[coreboot] 8GB graphics cards work on coreboot - in case anyone is wondering

[Taiidan at gmx.com]

On 09/30/2018 11:14 AM, Matt B wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> One thing I just noticed about the page:
> https://www.coreboot.org/Board:asus/kgpe-d16
> 

> Here "Crossfire XDMA" is listed as needing testing. 

I added that table.

> If nobody has been able
> to test this, and you (or someone else) has the opportunity this might be
> an interesting thing to test.

It is simply PCI-e P2P DMA nothing special so I see no reason why it
shouldn't work.

I don't have the money/need for a second RX580 so I can't test it.

If you want to play games the G34 6328 is what you want, or if you get a
KCMA-D8 the C32 4386 - the piledriver cpus are faster than the bulldozer
ones.


> After learning that this board can take a more modern CPU (family 15h) I'm
> now considering it more strongly for a future computer. My K10 box is
> *currently* mitigated against Spectre V2 (IBP disabled under CentOS via a
> chicken bit) but I don't think it's wise to expect further mitigations to
> be forthcoming from AMD should more bugs rear their ugly head. Moving up to
> a family 15h CPU means getting updated Spectre V2-mitigating microcode and
> a much more realistic expectation of support in the immediate future. I'll
> probably even move up to piledriver (like the G505s I'm currently working
> on), since a microcode patch will also fix the NMI issue (and I'll be
> applying one to the stock microcode anyway).
> 
> I'd be really interested to learn if Crossfire and other features of modern
> cards work on these older boards under coreboot, since they may come in
> REALLY handy when running any machine learning loads on these boards.

Like I said it works fine - you can have a total of 2 dual width cards
or 4 single width PCI-e cards plus the PIKE HBA/RAID slot which is
actually just a PCI-e x4 reversed slot on the data side (the longer side
is the ports fan-out)

Of course I would suggest you instead purchase a TALOS 2 as it would be
faster, less expensive and give you much more options. Obviously you
can't play x86 games on one but folks have already ported a few foss
indie games to POWER and unreal engine has a demo.

Note the lite version has only two pci-e slots and the recc'ed regular
talos 2 must have dual cpus for all the slots to be used so dual 4 core
is better than one 8 core.

Arguably the most impressive TALOS 2 home setup yet :D

https://wiki.raptorcs.com/wiki/User:JSharp#T2.2Fx86_FSC_Heterogeneous_Cluster_.28veritates.40kraftwerk.29

As always if you require more PCI-e slots on a single board for whatever
reason you can purchase a PCI-e expansion system from cyclone
microsystems, of course one should consider their uplink requirements
(and get at least pci-e 2.0 x16 uplink) although for P2P and VM
assignment the onboard PCI-e switch supports ACS so there is no issue
there. They appear on fleabay now and again and seem to be made in usa
just like the talos 2!

> On another note, does anyone have a favorite PSU for these boards?

I recommend something from seasonic they seem to make the best stuff
these days.

> Preferably something that will last a bit longer than crappy consumer gear?
> This thing already requires two 8-pin connectors for a dual CPU setup, and
> graphics cards demand them now too.

The PCI-e power connector is different and not compatible be careful
when you hook up your stuff!
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