OCNG5 (OC Next-Generation, version 5) is a firmware modification for Supermicro 4P G34
motherboards (complete list of supported motherboards below) that allows overclocking of
all current AMD Opteron processors, that is 6100, 6200 and 6300 series.
OCNG5 works by altering motherboard's reference clock early at boot and tuning
processor components for performance and stability.
Reference clock (referred to as BCLK in Intel processors) is used to derive a number of
system clocks (including core clock, integrated northbridge clock, hypertransport clock
and memory clock). Thus, in principle, increasing reference clock increases system
speed.
Special care must be taken when increasing reference clock as certain components and
interfaces don't operate well beyond their rated speeds. Specifically, DRAM modules may
not be able to handle increased memory clock and memory interface tuning may not be
possible for very high speeds (given lack of characterization data). Similar limitation
applies to hypertransport interface.
OCNG5 takes care of these risks by ensuring that rated memory and hypertransport
speeds are never exceeded.
Taking advantage of performance/enthusiast memory is, however, possible. OCNG5 fully
supports XMP profile 1 and automatically uses it (if available) whenever OCNG5 features
are enabled.
Configuring OCNG5 currently requires Linux but, once set up, any operating system may
be used.
As overclocking translates to increased power draw, one needs to pay special attention to
cooling the system (both, the motherboard and the processors). On one hand, additional
heat limits attainable speeds and affects quality of voltage regulation. On the other,
overheating power delivery circuits may lead to their destruction and render the
motherboard inoperable. These make two good reasons to make sure that heat is
transported away from your system.
Caring for power delivery circuits is especially important when using high power parts
(carrying 140W TDP, including 6176 SE, 6282 SE, 6284 SE, 6386 SE). When using high
power parts or whenever AC power (80% eff. assumed) starts to exceed 800W, providing
airflow across the motherboard (front-to-back) is highly recommended.
This is especially true for systems located in enthusiast cases or on open trays. Server
cooling systems typically accommodate this recommendation so no special action
(except, say, bumping fan speeds) is required.
OCNG5 also comes with a safety mechanism: if the board doesn't POST three times in a
row, stock settings are restored. This eliminates the need to reset CMOS (a
time-consuming process) during OC process.
As of today, OCNG5 supports following motherboards:
[QG63NG53.C16 image]
- H8QGi+-F
- H8QGi-F
- H8QG6+-F
- H8QG6-F
[QG73NG53.C09 image]
- H8QGi+-LN4F
- H8QGi-LN4F
- H8QG7+-LN4F
- H8QG7-LN4F
[QGL3NG53.C19 image]
- H8QGL-6F (*)
- H8QGL-6F+ (*)
- H8QGL-iF (*)
- H8QGL-iF+ (*)
[DG63NG53.B25 image]
- H8DG6
- H8DG6-F
- H8DGi
- H8DGi-F
[SGL3NG53.B25 image]
- H8SGL
- H8SGL-F
(*) incompatibility between OCNG5 and IPMI has been identified on H8QGL series boards
  (no boot when overclocked);
  if IPMI is not required, disabling IPMI (using jumper JPB1) is recommended;
  otherwise, the issue can be worked around by completely removing JPB1 jumper;
  doing so will still allow IPMI/KVM access but IPMI access from the OS will not be
  possible
For installation instructions and further information please visit:
http://area51dev.blogspot.com/p/ocng5-installation.html
 
OCNG5 (OC Next-Generation, version 5) is a firmware modification for Supermicro 4P G34
motherboards (complete list of supported motherboards below) that allows overclocking of
all current AMD Opteron processors, that is 6100, 6200 and 6300 series.
OCNG5 works by altering motherboard's reference clock early at boot and tuning
processor components for performance and stability.
Reference clock (referred to as BCLK in Intel processors) is used to derive a number of
system clocks (including core clock, integrated northbridge clock, hypertransport clock
and memory clock). Thus, in principle, increasing reference clock increases system
speed.
Special care must be taken when increasing reference clock as certain components and
interfaces don't operate well beyond their rated speeds. Specifically, DRAM modules may
not be able to handle increased memory clock and memory interface tuning may not be
possible for very high speeds (given lack of characterization data). Similar limitation
applies to hypertransport interface.
OCNG5 takes care of these risks by ensuring that rated memory and hypertransport
speeds are never exceeded.
Taking advantage of performance/enthusiast memory is, however, possible. OCNG5 fully
supports XMP profile 1 and automatically uses it (if available) whenever OCNG5 features
are enabled.
Configuring OCNG5 currently requires Linux but, once set up, any operating system may
be used.
As overclocking translates to increased power draw, one needs to pay special attention to
cooling the system (both, the motherboard and the processors). On one hand, additional
heat limits attainable speeds and affects quality of voltage regulation. On the other,
overheating power delivery circuits may lead to their destruction and render the
motherboard inoperable. These make two good reasons to make sure that heat is
transported away from your system.
Caring for power delivery circuits is especially important when using high power parts
(carrying 140W TDP, including 6176 SE, 6282 SE, 6284 SE, 6386 SE). When using high
power parts or whenever AC power (80% eff. assumed) starts to exceed 800W, providing
airflow across the motherboard (front-to-back) is highly recommended.
This is especially true for systems located in enthusiast cases or on open trays. Server
cooling systems typically accommodate this recommendation so no special action
(except, say, bumping fan speeds) is required.
OCNG5 also comes with a safety mechanism: if the board doesn't POST three times in a
row, stock settings are restored. This eliminates the need to reset CMOS (a
time-consuming process) during OC process.
As of today, OCNG5 supports following motherboards:
[QG63NG53.C16 image]
- H8QGi+-F
- H8QGi-F
- H8QG6+-F
- H8QG6-F
[QG73NG53.C09 image]
- H8QGi+-LN4F
- H8QGi-LN4F
- H8QG7+-LN4F
- H8QG7-LN4F
[QGL3NG53.C19 image]
- H8QGL-6F (*)
- H8QGL-6F+ (*)
- H8QGL-iF (*)
- H8QGL-iF+ (*)
[DG63NG53.B25 image]
- H8DG6
- H8DG6-F
- H8DGi
- H8DGi-F
[SGL3NG53.B25 image]
- H8SGL
- H8SGL-F
(*) incompatibility between OCNG5 and IPMI has been identified on H8QGL series boards
  (no boot when overclocked);
  if IPMI is not required, disabling IPMI (using jumper JPB1) is recommended;
  otherwise, the issue can be worked around by completely removing JPB1 jumper;
  doing so will still allow IPMI/KVM access but IPMI access from the OS will not be
  possible
For installation instructions and further information please visit:
http://area51dev.blogspot.com/p/ocng5-installation.html
 
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