auto) and the RAM set to 1066. So far so good. Later I'm going to kick in everything you said and I will get back to you on my progress. Thank you for the help when it came to the RAM; it seems (so far) that may have been my main issue. Now to start UNDER CLOCKING... YEEE HAAAA

Glad to hear there are no jaggies. I have my ram set to 1333 MHz because of underclocking. You should be able to use that 1333 setting so long as you don't exceed a BCLK of 185, even if you overclock those 5650's like d00d did. You make even be able to use it with an even higher BCLK, say - to the mid 190's, but mileage varies here as elsewhere. Keep me posted and best of tweaking.

 

[Tutor]

SR2Mac,

When you think that you have gotten it right, boot the system in verbose mode by entering the command -v at the chameleon prompt. This pic should give you an idea of what to look for and shows the breadth of the turbo ratio for 5680 CPUs you'll want to see (here DDDDEE*, which represents any 4 cores/per CPU have a turboboost potential of 13 steps and any 2 cores/per CPU have a turboboost potential of 14 steps). This evidences underclocking success and forms the basis for my systems' max speed potential and that 40,100 Geekbench 2 score and that 24.7 Cinebench 11.5 xCPU score.

*The turbo ratio is expressed in hexadecimal, where 1 = 1, 2 = 2, 3 = 3, 4 = 4, 5 = 5, 6 = 6, 7 = 7, 8 = 8, 9 = 9, 10 = A, 11 = B, 12 = C, 13 = D, 14 = E, and 15 = F. The range between my underclocked CPU multiplier of 13 and my highest factory turbo ratio of 27 ( for 5680 CPUs) is (27 - 13 =) 14. The highest non-turbo multiplier for my chips is 25. For your 5650s, the highest non-turbo multiplier is 20 at 2.667 GHz, but, according to CPU-World, those CPU's have turbo frequencies of 2933 MHz (3 or more cores) and 3067 MHz (1 or 2 cores). At factory speed the BCLK is 133 MHz; thus, that first turbo level is 2 bins/steps above non-turbo ( 2.667 + .133 + .133 = 2.933 GHz) and the second turbo level is (2.667 + .133 + .133 + .133 = 3067 MHz or 3.067 GHz). Therefore, those chip can turbo 2 (22) or 3 (23) steps above factory non-turbo. So if you can underclock those CPUs from a base CPU multiplier of 13, you should see turbo ratios expressed as (23 - 13 = 10 = A and 22 - 13 = 9 or) AAAA99 [or AAAAAA99 if CPU-World's description of your chips is literally and completely accurate regarding stage 1 turbo - http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Xeon/Intel-Xeon X5650 - AT80614004320AD (BX80614X5650).html ]. I hope that his makes sense and helps.

Also, you can boot any recent Mac in verbose mode:
1. Shut down your Mac if it is on.
2. Press the power button to start the computer.
3. Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key the following:
the "v" key for verbose mode. (Command-V)
You have successfully entered verbose mode when you see white text appear on the screen.
Verbose mode exits automatically when the computer's startup process progresses sufficiently and the blue screen appears. When I do this on my dual 8-core 2009 Mac Pro, it shows "1112" for the turbo ratio of one of the quads.

 

[SR2Mac]

SR2Mac,

When you think that you have gotten it right, boot the system in verbose mode by entering the command -v at the chameleon prompt. This pic should give you an idea of what to look for and shows the breadth of the turbo ratio for 5680 CPUs you'll want to see (here DDDDEE*, which represents any 4 cores/per CPU have a turboboost potential of 13 steps and any 2 cores/per CPU have a turboboost potential of 14 steps). This evidences underclocking success and forms the basis for my systems' max speed potential and that 40,100 Geekbench 2 score and that 24.7 Cinebench 11.5 xCPU score.

*The turbo ratio is expressed in hexadecimal, where 1 = 1, 2 = 2, 3 = 3, 4 = 4, 5 = 5, 6 = 6, 7 = 7, 8 = 8, 9 = 9, 10 = A, 11 = B, 12 = C, 13 = D, 14 = E, and 15 = F. The range between my underclocked CPU multiplier of 13 and my highest factory turbo ratio of 27 ( for 5680 CPUs) is (27 - 13 =) 14. The highest non-turbo multiplier for my chips is 25. For your 5650s, the highest non-turbo multiplier is 20 at 2.667 GHz, but, according to CPU-World, those CPU's have turbo frequencies of 2933 MHz (3 or more cores) and 3067 MHz (1 or 2 cores). At factory speed the BCLK is 133 MHz; thus, that first turbo level is 2 bins/steps above non-turbo ( 2.667 + .133 + .133 = 2.933 GHz) and the second turbo level is (2.667 + .133 + .133 + .133 = 3067 MHz or 3.067 GHz). Therefore, those chip can turbo 2 (22) or 3 (23) steps above factory non-turbo. So if you can underclock those CPUs from a base CPU multiplier of 13, you should see turbo ratios expressed as (23 - 13 = 10 = A and 22 - 13 = 9 or) AAAA99 [or AAAAAA99 if CPU-World's description of your chips is literally and completely accurate regarding stage 1 turbo - http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Xeon/Intel-Xeon X5650 - AT80614004320AD (BX80614X5650).html ]. I hope that his makes sense and helps.

Also, you can boot any recent Mac in verbose mode:
1. Shut down your Mac if it is on.
2. Press the power button to start the computer.
3. Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key the following:
the "v" key for verbose mode. (Command-V)
You have successfully entered verbose mode when you see white text appear on the screen.
Verbose mode exits automatically when the computer's startup process progresses sufficiently and the blue screen appears. When I do this on my dual 8-core 2009 Mac Pro, it shows "1112" for the turbo ratio of one of the quads.

Hi Tutor,

You said: "I hope that this makes sense and helps." Well, it does fly over my head a bit, but I'm sure when I get to this point to do this I will probably better understand what you're saying. Right now I'm just trying to get PlistEdit Pro working so I can edit my kext files today as well as install the DSDT (v3) file to see how things will work. Once I get that down pat, I will try your under clocking method and then ask questions along the way. I wish I had 3 solid days to get all of this done with the 5650's, so when the 5680's come in toward the end of next week I'll have a better idea of how things work... You've been a big help ! Thanks again, Dixie Man !!!

 

[SR2Mac]

I now have a problem. For some reason the mobo won't start anything. It keeps giving me CMOS errors and (sometimes the 2 digit LCD on the mobo) it occasionally goes to: FF, then I have to go to bios and I reload the settings, which are:

Advanced Settings:SATA Configuration:Configure SATA#1 as [AHCI]
Power Management Features:ACPI Configuration:General ACPI Configuration: Suspend Mode: [S3(STR)]
Power Management Features:ACPI Configuration:Chipset ACPI Configuration: High Precision Event Timer: [Enabled]
Frequency/Voltage Control:CPU Configuration:Intel® SpeedStep(™) tech [Enabled]
Frequency/Voltage Control:CPU Configuration:Intel® TurboMode tech [Enabled]
Frequency/Voltage Control:CPU Configuration:Intel® C-State tech [Enabled]
Have Memory Frequency set to DDR-1066 (and not auto). I also set the Memory Config to 9-10-9-27 (command rate 1).
Only changed Voltage Config: CPU0 & CPU1 - Without VDroop (this should be set like this correct?)
Only changed Signal Tweaks to IOH QPI 0 Signal to: -70 & IOH QPI 1 Signal to: -16

I disconnected every HD and DVD drive except the SSD that I'm trying to boot to. I took out the new battery and cleared cmos. Put the new battery back in and still the same problem, and I have to reload the settings again only to face the same FF issue. I have no idea what that means. After googling the issue, it could basically mean anything. This is frustrating as I trying move forward only to take 2 steps back. I'm thinking I should wait until the other processors come in and try them out to see if that cures the issue. I'm very disappointed as everything was working today just fine... If I have input anything incorrectly please let me know or if you've faced this before, whatever input you can give would be great... Thank you...

 

[Tutor]

I now have a problem. For some reason the mobo won't start anything. It keeps giving me CMOS errors and (sometimes the 2 digit LCD on the mobo) it occasionally goes to: FF, then I have to go to bios and I reload the settings, which are:

Advanced Settings:SATA Configuration:Configure SATA#1 as [AHCI]
Power Management Features:ACPI Configuration:General ACPI Configuration: Suspend Mode: [S3(STR)]
Power Management Features:ACPI Configuration:Chipset ACPI Configuration: High Precision Event Timer: [Enabled]
Frequency/Voltage Control:CPU Configuration:Intel® SpeedStep(™) tech [Enabled]
Frequency/Voltage Control:CPU Configuration:Intel® TurboMode tech [Enabled]
Frequency/Voltage Control:CPU Configuration:Intel® C-State tech [Enabled]
Have Memory Frequency set to DDR-1066 (and not auto). I also set the Memory Config to 9-10-9-27 (command rate 1).
Only changed Voltage Config: CPU0 & CPU1 - Without VDroop (this should be set like this correct?)
Only changed Signal Tweaks to IOH QPI 0 Signal to: -70 & IOH QPI 1 Signal to: -16

I disconnected every HD and DVD drive except the SSD that I'm trying to boot to. I took out the new battery and cleared cmos. Put the new battery back in and still the same problem, and I have to reload the settings again only to face the same FF issue. I have no idea what that means. After googling the issue, it could basically mean anything. This is frustrating as I trying move forward only to take 2 steps back. I'm thinking I should wait until the other processors come in and try them out to see if that cures the issue. I'm very disappointed as everything was working today just fine... If I have input anything incorrectly please let me know or if you've faced this before, whatever input you can give would be great... Thank you...

Set all memory config parameters to auto; leave 1066 setting alone. What are your CPU multiplier and CPU Frequency settings when this occurs -- on these boards FF generally means that memory parameters are set too tightly or that the CPU Frequency Setting (BCLK) is to high for the allocated Bootup Vcore. Start with a BCLK of 160. Just drop that DSDT.aml file in your Extras folder.

 

[SR2Mac]

Set all memory config parameters to auto; leave 1066 setting alone. What are your CPU multiplier and CPU Frequency settings when this occurs -- on these boards FF generally means that memory parameters are set too tightly or that the CPU Frequency Setting (BCLK) is to high for the allocated Bootup Vcore. Start with a BCLK of 160. Just drop that DSDT.aml file in your Extras folder.

This is my current stock settings:

CPU Freq Set: Auto
PCIE Freq Set: 100
CPU Mul Set: 20

Should I leave SpeedStep Tech & C-State Tech on "Disabled" - since that seems to be the default setting? Also, keeping this way will also disable TurboTech as that doesn't even show up when C-State is disabled. (Edit: I enabled SST, C-ST & TT)

Lastly, I'm going to have to take out the SSD and connect to my other Hack and drop the DSDT file in there. I was hoping to do it within my SR-2 system, but I guess that's not possible for now. As I mentioned before, it won't even boot to the SSD so I know it's not an OS issue, but a mobo issue... (Edit: didn't need to take out my SSD and was able to drop in the DSDT.aml file in my Extra folder)

Edit:
So far everything is working. I think the main reason could be that I left everything (as you suggested) in the Memory Freq Setting on it's default auto setting (AUTO 7-7-7-20) and didn't manually adjust the RAM to: 9-10-9-27. Also, I kept it on 1066 setting. Now I'm just going to leave the Frequency Setting on stock:

CPU Freq Set: Auto
PCIE Freq Set: 100
CPU Mul Set: 20

and start working on the kext file adjustments with that program you suggested. Is there anything about that app that I should know about (i.e.; how to open, adjust and save the files)?

Thanks again...

 

[Tutor]

This is my current stock settings:

CPU Freq Set: Auto
PCIE Freq Set: 100
CPU Mul Set: 20

Should I leave SpeedStep Tech & C-State Tech on "Disabled" - since that seems to be the default setting? Also, keeping this way will also disable TurboTech as that doesn't even show up when C-State is disabled. (Edit: I enabled SST, C-ST & TT)

Definitely. We want this machine to have enabled all of the features of the real thing.

... .(Edit: didn't need to take out my SSD and was able to drop in the DSDT.aml file in my Extra folder)[/I] ... . So far everything is working.

Great!

Edit:
... . I think the main reason could be that I left everything (as you suggested) in the Memory Freq Setting on it's default auto setting (AUTO 7-7-7-20) and didn't manually adjust the RAM to: 9-10-9-27. Also, I kept it on 1066 setting. Now I'm just going to leave the Frequency Setting on stock:

CPU Freq Set: Auto
PCIE Freq Set: 100
CPU Mul Set: 20

and start working on the kext file adjustments with that program you suggested. Is there anything about that app that I should know about (i.e.; how to open, adjust and save the files)?

That manual setting you had made slows down your ram. Lower numbers are faster, but "auto" allows your system to make adjustments. I do ram tweaking only when everything else is perfected. Also, as to the hardware settings it's better to make sure that all of the software tweaking is working properly before tweaking the hardware settings -> less variables to have to guess their impact when something goes wrong. I e-mailed you the contents of that info.plist file in the Contents folder within the fakesmc.kext file, along with other related instructions, such as how to then bless the fakesmc.kext file, as well as all of your other next files, after you have placed the fakesmc.kext file in the System/Library/Extensions folder.

I'll be retiring for the night in a couple of hours. But will be ready to return to our project in the morning.

Thanks again...

You're more than welcome. I didn't adopt my nic from my childhood, in hypocrisy.

 

[SR2Mac]

Okay I did exactly what you said with the fakesmc.kext file and went into terminal and copy pasted those 3 commands (and replaced the MacintoshHD with the name that I'm using for my SSD) on both lines and so far that's it. What do I do now? restart?

 

[Tutor]

Okay I did exactly what you said with the fakesmc.kext file and went into terminal and copy pasted those 3 commands (and replaced the MacintoshHD with the name that I'm using for my SSD) on both lines and so far that's it. What do I do now? restart?

Run Geekbench 2 and note your score; then restart, using Command v to see/note what your turbo ratios are and let me know what you see, but beware it might scroll by quickly - See pic in post #29 to get an idea of what to look for. Run Geekbench 2 and note your score. If you don't experience any hangup or other problems, then reboot, go into bios and change the CPU Multiplier Setting to 13; then restart, using Command v to see/note what your turbo ratios are - they should be AAAA99. Run Geekbench 2 and note your score. If you don't experience any hangup or other problems, then reboot, go into bios and change the CPU Frequency Setting (BCLK) to 140; then, restart, using Command v to see/note what your turbo ratios are, they should be AAAA99. Run Geekbench 2 and note your score. Keep increasing (BCLK), no more than 2 steps at a time, until the systems appears a little unstable (with all 4 of your CPU Vcore settings at "Auto"), then back down to 3 BCLK values below the point that created the instability, then stop and give me the details of where you are in the process and we'll go on from there. Keep good notes and keep me posted on your test results.

 

[SR2Mac]

Run Geekbench 2 and note your score; then restart, using Command v to see/note what your turbo ratios are and let me know what you see, but beware it might scroll by quickly - See pic in post #29 to get an idea of what to look for. Run Geekbench 2 and note your score. If you don't experience any hangup or other problems, then reboot, go into bios and change the CPU Multiplier Setting to 13; then restart, using Command v to see/note what your turbo ratios are - they should be AAAA99. Run Geekbench 2 and note your score. If you don't experience any hangup or other problems, then reboot, go into bios and change the CPU Frequency Setting (BCLK) to 140; then, restart, using Command v to see/note what your turbo ratios are, they should be AAAA99. Run Geekbench 2 and note your score. Keep increasing (BCLK), no more than 2 steps at a time, until the systems appears a little unstable (with all 4 of your CPU Vcore settings at "Auto"), then back down to 3 BCLK values below the point that created the instability, then stop and give me the details of where you are in the process and we'll go on from there. Keep good notes and keep me posted on your test results.

I will run this test in the morning when I get up. Tired now. I must rest, thank you for your input, later Tutor..

 

[SR2Mac]

I ran my first test this morning on GeekBench (GB) v2.2.6 and the score was 19931. I want to continue but I have to go somewhere for a bit and won't be back until later to try out the rest. BTW, I'm using myHack (non-distros) that is using chameleon. So when I start it up and I see the scrolling bar pop up I will hit "any" key and then type in: "command -v" and go from there... Talk to you soon...

 

[Tutor]

I ran my first test this morning on GeekBench (GB) v2.2.6 and the score was 19931. I want to continue but I have to go somewhere for a bit and won't be back until later to try out the rest. BTW, I'm using myHack (non-distros) that is using chameleon. So when I start it up and I see the scrolling bar pop up I will hit "any" key and then type in: "command -v" and go from there... Talk to you soon...

Then just enter -v at the prompt.

 

[SR2Mac]

Then just enter -v at the prompt.

I did just did -v and then took a bunch of pics in the beginning and then toward the end where there was a solid black background and pure white text. I'm assuming that is where the Turbo Ratios would have appeared. But as I throughly looked through all the info I could not find AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement: Turbo Ratios to see those ratios. What I did do is look for AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement in my SLE folder and it's there, I just don't know why that wouldn't show up.

The other thing is that I wasn't able to adjust the CPU Multiplier Setting; it just stays on 20 and that's it. I'm not allowed to adjust it. I called EVGA and they said that since I'm using the 5650's that's what may be the issue as that's a locked setting. So I guess I'm going to have to wait for those 5680's to come in. What is your knowledge say about this? Thank you...

 

[Tutor]

I did just did -v and then took a bunch of pics in the beginning and then toward the end where there was a solid black background and pure white text. I'm assuming that is where the Turbo Ratios would have appeared. But as I throughly looked through all the info I could not find AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement: Turbo Ratios to see those ratios. What I did do is look for AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement in my SLE folder and it's there, I just don't know why that wouldn't show up.

The other thing is that I wasn't able to adjust the CPU Multiplier Setting; it just stays on 20 and that's it. I'm not allowed to adjust it. I called EVGA and they said that since I'm using the 5650's that's what may be the issue as that's a locked setting. So I guess I'm going to have to wait for those 5680's to come in. What is your knowledge say about this? Thank you...

If it's locked, then underclocking isn't possible. However, AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement: Turbo Ratios ___ should still display your settings, assuming that everything else that should have been enabled in bios is still enabled. Those turbo settings are displayed early on in the boot display process, right after chameleon loads. It's even displayed on my Mac Pros and MacBook Pros when I boot them in verbose mode. Did you see any mention of fakesmc.kext when booting in verbose mode?

 

[SR2Mac]

If it's locked, then underclocking isn't possible. However, AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement: Turbo Ratios ___ should still display your settings, assuming that everything else that should have been enabled in bios is still enabled. Those turbo settings are displayed early on in the boot display process, right after chameleon loads. It's even displayed on my Mac Pros and MacBook Pros when I boot them in verbose mode. Did you see any mention of fakesmc.kext when booting in verbose mode?

I took a bunch of pics late last night and will examine each one thoroughly toady to look for both turbo settings & the fakesmc file in v mode, thanks...

 

[Tutor]

I took a bunch of pics late last night and will examine each one thoroughly toady to look for both turbo settings & the fakesmc file in v mode, thanks...

If you can get AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement working, then you can explore overclocking those 5650s using a 185 BCLK, with all Vcore settings at "Auto" and scoring about 33,000 in Geekbench 2.

 

[braindeadfool]

If you can get AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement working, then you can explore overclocking those 5650s using a 185 BCLK, with all Vcore settings at "Auto" and scoring about 33,000 in Geekbench 2.

Watching this thread with anticipation....SR-2, 5690s sitting next to my desk, waiting for my Case Labs delivery....

 

[Tutor]

Watching this thread with anticipation....SR-2, 5690s sitting next to my desk, waiting for my Case Labs delivery....

My SR-2 has 5680's, so you have greater potential.

 

[braindeadfool]

My SR-2 has 5680's, so you have greater potential.

It's a new plan for Southern domination of underclocking, Tutor. By the way, you give d00d way too much credit---you've dominated the innovation in "underclocking" these processors and articulating it to others. Thanks.

 

[Tutor]

Paying it forward

It's a new plan for Southern domination of underclocking, Tutor. By the way, you give d00d way too much credit---you've dominated the innovation in "underclocking" these processors and articulating it to others. Thanks.

One of the rules that I live by was drilled into me by Mrs. Jones when I was in the first grade in 1960: "Every great teacher wants all of her students to be much better than her and to pass knowledge and wisdom on to help others." My mom moved me and my younger brother from the Birmingham area to Los Angeles in 1967 - the year after my father was killed in an industrial accident at a local steel mill here. Later that year when I turned 14, I had to work to help support my family. One of the things that I did was to tutor students at nearby elementary (and later at junior high and high) schools, in mathematics (and later in algebra, geometry and trigonometry). One day when I returned from work to my junior high school, now named Johnny Cochran Middle School, a few of the other students began to poke fun at me for having to work. They had their laughs by calling me "Tutor" and the nickname stuck.

I give credit where credit is due and it's due to God, my family, my friends and everyone else who has touched my life by compelling or inspiring me to be the best that I can be. d00d is entitled to credit for his role in my growth. If knowledge is power, doing with knowledge is more powerful. When I stop learning and using what I've learned, please pronounce me dead.

 

[SR2Mac]

SR2Mac

One of the rules that I live by was drilled into me by Mrs. Jones when I was in the first grade in 1960: "Every great teacher wants all of her students to be much better than her and to pass knowledge and wisdom on to help others." My mom moved me and my younger brother from the Birmingham area to Los Angeles in 1967 - the year after my father was killed in an industrial accident at a local steel mill here. Later that year when I turned 14, I had to work to help support my family. One of the things that I did was to tutor students at nearby elementary (and later at junior high and high) schools, in mathematics (and later in algebra, geometry and trigonometry). One day when I returned from work to my junior high school, now named Johnny Cochran Middle School, a few of the other students began to poke fun at me for having to work. They had their laughs by calling me "Tutor" and the nickname stuck.

I give credit where credit is due and it's due to God, my family, my friends and everyone else who has touched my life by compelling or inspiring me to be the best that I can be. d00d is entitled to credit for his role in my growth. If knowledge is power, doing with knowledge is more powerful. When I stop learning and using what I've learned, please pronounce me dead.

Well, that is quite some story, and an encouraging one at that. Good to know that there's people out there like you that want to help so we can help others...

I did what you said and this time I tried to take as many pics and examine each and every individual line and there is one pic that shows this:

Read HFS+ File: [hd(0,2)/System/Library/Extensions/AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext/Contents/Info.plist] 2324 bytes

I see that similar line repeating a couple of frames later. I also see in later pics the same with similar information for the fakeSMC.kext file, but nothing else. Is that what I'm supposed to see? Also, I don't see any info on Turbo Ratios at all on any of the pics that I took.

Lastly, my system keeps doing the CMOS error thing. So I just pressed F2 to let it start at default when I booted to -v and then took those pics. F2 (I think) just put everything in default mode taking every setting off, like ACHI right back to IDE mode. But if that's the case then wouldn't it have not booted into Mac OS X? I thought it needed to be in ACHI to have Mac OS X work? Let me know what you can. Again, thank you...

 

[Tutor]

... . one pic that shows this:

Read HFS+ File: [hd(0,2)/System/Library/Extensions/AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext/Contents/Info.plist] 2324 bytes

I see that similar line repeating a couple of frames later. I also see in later pics the same with similar information for the fakeSMC.kext file, but nothing else. Is that what I'm supposed to see? Also, I don't see any info on Turbo Ratios at all on any of the pics that I took.

If you don't see any info on Turbo Ratios at all on any of the pics that you took, it's most likely that it isn't working yet. What version of Chameleon, FakeSMC and OSX are you running? I'm using Chameleon 2 RC5 R699; my FakeSMC.kext file was created on July 22, 2011; and I'm running SL 10.6.7; if you're running Lion, be sure that you follow d00d's post#1 about setting up smbios.plist and org.chameleon.Boot.plist. Also, I recommend that you, as did d00d, use Chameleon r1331 boot loader if you want to run Lion.

Lastly, my system keeps doing the CMOS error thing. So I just pressed F2 to let it start at default when I booted to -v and then took those pics. F2 (I think) just put everything in default mode taking every setting off, like ACHI right back to IDE mode. But if that's the case then wouldn't it have not booted into Mac OS X? I thought it needed to be in ACHI to have Mac OS X work? Let me know what you can. Again, thank you...

I'm using the SR-2 bios A49 because latest bios (A-56) was giving me the CMOS error thing too and "No. It's not just us." [ http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1199250 ] But isn't it nice that the little black 3-position switch at the bottom and slightly to the left of the SATA headers allows you to store 3 different bioses. OSX might run with a setting of other than ACHI, but I stake no chances and always enable it for either OS to ensure no problems.

 

[SR2Mac]

If you don't see any info on Turbo Ratios at all on any of the pics that you took, it's most likely that it isn't working yet. What version of Chameleon, FakeSMC and OSX are you running? I'm using Chameleon 2 RC5 R699; my FakeSMC.kext file was created on July 22, 2011; and I'm running SL 10.6.7; if you're running Lion, be sure that you follow d00d's post#1 about setting up smbios.plist and org.chameleon.Boot.plist. Also, I recommend that you, as did d00d, use Chameleon r1331 boot loader if you want to run Lion.

I'm running:

1) Chameleon v2.0-RC5 r1332 (So I should go back to using Chameleon r1331 over the new one?)

2) FakeSMC.kext - Nov, 20, 2009 (Where can I get the newer one? Is getting it here fine?: http://myhack.sojugarden.com/downloads/ - but this is a whole app and not just the FakeSMC.kext file. I went here to get JUST the FakeSMC.kext file and this was the latest one I could find: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=262624 from July, 2011 (v 3.1.0) But it's seems it's for Snow Leopard. Should I still use it even though I'm using Lion 10.7.2 or is there a more updated one that I should use and if so do you know where I could find it?)

3) Lion 10.7.2

And about smbios.plist and org.chameleon.Boot.plist I will make sure to follow (as best as I can understand) d00d's method. But as I get to that I'll ask you questions if I get stuck...

I'm using the SR-2 bios A49 because latest bios (A-56) was giving me the CMOS error thing too and "No. It's not just us." [ http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1199250 ] But isn't it nice that the little black 3-position switch at the bottom and slightly to the left of the SATA headers allows you to store 3 different bioses. OSX might run with a setting of other than ACHI, but I stake no chances and always enable it for either OS to ensure no problems.

I will try the other 2 switches to see if I have A49 (I hope I do). What was the release date of A49 show? The latest A56 shows the date release to be 7.05.11. I ask this because it won't show me (when I start up the system) the BIOS version that I'm using when the American Megatrends screen pops up. It just says:

BIOS Date: 07/05/11 10:45:54 Ver: 08.00.16 (instead of A56). But when I contact EVGA Tech Support they tell me what that BIOS version is by date. I'll try calling them first unless you already know.

Man, I got a lot of work ahead of me this week. Thanks again... Hopefully I'll be ready when those X5680's come in.