Dell PowerEdge 1655MC - Manual (Page 9)

Optimal BIOS settings for HPC with Dell PowerEdge 12 th generation servers
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Table 2. Intel Sandy Bridge-based servers
Architecture Processor Series Dell PowerEdge
Server models Memory channels Max Memory
DIMMs per
channel (DPC)
Sandy Bridge-EP Intel Xeon E5-2600 R620, R720,
M620, C6220
4 channels per
socket 3 DPC
Sandy Bridge-EP 4S Intel Xeon E5-4600 R820, M820 4 channels per
socket 3 DPC
Sandy Bridge-EN Intel Xeon E5-2400 R420, M420 3 channels per
socket 2 DPC or 1DPC
depending on
server model
This study focuses on the Sandy Bridge-EP based servers. A follow-on study will evaluate the other
architectural variants.
3. Overview of BIOS options
Dell PowerEdge 12 th generation servers provide numerous BIOS tunable features. The goal of this white
paper, however, is to examine the impact of only those BIOS options that are relevant in the HPC
domain. This section provides an overview of the specific BIOS settings evaluated in this study. Section
5 presents the impact of these options on performance and energy efficiency across a variety of HPC
applications.
3.1. System Profile
With the latest mainstream PowerEdge server line (i.e., excluding the PowerEdge C products),
several BIOS settings have been grouped into a common “System Profile” section. Predetermined
values for Turbo mode, C States, C1E, Monitor/Mwait, CPU Power Management, Memory Speed,
Memory Patrol Scrub rate, Memory Refresh Rate, and the Memory Operating Voltage can all be set
by selecting a single System Profile value. If these options need to be manipulated independent of
the presets available, a Custom System Profile can be configured.
The available System Profile options are:
 Performance Per Watt Optimized (DAPC)
 Performance Per Watt Optimized (OS)
 Performance Optimized
 Dense Configuration Optimized
 Custom
The preset BIOS settings for each of these System Profiles are described in Table 3. If a preset
System Profile other than Custom is selected, the following sub-options are selected automatically
and are not individually tunable. The Custom System Profile should be selected to tune each option
in Table 3 individually.