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    A Question on Network Cards, and my choice of hardware….

    Hardware
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    • P
      pfBasic Banned
      last edited by

      Congratulations, please let us know how it works out for you and ask any questions you may have about configuration!

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      • V
        vimes
        last edited by

        My hardware arrived and with what I had already the build includes….

        ITX cube case, didn't use the case fan.
        ASRock J3455M Apollo Lake 2xD3/2xS3/G M-ATX
        8GB SO-DIMM memory, way too much I know.
        Old SSD drive
        Be-Quiet 80+ Gold 500w PSU, from an old build.
        i340 T2 Intel dual port LAN card from eBay.

        It took me a while to figure out that pfsense would not boot from the USB drive as the BIOS is in UEFI mode and so compatibility mode needs to be enabled. You would not believe how many times I created several sticks to find that one out...!

        Install was uneventful, in other words it worked....! All connected now with my PPPoE connection and DHCP enabled for the LAN.

        My R7000 is now in AP mode for wireless.

        The box is very very quiet. I can't even hear a PSU fan, if it is running. As there are no other fans it should be as near silent as possible. It is in a well ventilated area.

        My next major challenge will be.....

        https://airvpn.org/topic/17444-how-to-set-up-pfsense-23-for-airvpn/#entry40138

        how to set up pfsense to use as a client for my AirVPN connection.

        I have read the above guide and I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment....!

        As yet I'm continuing to use their desktop client for just my PC to use the VPN connection, hopefully that might improve one day...!

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        • P
          pfBasic Banned
          last edited by

          Just keep asking questions here! The forum is here to mitigate feeling of being overwhelmed. I can't help with specifically AirVPN, but I'm sure others can!

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          • V
            vimes
            last edited by

            Thanks :)

            As you have one of those motherboards, I have asked this in the Asrock forums but not got a response as yet….

            Before installing pfsense I decided to let it boot to the SSD I had fitted, it happened to have a Windows 10 x64 build installed. All went well.

            This allowed me to test the board out beyond what I would otherwise know by using pfsense.

            What I noticed was if I used CPU-Z and CPU-Temp I could stress the CPU load to 100% and this would raise the CPU frequency to 2400mhz, 24x100.

            But as this CPU is rated by Asrock to be 2500mhz I assumed I would have seen 25x100 to  equate that maximum speed...?

            Have you noticed this...?

            Thanks

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            • P
              pfBasic Banned
              last edited by

              @vimes:

              My hardware arrived and with what I had already the build includes….

              ASRock J3455M Apollo Lake 2xD3/2xS3/G M-ATX

              @vimes:

              this CPU is rated by Asrock to be 2500mhz

              IDK if ASRock mistyped something somewhere but Intel is the place to go for CPU specs,

              • J3455 is 1.5GHz burst to 2.3GHz

              • J3355 is 2.0GHz burst to 2.5GHz

              Did you get a J3355?

              Either way, when you're speccing out your system use the base frequency to evaluate the kind of performance you can get.
              Burst frequency will only happen when the conditions are right and only for a short period.
              If you keep your computer in a hot room you might never see much of any bursting happening because the CPU doesn't have the thermal overhead for it.
              If you were to keep the computer in an ice cold room or use excellent cooling on it you would see it hitting its full burst frequency a lot because it would have so much thermal overhead.

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              • V
                vimes
                last edited by

                @pfBasic:

                @vimes:

                My hardware arrived and with what I had already the build includes….

                ASRock J3455M Apollo Lake 2xD3/2xS3/G M-ATX

                @vimes:

                this CPU is rated by Asrock to be 2500mhz

                IDK if ASRock mistyped something somewhere but Intel is the place to go for CPU specs,

                • J3455 is 1.5GHz burst to 2.3GHz

                • J3355 is 2.0GHz burst to 2.5GHz

                Did you get a J3355?

                Either way, when you're speccing out your system use the base frequency to evaluate the kind of performance you can get.
                Burst frequency will only happen when the conditions are right and only for a short period.
                If you keep your computer in a hot room you might never see much of any bursting happening because the CPU doesn't have the thermal overhead for it.
                If you were to keep the computer in an ice cold room or use excellent cooling on it you would see it hitting its full burst frequency a lot because it would have so much thermal overhead.

                sorry I did not explain it well enough….

                I did get the J335 and it is noted as 2Ghz but its burst rate should be up to 2.5Ghz, as you also noted :)

                But when I stressed it I then find it will show as 2.4Ghz and CPU-Temp will show it as 100x24.

                This should show as 2.5Ghz and 25x100 if it was to meet the spec of 2.5Ghz. The CPU was cool and not being throttled at the time due to heat.

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                • P
                  pfBasic Banned
                  last edited by

                  Yeah I don't know why it wouldn't hit the top burst frequency.

                  There is probably a whole set of criteria for how Intel handles turbo boost and I don't know what it is.
                  It also might be a windows thing? I really don't know.

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                  • V
                    vimes
                    last edited by

                    @pfBasic:

                    Yeah I don't know why it wouldn't hit the top burst frequency.

                    There is probably a whole set of criteria for how Intel handles turbo boost and I don't know what it is.
                    It also might be a windows thing? I really don't know.

                    No worries and many thanks

                    The point that CPU-Temp was able to show the multiplier at 24 and thus only 2.4Ghz is something set by Asrock, there is no manual override with this board for the clock frequency. I'm hoping that they will come back to me on that one within their forums and I've also contacted an Asrock rep.

                    If I get a reply from either I'll post back here

                    As a side note my AirVPN connection is now up and going.

                    But somewhere I'll have to figure out why the firewall within pfsense is blocking my Usenet clients from connecting on ports 119 and ports 563.

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                    • W
                      whosmatt
                      last edited by

                      @vimes:

                      I did get the J335 and it is noted as 2Ghz but its burst rate should be up to 2.5Ghz, as you also noted :)

                      But when I stressed it I then find it will show as 2.4Ghz and CPU-Temp will show it as 100x24.

                      This should show as 2.5Ghz and 25x100 if it was to meet the spec of 2.5Ghz. The CPU was cool and not being throttled at the time due to heat.

                      Did you stress it with a single thread or multiple?  It's my understanding that the max boost speed would only apply if a single core is stressed, and then only if power and thermal limits allow it.  If it's boosting to 2.4GHz on all cores then I'd say you're doing pretty well.

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                      • V
                        vimes
                        last edited by

                        Point taken about the cores.

                        Considering that I have managed to get pfsense working now with my VPN connection and at around 75Mb the CPU is showing around 20% load all seems good.

                        Just to satisfy my curiosity it would be interesting what Asrock will have to say. I still suspect that it is the BIOS limiting the CPU to a 24x multiplier. Which could be for thermal reasons due to the passive cooler fitted.

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                        • R
                          Runenaldo
                          last edited by

                          my Asrock J3455-ITX is doing the same as your J3355, during multicore stress testing in prime95.

                          it should hit 2.3GHz, but I'm only seeing 2.2GHz (multiplier x22)

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                          • V
                            vimes
                            last edited by

                            That's interesting. I wonder if it is a Asrock / BIOS means of thermal or stability control as I would doubt that it would be an Intel limitation.
                            Asus also use some of these chips in similar boards but I haven't read about their limitations.

                            They have not replied here….

                            http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4787

                            ... When I asked that question.

                            I do feel kinda cheated...!  Lol

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                            • P
                              pfBasic Banned
                              last edited by

                              It probably has something to do with what whosmatt mentioned. I very much doubt that a huge supplier (or any supplier) like ASRock is crippling hardware secretly.

                              This is probably just not the right way to test that.

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                              • P
                                pfBasic Banned
                                last edited by

                                It looks like a moderator did answer you over there:

                                If we check the specifications of your board's J3355 processor, we find that 2.5GHz is what Intel calls the "Burst Frequency".

                                http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/processors/celeron/j3355.html

                                Burst Frequency is similar to a Turbo speed of other Intel processors. The Turbo and Burst frequency/speed is not the maximum standard processor speed. Turbo speeds occur only on a subset of the processor cores under certain conditions and situations. The same is true for the Burst Frequency. Turbo and Burst speeds are not maintained on a continuous basis.

                                When stress testing an Intel processor with the Turbo feature, the maximum speed all the cores will achieve will be the maximum specified frequency, which is not the Turbo frequency. The same is true for the Burst frequency.

                                In the case of the J3455-ITX board, and its J3455 processor, the Burst Frequency is 2.3GHz:

                                http://ark.intel.com/products/95594/Intel-Celeron-Processor-J3455-2M-Cache-up-to-2_3-GHz

                                So this one is on Intel, or a slight misunderstanding of the specifications of these processors.

                                Similar response to what you got over here.

                                Especially since two people are seeing the same result on different CPUs, almost certainly either a misunderstanding of the technology, an error in testing method or both.
                                Highly unlikely (read, it isn't) a secret nerf from Intel or ASRock.

                                Burst does not = Turbo Boost, but there isn't any clear paper explaining it by Intel (that I've found).
                                https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Processors/Intel-Atom-Z3000-Series-Review-Bay-Trail-and-Silvermont-Arrive/Intel-Burst-and-Ac

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                                • V
                                  vimes
                                  last edited by

                                  I think that it is more of how the board was advertised at Amazon which, for me, started the confusion….

                                  ASRock J3355B-ITX J3355 2DDR3(SOD)/2S3/GL M-ITX ASRock Super Alloy Intel Dual-Core Processor J3355 (up to 2.5 GHz)

                                  And in the motherboard spec at Amazon......

                                  Processor Speed 2.5 GHz

                                  Which should be amended.

                                  ASRock J3355B-ITX 2DDR3(SOD)/2S3/GL M-ITX Motherboard - Grey

                                  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9EXCYB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_0556ybD5VSKG1

                                  At least we know.

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                                  • P
                                    pfBasic Banned
                                    last edited by

                                    Oh yeah, those damn advertisements will get you!

                                    When speccing your hardware it's always best to read the manufacturers spec (in this case Intel ARK).

                                    When determining the CPU you need it's best to figure out about the minimum single core clock frequency you can get away with to do what you need, and buy something that meets (or very nearly meets) that as a base frequency. Turbo Boost and Burst frequencies can't be relied on to give you performance because of the way they are designed. Think of them as a bonus you'll get every now and then and you won't be disappointed.

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                                    • V
                                      vimes
                                      last edited by

                                      How I do agree.!

                                      I did check out the CPU with Intel to understand the TDP and then read….

                                      Processor Base Frequency
                                      2.00 GHz

                                      Burst Frequency
                                      2.50 GHz

                                      What I didn't understand is how the burst mode values are arrived that. Sort of different to how my 6700k is listed.

                                      It was important to know if the CPU supported the AES instruction set and, if needed, virtualization.

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