Topton 4x Intel i226-V 2.5G N5105 with opnsense allway's on 2GHZ

[snippem]

Hi all,

New here and also new with Topton and opnsense.
Everything is working as exspected but the only thing i ran into is that the frequentie off the n5105 is not scaled down with no use.
The temperatures are fine though on idle 52 and the highest what i have seen is around 70 degrees celcius.
In the bios intel speedstep on and c-states are enabled but maybe i am missing something or in opnsense i am doing something wrong?
hope somebody can help me

 

[kliguin]

I can only comment from my pfSense vision, It will give you a direction to look (google) into.

Did. you enable powerd the CPU scaling software?

As you can see in the output below the deepest state my processor supports is C3, so I edited the system tunable to the states. This creates a deeper sleep, default is C1, and now C3.

SystemTunables

dev.cpu.3.cx_lowest		C3
dev.cpu.0.cx_lowest		C3
dev.cpu.2.cx_lowest		C3
dev.cpu.1.cx_lowest		C3

[22.05-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.high.local]/root: sysctl -a | grep cx_
hw.acpi.cpu.cx_lowest: C1
dev.cpu.3.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.3.cx_usage_counters: 1092439 1209351 437208
dev.cpu.3.cx_usage: 39.88% 44.15% 15.96% last 189us
dev.cpu.3.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.3.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048
dev.cpu.2.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.2.cx_usage_counters: 1724373 465677 235599
dev.cpu.2.cx_usage: 71.08% 19.19% 9.71% last 284us
dev.cpu.2.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.2.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048
dev.cpu.1.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.1.cx_usage_counters: 1544384 1104190 376181
dev.cpu.1.cx_usage: 51.05% 36.50% 12.43% last 406us
dev.cpu.1.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.1.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048
dev.cpu.0.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.0.cx_usage_counters: 1146591 1479073 314726
dev.cpu.0.cx_usage: 38.99% 50.30% 10.70% last 200us
dev.cpu.0.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.0.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048

 

[snippem]

I can only comment from my pfSense vision, It will give you a direction to look (google) into.

Did. you enable powerd the CPU scaling software?

As you can see in the output below the deepest state my processor supports is C3, so I edited the system tunable to the states. This creates a deeper sleep, default is C1, and now C3.

SystemTunables

dev.cpu.3.cx_lowest		C3
dev.cpu.0.cx_lowest		C3
dev.cpu.2.cx_lowest		C3
dev.cpu.1.cx_lowest		C3

[22.05-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.high.local]/root: sysctl -a | grep cx_
hw.acpi.cpu.cx_lowest: C1
dev.cpu.3.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.3.cx_usage_counters: 1092439 1209351 437208
dev.cpu.3.cx_usage: 39.88% 44.15% 15.96% last 189us
dev.cpu.3.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.3.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048
dev.cpu.2.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.2.cx_usage_counters: 1724373 465677 235599
dev.cpu.2.cx_usage: 71.08% 19.19% 9.71% last 284us
dev.cpu.2.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.2.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048
dev.cpu.1.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.1.cx_usage_counters: 1544384 1104190 376181
dev.cpu.1.cx_usage: 51.05% 36.50% 12.43% last 406us
dev.cpu.1.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.1.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048
dev.cpu.0.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.0.cx_usage_counters: 1146591 1479073 314726
dev.cpu.0.cx_usage: 38.99% 50.30% 10.70% last 200us
dev.cpu.0.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.0.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048

Thanks for the quick reply

Checked witch C-state was the lowest and that was C1

Did the following :

Add four new entries under system -> settings -> tunables:
Code: [Select]
dev.cpu.0.cx_lowest
dev.cpu.1.cx_lowest
dev.cpu.2.cx_lowest
dev.cpu.3.cx_lowest

and use C3 as value for each of them. Then the tunings survive a reboot.

Checked after reboot and C3 is still the lowest state.

use sysctl dev.cpu |grep cx to check.

result:

root@OPNsense:~ # sysctl dev.cpu | grep cx
dev.cpu.3.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.3.cx_usage_counters: 46876 49150 83868
dev.cpu.3.cx_usage: 26.05% 27.32% 46.62% last 115us
dev.cpu.3.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.3.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048
dev.cpu.2.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.2.cx_usage_counters: 39024 50810 89534
dev.cpu.2.cx_usage: 21.75% 28.32% 49.91% last 350us
dev.cpu.2.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.2.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048
dev.cpu.1.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.1.cx_usage_counters: 65075 60643 84334
dev.cpu.1.cx_usage: 30.98% 28.87% 40.14% last 89us
dev.cpu.1.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.1.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048
dev.cpu.0.cx_method: C1/mwait/hwc C2/mwait/hwc C3/mwait/hwc
dev.cpu.0.cx_usage_counters: 242513 860335 413
dev.cpu.0.cx_usage: 21.98% 77.98% 0.03% last 78us
dev.cpu.0.cx_lowest: C3
dev.cpu.0.cx_supported: C1/1/1 C2/2/253 C3/3/1048

CPU scaling software is enabled under

• System: Settings: Miscellaneous

Still i do not see any change in the lobby that the processor is lower than 2GHZ :-(
But maybe this is only a indicator that the processor is clocked at 2 GHZ?

 

[kliguin]

The processor in pfSense is showing the lower CPU speeds, when your traffic or package needs a higher CPU it indeed will never drill down.

What do you see under system activities? Do you use some way of DPI?



The whole second line disappears when it consumes 2Ghz.

 

[snippem]

The processor in pfSense is showing the lower CPU speeds, when your traffic or package needs a higher CPU it indeed will never drill down.

What do you see under system activities? Do you use some way of DPI?

View attachment 26504

The whole second line disappears when it consumes 2Ghz.

View attachment 26503

Somebody on the opnsense forum pointed me that there is a megathread here on device like I own.
So searched in the thread on bios and found a user that explained in detail what to alter in the bios and in opnsense.
Result:
5 to 8 degrees celcius less heat means better efficiency

@T.Sharp Thanks

 

[Becks0815]

You also might wanna check your box for CPU/case gaps or bad/low quality thermal paste with 52°C idle and 70°C under load.

 

[snippem]

You also might wanna check your box for CPU/case gaps or bad/low quality thermal paste with 52°C idle and 70°C under load.

After altering the bios settings and adding the code for using c3 states I now idle at 45 degrees. Keeping in mind my router sits in a closet (fusebox in dutch meterkast) these temperatures are in my oppinion quite good.

 

[TombaWaterHouse]

I have just bought the N5105 from Topton. Waiting it to arrive anxiously.

 

[snippem]

I have just bought the N5105 from Topton. Waiting it to arrive anxiously.

Nice
When it arrives I would check the power brick. I got a samsung but I doubt samsung has made it. Replaced it for a Mean WELL GST60A12-P-1J 12 V 60Watt with a adapter plug from 5,5 mm (2,5 mm male) to 5,5 mm (2,1 mm female)

 

[TombaWaterHouse]

Nice
When it arrives I would check the power brick. I got a samsung but I doubt samsung has made it. Replaced it for a Mean WELL GST60A12-P-1J 12 V 60Watt with a adapter plug from 5,5 mm (2,5 mm male) to 5,5 mm (2,1 mm female)

Thanks for the tip! I think i was looking at some tips around it here in the forum and was pointed to Mean as well. Will get one !

 

[Becks0815]

Thanks for the tip! I think i was looking at some tips around it here in the forum and was pointed to Mean as well. Will get one !

The Meanwell is pretty good, however if possible I would bundle multiple machine (NAS, switch,...) and use a single power supply together with the N5105 to get a total consumption of above 10W, because below that point these adapters aren't as efficient as above - and you just lose maybe 1W for each power supply you have plugged in.

 

[TombaWaterHouse]

The Meanwell is pretty good, however if possible I would bundle multiple machine (NAS, switch,...) and use a single power supply together with the N5105 to get a total consumption of above 10W, because below that point these adapters aren't as efficient as above - and you just lose maybe 1W for each power supply you have plugged in.

How can I plug multiple machine into this? It's a single 12V output right?

 

[Becks0815]

How can I plug multiple machine into this? It's a single 12V output right?

I have ordered one of these here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002011584072.html - just cut the plug from the power supply, attach plus and minus to the terminal and the solder cables with plugs for each piece of hardware you are using:

http://imgur.com/8kZAI5D

I have two of those, one which is not turned off (for NAS, fw,...) and a second one for hardware I switch off over night, like USB hubs or a small power supply I use for experiments with arduinos.

 

[SeeGee]

Somebody on the opnsense forum pointed me that there is a megathread here on device like I own.
So searched in the thread on bios and found a user that explained in detail what to alter in the bios and in opnsense.
Result:
5 to 8 degrees celcius less heat means better efficiency

@T.Sharp Thanks

You wouldn't happen to have a link?