Turion supported desktop motherboards

[ekjk]

Hi,

About the Vcore: I haven't really tried to overclock or push the voltage on the CPU. My goal was to have a quiet, low power system. The Vcore that comes 'up' when booting the system is the max value of the Vcore voltage for the Turion which is 1.2V. When I boot into Linux (I don't use Windows) it lists the max/min (1.2/0.9V) voltages for the processor and the speed info (1800/1600/800 MHz). Comparing to AMD's info for the Turion everything seems fine so I guess the MB handles the processor correctly (use the latest BIOS). I am able to boot the system at lower voltages and lower Vcores but powernow on Linux works fine with this MB and seems to take care of things well. The power the Turion uses at idle is extremely low (~ 1W--see my post above) since Linux uses the halt features of the processor well. I presume Windows is equally as capable in this regard.

I have never had any problems with the PicoPSU but, as you can see from my previous post in this forum, the peak power used by my system is <50W, well within the 80W limit of the AC/DC converter and PicoPSU120. I have plugged/unplugged the 12V into the PicoPSU when it is attached to the MB many times without problems. The fan seems to start momentarily when I do this--much like pluggin/unplugging an ATX PS.

Overall, if a low power system is the goal, I think the ASRock/notebook HD/PicoPSU is a nice way to satisy that goal.

Eusebio

[osl]

Hi Ekjk,

Thank you for your answer. I killed 3 Asus A8N-VM boards (probably the MOSFETS) by plugging/unplugging a "hot" AC adapter into to the PW-200, before I figured out that this caused it. I guess the picoPSU-120 startup sequence is better or the ASRock MB is less sensitive (wonder which ?)

You didn't answer if you can change the Vcore from the Bios ?

[ekjk]

Hi,

I thought I answered your question but maybe I didn't make myself clear. Yes, one can change the Vcore in the BIOS and boot at lower core voltage and/or speed. The BIOS prevents you from overvolting the CPU by setting a maximum Vcore you can set, which is 1.25V for the MT-32 and the BIOS I have (version 1.7 I believe).

Hope this helps.

Eusebio

BTW, last I checked (yesterday), Newegg has an openbox ASRock MB for ~34 bucks and free shipping!

[osl]

Got the ASRock K8NF4G-SATA2, but the Southbridge nForce 410 immediately becomes extreme hot (idle: 57C/135F).
To hot for my taste !

I think I'll try the ASUS A8V-VM instead. VIA normally use less power/produce less heat than NVIDIA. Only problem is that it is brand new and the first BIOS version might have problems.

Got the ASUS A8V-VM, but this board really sucks. High power consumption and horrible performance. Will stick with the ASRock K8NF4G-SATA2 instead !

[bean1975]

This is the most off-topic thread I ever saw. Let's see Turion supporting motherboards:

The AOpen VK8T800a-LF is the board that AMD suggests for Mobile CPUs supports Mobile Sempron and Turion alike. I tested the board with a Mobile Sempron and Linux and powernow-k8 loaded -- this is the maximum support one can dream of.

The other is the often-mentioned ASRock K8NF4G-SATA2 which is known to support Turions. Whether Mobile Sempron is supported like the board above I do not know.

In the above-mentioned AMD presentation a third board was also mentioned, I will look it up tomorrow.

You want a cooler that bolts through the board.

I tried other S754 boards and the best you can do is to set manually voltages and multipliers. I am able to use my Mobile Sempron 3000+ in a Asus K8N-E at [email protected] . This is however is not good as the two boards above.

[Vanseb]

Hi all !
I got a K8NF4G-SATA2, so Asrock, and the Vcore's not good, it's 1.35, so like a ML !
There's some MSI mobo where Vcore is good, with a new BIOS.
http://www.msi-computer.fr/index.php?pa ... d_prod=419

[bean1975]

Well, MSI even lets you to search on Turion support: http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/ ... p?type=159 This mp3car thread also mentions K8NGM-V, the MSI RS482M-IL and the Gigabyte GA-K8N51GMF as working with Turions. On another note, a CPU shim is available from MSI.

[Vanseb]

Hi !
Don't see this link on the topic : http://angelfall.s39.xrea.com/area2ch/turion-e.html
Enjoy
I have a heatspreader from MSI (bought on eBay, MSI don't sell it in France, only in bundle with mobo), it's great.

[ekjk]

Vanseb,

If you look at a previous post of mine in this thread you will see that the ASRock K8NF4G-SATA2 sets the vcore high for the MT Turion for BIOS pre version 1.6. When I flashed the BIOS to 1.6 the MT Turion vcore was set to 1.25v but in Linux it showed up as 1.2V. I'm not sure why the difference of 0.05V.

I have not tried a more recent BIOS version to see what, if any, vcore changes occur. What BIOS version do you have?

Eusebio

[Vanseb]

Ekjk,

My card give a wrong Vcore with all BIOS, except the original, which was the 1.0 for my card.
Now I have the 1.6 (or 1.7, I'm not sure...), and Vcore is at 1.33V. The Vcore is automatic, and I see the value with CPUID (tested with 3 versions); with Everest, Vcore is at 1.15 (with variations)... And it depends of the version of Everest !
If I put a value on the Bios, like 1.10, CPUID continues to say Vcore is 1.35V, and for Everest it's ever 1.15.
I know I don't speak very welle nglish, but I think I understand an minimum, and it's not hard to see a value
Maybe it's CPUID which gives the wrong information. If it's that, I'm sorry about my stupidity ! lol
I will be a new test with 1.7 BIOS and edit my post.

Thanks Eusebio, and have a nice day.

/Edit ->
ok. I'm stupid or tired
I tested with the 1.7 release, and BIOS said the maximum Vcore for this CPU (know as MT-37, with all release) is 1.25. So I can see the value on the BIOS, in the temp page.
Tested with a new value, 1.05, BIOS shows this value, ever in the same page, after a reboot (normal). Boot in Windows, CPUID said Vcore is at 1.23... For Everest, it's 1.02.
Ok, i retested with BIOS 1.6, and BIOS said maximum voltage is 1.35. So there's a problem with my MT-37 and this BIOS. If a put a value, like 1.25, after rebooting the Vcore is ever at 1.35V.

Don't know what happened with this release, but I will do more tests with other version, if I find a floppy drive.

Excuse for my ignorance and my error

[ekjk]

Hi Vanseb,

Well, I'm glad it seems like the 1.7 BIOS is working for you.

I have an MT-32 and it works at the voltages I indicated in my last post with the 1.6 BIOS. I wonder if there was an update in the BIOS tables for the MT-37 in version 1.7?

Anyway, good luck with it.

Eusebio

[Vanseb]

Maybe there was a modification, but when I bought the mobo, with the BIOS 1.0, I think it was ok. Maybe I'm wrong, I can't make test with the release, my USB key don't boot

Sébastien.

[gazebo]

I just bought a Turion ML-32 and a Socket 754 motherboard (Foxconn 760GXK8MC-RS) at bargain prices on Ebay (GBP26 and GBP11 respectively!) for an HTPC I'm building. I hoped that this combination would work as the 760GXK8Mb was reported as supporting Turion chips on that Japanese site.

The processor was correctly identified by the BIOS and with default BIOS settings (FID and VID as "Startup" and Cool'n'Quiet at Auto - also enabled in Windows), CPUZ showed it was running at 800MHZ@ .975V. Starting cpuburn this jumped to 1800MHz @1.440V, so C'n'Q worked!!

Unfortunately any attempts to undervolt the processor with C'n'Q enabled were ignored by the BIOS. But disabling C'n'Q I'm now booting with FID of 9 and VID of 1.225 (although CPUZ shows this to be 1.3V).

I'm now playing with software to change FID and VID under windows - I was going to have to do this anyway because I need something between 800 and 1600MHz for DVB decoding.

Also the BIOS (latest version) has the ability to set pretty sophisticated parameters for CPU fan speed control. I'm delighted with this mb sofar and I'll never make rude comments about SIS chipsets again

[jaganath]

I just bought a Turion ML-32 and a Socket 754 motherboard (Foxconn 760GXK8MC-RS) at bargain prices on Ebay (GBP26 and GBP11 respectively!)

You lucky lucky so-and-so! That truly is a bargain; the Foxconn is a great board, I have the exact same model. Together they should make a brilliant (and quiet) HTPC.

[~El~Jefe~]

can we remove such stickies?

eh?

turion? *spews in trashcan*

[Mod: If my memory serves me, a Spammer was the necroposter...]

[NoiseFreeGuy]

can we remove such stickies?

eh?

turion? *spews in trashcan*

Why?

I just happened upon this thread now.
I am in the market for a mb of this type.

I am currently using an AOpen i855GMe-LFS which I'm thrilled with.
All the USB ports blew recently, not exactly sure why.

So I'm checking out possible replacement mb's.
I picked up two AOpen i915Ga-HFS's on eBay recently (the closest I could get to the i855GMe-LFS)
But then I read the review here for the i915Ga-HFS and it wasn't favorable (noisy).

So a Turion might be right up my alley!
They were in the same league as the Pentium-M's correct?

[HFat]

Childish individuals are not barred from web forums. The environment usually suits them.

People are also confused by marketing.
Turion is a marketing name. Lots of different CPUs have gotten that designation. I'm not sure what it means exactly. I recently bought an AMD system which I think could have been branded as Turion but was not.
So far as I can tell, the modern Turions can be quiet pricey but are indeed in the same league as the Pentium M... except that they have two cores and more features (virtualization extension, 64 bits, DDR3 support and so on). Some Pentium Ms can perform some jobs significantly faster than my mobile AMD CPU but I certainly wouldn't want to exchange it for a Pentium M.

AMD just released a potentially more interesting low-power platform. It looks like it may be (much) slower than some existing Turions in some respects but an improvement in others. I don't know what name it will be sold under. There's a couple of recent threads on the forum about that (look for "Fusion", "Zacate" or "Ontario").

[NoiseFreeGuy]

...
So far as I can tell, the modern Turions can be quiet pricey but are indeed in the same league as the Pentium M... except that they have two cores and more features (virtualization extension, 64 bits, DDR3 support and so on)....

AMD just released a potentially more interesting low-power platform. It looks like it may be (much) slower than some existing Turions in some respects but an improvement in others. I don't know what name it will be sold under. There's a couple of recent threads on the forum about that (look for "Fusion", "Zacate" or "Ontario").

Thanks for the heads up HFat!
I will certainly try to catch up on these CPU's.
I remember a few years ago when I was researching CPU's and such, Turions were just coming into the fore. It was simply a twist of fate that I decided to go with the Pentium-M; that and the fact that there were already a few mb's that supported them.