IOQD from The Tech ARP BIOS Guide!

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IOQD

Common Options : 1, 4, 8, 12

 

IOQD : A Quick Review

The IOQD BIOS feature controls the use of the processor bus’ command queue.

Normally, there are only two options available. Depending on the motherboard chipset, the options could be (1 and 4), (1 and 8) or (1 and 12).

The first queue depth option is always 1, which prevents the processor bus pipeline from queuing any outstanding commands. If selected, each command will only be issued after the processor has finished with the previous one.

Therefore, every command will incur the maximum amount of latency. This varies from 4 clock cycles for a 4-stage pipeline to 12 clock cycles for pipelines with 12 stages.

In most cases, it is highly recommended that you enable command queuing by selecting the option of 4 / 8 / 12 or in some cases, Enabled.

This allows the processor bus pipeline to mask its latency by queuing outstanding commands. You can expect a significant boost in performance with this feature enabled.

Interestingly, this IOQD feature can also be used as an aid in overclocking the processor. Although the queuing of commands brings with it a big boost in performance, it may also make the processor unstable at overclocked speeds. To overclock beyond what’s normally possible, you can try disabling command queuing.

But please note that the performance deficit associated with deeper pipelines (8 or 12 stages) may not be worth the increase in processor overclockability. This is because the deep processor bus pipelines have very long latencies.

If they are not masked by command queuing, the processor may be stalled so badly that you may end up with poorer performance even if you are able to further overclock the processor. So, it is recommended that you enable command queuing for deep pipelines, even if it means reduced overclockability.

 

IOQD : The Details

For greater performance at high clock speeds, motherboard chipsets now feature a pipelined processor bus. The multiple stages in this pipeline can also be used to queue up multiple commands to the processor.

This command queuing greatly improves performance because it effectively masks the latency of the processor bus. In optimal situations, the amount of latency between each succeeding command can be reduced to only a single clock cycle!

The IOQD BIOS feature controls the use of the processor bus’ command queue. Normally, there are only two options available.

Depending on the motherboard chipset, the options could be (1 and 4), (1 and 8) or (1 and 12). This is because the IOQD BIOS feature does not actually allow you to select the number of commands that can be queued.

It merely allows you to disable or enable the command queuing capability of the processor bus pipeline. This is because the number of commands that can be queued depends entirely on the number of stages in the pipeline.

As such, you can expect to see IOQD to be associated with options like Enabled and Disabled in some motherboards.

The first queue depth option is always 1, which prevents the processor bus pipeline from queuing any outstanding commands.

If selected, each command will only be issued after the processor has finished with the previous one. Therefore, every command will incur the maximum amount of latency. This varies from 4 clock cycles for a 4-stage pipeline to 12 clock cycles for pipelines with 12 stages.

As you can see, this reduces performance as the processor has to wait for each command to filter down the pipeline. The severity of the effect depends greatly on the depth of the pipeline. The deeper the pipeline, the greater the effect.

If the second queue depth option is 4, this means that the processor bus pipeline has 4 stages in it. Selecting this option allows the queuing of up to 4 commands in the pipeline. Each command can then be processed successively with a latency of only 1 clock cycle.

If the second queue depth option is 8, this means that the processor bus pipeline has 8 stages in it. Selecting this option allows the queuing of up to 8 commands in the pipeline. Each command can then be processed successively with a latency of only 1 clock cycle.

If the second queue depth option is 12, this means that the processor bus pipeline has 12 stages in it. Selecting this option allows the queuing of up to 12 commands in the pipeline. Each command can then be processed successively with a latency of only 1 clock cycle.

Please note that the latency of only 1 clock cycle is only possible if the pipeline is completely filled up. If the pipeline is only partially filled up, then the latency affecting one or more of the commands will be more than 1 clock cycle. Still, the average latency for each command will be much lower than it would be with command queuing disabled.

In most cases, it is highly recommended that you enable command queuing by selecting the option of 4 / 8 / 12 or in some cases, Enabled. This allows the processor bus pipeline to mask its latency by queuing outstanding commands. You can expect a significant boost in performance with this feature enabled.

Interestingly, this IOQD feature can also be used as an aid in overclocking the processor. Although the queuing of commands brings with it a big boost in performance, it may also make the processor unstable at overclocked speeds.

To overclock beyond what’s normally possible, you can try disabling command queuing. This may reduce performance but it will make the processor more stable and may allow it to be further overclocked.

But please note that the performance deficit associated with deeper pipelines (8 or 12 stages) may not be worth the increase in processor overclockability. This is because the deep processor bus pipelines have very long latencies.

If they are not masked by command queuing, the processor may be stalled so badly that you may end up with poorer performance even if you are able to further overclock the processor. So, it is recommended that you enable command queuing for deep pipelines, even if it means reduced overclockability.

 

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