XXHighEnd

I was getting round to looking at noise levels on my DAC outputs and I2S lines this morning with the new Seasonic ATx supply fitted and decided to look at something that has been on the 'to do' list for a while.

More recent ASUS mobos have something called Digi+ Power Control options. This seems to be a chip which can "tune" voltages and currents and mobo power phases to main components on these mobos.

I'm not much of a fan of these things as you could have all sorts of nonsense happening to power on the mobo on the fly at speeds that effect music. So I went into the 15 or so bios parameters and started removing "auto" settings and replacing with basic settings to reduce in flight tuning of voltages.

I'v ended up with quite a difference in SQ, [very] good it think. Just listening to Sash! now and the synths are like never before with an exciting and pure top end. These tracks have always been a system test for me because the highs usually make the system desolve into producing a "tish tish tish" version of what is happening in high hats, cymbals etc.  Now is riveting  :)

It would be very interesting if anyone with Digi+ features on their mobo wants to give this a go. Happy to post some starter settings.

Regards,

Nick

Hi Nick,

Well yes, I am interested ! :) I was not sure about this (Sabertooth x79), but when in ignorance, I hesitate in asking myself if fiddling with something would be for the better, as in "secure".

As you saw from this CPU frequency thing, I thought wrongly that it would not be harmful... This inclines me to apply the brakes, as my ignorance (or lack of information) can sometimes lead into costly mistakes.

But this "DIGI" thing had me scratch my head for a while... :) While I understood it had something to do with regulation, I was not tempted to try something with it.

I will try it. I feel like a guy in a wheelchair trying things in hope he will walk by himself ;) You guys keep me trying to walk faster ;)

Regards,

Alain

Alain expresses well my predicament! Would love to see those starter settings. Thanks Nick.

Brian

Hi guys,

This is what I plugged in. There is not much science at work other than trying stuff out and trying to stop the digi+ feature from doing its own thing on the fly. It did work well here, maybe a little forward in places but I am using some interconnects that are quite forward so a change should  address that.

Could be lots to try and understand. See what you think.

Regards.

Nick.

Not supposed to want to get home this much when you are on vacation! Thanks Nick.

Adirondaks, upstate New York. It's a shame people mostly just think of NY as the City. Adirondak Park is bigger than Grand Canyon and Yellowstone combined. If you are looking for lakes it's the best.

Hey Brian,

I just Googled Adirondak, I would not be rushing home too fast, looks really beautiful. I worked a little in New York a while back and never knew where to head on the rare occation that I got a little time to myself. Now I know  :)

Regards,

Nick.

Hi Nick,

Thanks, I played a little with the config and removes the "AUTO" from most of what I could see. I see though that you have some adjustments to "EXTREME" ? I leave whatever could be left at their minimum configuration. I did not have the time to test it yet. And even if I don't hear a difference, just deactivating all these AUTO modes should surely cut an important part of those "controlled fluctuations"...

Regards,

Alain

Thinking I want to be a little more structured I found this link which is a good explanation of how digi+ parameters work. There definitely is an ability to change sq with these but its important to try to figure out what helps and what harms sq.

www.techinstyle.tv/20111312039/uncategorized/how-to-tweak-digi-vrm-on-p8p67-series-motherboards/

Nick.

I did some listening yesterday evening and I fell that the SQ has increased since I made some adjustments to the DIGI+. More details, air between notes and a blacker background :)

I am even starting to hear some tones from the nature of the instruments.

Of course, I understand that I have subjectively expressing things, but it is going the right way :)

I know that you know this, but it is important to remind ourselves that a pc was made for speed and reliability, not silence...

It is fun :)

Thanks Nick for this input ! We are turning a noisy pc into a more quiet environment - like a hi-fi component should be !

Regards,

Alain