Solved! [Re: [Dri-devel] Radeon DRI problems still =(]

[Simon K. <si...@ne...>]

On Fri, Apr 13, 2001 at 08:59:13PM -0700, Joseph Carter wrote:

> On Fri, Apr 13, 2001 at 12:10:11PM -0700, Simon Kirby wrote:
> > 
> > Hmm!  Where is this option?  I can't seem to find it in my BIOS anywhere. 
> > Perhaps it's only an option on newer boards.
> > 
> > What other things have you tried?
> 
> P2C/C2P(?) concurrency, turning off AGP-4x mode all together, and other
> settings.  I posted my AGP-related settings about a week ago along with
> kernel info, system info, etc.

Well, I think I just figured out what was doing it.  Option "AGPMode" "4"
in my X configuration file.  I turned it off, and just played Q3 for
around two hours in a hot room with no crashes.

I'll try AGPMode "2" to see if it crashes with that as well, but it
definitely looks like there are some problems on my ASUS P2B-DS (BX
chipset) and 4x AGP.  Err, maybe it's not even officially supported,
which would explain why it doesn't work properly. :)

> > Actually, I'm running the bus at 100 MHz.  Dual Slot1 300A Celerons
> > drilled & soldered to run at dual 450 MHz, but I left that part out to
> > increase the validity of my report. ;)
> 
> AMD Duron 800, running 100x8.  I don't overclock - my CPU is already
> 109°F as it is!

Ahh, that's not too bad.

My CPUs were crashing until I made up some custom heatsinks.  Two
fans on each CPU and duct-tape around the top of all of the fins to keep
air inside the sink until near the bottom rather than having the air
mostly go out the sides at the top, like Alpha does (but with metal :)). 
The duct tape actually made a big difference.

To reduce ambient, I cut off the stupid air-blocking grills on the
exhaust and inlet fan mounts on the case.  Then, I took a bunch of old
80mm fans that had died, ripped out guts, and used double-sided tape and
duct tape to stick them together to form a "tunnel" through which air
flows.  This made it suck air out of the case from right above the CPUs,
rather than near the edge of the case.  Right out the heat sinks and
straight out the back -- nice.

All of that and a custom dremmel-cut hard drive mount to put the hard
drive near the inlet fan (grill also removed) to keep the HDs cool as
well as bring in cool air over the PCI cards.

Now if only it were a bit more quiet. :)  With this double-walled case,
most of the noise still goes out the tunnel at the back.  Oh well. :)
Not bad for about CDN$120 for the CPUs each many years back.

One thing I've found is that instead of using screws to mount case fans,
use double-sided mounting tape (I use the 3M/scotch stuff).  Sometimes it
sticks too well, but the padding reduces vibrations which transfer to the
case and thus reduces the noise a lot.

Also, removing poorly-made grills built into the case often reduce noise
a lot, even though air flow increases.  This is because both the grill
can makes noise, but even more so, most fans are designed to operate
quietly at a minimum airflow and become louder with airflow is
restricted.

Uh, anyway, this is a bit off-topic now. :)

Simon-

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