ELSA Chipguard

ELSA gave RIVA Station some information about thew ELSA ChipGuard. It is used on the new GeForce card ErazorX:

These days, high-speed information processing is placing increasing demands on hardware-not just processors and hard disks, but also graphics boards.

ELSA's latest development in graphics boards uses optimized hardware and software, to give clients the fastest graphics board that technology currently allows.

Of course, this strong emphasis on performance places high demands on the hardware. With this in mind, ELSA has developed ChipGuard, to protect your purchased hardware against damage.

What does ChipGuard do?

ChipGuard has been programmed to guarantee long life for the graphics processor, despite these high demands. Hard-core gamers will especially appreciate this safeguard, as well as the overclocking tool.

ChipGuard continually monitors the temperature of the chip during use. As soon as the temperature exceeds a critical value (approximately 100° Celsius), the clock rate of the chip and memory is automatically reduced to a non-critical value. This protects the chip from thermal failure. For technical reasons, the user is notified a few seconds after ChipGuard is activated.

In order to preclude regular graphics processor overheating, the ELSA high-end graphics boards are provided with active ventilation. The fan is checked every time Windows is started, to ensure that it is functioning properly.

How does ChipGuard operate?

ELSA's ChipGuard is installed automatically along with the driver. It is started whenever Windows is started. ChipGuard functions fully automatically. There is nothing for the user to do. There are also no values to be set. Values for critical temperature and fan speed are preset to assure optimal functioning.

How is the chip status displayed?

Despite its important role, ELSA's ChipGuard remains in the background. When the hardware is functioning, a green dot is displayed in the start menu.

The dot becomes red as soon as the hardware reaches a critical condition.

If the fan is not working properly when checked at startup, a window opens to notify the user that the fan is either working too slowly, or not at all.

When the chip is running, its temperature is continually monitored. If the chip temperature is too high, another window opens, with a corresponding warning. For technical reasons, this will be a few seconds after overheating occurs. By this time, the chip will have already been placed in a protective state, so that no damage can result.

Graphic translation: The graphics processor is too hot. The graphics board clock rate has been reduced to a non-critical value.

Disabling ChipGuard

There is no provision for disabling ChipGuard. Even using <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<Del> and <End Task> to remove ChipGuard has no effect on its operation. ChipGuard is only the visible interface used to notify the user. All the functionality is in the driver itself.

Fan rotation and temperature measurement

The simplified hardware design makes it impossible to determine fan speed. During operation, only a decrease in rpm can be registered. Since GeForce 256 has only one port that ChipGuard can activate, it can only indicate that either the temperature is too high, or that the fan is out of operation. It cannot distinguish between these conditions.

Likewise, the temperature of the chip cannot be determined.

Setting the critical temperature

The critical temperature cannot be adjusted. The chip temperature is measured by a diode on the back of the PCB. Software cannot alter the way ChipGuard responds.

User notification

The driver that monitors the chip cannot open message boxes, nor send data to ChipGuard. Instead, ChipGuard regularly polls the driver for the current chip status. In order to interfere as little as possible with performance, the driver is polled for status about once every 60 seconds.

Author: Holger Hornig, ELSA AG

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Copyright: RIVA Station 1999 - Lars Weinand
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